5 Best New TV Shows Of 2016 (So Far)

In the real world, 2016 has been spiralling out of control, like someone tripping over a banana skin in slow motion. Fortunately the television world has reliably given us the perfect place to stick our heads in the sand.

Since so many of these ‘Best of 2016 (so far)’ lists have been clogging up the web of late, Cultured Vultures decided we needed some of that sweet, sweet internet money as well. If you’ve been only half paying attention to the world of television for the last half year, these five shows will get you up to speed on the glossy world of the small screen. Next time your work colleagues start talking about what’s on the box, be ready to crush them with your superior viewing tastes.

 

1. Lucifer (Fox)

It was in its second or third episode – as Tom Ellis’s Lucifer continued to deliver every line as if he’d hidden a devious innuendo in each one – that I realised I was in love with this show. At first this comic book inspired version of the devil could look a little one note, but as the series pushed on it became clear what the writers were going for: this Lucifer is like an immortal child, living amongst humanity without ever really understanding us.

It’s an interesting twist, but it’s the inclusion of Lauren German (Chicago Fire) as Detective Chloe Decker that keeps the show on the straight and narrow. Ellis’s meandering Lucifer could easily become irritating without a verbal sparring partner and a new crime to solve each week. In fact, the chemistry between German and Ellis might remind some viewers of that between Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion in Castle. As one easy going cop show dies another is born.

 

2. Braindead (CBS)

To steal a phrase from Troy Barnes, what’s up with politics? Braindead, despite only having aired a handful of episodes to date, finds a place on this list for delivering both carnivorous political satire and high concept weirdness at the same time.

See, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) is Laurel, a new staffer on Capital Hill. The government is in meltdown as the Democrats and Republicans tear at each other’s throats. Oh, and tiny alien bugs are taking over people’s brains. They’ve infiltrated both political parties and are turning politicians into ideological zealots. There’s a distinct Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe here, as Laurel navigates the halls of Congress, and the sound of You Might Think by The Cars emanates from nearly every room.

What separates Braindead from other political satires, like Veep, are those scenes where its characters are caught in moments of utter pant-wetting absurdity. Searching your apartment for brain eating space bugs? Why not duct-tape two cardboard tumblers to your ears to stop them sneaking into your head?

 

3. Hap and Leonard (Sundance TV)

Hidden away on the US cable network Sundance TV, this one is easy to miss. Set in East Texas, Hap and Leonard follows the eponymous best friends in an extended criminal misadventure to find a lost cache of stolen money. It’s not a long series, with just six episodes, but if you’ve begun to miss Justified‘s subtle southern wit this is the closest you’ll get on current television.

Starring James Purfoy (The Following) and Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire) as long time friends in the uncertain 1980s, it doesn’t quite achieve greatness until the later of its six episodes. When it does though, the characters and their predicament feel all the more real – especially that of Hap’s ambiguous ex-wife, played in an understated turn by Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks.

Overall, the pacing could use some work, but the depth of the show’s central relationship is absorbing enough to earn a place on this list.

 

4. War & Peace (BBC)

Hands up if you went out and bought a copy of Leon Tolstoy’s novel after watching the BBC series in January? Okay. Hands up if you’ve actually started reading it?

Very much a one-and-done situation (Tolstoy never bothered penning a sequel) War & Peace did at least prove one thing when it aired at the start of the year: there’s still nobody who can do a costume drama quite like the BBC. Set against a perfect backdrop of lavish mansions and icy Russian battlefields, the story of Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova (Paul Dano and Lily James in stand out performances) had us hooked for weeks.

Very few costume dramas manage to balance a sense of tectonic historical shifts and still give its characters compelling personal journeys. War & Peace nailed it. As Russia’s war with Napoleon spiralled into turmoil, Natasha, Pierre and their friends actually made us care about the lives of the stinking rich. How did that happen?

 

5. Flowers (Channel 4)

Flowers broke my fragile little heart. Perhaps as it was advertised as a comedy it has failed at its main job, but the truth is Flowers might actually be the most powerful piece of television to air this year. Following the Flowers family in their rural home, it is a tale of a household hanging together out of sheer British repressive denial. Husband and father Maurice is introduced to us as he unsuccessfully tries to end his own life.

For six melancholy episodes this is his secret. His wife Deborah knows he has a problem and increasingly struggles to stay positive against her husband’s depression. Their two adult children, still living at home, also struggle with their own problems and complicate the lives of their parents. There’s something distinctly British on display here – to the point that Maurice’s daughter somehow manages to come out to him without ever actually saying that she is gay. It’s all in what’s not actually said.

Flawless performances from Olivia Coleman, Julian Barret and series scribe Will Sharpe (as the gay Japanese illustrator to Maurice’s children’s book author) lead to the most unflinching exploration of depression I’ve ever seen from a comedy.