2018 TV Wrap Up
Jan. 2nd, 2019 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryIn 2018 I finally started watching TV by myself. That's something I’d been reluctant to do for years, possibly out of a misplaced snobiness, I don’t know why really. But having not watched much TV until recently means there’s been a lot of good stuff for me to catch up on so I’ve been really enjoying the process. Here’s a run down of all the shows I watched this year in roughly chronological order. I’m including links to any write ups I did during the year -- a few of these are proper reviews but others are critical looks at topics that caught my attention.
Show: Great British Bake Off (GBBO)
Other thoughts: This the first show I watched by myself is very long time. It's very relaxing show with lots of cake and people helping each other so it was good way to ease myself into TV watching.
Show: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Write Up:Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Thoughts and Feelings (Yes for some reason I only wrote about season 4 even though now we are in the middle of season 7)
Standout Episodes: “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, “The Measure of a Man”, “Lower Decks”, “Relics”, “Face of the Enemy”
Other thoughts: This is what R and I have been watching together. I’m enjoying the optimistic future, but still wish the women got to be awesome more often. Though Troi has gotten better since they started putting her in a standard uniform. I’m still really into all the random arts and crafts. And Data being baffled, baffled Data is the best Data.
Show:Star Trek: Discovery
Write Up:Star Trek:Discovery Themes and Continuity Star Trek: Discovery and Representation of Marginalized Groups
Standout Episodes: This really too much one solid arc for me to pick standouts
Other thoughts: Another thing I watched with R. We took a break between seasons 3 and 4 of TNG so that I could watch this before WisCon. I had mixed feelings about the show overall but I’m really into the female characters and am looking forward to having more of this soon. More Michael and Tilly please!
Show: Steven Universe
Write Up: Steven Universe
Standout Episodes: “Jail Break”, “Last one out of Beach City”, “Mindful Education”, “Reunited”
Other thoughts: This show has so many moms, I love it! I also love the worldbuilding -- both the mundane Beach City stuff and the magical gem stuff. And the way the show focuses on problem solving through talking to people.
Show: Avatar: the last Airbender
Write Up:Domestic Work in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Standout Episodes: ”Bitter Work”, “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, “Day of the Black Sun”, “The Firebending Masters”
Other thoughts: This was great! I’m glad I finally got around to watching it. I loved the food and built environment details but remain deeply confused about the geography. Also the characters in this are so great and I loved their found family/friendship. As I said in my write up it does a pretty good job of depicting domestic work as important.
Show: The Legend of Korra
Standout Episodes: “Beginnings Pt. 1 & 2”
Other thoughts: I’ve watched the first two season of this so far and I like it but not as much as I liked AtLA. I love seeing the world 70ish years latter and seeing how things have changed. But the show has some pacing and structural problems. Plus some really bad teen relationships that just set my teeth on edge. Still I really like a lot of the characters and I plan to get back to this and watch the second two seasons soon.
Show: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Standout Episodes: “Princess Prom” -- I just like seeing everyone get dressed up ok?
Other thoughts: This has so many awesome female characters! I love all the different princesses. And I’m really into Glimmer’s mom -- no surprises there. One of the main arcs of this first season is building an alliance between people with common interests which I so here for.
Show: Yuri!!! On Ice
Standout Episodes: 7, 10
Other thoughts: This really charming and the figure skating is so pretty! I wish it the queerness was bit more textual though. The subtext is through the roof but its it bit frustrating. Also I’m totally into the career switch/talking on caretaking role stuff that’s going on in this show and am a little sad that that aspect of the story didn’t get more attention. But mostly I'm am full of squee at how sweet this show is.
I’ve also watched a lot of kids TV with my child in 2018. They are still to young to really follow a complex plot so we’ve been sticking with stuff for little kids. They love Dora the Explorer which is okay but kinda forumatic --which is probably what the kid enjoys about it. My favorite kid’s show we watch together is probably Dinosaur Train about a family of dinosaurs who take a time traveling train all over the Mesozoic to learn about other dinosaurs. It does ok on female characters and does good job of presenting complex science to young viewers.
Given that almost everything on this list is animated I guess I quite like animation which isn't something I hadn't really thought about until recently. But it's nice to know that about myself now.
I have several more things I want to watch soonish. First I want to finish watching Korra and I also want to watch The Dragon Prince and Hilda. Maybe I'll try some live action shows too. And I want to get caught up with GBBO so I can talk to my officemates about it. R and I are almost done watching TNG and when we get done we plan to watch Voyager -- though we might take a short break between the two shows.
What TV did you enjoy in 2018? What do think I should be watching?
Show: Great British Bake Off (GBBO)
Other thoughts: This the first show I watched by myself is very long time. It's very relaxing show with lots of cake and people helping each other so it was good way to ease myself into TV watching.
Show: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Write Up:Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Thoughts and Feelings (Yes for some reason I only wrote about season 4 even though now we are in the middle of season 7)
Standout Episodes: “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, “The Measure of a Man”, “Lower Decks”, “Relics”, “Face of the Enemy”
Other thoughts: This is what R and I have been watching together. I’m enjoying the optimistic future, but still wish the women got to be awesome more often. Though Troi has gotten better since they started putting her in a standard uniform. I’m still really into all the random arts and crafts. And Data being baffled, baffled Data is the best Data.
