The best TV series of 2021 according to WatchMojo and IGN

It's the last week of 2021, so it's time for me to look back at the year about to end with retrospectives until New Year's Eve. As I did for last year's edition of the final Sunday entertainment feature, I'm beginning with IGN's The Best TV Series of 2021: IGN's Nominations.

The world of television offered an embarrassment of riches in 2021. Whether it was a shocking twist or an unbelievable cameo, there was always a show that had us talking. With the year coming to a close, we've rounded up the best of the best TV shows 2021 had to offer.

From dangerous games that double as a commentary on modern-day capitalism to animated adaptations of online games, murder mysteries with a twist, meditations on religion through a horrific lens, MCU stories on the small screen, and much more, these are our nominees for the best TV series of 2021. Check out IGN's full list of TV awards for 2021 on IGN.com, but otherwise dig in here on our list of potential TV series of the year winners, including Arcane, Loki, Midnight Mass, Only Murders in the Building, Squid Game, Succession, Ted Lasso, The White Lotus, WandaVision, and What We Do in the Shadows.

I think that's a very good list. IGN chose the winner a week later in IGN's Best TV Series of the Year 2021.

Every year brings with it at least one new Netflix series that dominates the pop culture sphere for a few weeks, and 2021 was no exception. This year, everyone was obsessed with Squid Game, a bizarre yet fascinating dystopian survival drama slash fictional game show slash social satire.

It's tough to pin a series as weird as Squid Game down to just one genre... but the important thing is it's IGN's pick for the best TV series of the year 2021.

Like many great satires, Squid Game manages to be both completely ridiculous and wholly believable at the same time. Lee Jung-jae stars as Seong Gi-hun, a struggling South Korean man who becomes one of 500 participants who agree to take part in a series of potentially very lucrative games. Who wouldn't agree to play a few simple childhood games in exchange for ludicrous amounts of prize money? But there's always a catch, and the contestants quickly learn these games have literal life and death consequences.

Squid Game is easily one of the most unique additions to Netflix's library, but it's a show that clicks on a number of levels. Its central mysteries are reason enough to watch on their own: Who are these mysterious masked captors, and how does it benefit them to offer such a large payout for people who are down on their luck? Why not find a less sadistic way to be altruistic? And what could drive a person to be so desperate to willingly play in these games? The tightly paced nine-episode structure ensures we don't have to wait too long before the pieces start falling into place.

Watch the full video to learn why Netflix's Squid Game is the winner of IGN's Best TV Show of 2021 award.

It's been a while since I used the Hunger Games label. I going to revive it for "Squid Game."

WatchMojo produced its own top ten, but only for series premiering this year, so no "Succession," "What We Do in the Shadows," or, as the channel points out, "Ted Lasso." Watch Top 10 Best TV Shows of 2021 to see their picks for best new series of the year.

2021 has been a dynamite year for TV. For this list, we’ll be looking at 2021 shows that had us fully engrossed one minute and buzzing on social media the next. Given the sheer amount of quality out there, we’re only focusing on shows that premiered this year. Sadly, that means no “Ted Lasso” Season 2. Our countdown includes "Invincible" (2021-), "Mare of Easttown" (2021), "Squid Game" (2021), "WandaVision" (2021), and more! What’s your favorite show of 2021? Let us know in the comments.

WatchMojo's top show is "Arcane," not "Squid Game," reinforcing the point I make about awards shows that electorates matter. Speaking of which, "Arcane" has nine nominations at the Annie Awards, more than any other nominated TV program. In contrast, "Invincible" has only one and "The Bad Batch" none; the nominated Star Wars show is "Star Wars: Visions." I think that puts "Arcane" in the driver's seat for next year's Emmy Awards in the animated categories and maybe even next year's Saturn Awards.*

As for the best drama, I think that will go to "Succession" again. "Squid Game" will certainly earn Emmy nominations; the only question is whether it will do so in the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards or the International Emmy Awards. As CNet reports, it's eligible for both but can only compete in one, not both. I think it has a better chance at the TCA Awards for Best New Show where I expect it will compete with "Only Murders in the Building," which my wife and I enjoyed. That written, "Only Murders in the Building" has the same strengths and weaknesses as "The Flight Attendant." Both succeed as comedies while also being good thrillers and mysteries but both have the bad luck to be competing against "Ted Lasso," which I expect to win Outstanding Comedy Series again.

