My Favorite TV Episodes of 2018

It's almost 2019, and it's been, in my opinion, a pretty darn good year for television. Unfortunately, there were a lot of shows I would've loved to talk about more that sadly never got written about on my part, either because I was too busy, or because my ability to write about them was far outside of my normal range of "shows at steady moderation of intensity." However, I thought I would just make a short list of the episodes of television, and their respective shows, that really stood out to me. There are, of course, plenty of shows that I missed that would've probably made it on here if I had more time, and this list is far from definitive (especially since it only really consists of comedies by some definition of the term), but I just want to pin them down here as recommendations.

The shows will be listed chronologically in regards to their air date instead of ranked by some hierarchy of my enjoyment, because that would make all of this far too difficult (aside from a very clear #1 and #2). Further, I'm only writing about one episode per show, even if there are multiple episodes of one that are far better than those of another. Without further ado, here are the episodes that made my year.

"The Vegging" - The Amazing World of Gumball 
Air Date: January 15th, 2018 - Cartoon Network

Look, it was inevitable that Gumball would come up at some point, and anyone who follows my reviews would probably be able to very easily figure out which episode would be my favorite of the year. This past season has been an interesting one, starting out stronger than ever but quickly falling into a midseason slump which, while conceptually daring, often struggled to truly elevate the premises making up each episode, and while there was plenty of charm, it often felt like the writing was on autopilot. "The Vegging," though, is an episode that takes a simple premise, and proves that Gumball—when its heart is in the right place—can make anything magical.

In this case, the entire episode is pretty much about Gumball and Darwin's struggle to do absolutely nothing, and a day that refuses to let them. Every minute of the episode is comedy gold, including perhaps one of the funniest gags that the show has ever produced, with Gumball and Darwin repeatedly tuning their brains out for so long that the post-apocalypse happens around them, then they save the universe, then Gumball gets married to an alien... all in the span of less than a minute. "The Vegging," as a whole, is relentlessly rapid-fire.

All of this culminates in Gumball and Darwin having to get out of their house and rescue their family, who is dangling near-death off the edge of a bridge in the family car. Even then, though, our protagonist's vegetation knows no bounds, and they do everything they can to ensure that their lethargy remain uncompromised, all the way down to mailing themselves to their family in swivel chairs. Even at the point when the car is about to go off the edge, Gumball prioritizes his veg, and his ability to ultimately save the day just goes to show that his apathy knows no bounds.

Other highlights: "The Faith," "The Founder," "The Spinoffs."

"Tips" - Apple & Onion
Air Date: March 2nd, 2018 - Cartoon Network

It's somewhat hard to describe what makes Apple & Onion so appealing. It's the sort of show that elicits reactions ranging from "surprisingly charming" to "excruciatingly unemotive," but I think the easiest way to describe the show is just that it's different, in a very simple and sweet way. Never overly-saccharine, it's a show that rides on an incredibly deadpan sort of optimism, with each episode monitoring the day-to-day life of two dudes who live in an apartment together, Apple (show creator George Gendi) and Onion (Richard Ayoade), in a city inhabited by talking food. Nothing is overly complex nor narratively-charged, instead serving as a thoughtful, slice-of-life sort of show with visual panache and musical sensibilities. It's basically an animated Flight of the Conchords, to those familiar.

"Tips" is a perfect example of the show's tone and overall vibe, involving Apple and Onion trying to get money to go on a hot air balloon ride, eventually getting a job at their friend's pizza restaurant and chasing after tips. The pair go through an expected level of trial and error due to their eclecticism and varied idiosyncrasies (one attempt to get tips has them hanging over and whispering into customers' ears repeatedly to ensure they're dutifully taken care of), but the show finds its identity in its witty visual presentation and songs. The episode's main musical number is all about tips, and that's where my ability to describe it begins and ends. Elsewhere, "Tips" finds fun ways of making every shot enjoyable, featuring a number of silly sequences, establishing shots, and montages. If Apple & Onion isn't overly-funny, it's a show with a voice that lets it find an admirable little niche.

Other highlights: "Block Party," "Bottle Catch," "Hot Dog's Movie Premiere."

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Silence

"You know how we can't keep up a conversa..."

"The Silence" is an interesting episode. Seeing the show get meta with its storylines shouldn't come as a complete shock to anyone at this point, but what makes this episode so different is how it funnels that into an episode with so much sincerity. It's a route that Gumball routinely bypasses in favor of wringing laughs out of its generally nihilistic and cynical perspective, and being able to see the show just doing a cute and sweet character study of Gumball and Darwin was legitimately surprising, and that's not a knock against the episode. If anything, it makes "The Silence" feel almost special, like an episode that, if not trying to become the next "The Choices," wants to break up the pace of the show and distribute some warm, fuzzy feelings.

Unfortunately, as a critic, while I felt that "The Silence" wrapped itself up perfectly, it was an episode which, in my opinion, meandered its way to the finish line as a whole. There's a point that it wants to make with its central concept–Gumball and Darwin seem to have run out of things to say to each other and feel that their friendship (brothership?) is quickly expiring–but everything about the episode leading up to its turning point feels indifferent.

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Buddy

"An English dictionary! This can only mean one thing! This book must belong to either someone who speaks English or someone who doesn't, and wants to learn!" 

One of the show's more underdeveloped but enduring story arcs is Anais' long quest to try to make friends. While that arc's progress, for the most part, has slowed down, with the last installment ("The Guy") pretty much just suggesting that she'll never be able to find a healthy friendship, "The Buddy," taking a cue from Season 6's other, generally winning efforts, decides to finally answer her long-awaited call for help in a pretty unexpected place.

