I thought Bojack Horseman ended brilliantly. After a painfully unfunny first season, the show really grown in my affections when it tried to go a bit more serious. It honestly had some of the best dramatic moments I saw in any show during the 2010's.

I do agree it did get better when it tried to be more serious, although I just wish some characters had a better send-off. :(

 

Thanks for commenting Lewis! ^_^

 

The Good Place had such a lovely, fitting end :wub:

Indeed :heart:

 

Thanks Joseph :wub:

Top 40 TV Shows of 2020

 

 

16 Too Hot to Handle

17 Ratched

18 13 Reasons Why

19 Schitt's Creek

20 RuPaul's Drag Race

 

Into the top half and we have Too Hot to Handle, Netflix's attempt at creating a new version of Love Island that was definitely irresistible, but a show that I can't see returning. Obviously I was completely hooked throughout every episode and there were some CHARACTERS on the island. The whole idea was that there was to be no sexual interaction of any kind or the prize money would keep dropping and dropping. Everybody was under the watchful eye of an Alexa-like speaker that saw their every move. It was fun and enjoyable, however there's no denying the reunion episode was one of the messiest things ever (obviously not helped by the pandemic), but the show was iconic overall. Francesca is one of the best people we've had on reality TV in a while. Ratched, Ryan Murphy's take on the infamous Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was a great production overall I thought, however the only disappointment for me was the humanisation of Mildred and how she wasn't presented as an evil, wicked woman in any way whatsoever. Through the whole series, it was like we were supposed to be on her side and feel sorry for her (which I did, to be fair!), but that's not my impression of who Nurse Ratched is/was. Finn Wittrock was great (and those shower scenes, phew!), and the storyline was gripping throughout, but if it does return for a second season I want more villainy from Ratched herself and more ruthless tyranny!

 

I stopped watching 13 Reasons Why after finishing the first episode of season 3 because I was getting so tired and bored of it (mostly because of Clay who appears to be universally loved by the die-hard fans, but I just cannot abide him at all), but I decided to go back to it and finish it all seeing as the fourth season was released and it had all reached its conclusion. Season 3 was a bit of a damp squib, but season 4 had me hooked to the very end. Obviously both seasons were very Clay-heavy so that kind of marred some of it for me, however certain episodes had me crying and overwhelmed with emotion - the riot at the school, what happened to Justin, the scene in the school where Clay ends up being sectioned. They really went in hard for the final season, and I applaud them for that. Overall, it was good to see some of my favourite actors from it again - Brandon Flynn, Timothy Granaderos, and Deaken Bluman was a revelation! Schitt's Creek's final season aired earlier this year, and it took me a while to get around to watching it, but when I did it had me in stitches just like every other before it! Catherine O'Hara is just incredible as Moira, and while the moments of brilliance she brings to the table make every episode totally worthwhile, I feel that the whole storyline of David and Patrick overshadowed almost everything else that happened in the final episodes, meaning some characters were left hung out to dry. It was still enjoyable, but I'd have preferred some proper send-offs for the characters that made the show what it was over its six seasons. Finally, just making it into the top 20 is RuPaul's Drag Race. Slightly better than All Stars 5, season 12 of the show gave us some MOMENTS and a favourite queen of mine in the form of Jan. It was an entertaining season, but I don't find it quite as brilliant as others. In the end, although Jan left earlier than she should have, we got an incredible winner in Jaida Essence Hall!

