by Damian Holbrook
Cheers to Outlander
for thinking outside the box. On top of taking some big emotional swings with Claire and Jamie (Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, pictured), Season 5 of the Starz time-travel epic threw us creative curveballs like an episode partly in black-and- white and the harrowing season finale peek at what the Frasers’ lives would have looked like in the ’60s.
Cheers to The Mandalorian
for delivering more than just the adorable Baby Yoda. With no new movies on the horizon, the rollicking space Western from Disney+ has handily filled the Sarlacc-size gap in our lives with two seasons of cinematic action, clever links to the Star Wars canon and (nonedible!) Easter eggs aplenty.
Jeers to COVID
for testing our patience by causing so many production delays. Honestly, we’re starting to wonder if we’ll ever see the Friends reunite, Chip and Joanna Gaines get their Magnolia Network up and running or the next season of Stranger Things. OMG, is this the Upside Down?!
Jeers to Space Force
for failing to launch us into hysterics. The only thing crazier than a plan to send the U.S. military into orbit is how the talents of Steve Carell, Lisa Kudrow and Noah Emmerich (right, with Carell) could be so eclipsed by the Netflix comedy’s uneven writing that confuses silliness for satire.
