Thanks to COVID, 2021 was the year of streaming. And media companies realized with so many captive eyeballs available (due to sheltering in place) that they needed to up their content game to capture those eyeballs. What we got was a ton of tv and streaming shows that rivaled motion pictures in visual quality and storytelling. Netflix doubled down on new content to retain their #1 spot online, Paramount, HBO, NBC, CBS and others entered the competition to streaming income, as well as Apple putting its best foot forward with excellent shows exclusively to their TV+ platform. My list could have easily been 20 shows. But I managed to get it down to a tight 10. So here’s my favorites list for 2021.
Television/Streaming Show of The Year
Everyone was talking about the epic space fantasy Dune finally being updated for 2021. But in my book, the Apple TV+ series Foundation did everything Dune tried to do, but better. An epic space opera, Foundation tells the story of various worlds and their struggle under the rule of a galactic empire, ruled by a bloodline of cloned emperors.
Great acting, great visuals and great long-form storytelling, this 10 episode season is just the right length to keep you engaged with little to no filler. A bunch of scattered story threads brilliant come together at the end, leaving you with a few directions to go for a second season. There isn’t much more I can say without spoiling it, so I’ll leave it at that. All-in-all, even with a few Marvel shows in this list I can honestly say Foundation was the biggest ‘must see’ streaming show of 2021 for me.
Best of the rest