Top 40 TV Shows of 2020

 

 

11 The 100

12 The Stranger

13 AJ and the Queen

14 Emily in Paris

15 RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race

 

Just shy of the top 10 TV shows of 2020 is The 100. I went back to this to finish the sixth season after stopping for a while - after five seasons of using my brain an incredible amount to work out exactly what was going on with the likes of A.L.I.E, etc, I needed a well-earned rest. So, back I went and I'm glad I finished the sixth season because it was a treat - if not incredibly emotional by the end given the events that unfolded and the character we lost to the devastating events that occurred on this so-called peaceful planet that seemed to have nothing but havoc and destruction on it. I've yet to finish the final season - I started watching it and I've stopped again, but I'm sure I'll be able to report back this time next year on how brilliant it was (although I hear it's been quite divisive among fans of the show). The Stranger was a massive surprise to me early in the year. I'd watched Safe previously, but wasn't aware that this series was by the same writer until I'd finished watching, and this was a really gripping watch from start to finish; so much so that I ended up buying the book and reading that in the space of a day. There are a fair few differences between the Netflix adaptation and the book itself, but I think they both work perfectly. I kept thinking to myself the whole way through watching that things were going to work out, but nope - they took a devastating turn, even if we were able to piece together the puzzle before the reveal actually happened. Here's to the next series, and here's to more Jacob Dudman exposure too!

 

It's a shame AJ and the Queen won't be returning to Netflix (being given the chop after only one season), because I thoroughly enjoyed watching RuPaul's adventure across America (even if his acting was utterly dreadful). His relationship with the young child as they both attended drag shows, the bond they formed, and then of course seeing an array of queens from Drag Race herstory appear in each episode was brilliant. The ending was really hammed up, although I couldn't help but get emotional. For all it got wrong, it managed to get the parts that mattered very right! Emily in Paris is one of the most recent shows I've finished watching - following 'influencer' Emily as she becomes accustomed to life in Paris working for a company that represents those with far too much money. It had dramatic moments throughout, and although I was hooked there were a few problems with the way Emily was presented as a person, and the way the scripts were written. She went from being in a loving, committed relationship in the first episode to sleeping with a new guy in Paris almost every single night as soon as her relationship crumbled? And then of course there was the will-they-won't-they with her downstairs neighbour that they teased us right until the very last scene. Here's hoping that it's actually all going well as we head into the confirmed second season because we MUST see how they are getting on happily together! Finally, the highest of the US Drag Race representation in the countdown, is Secret Celebrity Drag Race. The first of its kind (and hopefully not the last!) saw three celebrities per episode get into drag and do almost everything normal queens would do on the show, from mini challenges to maxi challenges, to lip-syncing for the crown! I loved a lot of the celebrities they managed to get to take part, although the only one that really grated was Nico Tortorella who really should not have been there at all x

Snap for The 100 *.*

Top 40 TV Shows of 2020

 

 

06 High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

07 Never Have I Ever

08 Selling Sunset

09 Canada's Drag Race

10 Friday Night Dinner

 

Top 10 time now, and just missing out on a spot in the top five is basically the only reason I signed up to Disney+ in the first place - to see High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Although I was never a massive fan of the original High School Musical films, the spin-off was intriguing, and had a great cast in the form of Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo, so I had to check it out; and I wasn't disappointed. Although the episodes are short and there weren't many episodes overall, it had a cute storyline with lots of teen heartbreak and frustrations, but Ricky (Joshua Bassett) was the star of the show (and I've grown into a massive fan of his music he's released outside of the show too). Excited for the second season of this (and renewing my Disney+ membership x). Never Have I Ever was another surprise for me this year - and one that was really interesting because it shone a light on a culture that isn't really represented well in typical Netflix shows. It was a great teen drama with lots of emotional moments throughout, and of course it introduced me to Darren Barnet and his ability to remove a t-shirt in 0.005 seconds with just one hand, so that was a major positive. But overall, it was a perfect mix of education about culture, emotion, fun and joy!

