3 Top New TV Shows of 2021
Each month in 2021, streaming giants and cable television produced a new hit series that drew huge fandoms and sparked online discussion. Loki and Midnight Mass, Star Wars Visions and The White Lotus, to name a few, attracted viewers from all walks of life. Escapism is a popular way to find comfort. They want to escape the devastation in their lives and share moments of joy with others through fiction and fandom.
Comic book lovers and newcomers are welcome. Watchers were able to compare weekly theories online with each other through compelling murder-mystery dramas. Squid Game, Lupin and other international shows were praised by viewers all over the world.
There were hundreds of new shows this year. It is impossible to narrow down the “best” titles on a list. This alphabetical list contains only twelve shows. Some may not have seen them in 2021 binge-watching. They were outstanding serialized media. It is impossible to be objective or complete. This list does include a few of this year’s most popular television shows.
1. Acapulco
Apple TV’s sensational, positive show Ted Lasso has been a hit with Apple TV viewers for over two years. Ted Lasso is a legend, but the Apple TV+ show Acapulco has the same upbeat vibe.
Acapulco, a half-hour comedy from the 1980s, is about a young man who gets his dream job as a cabanaboy to help pay for his mother’s eye surgery. Maximo (Enrique Arrizon), a 1984-born man, soon finds that he will have to question his values by working at Acapulco’s most extravagant, candy-colored resort. Maximo must decide between morality and money to satisfy the strange requests of tourists.
Acapulco blends English and Spanish dialogues to give readers a glimpse of how Hispanic immigrants are forced to change between English and Spanish to please English-speaking tourists. Acapulco’s white characters are stereotyped as “outsider vacations” – a funny subversion of white-centric TV tropes. The show is filled with pure joy. Beautiful aesthetics are provided by the Mexican setting and neon design elements. Maximo’s charming personality and efforts to build relationships, Memo’s (Fernando Carsa), antics as a laundromat boy, and his families’ funny, poignant B stories all make for a great show to binge-watch.
2. Blindspotting
Some shows push the boundaries of filmmaking and elevate its visual presentation beyond what viewers expect from a television program. Blindspotting streams on Starz and extends its reach beyond those limits. Blindspotting creates spaces for important conversations through interpretive dance, music, spoken word monologues, and music.
The spin-off sequel show is directed by Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. It takes place six months following the events in the original 2018 Casal/Diggs film. The story shifts from the characters of Casal and Diggs in Blindspotting (2018) to Miles (Rafael Casal), who is now with Ashley Rose (Jasmine Cephas Jones). Miles is taken into custody and imprisoned at the show’s beginning. Ashley moves in to Miles’ mother Reynie (Helen Hunt), full-time, after being forced into financial stress. Ashley is constantly at odds with Miles’ younger half sister and sex worker Trish (Jaylen Baron) and attempts to stop Sean from learning about his father’s imprisonment.
Blindspotting can be used as a comedy or a drama. Every scene is filled with passion and conflicting emotions. Ashley resents Reynie’s parenting ideas and Trish’s anger at Ashley’s supposed betrayal her Black identity. Janelle, her neighbor and best friend (Candace Nicholas–Lippman), and Earl (Benjamin Earl Turner), her sweet roommate offer comic relief and help to ease tension. Jones’ acting and spoken words are hypnotizing in her performance of Ashley. So is the incredible dancers who interpret Ashley’s chaotic thoughts.
This show is about Oakland and its residents. It’s about Black Americans in America, ambition, prison and, most importantly, about a woman’s struggle for acceptance as both a mother, and as an individual.
3. Invincible
Comics fans have waited for years for an adaptation of Invincible on screen. This huge comic series was written by Cory Walker and Robert Kirkman. It spanned fifteen years. Invincible was finally made a weekly TV show on Amazon Prime in the early 2021. Invincible, an adult animated superhero sci fi show, surpassed its source material in certain areas. It modernized outdated tropes while positively avoiding the harmful stereotypes that were perpetuated in the comics.
Invincible is the story of Mark Grayson (17 years old) and his bizarre transformation into a superhero. Mark is the son of Omni-Man, an alien superhero from Earth. He tries to live up his father’s legacy while keeping his identity secret from his high school classmates. Mark’s life is changed when he discovers that he’s not the only one in his family hiding a terrible secret.
Invincible has an extraordinary bravado and faithfully adapts its bloody, dramatic source material. With the same stunning, visceral effect, Invincible interprets comic artists Walker & Ottley’s gratuitous portrayal of gore onscreen. The show featured a lot of superhero content for 2021. But Invincible’s stellar voice cast, nuanced commentary about superheroes and jaw-dropping plot twists and the dramatic violence elevated it to a top-notch show.
