The Good Place also stuck out among the sea of cookie cutter network offerings because of its creative premise. The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop, who isn’t exactly an outstanding citizen but somehow ends up in a utopian afterlife and must frantically learn moral philosophy to hide her identity. The series took its time to develop, with major twists not revealed until the end of the first batch of episodes. Season 1 also showcased the acting chops of its phenomenal cast. The show propelled the careers of William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Jameela Jamil, and D’Arcy Carden, who’ve all gone on to do amazing work.
The show also feels like a product of its moment, too. It was perfect for 2016 when a thoughtful and hopeful sitcom could still find an audience without being immediately written off. Creator Michael Schur has worked on many iconic sitcoms, but there’s a reason people point to The Good Place as a moment in TV history for its high-concept. It’s hard to imagine a show this gentle and philosophically curious given the same room to grow today, making it a nostalgic rewatch.
Girls Season 5
In 2025, young writers Benito Skinner, Ben Kronengold, and Rebecca Shaw swung hard with their series Overcompensating and Adults, exploring the awkward, hilarious, and isolating parts of young adulthood. While these series were all successful in their own right, they lack the restless self-reflection that writer/actor Lena Dunham poured into Girls.
Girls at large is a mandatory rewatch in general, but if someone told me they only wanted to revisit one season, I’d point them straight to season 5. It carried a certain veil of optimism and denial that perfectly matched the stage of life the characters were stumbling through. The relationships, locations, and careers the characters explored didn’t last, but the consequences of their choices in this season carried through to the end. It was also experimental in its formatting, making episodes feel more cinematic than usual.
Dunham, much like her lead character Hannah, didn’t always respond well to criticism. So when co-star Christopher Abbott left the show because it no longer interested him as an actor, she responded to that challenge by writing, in my opinion, two of the best episodes of television ever: season 5’s “Panic in Central Park” and “Hello Kitty.” The 2016 season of Girls was perfect in every way and laid the groundwork for the series conclusion the following season.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8
Many Drag Race fans view season 7 as the weakest installment of the U.S. franchise, so when the show returned, it needed to come back strong to shake off that lingering bad energy. Most people point to seasons 4 through 6 as the golden era, packed with iconic RuGirls who went on to become Drag Race superstars, regardless if they won or lost. But in that conversation, we often overlook what season 8 gave us.
