Ranking the 5 Television Series of 2016

I technically watched Wolf Hall this year but it was a 2015 miniseries, plus I'm also covering Sir Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and probably Claire Foy at a later date so for the timebeing I'll be looking at The Night Manager, Stranger Things, American Crime Story: The People v.s. O.J. Simpson, 11.22.63 and The Night Of.

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I hate to rank all of these performances because they're really all at the very least, very, very strong.

5. Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager

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Hiddleston I rank last even though he gave a rather excellent performance, and I hate that this implies I disparage his performance in any regard. He gives a compelling portrayal of the undercover agent, effectively conveying the strong reactionary moments he needs to make an impact to Jonathan Pine's plight for justice against Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), also adding some of that characteristic Hiddleston charm and wit to the role. I'd say the character itself isn't terribly interesting overall but Hiddleston makes him quite compelling, nevertheless.

4. Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown, The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

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Paulson and Brown, playing the two main prosecutors of the titular O.J., Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, give two very interestingly opposed performances in terms of style. Paulson gives one of the louder and more overtly stylized performances in the cast as the opinionated and outspoken Clark, and Darden gives by far the most subdued and understated performance. They work extremely well together in establishing themselves as the audience's avatar into the convoluted courtroom world, and Paulson has some knockout moments in showing Clark's resilience against the overwhelming odds the court throws in her way, while Brown's underplayed approach as the most sincere and kind character in the series is equally effective.

3. Finn Wolfhard and Winona Ryder, Stranger Things

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Wolfhard, outside of one or two slightly iffy moments, anchors the terrific sci-fi hybrid series that is Stranger Things extremely well as the ostensible protagonist (although if you ask me, it really is a ensemble piece through and through). Mike Wheeler could have easily been an overly cloying kid who'd get on the audience's nerves, but I find Wolfhard brings just the right amount of sweetness combined with naturalism in the role to make the character work, and he has some fantastic chemistry, in particular with his onscreen best friends and Millie Bobby Brown. Ryder, in probably the biggest role she's had in a project this popular in a long time, is a bit of a point of contention for many who watch the series. I personally think she's pitch-perfect, incredibly powerful in showing Joyce's overwhelming desire to find her son, and her love for him, and completely earns those big emotional payoff moments with her character.

2. John Turturro, The Night Of

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Turturro plays perhaps the most entertainingly uncouth role of the bunch here as the quirky lawyer John Stone who takes on Nasir 'Naz' Khan's (Riz Ahmed) seemingly unwinnable case. Turturro goes for a sort of slimy, opportunist approach here with his character, making no qualms about how he initially sees the case as an opportunity to get rich quick with lots of fame. What he adds to that is a strange sort of charm to Stone's antics that endear him to you, even if he is technically a bit reprehensible. He's then very strong in slowly transitioning his character to a more moralistic and genuine sort of man, with a terrific display in the courtroom in defence of his client, without ever losing the humorous edge to the character.

1. James Franco, 11.22.63

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My win though, has to go to, of all people, James Franco. James Franco. I've never been a huge fan of Franco - his performance in Spring Breakers ranks among the barren deeps of 'worst performances of the decade' - but when I have liked him, I've found it's in performance where he decides to let go of the mannerisms and weird James Dean-esque posturing, and give a more naturalistic, charismatic performance. As Jake Epping, or Jake Amberson as he's known as when he goes back into the past, Franco is a terrific avatar for the viewer into this strange situation Jake is thrown into, as he tries to uncover the conspiracy behind JFK's assasination and prevent it. Though most of the series is focused on what happens in the past, to other people whose lives Jake crosses, Franco is outstanding in providing realistic and heartfelt reactions to each of these moments, singlehandedly creating the most poignant or hilarious scenes in the series. Then on his own he creates quite the fascinating of a man thrown back in time and rather enjoying many aspects of it, but with the looming thought of what he must do haunting him. Plus, his chemistry with a certain someone else is out-of-this-world.

Secondary Avatars

5. Bill Camp, The Night Of

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Camp's a welcome presence whenever I see him anywhere, and though on the whole his work in The Night Of is a bit limited in terms of screentime, his performance and character as the chief police detective in charge of investigating the central murder, acts as an effective, counterpointed point of view which we can see how Naz could be considered to be guilty.

