My Favorite Things of 2016: TV Shows
In 2016 I watched A LOT of TV! Even though I’ve had many binge watching sessions throughout the year, I’m still playing catch up with a lot of newer releases as well as older shows. A lot of shows were re-watches for me (ex. The Twilight Zone) and plus I have a horrible habit of starting and not finishing shows. There are quite a bit of shows that I have discussed on this blog, but here are my top favorites for 2016!
Good Doctor
The Good Doctor is a Korean Drama young man named Park Shi-On (played by actor Joo Won) who has savant syndrome and a developmental disability. His mental age is that of a 10-year-old, but he becomes a patricide surgeon. This show was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. I liked how the writers really focused on educating their audience about savant syndrome while mixing it with the elements of a medical drama. It has action, romance, and best of all the chemistry between the cast really shows on-screen.
Jane The Virgin: Season 1
Gina Rodriguez stars as Jane Villanueva, a working, religious young Latina virgin, who becomes pregnant after being artificially inseminated by mistake. This show is an excellent blend of drama and comedy! I finished the first season at the beginning of the year and the cliff-hanger alone left me wanting more. I need to watch Season Two asap!
Master of None
The series was created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, and stars Ansari in the lead role of Dev, a 30-year-old actor who attempts to make his way through life in New York City. When I heard Ansari, one of my new favorite comedians, was starring in/producing a Netflix series, I was throughoutly intrigued. Though the first season is short, I love the variety of topics it covers and how itputs a humorous spin on daily life. Hopefully the next season will come soon.
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo
Hands down the award for my K-drama pick of the year is Scarlet Heart:Ryeo! It’s a time-traveling/historical drama about a woman, Go Ha-jin (played by Lee Ji-eun), is transported back in time to Goryeo Dynasty. She wakes up in the year 941, in the body of Hae Soo and there, she encounters the many royal princes of the ruling Wang family. This drama was entertaining and very well written. While a lot of K-dramas stretch the plot to reach the episode quota, I felt that it was very well paced. Besides the fact that it made me cry my eyes out numerous times, I would definitely re-watch it again.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things gave me and many other viewers all the nolstalgic, geeky feels. This sci-fi drama follows the disappearance of a young boy, and the appearance of a telekinetic girl, who helps his friends in their search, while the boy’s older brother, his mother, and the town police chief start their own investigations.This show is a perfect mashup of the 80s and sci-fi! It’s got creepy creatures and many supernatural occurrences. The characters are fun and I like the way the overall plot flowed. The ending of season one leaves so many open questions so I’m curious to see what will happen in season two.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2
*sings catchy theme song* Kimmy is back in Season two of the series that follows a woman who is rescued from a doomsday cult and starts life over again in New York City. Though it was still laugh out loud hilarious, I enjoyed that season two really took the time to explore the main characters backgrounds on a deeper level. We see Kimmy continuing to be her goofy self, but also uncovering her memories of living in the bunker and what she missed out on during those years.
And that concludes the list My Favorite TV Shows of 2016! What are some of your favorite TV shows (new & old) that you loved in 2016? Comment below! 
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Awesome post! I’m planning on doing this post too sometime this week or next! It was so hard to pick because I watched some really good TV this year. Stranger Things will definitely appear on my list though :3
I also really liked Master of None and Jane the Virgin..
It is hard, for the next couple of weeks I’m planning to post my favorite movies, books, and music of 2016 and it’s so hard to choose/narrow down my list. You always have great recs Carolyn, I find myself adding a lot of the shows you discuss on your blog to my watch list. 🙂
Can’t wait to see them!! =)
And that’s so nice to hear!! :3 Most of the time outside of the blogging world, I recommend TV to my friends but they never end up watching them lol..
I have really be slacking on TV these past couple of months. I still haven’t starter stranger things or master of none… maybe this break will get me caught up! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome! Don’t feel too bad about not catching up with TV, I feel like there’s so much new content being released it’s impossible to watch everything.
I also have yet to start Stranger Things, but I’m looking forward to it over this holiday break. I’m excited for the new season of Sense 8, though, have you watched it?
No I haven’t! But Sense 8 is definitely on my to watch list. I hope you like Stranger Things 🙂
Me too! And I hope you enjoy Sense8 !(forgot to mention The Get-Down if you haven’t seen it yet)
Wonderful list! I also really loved the things S2 of Kimmy Schmidt did with her therapy and recovery — it’s rare for me to see therapy on television that doesn’t make me want to kick the writers in the shins, but Tina Fey as Kimmy’s therapist was terrific. I was so impressed that they showed the therapist being helpful and also made all those scenes really funny.
I think I maybe possibly enjoyed S1 better than S2? A scootch? Just because in S2 it felt sometimes like Tina Fey was settling scores with the internet — never a good luck. But on the other hand it was consistently hilarious, and the line about taking a silent face journey through the comments section has already gotten regular use around my place. :p
I agree! And I do like S1 more than S2 as well. But I’m so glad we’re getting to see more of Titus’ and Lillian’s lives as well. I wonder what S3 will bring since there is so much stuff happening in the plot. I think the writers are doing a excellent job, and I hope they keep the same format, but bring some new exciting stuff for the future!
Haha I see you’re a kdrama fan, too!! You should really watch Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. Even though the name is a bit weird, but the plot is just really awesome!! It’s so funny (it really is hilarious!!) and the sub-leads are all really hot (the main leads are cute, too, especially if you have watched Train to Busan *wink). It’s my really my favorite drama, and I recommend it to you. (Since you have watched Scarlet Heart, the dynastic parts in this drama, which is really just half an episode, would be fun for you to watch, too).
I keep hearing about Train to Busan from everyone! As soon as I can get access to it, I’ll definitely have to watch it! Guardian is still on my list as well, I’ve seen many trailers and it looks funny! 🙂
We have a lot of shared faves (but you seem to be able to access some interesting Korean stuff too) so now I’m very curious about Jane the Virgin. A show which caught me off guard was “Happy Valley” a BBC crime drama which is kinda slow and heavy on character but oy did it ever dig under my skin. I’ve just started The Get Down and Westworld but I’m enjoying them too. Hope you find lots more good stuff to watch in 2017. (And I’m terrible about starting and finishing series too. Just awful.)
I’ve heard about Happy Valley, but I haven’t watched it. The Get Down is most definitely in my Netflix queue. Hope you find good TV shows in 2017 as well! 🙂