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I enjoy doing these retrospectives on pop culture looking back in five-year increments I do early in every new year here at Vents. Of course, this is 2025, and that means my first year I am looking at is 2020. You know, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, at least it was a year where people were watching a lot of television.
On the other hand, new television was trickier to make. We were watching more television, but not necessarily new television. For example, I rewatched all of 3rd Rock from the Sun. Then, I bought the complete series of Newhart on DVD and watched it. Hey, both good shows! Newhart is actually very good! What about the shows of 2020, though?
There were a ton of new shows on 2020, but they were mostly forgotten reality shows and game shows. Stuff like Floor is Lava is maybe at the upper end of things. Remember Amy Schumer’s cooking show? There were a few notable shows, though. The biggest one, culturally, has to be Ted Lasso. That first season was a big pandemic watch. I thought that first season was so good…and the second was okay…and the third was rough. I’m not unusual in that, but it is the path my feelings took on that show. Once the Ted Lasso crew got to read their press clippings, things got rough.
Beyond that, the notable thing for me is that there were shows that hit CBS All-Access and DC Universe. Remember those? The world of streaming platforms. I think there were even some Quibi shows in the mix. Quibi!
Some shows moved to the newly-minted HBO Max, and also Peacock. Other notable shows ended. Ray Donovan is not top of the list, but it’s there. Some notable network shows ended. Notable network shows! The one I watched was The Good Place, a fine sitcom. There’s Arrow, Fresh Off the Boat, Hawaii 5-0, and Modern Family. Also, Schitt’s Creek. That’s another pandemic classic. Maybe that makes this a good place to end things.