4. Chris Cooper and George MacKay, 11.22.63

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Cooper's screentime in 11.22.63 is actually quite limited, but he ends up making quite the impact, setting the tone for the series in the first episode impeccably as Jake's friend with a secret, Al, and his brief returns throughout are incredibly welcome as he reveals the toil of time travel. MacKay, increasingly becoming one of my favourite young actors working today, is really good too as Bill, Jake's friend from the 1960s who he lets in on his little secret. I found he had the right amount of chemistry and heartfelt humanity to his character and also, though the weakest writing of the series is what it does with his character in the last few episodes (largely due to the fact that he has a much more minor role in the novel), his final scene is brilliant.

3. Courtney B. Vance, The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

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Vance has the ultimate scene-stealing role in The People v.s. O.J. Simpson as the one and only Johnny Cochrane. A larger-than-life figure to be sure, and Vance appropriately plays him as such. I'd say his character is the best-utlized one in the series as his purpose is very straightforward, to be the straightforward, ball-busting defence for O.J. that somehow gets him off. It's not written to be an extremely complex character, just a very entertaining one, and Vance certainly succeeds in that regard, particularly towards the end of the series as he increasingly gains the upper hand.

2. David Harbour, Stranger Things

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Harbour's performance as Chief of Police Hopper is terrific as he plays into the stereotypes of the lazy police chief, before gradually developing his character into the hero of the story. One of the strengths of Stranger Things is how it takes the expected 80s tropes of characters and takes them in unexpected directions. Harbour switches from the sardonic comedic relief to the anchoring hero of the series, successfully bringing together various elements of the show, with aplomb, and keeps up with the sometimes drastic turns the script requires of him.

1. Olivia Colman, The Night Manager

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I'd say the MVP of this lot is Colman, however, and it is a very tough choice. Colman plays what is usually the highlight of John le Carré stories, the recruiting agent Angela Burr - another example of this sort of character can also be found in another 2016 release, the film Our Kind of Traitor and Damian Lewis' excellent turn as MI6 investigator Hector. Colman intentionally has a bit of artifice in her potrayal of Burr's sunny personality and incisiveness in her investigations into Richard Roper, which is very entertainingly handled to be sure, but the highlight of her performance are the 'showy' scenes of the recruiting agent revealing their inner thoughts and feelings in private. They never feel like an opportunity to showboat, rather Colman handles this terrific moments where we get the essence of what compels Burr in her pursuit of justice, that feels so emotionally honest and earnt by her portrayal of the agent who will not stop at anything to do the right thing. She has fantastic chemistry with all cast members she interacts with, and carries her character's troubled but ultiamtely satisfying journey to its completion, brilliantly.

The Enigmas

3. Cuba Gooding Jr., The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

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The main flaw, and really the only major one, of this miniseries is that its most important performance is simply not up to scratch. I can like Cuba Gooding Jr., I like him in As Good as it Gets and...um, that's about it. Still, every role is an opportunity for an actor to reinvent himself, but Gooding Jr. just isn't O.J.. He simply isn't believable in terms of disappearing into the role which his co-stars all manage, to some extent, to do, and more importantly he fails to create that extreme charisma that Simpson was renowned for, or that enigmatic quality to this larger-than-life persona. His final scene is actually really good, but by then it's too late; it's a performance where you can see he's trying for something, but for myself at least it never really worked.

2 (tied). Riz Ahmed (The Night Of), Sarah Gadon (11.22.63), Hugh Laurie (The Night Manager)

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Hate to rank any of these performances, and in fact I won't go into too much detail about what role they play in their narratives, since part of the fun from the outset of each series is deciphering how they play into the grand sceheme of things. All three actors, who I'm big fans of anyway, give career-best work. Laurie technically does the least 'chameleonic' disappearing into his role, in fact I'd say he uses his usual onscreen persona as the 'charismatic Brit' and manipulates it into the ruthless, cunning yet still very human arms dealer Richard Roper. It's incredible how Laurie can play the character in such a charming and somewhat likable fashion then in a few seconds reveal the monstrous man lurking underneath.

Ahmed and Gadon both take on some very heavy lifting in terms of accents and physicality for their roles, and both are amazing at it. You'd think Ahmed was a New Yorker teen for real if you hadn't seen any of his previous work, in the same way you'd think Gadon came straight out of the 60s with that unique physicality and vibe she gives off, to their portrayals of an accused murderer Naz, and the delightful love interest Sadie. There's a very naturalistic style to both performances that's remarkable in itself, but even more so is how they use that style to give powerful performances. Ahmed gives an unforgettable portrayal of a conflicted, terrified young man gradually corrupted by prison life, while Gadon is luminous, luminous, luminous (that tricolon was entirely necessary) as the love of Jake Amberson's life.

1. Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things

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Great performance, one of my top 5 of the year so far, and I think I'll postpone to a later date to give more extended thoughts, but for now let me quote me previous thoughts on her performance:

Millie Bobby Brown is the youngest main actor on the show and also gives the best performance, while barely speaking a word for long stretches at a time as the 'weirdo', as Lucas insensitively puts it, the kids come into while looking for the missing Will. This sort of character can make or break a series, especially considering the huge backstory and context she has to carry on her shoulders as a mysterious girl who's spent her whole life as a lab experiment for a mysterious government agency. Her assimilation into a normal life with Mike in particular is great, and reminded me in a very good way of the equivalent scenes in Room. Like Jacob Tremblay in that film, Brown carries such weight in her depictions of her past and present traumas, and is extremely moving when those emotions come overtly out; and is utterly joyous in the moments where she finds hope and happiness in her friendship with the boys, with whom she all has great chemistry with, but particularly Wolfhard with who she has some utterly beautiful scenes that build up a tight bond that brings about the finale to a particularly impactful conclusion.

The Ensembles

5. The Night Of

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I rank The Night Of last not because it's supporting cast is weak - it's not, Michael Kenneth Williams, Peyman Moaadi and Amara Khan are quite strong - but its characters are intentionally more simplistic in nature. We don't really get to know them that well which makes sense, since the show is all about Stone and Naz.

4. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

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The People v.s. O.J. Simpson has a real mixed bag in terms of its cast; David Schwimmer is rather terrific as Robert Kardashian (and the scenes with his family are some rather cleverly inserted bits of satire), especially in his heavy lifting of the 'human' side of O.J. Simpson by Kardashian's relationship to the man, others like Bruce Greenwood, Kenneth Choi, and Nathan Lane are fine, and there's performances like John Travolta which has its fair share of good moments but also some downright terrible ones.
3. The Night Manager

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The Night Manager has a small ensemble overall, and everyone fulfils their roles more than adequately. Elizabeth Debicki is a particular highlight with her alluring and heartbreaking portrayal of Roper's troubled wife Jed, Tom Hollander does his usual thing as the toad-like and oddly charismatic Corky, and everyone else makes the right sort of impact in their smaller roles.

2. Stranger Things

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Stranger Things has a somewhat flawed supporting cast. There's characters like the kindhearted chef Benny I'd have liked to see more of, and others I'd have liked much less of like Steve Harrington's (Joe Keery) asshole friends. Its main supporting characters, however, in terms of the government adversaries led by Matthew Modine, the parents, the teenage duo of outcast Jonathan Byers (underrated Charlie Heaton) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), whose relationship I'm glad they didn't transition into a romance, and most importantly the missing Will Byers' best friends Mike, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb MacLaughlin), are all more than stellar.

1. 11.22.63

You'll never watch Transformers the same way again.

My favourite ensemble of the year though has to be 11.22.63. Everyone in the past and present settings are terrific, with particular highlights being Daniel Webber's uniquely pathetic and troubling portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald, Josh Duhmael's surprisingly effective turn as a terrifyingly abusive husband, Kevin J. O'Connor as a mysterious gentleman who keeps coming into Jake's path, Tonya Pinkin's moving portrayal of the school secretary Miss Mimi, the shattered elderly janitor Harry Dunning...all of them have a particular sort of role and style to play with in this terrific miniseries, and they all impressed me with how well they fulfilled them.

The Writing

11.22.63

The Night Manager

The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

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The writing of all these series are stellar, to say the least. So I'm not going to rank them. They're all terrifically written in their own ways.

The Direction

1. Stranger Things

2. 11.22.63

3. The Night Of

4. The Night Manager

5. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

An easy win to Stranger Things here as so much about the show is about the execution of tried-and-tested ideas in a fresh new context. Credit to the Duffer Brothers for taking the well-worn 80s tropes of films like E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and The Thing and finding fresh and innovative ways to deconstruct and pay homage to them visually. 11.22.63 does something similar in terms of its execution of a very modern-esque thriller with the languid backdrop of the 60s, infused with some good ol' conspiracy theory paranoia. It's effectively directed throughout, but the series does not rely on the direction as much as Stranger Things does. The other three series are all very well directed, not in a way that's unforgettably distinctive, but they tell their stories well, set up their characters well, and modulate their varying tones very well too.

