Summer TV Winners & Losers (2018)
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WINNER: Animal Kingdom
Somewhere along the way, not only did Season 3 A) install a killer replacement for Nicky in teen executioner Mia, B) turn Shawn Hatosy's Pope into television's most sympathetic psycho and C) set the stage for a kickass Season 4, it did the unimaginable: It got us over Scott Speedman's exit. Baz who?
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WINNER: Big Brother
After a string of lackluster summers, the CBS reality series got its mojo back in Season 20 with the help of fun twists and fascinating in-house drama. The show has always been a reliable ratings success, but this year, it's also been deliciously fun to watch.
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WINNER: Castle Rock
With its unsettling, Stephen King-inspired horror drama, Hulu has proven once again that it can indeed hang with the big kids, crafting a riveting summer series that gets more compelling each week. Anchored by terrific performances from André Holland, Sissy Spacek and more, the anthology series earned a Season 2 renewal after just five episodes.
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WINNER: Detroiters
No, the Sam Richardson-Tim Robinson series isn't exactly a hot topic around the watercooler. But the offbeat comedy was even funnier in its second season, making it one of summer's hidden gems. (Did we mention it's one of our Peak TV Treasures?)
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LOSER: Fox
Can you name a single show the fourth network aired this summer? (Well, other than the one pictured.) We'll wait....
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WINNER: GLOW
Wrestling moves as intense as the emotions at play backstage. A polarizing near-kiss between Ruth and Sam. The Ruth/Debbie blowout that you knew would be epic but never dreamed would follow a deliberate ankle-breaking. The kidnapping song (not to mention the whole show-within-the-show episode). Yup, Season 2 was everything we could've hoped for.
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LOSER: Heathers
F— us gently with a chainsaw. As stylish and sharp-witted as Paramount Network's small-screen reboot of the big-screen cult classic was, the Cabler Formerly Known as Spike TV first postponed its premiere in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, then altogether chickened out on airing the black comedy's satirical depiction of teen-on-teen violence.
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LOSER: Insatiable
The controversy surrounding this blink-and-you-missed-absolutely-nothing Netflix comedy was actually the best thing that could have happened to it. Were it not for headlines about the show's alleged fat-shaming (among other grievances), it wouldn't be worth discussing at all.
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LOSER: The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards
Typically an abundant source of newsy nonsense, this year's annual salute to (mostly) music videos was a three-hour snoozefest, complete with lackluster performances and over-hyped appearances. When the biggest moment from your event is a botched tribute-but-"not a tribute" to Aretha Franklin, you know it's a fail.
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WINNER: Netflix
Sure, the streaming giant has made its presence known by announcing a new series, movie or nine-figure deal with an A-list showrunner every 15 minutes. But its true, "We have arrived" moment came when it ended HBO's 17-year streak of amassing the most Emmy nominations, by a score of 112 to 108.
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LOSER: Orange Is the New Black
Breakout star Danielle Brooks was sidelined for much of Season 6, with Taystee's trial treated as an afterthought. Instead, we got a Joe Caputo redemption arc, a trifecta of terrible new villains (Carol, Barb and a walking Boston accent known as Badison), a fantasy inmate league and... whatever the heck was going on between Gloria and Luschek.
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WINNER: Pose
What's not to love about FX's stylish, substantial salute to 1980s ballroom culture, complete with powerhouse performances and the largest cast of transgender actors in television history? OK, the ratings could have been better, but here's hoping word spreads ahead of the show's 2019 easily greenlit Season 2.
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WINNER: Series Finales
When it came time to wrap up their runs, The Originals, 12 Monkeys and The Fosters nailed it, leaving us fully satisfied, emotional and a little bit in awe. While we'll miss these three wildly different shows, we're happy that they were able to sign off with such beautiful goodbyes.
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WINNER: Sharp Objects
Led by a murderers' row of acting vets — including Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson and Chris Messina — and featuring a breakout performance from Eliza Scanlen, HBO's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel was completely captivating from the first frame. Combined with direction from Big Little Lies' Jean-Marc Vallée and clever, almost imperceptible editing choices, Sharp Objects was a harrowing, yet totally addictive, mystery.
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LOSER: Strange Angel
CBS All Access' attempt to launch a hit, by any measure, that's not a spinoff or based on a proven IP continues. Even the repeated touting of "sex magick!" couldn't land this odd period drama on anyone's radar.
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LOSER: Broadcast Dramas
Whereas past scripted summertime fare such as Zoo (with its wacky animal kingdom!) or Wayward Pines (what year is it?!) put up decent numbers as well as generated watercooler buzz, Reverie, Take Two and Salvation's sophomore run have struggled to spark much chatter/engagement.
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LOSER: The Affair
With its fourth season, the Showtime drama generated more buzz than it's had since Season 1 — but for all the wrong reasons. After Ruth Wilson's Alison was written off the show, the character's death led to an uncomfortable "he said/she said" between Wilson and the network, casting a pall over the final episodes of Season 4.
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LOSER: Trial & Error's Rollout Plan
This quirky comedy could have been properly cultivated as a perfectly off-season lark. Or, it could have been aired twice a week with little fanfare, leading out of game show reruns. Guess which path NBC chose?
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LOSER: UnREAL
Lifetime broke up with the series right before its final season, unceremoniously dumping it on Hulu. And after watching the show's crazy swan song, we understand why.
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WINNER: Yellowstone
Despite middling reviews, Paramount Network's first successful launch not only proved a crowdpleaser (earning an 85 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes), it emerged as the second-most watched basic cable drama of the summer, trailing only a little show called The Walking Dead. Season 2 was greenlit after just four airings.
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WINNER: Younger's #TeamCharles
No stranger to our annual list of summer victors, Younger scored yet another home run with its fifth season — particularly for fans of Charles and Liza, whose long-awaited first love scene was equal parts steamy and satisfying. We'll never hear Camila Cabello's "Never Be the Same" without having flashbacks. Wonderful, lengthy flashbacks.
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale
LOSER: Fledgling Talk/Variety Shows
Michelle Wolf, Robin Thede and even the proven entity that is Joel McHale can attest that networks and streamers alike don't cut unscripted fare as much slack as they used to.