 

Selling Sunset was a major talking point of the year for a lot of people, becoming possibly one of Netflix's biggest reality TV programmes. Although it had already aired two seasons prior to this year, the third season upped the ante majorly with major twists and turns for some of the girls. It's highly entertaining, and while there are definitely characters you love to hate (Davina, Christine), you can't help but fall into the trap of wanting more, more and more. Seeing the homes that these girls manage to sell (or don't in the case of Davina) is seriously impressive, and I'd love to go out to Hollywood some time and see them from afar. Excited for a fourth season if we do get one. Canada's Drag Race came bursting onto our screens later in the year, and while it was a massive hot mess from start to finish, it was also highly entertaining and has given me a new favourite drag queen in the form of Lemon. Lemon was the absolute highlight of the whole series for me, and made it so enjoyable (until she was eliminated x), but the whole season was still a joy and I'm praying that we're still going to see a second sometime. There just needs to be some major changes in the form of, ahem, one of the judges, and the way the show is presented because it was all a bit clunky. Finally, Friday Night Dinner returned for its sixth series this year, and while it wasn't always as funny as it was in its first five series', it gave me the laughs I needed, and it's always amazing to see the Goodman family again (particularly Johnny!). I did wonder how they'd manage to keep Jim as funny as he was with Wilson; but even without Wilson there it all worked! Given the way the series ended (absolutely perfectly, and quite emotionally!), I don't think we'll be seeing another series of this, so I'll have to retain the image of how perfect the last few moments were in my mind.

Top 40 TV Shows of 2020

 

 

01 Love, Victor

02 The Crown

03 Pose

04 Modern Family

05 Doctor Who

 

When I heard that we were getting a series spin-off of one of my all-time favourite films Love, Simon I was ecstatic! Love, Victor managed to create a brand new set of characters set in the same universe as its parent film that were relevant and completely fantastic. The show did have a lot to live up to given how amazing the film was, and I think it more than proved it has legs and can stand by itself as an amazing project. I'm so excited that it's managed to secure a second season too because it absolutely deserves it - we're not ready to leave Victor's story behind just yet. The characters were so likeable, and both Michael Cimino and George Sear were fantastic. Although a lot of the first season revolved around Victor not being sure if he was actually 'in it' with Mia, I'm hoping that the second season can see us move on from that and see Victor start to embrace himself (how are we going to pick up from THAT cliffhanger too?), and we see him and Benji become the incredible couple they deserve to be! I absolutely loved every moment of the show (some of the Benji moments too, phew!), and the supporting cast are great too - Felix, Pilar and Victor's mum were all great.

 

I started watching The Crown a while ago now, back when only the first two seasons had aired on Netflix, and I stopped after the first season purely because the episodes were almost an hour long and I just couldn't commit. Fast forward to 2020 and I started watching again, and I'm so glad I did because I loved every moment of it. The first two seasons with Claire Foy and Matt Smith were excellent (I think I prefer Claire Foy's portrayal of Elizabeth more than Olivia Colman's), however Matt Smith's portrayal of Prince Phillip left me with quite negative feelings towards him; a far cry from his days as the Eleventh Doctor. A lot of the stories that were told throughout the show were excellent, and by the time we got round to the Charles and Diana drama, I was hooked to the point of no return. Charles is an abhorrent person (I'm sure there will be rebuttal about this, but I can see most of it being pretty accurate), and Diana is that one person that I'm just always going to root for - such a pure, innocent soul that deserved so much better than this family. Margaret (more-so in seasons 1 and 2) was the definition of ICONIC too. I can't wait for seasons 5 and 6 to come around, although it's going to be strange having it so up-to-date and with Imelda Staunton in the role too.

 

Pose was a massive surprise for me - and is the most recent addition to the list. I only just finished watching the second season the day I compiled this list, so the fact it's made it this high up means it was particularly special for me. I watched both seasons back to back, and it was really incredible. I was in tears at the first episode - the scene where Damon auditioned for the dance school to I Wanna Dance With Somebody, that was so perfect. And then there are so many other moments throughout the show that just highlight how important the culture of ballroom, black lives, trans issues, HIV/AIDS, etc all are. The show really opened my eyes to just what life is like for some of the most marginalised people in society, and how horrible it must have felt back then to feel like you've been sentenced to death and that there's no light at the end of the tunnel. The show did remarkably well highlighting the devastating effects this had, but it did always manage to counter that with incredibly fun, camp, amazing ballroom scenes that made you want to be in the room with the cast! Ricky was an absolute favourite of mine throughout both seasons (and obviously he was incredibly fit too!), as well as Elektra, Angel and Lil Papi (the latter was just the purest soul ever that needs to be protected eternally). I cannot WAIT for the third season of this to air, because I'll be right there with my tissues at the ready!

