I obviously watch a lot of TV, but in this day and age there’s so many great shows spread across so many platforms that it’s harder than ever to keep up (see below for my list of shows that I didn’t have time for). With that in mind, it’s great that we’re starting to see a few trends that make things a bit easier.

For one, the half hour drama is back! Shows like GLOW and Homecoming have big storylines and real stakes but in a 30 minute package that is way easier to digest.

Another thing I really appreciate is lower episode counts per season. When I was a kid, 22 episodes per year seemed to be the standard for any show, whether cop drama or sitcom. Then when TV really started getting good in the 2000’s, the 13 episode season took over. These days lots of good shows clock in at 8 or 10, even on broadcast networks. Not only does it make it easier to watch more things, I think it improves storytelling by reducing bloat and letting writers focus on core strengths without a lot of stalling for time. It’s rare to find a show that can sustain a great story over 13 hour-long episodes. That’s too much story!

Another thing I love to see is final seasons that are planned by the writers in advance rather than based on when the ratings start to droop. A decade ago you saw this with Lost which got immensely better once an end date was decided on. More recently you see it with Game of Thrones which also improved a lot once the wheel-spinning ended and the writers started to wrap shit up. I’d love to see more shows plan out stories with a beginning, middle, and ending across 3-5 seasons. Six is almost always too long (even my #1 show below had some draggy middle seasons).

Which brings up my final positive trend – the miniseries! These used to be big in the 80’s but went away for a long time. Now they’re back in a big way and proving that maybe one season in the best length for a TV show. I don’t actually have a miniseries in the top 10 this year but my honorable mentions are crammed with them.

Speaking of which, here’s the list:

1. The Americans. I hate being predictable and I hate writing again about a show that’s been my #1 or #2 several times. (Fun fact, I’ve only picked two different shows as my #1 in the last five years of lists – at least I’m consistent). I’d prefer to write about some exciting new shows but I can’t deny that the final season of the Americans was the most flawlessly directed, acted, and written season of television in 2018 and compelling from start to finish. The final episode stabbed me in the heart multiple times and wrapped up the six season saga of the Jennings family to absolute perfection. Dasvidaniya, comrades.
2. Bojack Horseman. Being a hysterically funny animated talking-animal show, Bojack doesn’t typically get recognized as being a great drama. But it’s often painfully sad and never without a true emotional core. Bojack waded into the #MeToo movement with characteristic insight and no other show felt so relevant and essential.
3. Killing Eve. Finally a new show to talk about! Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, this tale of the twisted bond between an assassin and the intelligence analyst trying to track her down was one of the most compulsively watchable shows of the year.
4. Atlanta. The Atlanta cast seemed to be everywhere this year, with Donald Glover co-starring in a Star Wars movie and his costars Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz popping up in many of the year’s best films. I guess some casting directors like Atlanta as much as I do.
5. The Good Place. Still can’t believe there’s a twisty, ultra-serialized high-concept comedy about the afterlife and it’s airing on NBC of all places. Broadcast lives!
6. Barry. Yay, another new show! This seems to be the year of the Contract Killer Comedy, but it’s hard to complain when the shows are as good as this. Barry follows Bill Hader as a hit man who decides to get out of the life and become an actor. Like many of the great shows on this list, it wrestles with questions of whether people who do terrible things can ever truly leave them behind. It’s also funny as hell, particularly the Chechen gangster characters. I do think we’re good on hitmen comedies but I’m sure some network is working on a Grosse Pointe Blank reboot.
7. American Vandal. Who is the Turd Burglar? The mockumentary send-up of true crime shows manages to perfectly satirize Making a Murderer while also taking a deep look at the world of high school students and how our quick judgments about each other can cause a lot of pain. Still mad that this got cancelled (on Netflix of all places! They don’t cancel anything!).
8. GLOW. I love the “gang comes together to put on a show” vibe you get on GLOW. With The Americans off the air, Zoya the Destroya is my new favorite Russian.
9. The Deuce. David Simon, creator of The Wire, heads up a murderer’s row of writers bringing 1970’s New York to life. Sure, it’s about porn, but really it’s about a city and a cast of characters struggling against the roles they’re forced to play.
10. Better Call Saul. I suppose as long as Vince Gilligan is making TV shows I’m going to keep sticking them in my top ten lists. I do think this show suffers from being a prequel to another show (I hate knowing how Jimmy’s story ends) but the stellar cast and direction make this one can’t-miss television.

Honorable Mentions (in rough ranking order): The End of the F***ing World, Detroiters, Maniac, Succession, Counterpart, Dietland, Brockmire, Strike, Sharp Objects, The Sinner, Patrick Melrose, Howard’s End, Vida, Cardinal, Aggretsuko, Homecoming, The Looming Tower, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, LA to Vegas, Strike Back, iZombie, Silicon Valley, Forever.

Cancelled Before Their Time: Pour one out for American Vandal, Detroiters, Dietland, LA to Vegas, The Joel McHale Show, Lady Dynamite, Another Period.

Haven’t Watched (or Finished Watching) Yet: Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Kidding, Lodge 49, The Little Drummer Girl, My Brilliant Friend, The Venture Bros, Doctor Who, Sneaky Pete, Jessica Jones, Orange is the New Black, Escape at Dannemora, The First, The Romanoffs, Bodyguard, Star Trek: Discovery, Big Mouth, The Good Fight. My DVR doth overflow.

Worst of 2018: I somehow watched five episodes of NBC’s Reverie because I think the concept of a virtual reality show is really cool, and I like star Sarah Shahi. That’s time I’ll never get back.