117 Best Movies & Shows Released in 2019 (Page 5)

What if the 1960s space race never ended? For All Mankind imagines such a world; here, Russia's cosmonauts arrive on the moon first, the galaxy holds resources beyond belief, and global wars have expanded in stakes and scale. More than just the final frontier, outer space is now the focal point of warring nations hungry to capitalize and claim new assets. 

For All Mankind's out-of-this-world premise alone make it a thrilling watch, but you'll be glad to know that the show also feels intimate and affecting thanks to its fully fleshed-out characters. If you're looking for an epic but grounded story to lose yourself in, this is it. 

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Science Fiction, War & Politics

Actor: Casey Johnson, Casey W. Johnson, Coral Peña, Cynthy Wu, Edi Gathegi, Jodi Balfour, Joel Kinnaman, Krys Marshall, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Sonya Walger, Wrenn Schmidt

Rating: TV-MA

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend starts with a very familiar setup. A girl leaves town to follow a boy she loves, and along the way, she picks up a best friend who blindly supports her, a rival who gets in romance’s way, and a second guy who, little does she know, loves her for who she is. That girl, Rebecca Bunch (played by writer-creator Rachel Bloom), is our romcom hero, and she knows it. She views life as one big musical movie where she’s supposed to get the guy and live happily ever after. 

Except, in real life, things are never as simple—and people never as one-dimensional—as that. This confuses Rebecca, who then goes out of her way to craft the perfect happy ending, even if it means hurting people (including herself) along the way. 

In a series of wackily addictive songs, playfully subversive twists, and heart-aching breakthroughs, we join Rebecca as she learns to overcome her demons and live in the real world. Her journey to self-awareness and self-love can get frustratingly slow and surprisingly bleak, but it’s also deeply comforting and reassuring. 

Watch this if you’re interested in subversive takes on love, affecting female friendships, genuinely catchy tunes, proper mental health representation, and seeing reductive stereotypes, the “crazy ex-girlfriend” just being one of many, fleshed out and reclaimed with great aplomb.

Genre: Comedy, Music

Actor: Donna Lynne Champlin, Rachel Bloom, Scott Michael Foster, Vella Lovell

This bittersweet comedy centers on Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a single mother and working actress doing her best to get by in LA. In between juggling the pressures of both parenthood and Hollywood, Sam lets loose in brave and funny ways. Things often get the better of her and her three young daughters, but her bold, funny, and always loving approach to life is what makes Sam—and indeed the show—a true knockout.

Better Things is a semi-autobiographical story, with Adlon also having daughters of her own, so it's no surprise that many things ring true in this big-hearted show about single motherhood.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family

Actor: Celia Imrie, Hannah Alligood, Hannah Riley, Kevin Pollak, Mikey Madison, Olivia Edward, Pamela Adlon

Rating: TV-MA

A true Cinderella story on TV if ever there was one, The Expanse went from the limited resources of Syfy for its first three seasons before receiving a massive boost in scale and ambition for its final three. But whether it was negotiating through political deals or engaging in dogfights in space, the series never lost sight of its sociopolitical foundations. Like the best sci-fi, The Expanse uses dense world-building and the idea of unexplained scientific phenomena to examine human nature. And in this case, humanity proves itself quick to draw lines in the sand and adhere to a hierarchy, as if colonization is something that needs to be expanded and reinforced when the universe opens up, rather than abolished. The Expanse is also notable for somehow still looking so good despite mostly being set in cold, metallic interiors and the colder emptiness of space. It's a great example of a show using its visual effects smartly, using spectacle ultimately to clear the way for its characters to take center stage. Some of these characters have rockier arcs than others or are given far less to work with, and the series' treatment of its final antagonist is too simplistic given how thoughtful its politics usually are. But there's more than enough interesting conflict among these characters' social and political differences to make watching them rewarding.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Science Fiction

Actor: Cara Gee, Dominique Tipper, Frankie Adams, Jasai Chase-Owens, Keon Alexander, Nadine Nicole, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Steven Strait, Wes Chatham

Rating: TV-14

Reminding us that there's so much more to American sketch comedy than Saturday Night Live, Sherman's Showcase transports us into a bizarre variety show run by an egomaniacal host, where all the laws of space and time seem to be broken. It's all ultimately very silly, but the jokes that this mock-variety series pulls out of nowhere are so funny because of how unexpected they are—lampooning every niche of the entertainment industry with pure confidence in every line. But even if you don't get the humor here, Sherman's Showcase remains a delight to watch just because of the imagination poured into the performances. There are dancers aplenty and novelty songs done in countless styles that stand strong on their own as great music.

Genre: Comedy, Music

Actor: Bashir Salahuddin

A Cuban-American revival of the Norman Lear series from the '70s and '80s, this relatively short-lived version of One Day at a Time was once the sweetest show on TV, especially in a landscape populated by prestige dramas and gritty genre fare. In its empathetic approach towards a wide range of subject matter—racism, mental illness, gender identity, unconventional family structures—the series places a premium on communication and acceptance. Which isn't to say that the show doesn't have its fair share of amusing misunderstandings and conflicts, mostly between independent single mom Penélope (Justina Machado) and the flamboyant abuela Lydia (Rita Moreno). But perhaps most impressive about One Day at a Time is how it breathes new life into the three-wall sitcom format with a live studio audience—enhancing the show's most emotional moments either through the live viewers' bated breath or their eruption of applause.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family

Actor: Isabella Gomez, Justina Machado, Marcel Ruiz, Rita Moreno, Stephen Tobolowsky, Todd Grinnell

Rating: TV-PG

This is an easy and funny Canadian TV show about a Korean store owner in Toronto.

He completely lacks awareness of modern gender, sexual orientation, and race issues - yet his good nature redeems him. In the first episode he is confronted for saying something homophobic, but replies by pretending he has an ongoing 15% “gay discount” (except he decides who’s gay or not by looking at them).

There are many other interesting themes, such as his daughter being pressured to find a “cool Christian Korean boyfriend” and her insisting that those words don’t go together.

Kim's Convenience is about the Korean-Canadian experience, but it also feels geared towards a Korean-Canadian audience. It’s authentic, refreshing, and most importantly, funny.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Andrea Bang, Andrew Phung, Jean Yoon, Nicole Power, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Simu Liu

Rating: TV-14