Stay tuned for more retrospectives of the year about to end through the rest of the week.

*I plan on covering this year's Saturn Awards winners on National Science Fiction Day, January 2, 2022.

Reactions to the U.S. Government report on UAPs for World UFO Day

Today is the second of two World UFO Days. Why two? National Day Calendar explains.

World UFO Day commemorates two separate dates. The first, on June 24th, recognizes the first widely reported UFO sighting on this same day in 1947 by aviator Kenneth Arnold. On July 2nd, the date commemorates the incident that took place in Roswell, New Mexico, in the same year.

I can see why two different UFO Days; both are important in the early history of the phenomenon and should be recognized. National Day Calendars singled out today's observance by writing "The creators of the July 2nd event launched it to raise awareness of UFO sightings and remove speculation from them." That makes me feel better about postponing my observance from June 24 to today, which I based on reports that the House Intelligence Committee's report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) would come out later that week. It did, as CNET reported in The Pentagon UFO report explained on June 26.

Are they aliens? Spy planes? What *are* those unidentified aerial phenomena we've been seeing lately? We break down the report commissioned by Congress to get to the bottom of UAPs and the people who report them.

CNET not only presented a good summary of the findings, but also an excellent timeline of how and why this reported ended up being produced. For some reason, I'm not surprised it started off with Marco Rubio adding the request to a budget bill. His doing so adds to the ambivalence I feel about the subject.

On the one hand, I feel the same about addressing the official interest in UFOs as I do about "Fauci's emails and...the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis, two narratives that I want to give as little attention to as possible." On the other, I have described this blog as having a "science fiction slant" on its Facebook page, so writing about the topic is on brand.

I hope this is a case of a stuck clock still being right twice a day, just as Senator Rubio is on Daylight Saving Time. On the other hand, it might end up being like his positions on gun control and Cuba, which I disagree with. Only time will tell, although the kind of supporters the report has makes me wonder and worry.

Follow over the jump for more news reactions to the report.

'Westworld' leads drama series with 22 Emmy nominations, followed by 'Stranger Things' with 19 and 'The Handmaid's Tale' with 13

I know I planned "on being back for the first round of TV nominees and the second round of movie and TV nominees later this week" for the Teen Choice Awards, but a much bigger and shinier object has been dangled in front of me.*  Newsy reports 2017 Emmy nominations announced.

The 2017 Emmy nominations were announced Thursday.

CNet has more details about the three big speculative fiction nominees.

Don't feel sad for the folks at HBO. "Westworld," their sci-fi drama set in a technologically advanced Wild West theme park full of eerily realistic host characters, earned 22 nominations, tying it with "Saturday Night Live" for the most of any show this year.

Nominations for "Westworld" included Evan Rachel Wood as lead actress in a drama for her role as Dolores, the rancher's daughter host who discovers her whole life is a lie, and Anthony Hopkins as lead actor in a drama for his role as the park's founder. Jeffrey Wright and Thandie Newton also received supporting-role nominations.

"Stranger Things," the Netflix '80s-set drama about Indiana kids confronting the unknown, landed 18 nominations, including outstanding drama. David Harbour, who plays the town's police chief, was nominated for best supporting actor, and 13-year-old Millie Bobby Brown, who plays test subject Eleven, for best supporting actress.

And in a "Stranger" surprise, actress Shannon Purser, whose put-upon Barb character became a fan favorite, earned a nomination for outstanding guest actress. Purser appeared in four of the show's eight episodes.

"Stranger Things" actually has 19 nominations in 18 categories.  That puts it in an undisputed second place among all drama series.

Hulu, while not yet in Netflix's class, had a good morning thanks to "The Handmaid's Tale." The story about a dystopian future where some women are kept only to serve as breeders for wealthy infertile couples was nominated for outstanding drama and 12 other awards. Elisabeth Moss was nominated for outstanding lead actress and her co-stars Ann Dowd and Samira Wiley received supporting nominations.

This total is correct; "The Handmaid's Tale" has 13 nominations.  I also double-checked "Westworld."  Its total of 22 is correct as well.