Cinematography

1. Stranger Things

2. 11.22.63

3. The Night Of

4. The Night Manager

5. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

Again, Stranger Things has some downright brilliant sequences where the camera is excellently utilized; my immediate thoughts go to that unforgettable Christmas lights sequences with Joyce where the contrast of colours with the grimy background creates such an unforgettable image. I'm close to putting 11.22.63 over it though as that series has amazing cinematography as well, from its lens tinting that contrasts the various places and times Jake partakes in on his journey to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, and heart-pounding sequences towards the climax where the past pushes back against him. The Night Of has some particularly nifty tricks up its sleeves, particularly in the prison sequences where the atmospheric lighting conveys the gradually dissapating nature of Naz's innocence, and The Night Manager has some beautiful shots of luxurious areas that are straightforward but effective in suggesting the glamour of Richard Roper's lifestyle. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson, fitting for a mostly courtroom drama, is mostly workmanlike in this regard, but when it has little flourishes it does them well.

Set Design

1. 11.22.63

2. Stranger Things

3. The Night Manager

4. The Night Of

5. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

Again, all the sets suit their purposes, some more so than others. The set design of 11.22.63 is of course, particularly superlative in its recreation of that very particular sort of environment Jake Amberson undertakes his investigations in, from small-town Jodie to the larger city of Dallas. Stranger Things and The Night Manager are also excellent in this regard as they create such a throwback feel to their contemporary settings just by the subtly stylistic touches they put to their respective environments. The Night Of and The People v.s. O.J. Simpson don't really require exquisite sets, and thus their set designs are far more simple and straightforward, never bad though.

Costume Design

1. Stranger Things

2. The Night Manager

3. 11.22.63

4. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

5. The Night Of

Stranger Things has unforgettable costumes in the subtlest sort of fashion. It makes use of very everyday sorts of clothes (and in some cases, wigs), and combines them to create characters who visually imprint themselves into your mind from the outset. Particular credit to whoever thought up Eleven's disguise, and Matthew Modine's creepy David Cronenberg meets Steve Martin getup. 11.22.63 and The Night Manager have very impressive resumes of costumes to both their names, with particular highlights of the former going to its subtle variations on the 'gentlemanly' attire of the 1960s depending on the character, and for The Night Manager essentially the whole of Debicki and Hiddelston's wardrobes (though credit to the actors too for pulling every sort of fashionable look off). The People v.s. O.J. Simpson has a mixed bag of makeup and costume work, the work done on Travolta (if it was makeup at all) is a bit poor, but Sarah Paulson's wig and the general costuming works very well in helping the actors disappear into their characters. The Night Of is standard in this regard, nor does it need to be anything more than that.

Score

1. 11.22.63

2. The Night Manager

3. Stranger Things

4. The Night Of

5. The People v.s. O.J. Simpson

I'll admit none of these have a strikingly memorable score. But they're all good, atmospheric musical pieces. 11.22.63's soundtrack, as is typical for Stephen King, is incredibly crucial to maintaining the series very particular sort of vibe, and its final song, Sam Cooke's 'Nothing Can Change this Love', being rather exceptional in creating a both heartwarming and heartbreaking conclusion to a great series. 11.22.63 and Stranger Things are effective in using tense 'thriller' music in the required scenes but also 'emotional' music when things turn more heartfelt, The Night Of uses its soundtrack sparingly but effectively, particularly in its opening and final episodes, and though I can't remember the soundtrack to The People v.s. O.J. Simpson all that well, it must've been fine.

Conclusion:

I'd wholeheartedly recommend all of these television series. They're good in different ways, if I had to rank them I'd go,

1. 11.22.63

2. Stranger Things

3. The Night Manager

4. The Night Of

5. American Crime Story: The People v.s. O.J. Simpson


But they top two are just about equally marvellous, The Night Manager is a terrific miniseries, The Night Of a very solid one I'm greatly anticipating the second season of, and American Crime Story shows a great deal of promise for the future.

Next on my list: Westworld, The Crown, Daredevil, Atlanta, and yeah of course I need to get down to House of Cards...