 

Modern Family aired its final season this year, however I'm only up to season 8. I undertook the mammoth task of watching all seven seasons that were available on Netflix, and then this year they also added season 8 to Netflix so I made my way through that, and it was still as hilarious as ever with the characters that I've come to love so much getting on in life and growing up to be amazingly absurd and funny people. I don't really have much more to add about the show right now because I do need to just bite the bullet and watch the remaining seasons on another platform that isn't Netflix just to say I've finished it, but for now the first eight seasons have been a blast and I've got the boxset added to my list on Amazon ready for when it's released in March!

 

Sadly Doctor Who doesn't quite manage to top the list (or even make it into any of the above positions that aren't #1, oops). The show returned for its twelfth series on New Year's Day 2020, and then returning only four days later with the conclusion of the two-part opening story Spyfall. The first two episodes got things off to an excellent start, with the surprise return of the Master too (new incarnation, Sacha Dhawan), and for the first few episodes of the series it seemed more like the Doctor Who that we all know and love. Orphan 55 was decent (even if not popular at all among most other fans). Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror felt like an episode straight out of the RTD era, and then BAM! Fugitive of the Judoon comes along and slaps us in the face with a massive twist. Then, Praxeus and Can You Hear Me? see us take a dip in quality again before The Haunting of Villa Diodati which is absolutely among the top episodes of the series - a brilliant debut from Maxine Alderton. Then, we reach the finale. Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children does a lot right, but it also does a lot very wrong too. The exposition, the Cybermen as Time Lords, most of the way the Timeless Child arc was revealed - it all fell really flat. On first viewing, I loved it, but after watching again it's just not as brilliant as it should be. It does have its great moments though - the opening scenes in the war-torn battleground where the final humans are hiding out, Ethan, the Lone Cyberman, the new Cyberman design. Overall, a very mixed bag of a series that slightly improved upon series 11.

Doctor Who is one of the few shows I've actually watched this year, yay! I'd agree that it had its ups and downs, the first and penultimate episodes were my favourites and for me it was consistently better than the first series. I quite enjoyed the New Year special as well!

Doctor Who is one of the few shows I've actually watched this year, yay! I'd agree that it had its ups and downs, the first and penultimate episodes were my favourites and for me it was consistently better than the first series. I quite enjoyed the New Year special as well!

Yeah, definitely a lot more consistent this time around. We really need a series that can be consistent the whole way through like series 4 though (sadly it's not going to happen) :( Glad you enjoyed the New Year special, it was fantastic!

 

Thanks for commenting Pete! :wub:

Top 40 TV Shows of 2020

 

 

01 Love, Victor

02 The Crown

03 Pose

04 Modern Family

05 Doctor Who

06 High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

07 Never Have I Ever

08 Selling Sunset

09 Canada's Drag Race

10 Friday Night Dinner

 

11 The 100

12 The Stranger

13 AJ and the Queen

14 Emily in Paris

15 RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race

16 Too Hot to Handle

17 Ratched

18 13 Reasons Why

19 Schitt's Creek

20 RuPaul's Drag Race

 

21 Love Island USA

22 Strictly Come Dancing

23 The Good Place

24 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

25 The Politician

26 Ackley Bridge

27 Derry Girls

28 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars

29 Little Mix: The Search

30 Hollyoaks

 

31 Julie and the Phantoms

32 Grace & Frankie

33 BoJack Horseman

34 The Vicar of Dibley

35 Hunted

36 Dash & Lily

37 The Great British Bake Off

38 Next in Fashion

39 Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich

40 Nailed It!

 

Next, time for the music countdowns to begin as we move onto my top 5 EPs of the year! :D

Top 5 EPs of 2020

 

 