Show:Star Trek: Discovery
Write Up:Star Trek:Discovery Themes and Continuity Star Trek: Discovery and Representation of Marginalized Groups
Standout Episodes: This really too much one solid arc for me to pick standouts
Other thoughts: Another thing I watched with R. We took a break between seasons 3 and 4 of TNG so that I could watch this before WisCon. I had mixed feelings about the show overall but I’m really into the female characters and am looking forward to having more of this soon. More Michael and Tilly please!
Show: Steven Universe
Write Up: Steven Universe
Standout Episodes: “Jail Break”, “Last one out of Beach City”, “Mindful Education”, “Reunited”
Other thoughts: This show has so many moms, I love it! I also love the worldbuilding -- both the mundane Beach City stuff and the magical gem stuff. And the way the show focuses on problem solving through talking to people.
Show: Avatar: the last Airbender
Write Up:Domestic Work in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Standout Episodes: ”Bitter Work”, “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, “Day of the Black Sun”, “The Firebending Masters”
Other thoughts: This was great! I’m glad I finally got around to watching it. I loved the food and built environment details but remain deeply confused about the geography. Also the characters in this are so great and I loved their found family/friendship. As I said in my write up it does a pretty good job of depicting domestic work as important.
Show: The Legend of Korra
Standout Episodes: “Beginnings Pt. 1 & 2”
Other thoughts: I’ve watched the first two season of this so far and I like it but not as much as I liked AtLA. I love seeing the world 70ish years latter and seeing how things have changed. But the show has some pacing and structural problems. Plus some really bad teen relationships that just set my teeth on edge. Still I really like a lot of the characters and I plan to get back to this and watch the second two seasons soon.
Show: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Standout Episodes: “Princess Prom” -- I just like seeing everyone get dressed up ok?
Other thoughts: This has so many awesome female characters! I love all the different princesses. And I’m really into Glimmer’s mom -- no surprises there. One of the main arcs of this first season is building an alliance between people with common interests which I so here for.
Show: Yuri!!! On Ice
Standout Episodes: 7, 10
Other thoughts: This really charming and the figure skating is so pretty! I wish it the queerness was bit more textual though. The subtext is through the roof but its it bit frustrating. Also I’m totally into the career switch/talking on caretaking role stuff that’s going on in this show and am a little sad that that aspect of the story didn’t get more attention. But mostly I'm am full of squee at how sweet this show is.
I’ve also watched a lot of kids TV with my child in 2018. They are still to young to really follow a complex plot so we’ve been sticking with stuff for little kids. They love Dora the Explorer which is okay but kinda forumatic --which is probably what the kid enjoys about it. My favorite kid’s show we watch together is probably Dinosaur Train about a family of dinosaurs who take a time traveling train all over the Mesozoic to learn about other dinosaurs. It does ok on female characters and does good job of presenting complex science to young viewers.
Given that almost everything on this list is animated I guess I quite like animation which isn't something I hadn't really thought about until recently. But it's nice to know that about myself now.
I have several more things I want to watch soonish. First I want to finish watching Korra and I also want to watch The Dragon Prince and Hilda. Maybe I'll try some live action shows too. And I want to get caught up with GBBO so I can talk to my officemates about it. R and I are almost done watching TNG and when we get done we plan to watch Voyager -- though we might take a short break between the two shows.
What TV did you enjoy in 2018? What do think I should be watching?
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Date: 2019-01-02 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 01:16 am (UTC)She-Ra definitely spoils us with its surfeit of lovable, strong female characters. I love everyone immensely and it's impossible to choose a favourite.
I know what you mean about the subtext in Yuri On Ice. On one hand, it's rather queer-friendly instead of queer-bait-y, but it still doesn't make things explicit. There's a fascinating article at
If you like animation, there's a lot more anime out there that might pique your interest? E.g. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: charming, heartwarming, and possibly even more queer than Yuri On Ice — it's basically a very heavily queer-coded show about lesbian moms raising a daughter. (And feelings, and negotiating relationships, and what it's like to live as a minority group.) There are a couple of problematic elements, but they mostly just feel like shoehorned-in anime fanservice. There's also Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, a period piece about art and queerness. And there seems to be a wave of recent shows about non-toxic/caretaking masculinity and being a dad, like Bunny Drop and Sweetness and Lightning. Those are a handful of my favourites from this year; feel free to ask if you want more detail or warnings!
no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 04:07 am (UTC)She Ra has so many great characters, and so many great relationships between women!
That link is really helpful context on queerness in YoI. Thanks.
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid sounds so up my alley! Heartwarming queer moms? Yes please! The other shows you mention also sound like things I might like. I basically haven't watched an amine since the early oughts (unless you count all the times I've shown my kid My Neighbor Totoro) I used to be friends with other people would I would watch anime with, but I've drifted away from them and also didn't watch a lot of visual media for years, but its definitely so I want to explore more now that I've been watching TV regularly.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 04:10 am (UTC)On the toddler side, my 2 boys and I enjoyed The Backyardigans. See if you can watch The Lady in Pink--includes Cyndi Lauper singing a song! Also Yo Gabba Gabba!, Team UmiZoomi, and Octonauts.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 10:42 pm (UTC)