'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,' 'This is Us' top AP list of TV's best in 2018
Amazon Prime's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," starring two actresses who grew up in the North suburbs, was named the best TV show of the year by the Associated Press.
Here are the top 10:
1. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," on Amazon Prime. From its costumes to the dialogue to the music to the quirky characters, this show - starring Highland Park's Rachel Brosnahan in the title role and former Deerfield resident Alex Borstein as her agent - is a delight. Watch it to feel good.
2. "This is Us," on NBC. Some suggest the third season has lagged but this show is still solid, and we can't discount how invested the public was in just how Milo Ventimiglia's character, Jack, died. The lead-up and reveal earlier this year launched so many theories, memes, hashtags and jokes about slow cookers. Also, those occasional flash-forwards to show characters in the future keep us guessing and trying to fill in the blanks between now and then.
3. "Killing Eve," on BBC America. This cat-and-mouse chase between Sandra Oh as an MI5 investigator and Jodie Comer's assassin is great fun to watch. Oh has received many accolades for her work on the show, which are deserved, but Comer is also a standout and should be recognized. She mastered various accents and has a smile that can light up a room, before she pounces to kill you, of course.
4. "Succession," on HBO. This show about a powerful family that owns a major media conglomerate is disturbing, funny, and sad all at once. The characters aren't likable and don't even seem to like each other, but to be a voyeur and watch them interact is worth tuning in for.
5. "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan," on Amazon Prime. John Krasinski joins Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Chris Pine as actors who've portrayed the CIA analyst created by Clancy. In Krasinski's version, he's got brawn and brains and he quickly proves he's a leading man worthy of the role. It's fast-paced, suspenseful, entertaining and season two can't come soon enough.
6. "You," on Lifetime. This show hasn't gotten enough attention. Penn Badgley is masterful as a psychopathic stalker named Joe who charms his way into the heart of a young woman living in Manhattan. There's a scene in the first episode where his character stares at his obsession as she drunkenly teeters on the edge of a subway platform like he's studying an animal in the wild. It's chilling. Catch up because the series is moving to Netflix for its second season.
7. "Escape at Dannemora," on Showtime. The real prison escape that this series portrays was in 2015 and caught the world's attention because of the revelation that the two escapees were helped by a female prison employee. The series, directed by Ben Stiller, is just as interesting. Patricia Arquette, Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano and Eric Lange dissolve into their characters.
8. "The Clinton Affair," on A&E. This six-part documentary series is an extremely compelling, deep-dive into the events that led up to President Clinton's impeachment. You may remember the news coverage, but there's likely information in this series that will be new. Many of the major players including Monica Lewinsky are interviewed extensively, and to see her now, as a 40-something year-old woman, reflect on that period of her life with candor and grace is heartbreaking, inspiring and fitting for this #MeToo era.
9. "grown-ish," on Freeform. Zoey, the eldest child on "black-ish" (played by Yara Shahidi), went off to college and it's worth keeping up with this new phase of her life. "grown-ish" doesn't hold back. The show deals with issues that some college kids are faced with, including abusing pills like Adderall and the hookup culture. Also, Shahidi has major star quality.
10. "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," Netflix. No offense to the original "Queer Eye," which was fun, but the reboot kicks things up in a major way. For one, tissues are required for viewing because it gets very emotional. The show doesn't just find men who need a new look, but the five experts go deep into why these guys are stuck in a rut. It's positive and heartwarming and feels like a hug.
Honorable mentions: "The Good Place" on NBC, "Wild Wild Country" on Netflix, "The Handmaid's Tale" on Hulu, "Counterpart" on STARZ, "Jane the Virgin" on The CW, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" on The CW and "13 Reasons Why," Netflix.