I have had high hopes for "Westworld" and "Stranger Things" since the People's Choice Awards, when I wrote "I think both 'Westworld' and 'Stranger Things' are better shows with 'Stranger Things' being the more popular of the two.  While I'd vote for 'Westworld' as the higher quality show, I think it's the year of 'Stranger Things.'"  I began to realize how strong "The Handmaid's Tale" was when it led speculative fiction nominees at the Television Critics Association Awards last month, so I had hopes for it, too.  The nominations for all three exceeded my most optimistic expectations.   Follow over the jump for the categories in which at least one (and sometimes all three) are nominated along with my observations and predictions.

Discovery of seven Earth-like planets announced by NASA

I promised to write about the speculative fiction winners at the Golden Reel Awards for today, but something more important came up.  NASA/JPL announced yesterday NASA & TRAPPIST-1: A Treasure Trove of Planets Found.

Seven Earth-sized planets have been observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope around a tiny, nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Three of these planets are firmly in the habitable zone.

Over 21 days, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope measured the drop in light as each planet passed in front of the star. Spitzer was able to identify a total of seven rocky worlds, including three in the habitable zone, where liquid water might be found.

The video features interviews with Sean Carey, manager of the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech/IPAC; Nikole Lewis, James Webb Space Telescope project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute; and Michaël Gillon, principal investigator, TRAPPIST, University of Liege, Belgium.

The system has been revealed through observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) telescope, as well as other ground-based observatories. The system was named for the TRAPPIST telescope.

NASA/JPL followed up with TRAPPIST-1: Weirdest habitable worlds.

A new discovery by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed seven Earth-sized planets around the M dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1. Three of them lie in what is known as the habitable zone -- where there is the potential for liquid water. It is the largest batch of Earth-sized worlds ever discovered in the habitable zone of a single star. While we don’t know if there is life on the TRAPPIST-1 planets, we do know that any life discovered there would likely be very different from life on Earth. It would have to survive the stormy solar flares of an M dwarf, adapt to a planet that might have extreme temperature swings, and thrive in red and infrared light. All seven worlds are early ambassadors of a new generation of planet-hunting targets that promise a new vision of the word “habitable.”

As much as I like comparing possibly habitable exoplanets to those in Niven's Known Space, such as Plateau or Wunderland, I won't be able to do that for this discovery.  The closest analogue is Gummidgy, which orbits CY Aquarii, a much larger star, which in the real world is much farther away, but in the Known Space universe is apparently much closer.  Either way, none of these worlds is Gummidgy.

That written, these planets are already in science fiction, as CNet reports.

While it's a little unusual for a top scientific journal to publish a work of science fiction, Nature is no stranger to the practice. The journal has regularly published a science fiction column since 2007, and the Trappist-1 planets really beg for the sci-fi treatment. The seven planets tightly circling a dim, ultracool dwarf star are much closer to each other than the planets in our solar system, and at least three of them might be just as habitable as Earth.

"The Trappist-1 system, with its short interplanetary distances, makes space opera possible," writes Suhner, who read the research paper before penning her story. "Traveling from Nuwa to Pangu takes a week. A lilliputian system where worlds are like neighboring countries."

Suhner said collaborating with scientists is essential to her work.

"Integrating advanced research into my texts allows me to talk about science while keeping the sense of wonder and awe intact," she wrote in a Nature blog post about the short story. "This is one of the main advantages of science fiction."

That didn't take long at all.

As for the Oscars and other award shows, stay tuned.  I'll get back to them tomorrow.  I do have my priorities.

Will the lens flares on Tatooine be doubled?

The speculation over who will direct the next Star Wars movie now that Disney has taken over the franchise is over, as CNet reports.

Disney confirms J.J. Abrams to direct next 'Star Wars'
After speculation leaked out of Hollywood yesterday, it's official: One man will be in charge of both 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' at the same time.
by Daniel Terdiman
January 25, 2013 9:06 PM PST

Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed this evening that 'Star Trek' director J.J. Abrams will direct the next 'Star Wars' film, expected to be released in 2015.

