ILX's Best Television of 2020 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 29, 2021

Here is a link to the complete list of this year's nominated shows and YouTubes:
Nominate the Best TV/Web/Streaming Series of 2020 - Nominations Closing January 7
also here: https://pastebin.com/xfL6NjPk

Here's the 2019 winners:
Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2019

Fans of last year's poll will be happy to hear that Moka is back on board again to do images for the roll-out.

You can vote for as many as 25 shows but I AM ENCOURAGING YOU TO SUBMIT A BALLOT EVEN IF YOU’RE ONLY VOTING FOR THREE OR FOUR SHOWS… or even just one! We got over 50 votes for this poll in 2019 and, given our collective obsessive pandemic watch habits, I think we should be able to represent an even broader slice of the ILX audience. Can we get to 100 ballots? Lurkers are welcome!

I wanted to set this poll up so that both people who only watched a little television as well as massive media nerds like myself could have equal opportunity to play, so here is how voting will work:

If you want an unranked ballot, please note that when you submit it and I’ll give every show you nominate 8 points.

If you want a ranked ballot, please note that when you submit it and, regardless of how many shows you vote for, here’s how your ballot will be scored:

• Your #1 show gets 15 points.
• Your #2 show gets 15 points.
• Your #3 show gets 10 points.
• Your #4 show gets 10 points.
• Your #5 show gets 10 points.
• Your #6 to #10 shows get 5 points apiece.
• Your #11 to #20 shows get 3 points apiece.
• Your #21 to #25 shows get 1 point apiece.

And just to keep things interesting and to better measure our general enthusiasm for a show, 5 extra bonus points will be awarded for every five votes (ranked or unranked) for a nominee.

As much as humanly possible, please make your vote pertains only to seasons and episodes that were released in 2020.

OUR FIRST SIDE POLL PREMIERING THIS YEAR: It's not required to vote, but along with your poll vote, feel free to submit an unranked list of the five television or streaming series you liked best and saw for the first time this year that were NOT released in 2020 and we'll do a round-up of those as well.

Send your ballots to forksclovetofu at gmail.com

Voting ends on MIDNIGHT (US EST) on Friday, January 29 / Saturday, January 30. I'll aim to post the winners in the first week or two of February. In the meantime, please use this thread to ask questions and campaign on the shows you think deserve the win and I'll use it to drum up voters.

Guess I need to start watching some tv!

Great...my 2019 ballot of four has exploded to eight this year as I continue to catch up with the world.

Amazed I was able to stretch my ballot out to ten (I usually don't like to vote in anything polls that where I can't list at least ten things), but maybe I shouldn't be: I probably watched more new TV this year than any year in my adult life. I ranked my ballot, though in truth it was more like I had three shows I really loved, a sentimental vote, and then five more shows that I reasonably enjoyed, randomly ordered. Anyway, excited for this.

Yes, I know that 3 + 1 + 5 does not equal 10. I should have said six more shows that I reasonably enjoyed. Basically wanted to post to say that I voted anyway.

bumping for anyone who might've missed this over the weekend.

Also NB as I just got a ballot in with this question: if you do not specify if you want a ranked or unranked ballot, I'll treat it as unranked.

missed the other thread and this til now. ill submit a ballot.

three submitted so far.... 97 to go? Can i get some campaigners and some more voting commitments please?

I'll definitely be voting but expect to watch maybe one or two more shows on the list before voting

I'll be voting, forks, no worries.

i'm gonna assume "The Kingdom (Netflix)" refers to "Kingdom" the Korean zombie drama and not some other show about a kingdom. will vote!

yeah, season 2 was 2020 for Kingdom... which i thought was THE Kingdom but i'm wrong

I’ll be voting, but will be down to the wire! A lot of interesting shows nominated that I want to check out (going alphabetically I’m at “c”).

Also: I wish #1 was worth like 3x the points because The Boys is that good.

Kingdom stole its The from What We Do In Shadows

lol

I'll 100% be voting in this

I will certainly vote! Still time to watch a couple more shows before then.

For anyone who hasn't watched America's only journalist yet, please check out any All Gas No Brakes video!

Shit, nobody nominated Future Man season 3!

