Today I bring you the second part of Vada’s top TV of 2014 and another diverse list awaits you.
Glue – Episode Eight
Glue was a sensational little British programme which aired recently, so if you’re reading this across the pond you may not be able to catch it.
It was billed as a crossover between Skins and Broadchurch, and boy was it. Its final episode nicely wrapped everything up by detailing the harrowing events of Cal’s murder and Eli’s plight when he realises all is lost.
The show featured stunning performances from all of its core car (minus Annie, who once more did very little). I highly doubt it will be, but I seriously hope a second series is commissioned.
The Simpsons – Brick Like Me
The Simpsons is another show which has dwindled in quality and yet still goes on. I don’t watch it religiously, but I do catch the milestone episodes. The show’s place on this list was a toss-up between ‘Brick Like Me’ and ‘Simpsorama’, both of which were brilliant.
But ‘Brick Like Me’ did something no other cartoon has managed to do, as far as I am aware. It changed the ante of the entire show and yet, to people who have played the Lego video games anyway, it all felt nicely familiar too. The animation was on top form, the storyline was brilliant, and it was genuinely funny, unlike most of the episodes nowadays.
True Blood – Thank You
As divisive as the finale of True Blood ultimately was, one cannot deny it packed a punch. It was certainly the best episode of the final run (even if the final run as a whole was a bit of a letdown in hindsight). The coffin scene and ‘suicide’ of Bill was by far the biggest shock of the night, but that wasn’t what had the fans outraged the most.
No, the fact that Sookie ended up with an unseen stranger fucked people off more, bizarrely. I’m still thankful that Lala survived (even if he had NOTHING to do in the final episode) and I’m still bummed that Tara got offed so early. That said finales are notoriously hard to pull off and there’s never going to be one to appease everybody, but for me True Blood came close to a satisfying conclusion. Not quite, but close. At least most people survived.
The show went out on a high in 2014… kinda.
Black Comedy (Adam Lowe)
Although this hasn’t screened in the UK, this ABC Indigenous show is making waves in Australia. It’s basically a comedy sketch show written entirely by Indigenous Australian writers and performers. It’s often very dark, sometimes very strange, but always very funny.
Because it doesn’t screen over here, and it’s a sketch show, I’ve not been watching episodes, as such. Instead I’ve been watching isolated sketches on YouTube and cherry picking the bits I think I want to see next.
My favourite characters are the Tiddas. ‘Tidda’ means ‘sister’ in the Indigenous languages. Here, they’re basically very competitive Aboriginal gay men.
Be warned: you may have to watch the first sketch a couple of times to settle into the lingo, as the characters use plenty of Indigenous Australian slang and speak very quickly. But they’re absolutely hilarious. See here:
Black Comedy is a little bit subversive (like Psychobitches, which I mentioned in Part 1 of this series), and plays with people’s discomfort at discussing issues about race. Such as in this teaser trailer:
BBC, if you’re reading this: please get this on our shores. I really love Black Comedy.
Glee – 100 / New Directions
Glee may be a travesty of what it once was, but it is perhaps my biggest guilty pleasure at the moment. Despite its diminishing quality, I still find myself watching every week. All I want is a happy ending for most of the characters whom I love.
That said, ‘100’ and ‘New Directions’ were a brilliant milestone and celebration for the series. They had everyone’s favourite characters returning – who didn’t love seeing Holly and April together? – a multitude of brilliant performances, and both Quinn and Puck and Brittany and Santana getting together. All together now… yey!
Originally posted on Vada Magazine on December 15th 2014. Original link: http://vadamagazine.com/15/12/2014/television/vadas-top-tv-2014-part-2
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