Another list done!

 Some final thoughts on Empire's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.


Well, this isn't going to take long because I only watched Loki and Midnight Mass - both of which were pretty enjoyable. I also have to mention Cobra Kai and Sex Education which weren't on The Guardian's list but I chose not to watch them - in the case of the former because I have absolutely no interest in doing so and for the latter because it was season three and I'm not convinced I care enough to invest all the time required.

Of those, I was surprised that The Guardian didn't have Midnight Mass on their list, because it seemed up their street but they only gave it three stars. They weren't overly impressed with Loki either ("tedious time-hopping"), also giving it three stars - they liked season two more ("the best Marvel TV show in years") so obviously they gave that three stars as well. The other two get three star reviews as well, so I guess they were being slightly consistent!

Looking at things The Guardian chose which Empire didn't, the highest ranking entry was Alma's Not Normal (#8), which coincidentally, I've just reviewed season 2 from last year and it was again only on The Guardian's list. Ted Lasso, Motherland and The Flight Attendant seem to be the most obvious things that Empire might have included, but I would also make a case for Guilt above a few that made it - of these, Empire only review Ted Lasso, giving it four stars.

Summing positions across both lists, the top five with the lowest scores are Squid Game (12), The White Lotus (8), Succession (also 8), Mare Of Easttown (5) and the "winner" is It's A Sin (2). All of which I enjoyed except for The White Lotus which I just couldn't get with - but I would say that the top two are the only essential telly for the year.

And I think that's all I've got to say about 2021 on the telly front - 2020 is going to take me a lot longer to work through, partly because I've not done The Guardian's list for that year and partly because the 2025 lists will be along very soon to distract me!

#5 - Well this wasn't at all what I expected

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