No nominations for Love Life or Emily in Paris surprised me! I didn't love either, but might throw them on my ballot as write-ins if that's allowed because they still provided necessary escapism.

anything that came out with at least three devoted 2020 episodes that didn't make last year's 77 is fair game but bear in mind that you're likely to be a minority voter.

i'd settle for ANY voters! Only 4 so far. Is the dream of 100 lost? How about 50?

my votes are as mighty as ten mens.

I forgot to nominate Westworld also. I mean, the show is not very good anymore but I still enjoy on an ooh shiny level

Because 2020 was roughly the length of seven normal years, I'd totally forgotten that Dispatches from Elsewhere was released last year (mostly pre-pandemic). They turfed out pretty hard with the ending but a lot of it was good.

oh god i really need to do a better job of checking this website, i missed nominations entirely D:

you're fine and welcome will

(also i voted!)

didn't really feel like shouting into the write-in void but philosophytube had another year of good videos!

Shit, nobody nominated Future Man season 3!

That was only last year!?!?

My ranked ballot's ready - do you want it numbered or unnumbered forks?

Numbered is good

Ta, voted

nine ballots! why not take this inauguration day and think about television? i know i am!

Just caught up on S3 of Corporate (the first episode of which was so, so good). Any other recommendations? There's a ton on this list I haven't heard of and I'm keen to fit a couple more things on my ballot. Dark comedies or chilling dramas especially welcome.

For my part, I'd suggest Dead to Me to anyone who didn't watch, or hasn't at all. Just a two-season investment and it's a great blend of introspective dialogue and kind of hysterical plot devices. Plus, Linda Cardellini is just the best.

Love her in Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men, will have to look into that.

tangent, you need to watch the dress up gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuePaFHcVFc

oh wow totally forgot about dead to me s2

Ranking is tricky this year. Some great shows had really off seasons (looking at you Noah Hawley grrr). Some shows I bet I'm the only person who votes for like Picard lol.

that's ten ballots. why not put yours in the post this morning!

Putting together my ballot now (but probably not sending for another week). I like fork's ranking system because I thought two shows last year were excellent, three shows very good, and then a bunch of other stuff ok

surprisingly, the side poll is quite difficult to narrow down to 5!

fyi the predominant feeling I get when I vote in these polls is that I watch too much fucking TV

dude, it was a pandemic year

tangent, you need to watch the dress up gang

Already on it from one of your former recommendations! Need more dark comedy recommendations - I'm currently watching nothing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA0Td89Xf7E

dress up gang gonna be top 3-5 range for me for sure.

i forget if you saw Brockmire? That's as dark as it gets. No baseball knowledge necessary.

Guess I know what I’m watching tonight

"comedy" shows that I watched from 2020 that I will rep for: All Gas No Brakes, Aunty Donna, Brockmire, Close Enough, Corporate, Desus and Mero, Dream Corp LLC, Dress Up Gang, Forky Asks a Question, Ghosts, High Maintenance, How To with John Wilson, Kim's Convenience, Last Week Tonight, Looney Tunes Cartoons, Mandy, Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, PEN15, Ramy, Rick and Morty, Search Party, Staged, Ted Lasso, Three Busy Debras, What We Do in Shadows, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Work in Progress

the cream of those would be AGNB, Brockmire, Corporate, D&M, Dress Up Gang, High Maintenance, How To, Looney Tunes, PEN15, Ramy, Staged, Ted Lasso, What We Do in Shadows, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Work in Progress.

Brockmire, Corporate, Ramy and Work in Progress are all incredible and have dark, dark hearts.

Thank you for the fine-tuned list! Lots of those on mine already but I'll see what I can get through before then. I watched the first season of Brockmire on your mentioning it, but didn't return for whatever reason, though I liked it enough (and baseball is the best). I will get around to it, though probably not before voting.

I probably don't need to do this here, but I just want to take a moment to rep for Action Button. Tim Rogers has been grinding his idiosyncratic critical lens for 20 years, and if you look through that lens, you will see an Aleph-like kaleidoscopic view of the history of video games. If you're put off by the length of his videos, a stranger on Youtube has kindly excerpted 8 minutes of him talking about Dark Souls, which I think is a useful microcosm of His Whole Deal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1cLzU2U5Nk

Which is to say nothing of his poignant-yet-ironic personal digressions, his being born stupid and never dying hungry, and so forth

Can I do a write in for Umbrella Academy somehow? it wasnt nommed but i'd honestly have put it in my 3-5 section if I'd realised.

forks, should I bother you with a correction to my supplemental ballot or nah? Because I stupidly left off the best 'new to me' show I saw last year. I mean I assume you aren't actually tallying votes for how many people first watched and became fans of eg Mork & Mindy in 2020 but just thought I'd check.