The news is not unexpected. Yesterday, word leaked out that Abrams was the likely choice, setting off a flurry of discussion online about the same director being in charge of both the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" franchises at the same time. But tonight, the news was officially announced.

As one can read over at another copy of this announcement over at fandom_lounge on JournalFen, the reaction has been all over the map, although the tough crowd there has been mostly cautiously positive.  However, a common theme has been snarking about the lens flares in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie making their way into the new Star Wars.  Discovery News even got into the act with J.J. Abrams Lens Flares: How They're Made.

The King of the Lens Flare (aka JJ Abrams) is set to direct Star Wars Episode VII. But what are lens flares they exactly and how are they made? And how do filmmakers like Abrams use them to their advantage? Anthony goes behind the lens for answers.

I already asked the question.  Here's to hoping either there will be no lens flares, or that they will be doubled.  After all, Tatooine circles a binary star, complete with binary sunsets.

Cyber Monday forecast and Black Friday wrap-up

After blogging about Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, I would be remiss if I didn't go for the trifecta and write about Cyber Monday.

I'll let Michigan State University lead off the predictions.

Holiday sales outlook ‘positive’; online sales booming

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University professor said this year’s holiday shopping outlook is “positive,” especially when it comes to online sales, which are expected to increase by about 12 percent compared to last year.

Patricia Huddleston, a professor of advertising, public relations and retailing, said online sales should increase to about $96 billion this year.

I wonder if Huddleston was misquoted or confused, as comScore's press release includes both a higher percentage increase and lower sales numbers.

For the holiday season-to-date, $10.1 billion has been spent online, marking a 16-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Thursday, November 8 has been the heaviest online spending day of the season to date at $829 million.
...
The official comScore 2012 holiday season forecast is that online retail spending for the November – December period will reach $43.4 billion, representing a 17-percent gain versus year ago. This strong growth rate represents an improvement compared to last season’s 15-percent increase. It is also far ahead of the retail industry’s expectation for a 4.1-percent increase in consumers’ overall spending this holiday season.

For the week-by-week sales so far, along with a comparison to previous years, see the figure below, which shows year-to-year increases ever since 2009.



Those are for the shopping season as a whole.  What about Cyber Monday in particular?  Follow over the jump to find out.

Where's my retro future?

One of the most popular catchphrases for expressing disappoinment in the lack of technological progress during the 21st Century is "Where's my flying car?" It's so common that Google retrieves 188,000 hits for the phrase. Flying cars aren't alone among examples of things Americans thought we'd have by now; Popular Science has an entire slideshow of technologies people expected would exist by now, including personal jetpacks, nuclear fusion, and robot armies, along with reasons why they haven't appeared. Too bad, as nuclear fusion would come in very handy right now. However, that 2008 slideshow included an image of a prototype of a flying car, one that has actually been developed and flies.

Well-heeled travelers tired of airport lines have some good news today from Terrafugia.

The maker of the Transition flying car said that a production prototype, the D2, made its first flight earlier in March, a step toward what it hopes will be commercial availability within the next year. Company engineers took the Transition for an eight-minute flight around Plattsburgh International Airport in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The Transition is two-seat personal aircraft that is legal to drive on streets and highways and that runs, both in the air and on the road, on unleaded gasoline. The wings fold up to make the plane about six feet tall, seven and a half feet wide, and 19 feet long when driving.

Not everyone will get a flying car, though. Not only will this thing be an energy hog, it is expected to cost $279,000. Even so, people are putting down $10,000 deposits on them.

Of course, anything that is equal parts cool and ridiculous will get the attention of Next Media Animation. The Terrafugia Transition already has.





While the text accompanying the video doesn't use the catchphrase, it sidles right up next to it.

Promised in sci-fi shows and movies of the past, people have long expected flying cars to be part of their everyday lives at some point in the future. Personal flying saucers are standard issue in the Jetsons cartoon, which takes place in the still well-off year of 2062. The flying cars of Back to the Future Part II are a little more within reach. Doc Brown and Marty McFly cruise the skyways in 2015, just three years from now.

Sorry, the future in Back to the Future isn't happening, even if the rich are getting their flying cars.*

Flying cars aren't the only prediction science fiction got wrong, as the Bloomberg article Visions of a Cashless Society: Echoes points out.**