While 2016 might have brought with it an unusual sense of despondency—especially in global politics—it also delivered good cheer from an unexpected source: television shows have been thriving internationally. For the first time in recent memory, the number of memorable new shows this year far outstripped the number of new films released.
Some fear this embarrassment of riches on television cannot be sustained. A recent study by FX, an American cable channel, revealed that the number of shows in the US increased by 94 per cent from 2009 to 2015. This growth is now being driven largely by streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Video, all of which have invested heavily in producing original content.Indian viewers, of course, could barely be less pleased — after all, both Netflix and Amazon Video arrived this year. Even as we rejoice and look forward to more in 2017, here’s a look at some shows that captivated us in 2016:
It is hard to believe David Attenborough is 90. His distinct voice — with its signature crackle — permeates the second coming of BBC’s Planet Earth. It’s been ten years since the last edition enthralled viewers. Much has changed in the world since then, Attenborough informs us. It is much more fragile; much more in need of appreciation and conservation. Planet Earth II goes beyond the previous show—which itself had gone far beyond anything that came before it — in order to show us the magnificence of the natural world. (It was filmed in three years by a camera crew of 22 in 40 countries.)
Snow Leopard - Uley, Ladakh, India
Across six episodes, steered by Attenborough’s authoritative narration, Planet Earth II shows us a planet of immense richness, and a heart-breaking uncertain future. Frequently, we are chastened by the realisation that, in the struggle for survival, our planet can be unforgivingly cruel too.
The best television drama of the year is also the shortest. At about 162 minutes, which really is feature-film length, Fleabag is eminently viewable in a single dash. Phoebe Waller-Bridge must certainly be the find of the year. She directs, writes (the show is an adaption of her own play), and also acts as the eponymous Fleabag — an obnoxious, conflicted misfit who struggles to find her feet in London after a personal tragedy.
Deceptively simple, yet layered, Fleabag offers a wealth of vantage points. The gags are fresh, occasionally uncomfortable, and mostly dark in their humour. The digs come fast and furious — at straitjacketed family life; at familial relationships; at men who consider women beneath them; at women who accept infidelity, and find themselves paralysed by inaction. The most devastating indictment remains for Fleabag, who must make peace with her own horridness.
A news comedy show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is unique for being hosted by a woman. Right at the beginning of the first episode, Bee fields questions from men: “Is it hard breaking into the boys’ club? What does it feel like being a woman on a late night show?” These questions in themselves answer what a break from tradition this show is — and, indeed, how important.
Bee was the longest-tenured correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She brings her experience to her own show, but wears it lightly. The witty one-liners fly off her sleeve; more devastating are the moments of exposition taken from real news footage. Unlike other late night shows, Bee takes a hard look at women’s issues — from abortion laws and the long-suffering wives of politicians to Kansas’s dress code for women in the Senate (“your state’s got 99 problems, but a bitch ain’t one”).
Along with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Krysten Ritter (Marvel’s Jessica Jones), Bee makes up the triumvirate of excellence in television. If recent shows are any indication, gone are the days, hopefully, of women playing second fiddle, or, at best, one of an ensemble. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which shares the studio with the show, at last has a worthy, and necessary, compatriot.
It’s likely that half-way into the first episode of Atlanta, viewers might — with some guilt — note that it’s very hard to spot a single white character in the show. By the end of the first season, that feeling becomes a distant memory, and one revels in the feeling of having watched something quite original and edifying. Atlanta is a perceptive look at the struggles of two African-American rappers to make it in America. It wears its identity lightly but never turns away from issues that matter—police brutality, internet trolling, mental illness and the never-ending quest for love.
Here’s an exercise: try thinking of the most popular shows of the last twenty years. Chosen at random, one would arrive at perhaps the following: Seinfeld, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, The West Wing, How I Met Your Mother. Atlanta holds its own against the best, and is another nail in the coffin for TV shows run by white men. What’s more, it’s written and directed by Donald Glover, who plays one of the two leads. Watch out for him in next year’s Spiderman: Homecoming, and the under-production Han Solo Star Wars film.
Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie star in a six-episode cat-and-mouse thriller — an adaptation of John le Carre’s 1993 novel of the same name. It is a showcase for both men’s considerable acting talents and should win them new admirers. The basic plot is trite (seeking revenge for the death of a loved one by infiltrating an arms dealer’s inner circle) and has seen multiple iterations over the years. But sharp, edge-of-the-seat writing, gorgeous camera-work and the two leading men elevate the source material.
Hiddleston, as the hurt lover, broods quietly, biding his time to pounce upon Laurie, the egregious arms dealer. Laurie, for his part, ensconced in his outrageously beautiful villa (or is it a fortress?) in Spain, perfects a swagger that accompanies a steel-cold heart.
Stranger Things, The Crown, Westworld, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, The Night Of