The impact of the coronavirus on half-year Top 10 lists is surely the least important thing one could muse on, but here we are. Normally by mid-June, we know that even though we've seen some of the best the year has to offer — thanks to the closing of the Emmy window at the end of May — there's always hope for a better-than-average broadcast season in the fall, or a rush of good programming as the holiday/Golden Globes period approaches.
This year, though, there's the very real possibility that we've already seen most, if not all, of 2020’s TV highlights. Sure, the Netflixes and Amazons and Hulus and HBOs had some presumably worthy contenders in the can before the world went into lockdown in March. But where we once might have counted on fresh installments of Fargo or Atlanta or Succession, we're now going to have to cross our fingers that some surprises emerge.
That doesn't mean, though, that this group of 10 series identifies all of the year's best so far. Among the shows we wish we could have found room for — shows that could still make our respective Top 10s at the end of the year — are Hulu’s Ramy and The Great, Netflix’s Cheer, Never Have I Ever, Feel Good and BoJack Horseman, ESPN's The Last Dance, HBO's The Plot Against America and Insecure, Apple TV+'s Central Park, FXX's Dave, Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay or NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. That’s just the start of a tremendous honorable mention list.
