A serious investment of time - and there's still some way to go

So, what did I think of The Guardian's Top 50 TV shows of 2022?

Well, the first thing I have to say is that I've done a terrible job in watching stuff this year - not because I've been avoiding it, but because I just haven't had enough time.  This "end of year review" only really covers the stuff I've either watched (in full or in part) or outright rejected as a "won't watch", but I've included a section on the ones that are still on my wish list and I'll (maybe) update it as I get round to watching them (which may well be never).

So, let's start with a best 16 from the list

#1 - The Bear - so much better than the concept with a great one-take episode
#2 - Sherwood - serious drama
#3 - Severance - I loved this clever idea
#6 - Big Boys - so much heart
#9 - Derry Girls - ditto
#10 - This Is Going To Hurt - heart-breaking
#15 - Pachinko - utterly beautiful and ambitious
#19 - Station Eleven - ditto
#20 - Bad Sisters - clever and funny
#29 - Andor - way better than I was expecting.  It even had some plot!
#31 - Don't Hug Me I'm Scared - enjoyably odd
#35 - Am I Being Unreasonable? - amusingly dark humour
#37 - Black Bird - great performances
#42 - The Outlaws - unexpectedly funny and tense
#46 - SAS Rogue Heroes - way better than I was expecting
#50 - Chloe - ditto

Yes, 16 is an odd number but as with the films, I've given anything in the top ten a free pass (if I liked them) and picked my best other ten things from the rest of the list.  Picking particular highlights, I thought the top three were all excellent, Derry Girls signed off in such style, Station Eleven and Bad Sisters were way too far down the list, Andor was surprisingly good considering some of the absolute dross the Star Wars universe has given us, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared was the most unique thing in a list of pretty unique things and Chloe was a very nice way to round off the list.  I'd also say House Of The Dragon, Julia and The English were unlucky not to get in to the top ten "best of the rest" list.  

If I had to pick just one winner from the list, I think I'd go for Severance - it was just such a clever idea and really well executed (with Station Eleven being not far behind for the very same reasons).  I'm also going to call out Claes Bang as the stand-out performance of the list as The Prick in Bad Sisters because he was, well, just SUCH a prick - I still wince at some of the things he did.

I don't think there was anything that I watched that I didn't see some appeal in, but there were some I gave up on/accepted I won't ever watch

#4 - Hacks - just not for me
#16 - The White Lotus - I tried season 1, that was enough
#23 - How To With John Wilson - just odd
#36 - Better Things - sorry, but something had to give due to time
#38 - Cheaters - I just didn't care
#43 - The Walk-In - somehow managed to be both grim and dull
#47 - The Dropout - I just didn't care
#48 - Ellie & Natasia - just not all that funny  

And, for completism, I also have to mention Maryland (#40) and Freddie Flintoff's Field Of Dreams (#49) both of which I would have watched but I just couldn't find them anywhere.

And, finally, what did I save for a later date (for various reasons)?

#7 - Better Caul Saul
I do really want to watch this, but this was season 6 which means I have 63 episodes to work my way through - but I can't do that until I finish Breaking Bad, of which I'm currently approaching the end of season 3, which means I've got 30 episodes of that to get through first.  So this won't be happening soon.

#8 - Industry
I've not seen any of this, but I've read quite a few reviews that praise it, so it's on the list - and there's a mere two seasons of this to watch.  How hard can it be?

#11 - Top Boy
Again, this is supposed to be good but there are five seasons of this (it finished this year to great acclaim).  I suspect it might be some time before I get there...

#14 - Atlanta
Part of me is like "no" on this, but every review says "give it a chance - it's kinda odd and I don't know what it is".  Only three seasons of it as well!

#21 - Abbott Elementary
I'm slowly working my way through this - nice short episodes and it's nicely funny.  But I suspect it'll be some time before I finish.

#25 - Stranger Things
I liked the first season and then never got round to watching any more of it - and this fourth season is supposed to be a bit of a return to form.

#28 - Heartstopper
My girls loved this so I feel I should watch it.  But I'm struggling to care enough to do so.

#32 - The Great
This is supposed to be very funny and utterly mad - only two seasons as well!

#39 - Ozark
Another one I watched the first season of and enjoyed but never got any further with - and I hear it goes out with a bang.  Three seasons still to go though (and I'm going to have to watch the first season again to remind myself what happens).

#41 - Barry
I only watched the first couple of episodes of this but it seemed pretty funny and it's got great write-ups - four seasons here though.

#44 - Love Life
I would have skipped this, but the first season stars Anna Kendrick so it has to be watched.  

If, in the absence of more accurate information, we assume a season is five hours (which is a pretty random number, but let's run with it because it's easy to multiply) there are approximately 250 hours of TV to watch here - about 1.5 weeks.  I wonder if I'll ever finish any of them...

The most read post of the list was The Bear which really is worth a watch if you've not seen it (and I've still got season two to watch as well) and the least read post was Don't Hug Me I'm Scared which I can quite accept won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.  

So, what did I enjoy last year that didn't make the list?  

I enjoyed all the various competitions involved in Bake Off, Sewing Bee, Pottery Throwdown and All The Glitters - but The Guardian is never going to include them on the list, with the same also being true for Taskmaster and Only Connect (even though I think Taskmaster is often the best thing on telly that week).  Something along similar lines that might have snuck in was The Traitors - bizarrely, I only watched the last episode but I actually really enjoyed it.

We had two seasons of Slow Horses this year, with the second season of Slow Horses being, if anything, better than the first and quite how The Guardian has missed that off the list is unclear - Gary Oldman alone is worth an entry on the list but there's a load of other fine actors in it.  Season two of Starstruck also feels like a miss - it was just as charming as season one that made last year's list (season three this year is a bit of a downer though).

The Sandman was a bit inconsistent, but the good episodes were very good indeed (and again featured a load of fine actors). I also really enjoyed watching Star Trek - Strange New Worlds with my youngest - no, The Guardian is never going to include it but it's well worth a watch if you like that sort of thing.  I also enjoyed Reacher as an example of very watchable nonsense - and at least the guy was the right size this time around.  

The Peripheral was a bit of a mess, but it was a very good-looking, interesting mess which I watched all of.  The same is true for Moon Knight and She-Hulk, with the latter having one of the most weirdly meta-endings I've ever seen with the main character re-writing the script as part of the episode.  The Lord Of The Rings - The Rings Of Power was also a very good-looking mess, but it was unfortunately quite dull in places - which is certainly not something you could ever accuse The Boys of being, but it was maybe a bit too messy in places.

I haven't seen Welcome To Wrexham but I know a lot of people loved it (including, bizarrely, my wife).  Colin From Accounts also got a lot of good write-ups - I started watching it and really liked it, so obviously never quite got round to finishing it.  I also saw from a list there was a second season of Reservation Dogs which I'll definitely have to catch up on.  And finally, Empire's Top 20 TV shows threw up Shining Girls which has Elisabeth Moss in, so has to be great and The Old Man, which has also got good write-ups.  The only other things from that list that aren't on The Guardian's list are The Rings Of Power and Slow Horses (both of which I've seen) so I might have to replicate what I've done with films - I've got time over Christmas before I start on the 2023 lists, don't I?

All in all, I really enjoyed this list - it was a serious investment of time but there was a very good hit rate with some top notch telly on display, some of which I wouldn't even have heard of without guidance from The Guardian. 

#50 - Surprisingly enjoyable
#19 (Empire) - Yeah, this is good
#1 (2023) - Some damn fine telly