I'm talking about Jamie. While other similar episodes have generally gotten by through introducing new, one-off characters (like Jodie in "The Parasite," or Josh in the aforementioned "The Guy"), "The Buddy" indulges in that surprising alliance with a buttload of, despite the odds, chemistry and charisma. Jamie hasn't been explored at all since "The Girlfriend," where she found an identity based entirely in abuse and incomprehension, but that just makes her use here even more interesting, especially because it never really undermines how she's already been established. She's still unaware of how the world works by all means, but she takes it with stride, and in the crime-fighting partnership that flourishes as the episode progresses, she's the brawn to Anais' brains.

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Drama

"Oh, it's funny 'cuz we're dead." "Darn it, he's right, it is funny for that reason."

Isn't it weird to think that, across the last 52 episodes, Gumball has barely done anything to address the fact that Darwin and Carrie are in a romantic relationship? No, like, seriously. The only times it's really been acknowledged are in brief moments where the joke can be made (like "The Deal" and "The Best"), but not in any meaningful way beyond light implication.

Because of that, there's a lot of pressure on "The Drama." More than just being an enjoyable episode, it has to face those near-insurmountable expectations, or else risk being completely ineffective and difficult to believe in its sincerity. Ultimately, it falls somewhere in between, a fun albeit long overdue episode that wants to reaffirm Darwin and Carrie's relationship more than further illustrate it.

There's nothing wrong with simply showing that their relationship is on the show's mind somewhat, but instead of trying to find any particularly incisive angles, "The Drama" examines the perception of their relationship and Gumball's increasing doubt in their well-being (which is, to be fair, incredibly true to the show considering how little anyone has seen of it). That pretty much enables Darwin and Carrie to be at the center of the episode, but they never motivate it in their antics; rather, they present material for Gumball to riff concernedly off of. Because of that, the episode doesn't really go anywhere until Gumball decides he's had enough, even though the events of "The Drama" can barely count as evidence in support of his worldview, cynicism aside.

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Slip

"Can't you just give it to me?" "Yeah, sure, I'll just give it to you! If rules and regulations mean nothing to you." "So I can have it?"

Despite the past few episodes creating a sort of midseason slump for Season 6, "The Slip," and the two episodes that followed it, are a step in the right direction, each delivering fantastic stories with a refreshing sense of confidence and direction. "The Slip," for my money, was the most successful of the three, taking a silly but pedestrian premise that you might find in any show and taking it to the sorts of extremes that only Gumball is really capable of.

The central premise at play here is that Richard needs to get his package delivered, but he accidentally misses its initial delivery, spiraling into a relentless quest to pry his package from a belligerent delivery man with ruffled feathers (pun unintended). While it could've easily been another forgettable Richard vehicle that made jokes at the character's expense, or otherwise give him some stipulation that causes his identity to misalign (see: "The Diet" or as early as "The Laziest"), "The Slip" was so successful because it was true to who Richard is as a character, and instead of modifying him, it plays out entirely indebted to his strengths and flaws, all without interrupting the pacing of the episode and making him the episode's greatest asset, culminating in a heroic speech dedicated to the lazy (even if they sort of choke in terms of reciprocating enthusiasm).

What It Was Like Seeing Saturday Night Live, Live

Sooo… this isn't something that I usually write about, but I saw Saturday Night Live last Saturday. Seeing the show has always been a dream of mine since I started watching at the age of 12, and it's something that's been incredibly influential in my perception of how comedy works and my future aspirations of becoming a comedy writer.

The first episode of the show I watched was Christina Applegate's 2012 stint as host, and one sketch in particular always stood out to me: "Tech Talk." Taking the form of a show discussing technology, it found several phone critics complaining about the latest Apple product before the host (played by Applegate) brings out three Chinese employees to effectively shame the privileged reviewers for the audacity of their complaints. It's a hilarious and fairly sharp sketch, but it underlined Saturday Night Live's diversity problem rather frustratingly; this is a show that has never had an East Asian castmember, and here were three people effectively performing some variant of yellowface for the sake of the joke.

As an Asian-American person myself (I'm half-Chinese), I've found SNL's struggles with diversity to be particularly frustrating, but when Awkwafina was announced as host— hot off of a fantastic summer in two blockbusters (one being the first movie with an all-Asian cast in 25 years), I knew I had to get out there. This was someone like me (let alone the first host of East Asian descent in 18 years) hosting the show that fostered my love of comedy; I didn't have to look at Aziz Ansari or Kumail Nanjiani as a sort of proxy hero, and that felt good.

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Ghouls

"Dude, it's so sad! We need to help them get their scare back." "He's right, we'll do anything. Is there a page we can like or a wristband we can wear or something?"

Sorry this post is a bit late, but I've had a busy and exciting weekend which I will be sure to write about! And also college. So if you're not cool about this coming out late, then... sucks to be you, man, I guess you have to find someone else to read. Good luck with that!

Watching "The Ghouls" helped me realize that modern Gumball episodes are at their most successful when they succeed in two regards: one, they have an interesting structure bound around a strong concept, and two, that they're just downright fun (see: "The Founder," "The Vegging," "The Candidate"). Unfortunately, the past season has been filled with a frustratingly disproportionate amount of episodes that only really succeed in one of those regards (usually the former). "The Ghouls," then, is an episode that is fun... but it's difficult to properly evaluate on the level of how it's put together considering the weakness of a lot of every aspect of it otherwise.