01 Johnny Orlando - It's Never Really Over

02 Troye Sivan - In a Dream

03 Ruel - Bright Lights, Red Eyes

04 Shan Ako - Brave Heart

05 JC Stewart - When the Light Hits the Room

 

Down to business now, and here are my top five EPs of 2020! Top of the list is Johnny Orlando with his second EP It's Never Really Over. Including his singles Phobias, See You and Everybody Wants You, the EP was already poised to be fantastic, but with new songs Adelaide and Flaws added in too, it took it to a new level. Both songs are incredible and make the whole project near perfect. Troye Sivan just misses out on the top spot with his In a Dream EP, including Take Yourself Home, Easy and Rager teenager!. The EP is brilliant, with almost every song being a moment and a great continuation for Troye on the back of his second album Bloom. Ruel comes in third place with his latest EP - not my personal favourite of his (the Free Time EP is his best work to date), but it has given us fantastic singles like as long as you care and say it over. X Factor alum Shan Ako makes it onto the list with her debut EP Brave Heart, featuring the title track (a BJSC entry of mine that obviously DNQ'd x), and three other tracks that are very much the style you'd expect from her, but all very beautiful. Finally, JC Stewart's When the Light Hits the Room completes the top five, a fantastic EP from him just ahead of his brand new single which is released TONIGHT (the excitement is real)!

I haven't heard any of those EPs unfortunately, interestingly enough I discovered Brave Heart outside of BJSC and didn't realise it had been sent until I was looking through the songs in TBO! It's a lovely song, really enjoy piano tracks like that and her vocals are great.

I haven't heard any of those EPs unfortunately, interestingly enough I discovered Brave Heart outside of BJSC and didn't realise it had been sent until I was looking through the songs in TBO! It's a lovely song, really enjoy piano tracks like that and her vocals are great.

Glad you like Brave Heart, Pete! It really is a stunning song :wub: The rest of the EP is pretty much more of the same if you fancy checking it out!

 

Thanks for commenting! ^_^

Top 40 Albums of 2020

 

 

31 Ariana Grande - Positions

32 Amy MacDonald - The Human Demands

33 Tom Gregory - Heaven in a World So Cold

34 Gabrielle Aplin - Dear Happy

35 Paloma Faith - Infinite Things

36 Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts

37 Rhys Lewis - Things I Chose to Remember

38 Trevor Daniel - Nicotine

39 Will Jay - Perfectionist

40 Justin Bieber - Changes

 

Onto my top 40 albums of 2020 now, and a few big names in this first section too. Ariana Grande returned with new album Positions after what seemed like a very short time away, but alas she still managed to deliver a solid bunch of songs - safety net, the title track and off the table being among the highlights on that. Amy MacDonald's album The Human Demands isn't quite up there with her best, but it's still very her, and with repeated listens it continues to grow. After success in my singles chart with his single Fingertips and a couple of other songs and collaborations, Tom Gregory's album spent a few weeks in the chart, while Gabrielle Aplin's album Dear Happy didn't perform quite as well as her debut English Rain. Paloma Faith's latest album Infinite Things was a pleasant listen, Miley Cyrus came back to us with a glorious album led by Midnight Sky and her Dua Lipa collaboration Prisoner, and Rhys Lewis' album Things I Chose to Remember packed a lot of his already-released songs together finally, and is a great listen. Trevor Daniel's album Nicotine was quite the surprise - I gave it a listen after hearing a couple of his songs and it was great! After following Will Jay for some time, when he released his album Perfectionist, it spent a few weeks in my album chart and even went to #1 but sadly I haven't felt the urge to back to it a lot, despite it being packed with many great tracks. Finally, Justin Bieber's Changes definitely underperformed in my album chart, however it's not bad by any means. One I've been appreciating more with repeated listens.

