2021 Viewing

Hello! This was very much a year of the new, in terms of TV viewing at least. New stuff outnumbered continuations and rewatches of old series by a factor of 3 or so in my 2021 viewing. Listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast seems to have had an effect on my TV consumption which includes a lot more true crime than in past years (but it's not all murder! There is some art theft!). 

It was thrilling to get to see people I know on TV this year! Ry Russo-Young's HBO Max documentary Nuclear Family was very engrossing, and featured my friends Max and Cade and their little one Sy. And my buddies Patrick and Jonah were one of eight competing pairs on Baking It (and I helped film their audition video!), which was an adorable show.

Other highlights of the year include Better Call Saul, which I am anxious to finish once more of it appears on Netflix, Anne With an E which was very sweet, Fleabag which was genius, laughing my ass off at Star Trek: Lower Decks, a very engaging adaptation of The Wheel of Time which has further strengthened my resolve not to read the books (sorry, friends), The Serpent which was chilling and also a fun trip to Asia, Mare of Easttown which was amazing, the hilarious Q Force, the equally hilarious Schmigadoon which I got to watch with friends, and the deeply depressing but well acted and constructed Dopesick. 

Here are the series I started and miniseries I watched in 2021:

• Better Call Saul: seasons 1-4
• Anne With an E: seasons 1-3 (all)
• The Sinner: seasons 1-2, and some of season 3
• Fleabag: seasons 1-2 (all)
• Feel Good: season 1 and part of 2
• Bridgerton: season 1
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: season 1 (along with the Greatest Discovery podcast)
• Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent): season 1
• Manifest: season 1
• The Wheel of Time: season 1
• Hacks: season 1
• High Score: all
• History of Swear Words: all
• Pretend It's a City: all
• Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel: all
• Murder Among the Mormons: all
• The One: all
• Collateral: all
• This is a Robbery: all
• The Serpent: all
• Life in Colour with David Attenborough: all
• The Sons of Sam: Descent Into Darkness: all
• Mare of Easttown: all
• The White Lotus: all
• Q Force: all
• Schmigadoon: all (with friends)
• Nuclear Family: all
• Nova: The Planets: all
• Dopesick: all
• Baking It: all
• Home Economics: some
• Animaniacs reboot: some
• Nine Perfect Strangers: some
• The Chair: some
• Only Murders in the Building: some
• The Other Two: some
• Ted Lasso: some (I would've watched it all but I don't have Apple+ yet)
• And Just Like That: some
• Mad About You: watched a few episodes of the revival
• Bare Feet: a few episodes since it was on at Cricket's parents' house
• Fuller House: a few episodes since it was on TV on vacation
• Somebody Feed Phil: a few episodes since it was on TV on vacation

Of the series I continued this year, Schitt's Creek was of course a standout. Impeachment was also good group watch material. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and now Voyager have been weekly viewing for me as I listen along with the Greatest Generation podcast.

Old series continued or rewatched in 2021:

• Call the Midwife: 2020 Christmas Special (season 10)
• Friends: watched the reunion show and then rewatched seasons 1-7 and part of 8
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: rewatched season 7 (along with the Greatest Generation podcast)
• Schitt's Creek: seasons 4-6 and the farewell feature
• Fargo: finished season 4
• The Handmaid's Tale: season 4
• Castlevania: season 4
• Star Trek: Discovery: season 3 (along with the Greatest Discovery podcast)
• Sex Education: season 3
• American Crime Story: Impeachment: season 3 (with neighbors)
• Star Trek: Voyager: rewatched seasons 1-2 and part of 3 (along with the Greatest Generation podcast)
• The Great: some of season 2
• Angels in America: rewatch, all
• The Simpsons: a few episodes since it was on TV on vacation

I love a movie musical, and this year gave us In the Heights and Tick Tick Boom which were great, and I couldn't help but go back and rewatch Sweeney Todd with NPH. Perhaps not technically a musical but an adaptation of a play with a bunch of music in it, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was also brilliant, and also musical theater-adjacent and lovely was Florence Foster Jenkins. Books made me watch a few of the below movies, and I finally went ahead and watched Remains of the Day, which I read eight years ago.

Movies streamed (except where noted):

• Sweeney Todd Live From Lincoln Center: rewatch
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
• The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Motherless Brooklyn: with the Page & Popcorn book & movie club (remotely)
• I Care a Lot
• Betty White: First Lady of TV
• New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears
• The Last Blockbuster: once alone and once with Cricket & Mark
• Moxie
• Operation Varsity Blues
• Seaspiracy
• The Dig
• Remains of the Day
• Made You Look
• The Lorax: with NYMAAC (remotely)
• Okja: with Cricket and Mark
• Florence Foster Jenkins
• In the Heights: with the Uttechs
• The Birdcage: rewatch, on a plane
• Nomadland: on a plane
• Blithe Spirit: on a plane
• 500 Days of Summer: rewatch, on a plane
• Tig Notaro: Drawn
• Bo Burnham: Inside
• The White Tiger: with the Page & Popcorn book & movie club (remotely)
• The Royal Tenenbaums: with neighbor Maya who insisted I watch more Wes Anderson movies
• Dune: the 1984 version with the Page & Popcorn book & movie club (remotely) and with Maya (in person) and with necessary substances
• Dune: the 2021 with the Page & Popcorn book & movie club (in the theater)
• Mayor Pete
• Tick Tick Boom
• Don't Look Up

Other stuff:

• WNYC's Get Lit With All of It book club: Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn
• Dar Williams: We Can Get Through February!

Guess I'll go finish The Great now. Oh, and the Harry Potter reunion! Bye!