Voted! Man, I thought I watched more. Actually, I did watch more, but because I forgot to nominate a lot of it wasn't on here! What, nobody else was watching Beforeigners? (OK this came out in late 2019 on HBO Europe but only this Feb on HBO streaming in the US.)

i would strongly suggest that at this point (when the backend of the vote tabulation is fairly tricky) we hold off from trying to reorder ballots. Trayce, if you'd like to add something to the bottom, just email me back. OL, happy to add your rediscovered best-ofs to the master list.

Everyone apologizes for their list when they submit it for some reason! Be proud of your viewing habits, whether too much too little too trashy or too erudite! We are what we eat!

i'm assuming i have until tomorrow midnight to submit? i'm almost done my viewing list, but work blew up a few days ago and i am suddenly now dealing with vertigo, which fucking sucks like you wouldn't believe; but i hope to have a satisfactory list by tomorrow evening.

midnight tomorrow is fine. But all you other non-afflicted people should get these in tonight!

Enjoyed Beforeigners but think I voted for it last year xps

Add me to the list of would have voted for The Umbrella Academy if I'd remembered about it (and if it had been nominated)

Noted forks all good :)

I think I only saw four things, and one wasn't very good, but I sent a ballot with the other three!

Thanks!

And what about YOU?!?!! have YOU voted??!?!?!?!?

just voted

but what about YOU!?!!?!?!?!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKT3xxUjppI

funky 16 corners represent!

i voted!

BTW, if you have not received a note from me after receiving your ballot that means you either sent it today or i haven't seen it... so resend if you think i missed it!

Glad the Awkwafina show was nommed... near top of my ballot, so much funnier than I expected

i voted

as did I

Cracked 40! Can we get 20 more to put this up to 60?

imo if you keep the polls open until you wake tomorrow we will

Happy to vote again :)

1 vote apiece i'm afraid. But tell your friends either on another thread or those who lurk!

Also, everyone who has voted should have a note from me by now.

just voted - managed to get to 25 with a few things that weren't nominated - Sewing Bee & Better Things

so.... anyone else? I'm fine with Thermo sending in at midnight and I"m okay leaving this open for the night but I'd like to close in the morning.

I sent mine! Despite the vertigo!!

indeed you did! So we are at a total of 46... definitely enough to do a 77 but 7 less than last year. Any final takers before I put this to bed?

I just submitted a last-minute ballot.

takin' it!

Okay, closing it up. 47 total ballots with 162 shows receiving at least one vote.

Oh no oh no! I forgot!

Despite imago's repeated reminders... Going to fire one across now (or, in fifteen minutes) but completely understand if you can't accept. :(

Fucks sake forks, a bit of a warning wouldnt have gone amiss lad

I"m okay leaving this open for the night but I'd like to close in the morning.

It is 7am EST. I think forks should be able to accept haha

xp lol

okay, i took BOTH of the last minute ballots, so we're up to 49 ballots and 165 shows receiving at least one vote and a decent looking top 77 where we are out of single vote territory at #75 and every single #1 pick makes the countdown! Yay me for figuring out a way to make this balance where those boxes were ticked!

depending on moka's schedule, we can likely get this up the week after or two weeks after we finish the album poll in the upcoming week. then i'm done with this shit for awhile; it's a surprisingly time-consuming gig!

your effort is appreciated forks

moka's too

It isn't surprisingly! My god

But the effort is stupendous and I'm so grateful

lol I forgot this was happening

I've only now discovered a show going the last few years Id've nommed/voted for if I knew about it sooner called Superstore. By one of the Office writers, basically its what if The Office, but Walmart. I'd never heard of it.

Keep seeing that on my Netflix splash page - will check it out

Superstore is IMMENSELY FUNNY

And quite subversive! A lot of really good current worker's politics and a great representative cast.

Yeah, I've watched a few episodes and now I'm saving it up.

we're roughly on track for a next week rollout here btw

We're live!
ILX’s Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2020

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