GODbrielle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doctor Who not even top 4, u mess xx

 

Bieber a bit of a disappointment for both of us in the end :(

GODbrielle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you approve *.*

 

Doctor Who not even top 4, u mess xx

 

Bieber a bit of a disappointment for both of us in the end :(

it was lucky to make top 5 tbh xx

 

here's hoping the start of this new era brings us an album of the same calibre as Purpose! :wub:

 

Thanks for commenting both! ^_^

Top 40 Albums of 2020

 

 

21 Katy Perry - Smile

22 Aitch - Polaris

23 Selena Gomez - Rare

24 Declan McKenna - Zeros

25 LANY - mama's boy

26 Josef Salvat - modern anxiety

27 iann dior - I'm Gone

28 Reed Deming - Second Life

29 Keiynan Lonsdale - Rainbow Boy

30 Tori Kelly - A Tori Kelly Christmas

 

Katy Perry leads the next section with her album Smile - an album that was destined to underperform the moment it was announced. Daisies keeps things afloat with other highlights like Never Really Over and Only Love (my favourite album track), but sadly it seems the world just isn't here for Katy right now. Aitch's second outing Polaris made a splash earlier in the year, a great follow up to his water-inspired debut. Selena Gomez came back to us with Rare at the very beginning of 2020, with some amazing songs on it, but falling pretty rapidly down my chart and never to be seen again. Declan McKenna's sophomore album Zeros was a surprise for me. I wasn't massive on his first album, but this is amazing with so many great songs. LANY and Josef Salvat also appear in this section - their albums, mama's boy and modern anxiety, respectively, have so much to enjoy on them. iann dior's making a name for himself in my chart too with recent single Holding On becoming a top 5 hit for him, however I went back and listened to I'm Gone and it's a great album - excited for more from him in 2021. Reed Deming and Keiynan Lonsdale also appear - both albums were pretty impressive, while Tori Kelly completes this section with her Christmas album, featuring amazing original song 25th that was a highlight of the festive period for me, as well as some inspired, beautiful covers.

Reed below Aitch?

Obviously

Top 40 Albums of 2020

 

 

11 The Vamps - Cherry Blossom

12 Conan Gray - Kid Krow

13 Grant Knoche - COLOR ME BLUE

14 New Hope Club - New Hope Club

15 The Aces - Under My Influence

16 Cameron Dallas - Dear Scarlett

17 Halsey - MANIC

18 Luca Hänni - 110 Karat

19 Kesha - High Road

20 Niall Horan - Heartbreak Weather

 

Just shy of a place in the top 10 is The Vamps' fifth album Cherry Blossom, released in October including the singles Married in Vegas and Better. The latter has become one of my favourites by them, and the whole album is full of great songs that have continued to grow with more listens. Conan Gray's debut album Kid Krow was a great soundtrack for the year, with songs like The Story, Heather, Wish You Were Sober and Maniac all being moments. Grant Knoche appeared on my radar after hearing a couple of standalone songs of his, and then he released COLOR ME BLUE which is basically amazing song after amazing song, with a lot of them ending up in my personal chart. New Hope Club's self-titled album didn't stick around for long after becoming a top 5 for them in my album chart, however it has spawned some favourites for me, with single Worse and album track Why Oh Why. Following one of Cor Lupus' BJSC entries, The Aces released their album Under My Influence and it went to #1 in my album chart, with lots of great songs on it, and after a period of not releasing a lot of music since his single Why Haven't I Met You?, Cameron Dallas came back to us with Dear Scarlett, an album very different in sound to the aforementioned single, but with many great tracks, including Secrets, Used to Me and Stay the Night among others. Halsey surprised me at the beginning of the year with MANIC - I'd always been a bit anti-Halsey, but this album was really something special. Lots of goodness on it! Eurovision alum Luca Hänni released his album 110 Karat towards the end of the year, with lots of great songs on it, and one of few foreign-language albums that I've listened to in full and enjoyed from start to finish. Kesha blew me away with High Road, releasing an album quite different to her previous ones, but nonetheless still as impressive, and Niall Horan's second solo album Heartbreak Weather gave us progression in sound, but still reminded us why we loved Flicker so much too. No Judgement, Black and White and Put a Little Love on Me being among my highlights.