Josh Sorokach’s Top 10 of Everything in 2019

Alexis Rose is the straight-up funniest character on TV. Annie Murphy’s distinct brand of hyper-expressive physical comedy has brought me so much joy this year. Every little thing Murphy does is hilarious, but my personal favorite is her repeated use of the word David. She took a character that could have been one-note and transformed Alexis into one of the most endearing characters on TV. No show made me feel better or laugh harder in 2019 than Schitt’s Creek. 

Murphy deserves an Emmy, Oscar, one of those impractical giant surfboards from the Teen Choice Awards, and a Nobel Peace Prize in comedy.

Where to stream Schitt's Creek

Most of the conversations regarding Barry’s sophomore season center on the ground-breaking “ronny/lily” episode, and deservedly so. It was one of the best TV episodes of 2019. But my favorite scene from the season is a small, vulnerable moment between Barry and the supernova of comedy known as NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan).

In the second episode of the season, an emotionally depleted Barry asks Hank if he’s evil. Hank’s response?

“Oh my God. I mean… absolutely. Do I not tell you that enough? You are like, the most evil guy I know, man.”

Where to stream Barry

I’m fairly indifferent to viral tweets because I’m either A) too cool for school or B) a literal human trash bag. Jury’s still out. Anyway, Caitie Delaney’s wonderful series of engineer tweets is the exception. The concept is simple yet brilliant, and Delaney’s eye roll is second to none.

I’ve watched these over and over again and they just keep getting funnier. You gotta respect a good eye roll. It’s a kinder, more expressive way of saying, “Hey, bud. You’re an idiot.”

Nick Coyle’s Sarah’s Channel is the funniest web series you’ll stream all year.

The six-episode show stars former Love scene stealer Claudia O’Doherty as the titular Sarah, a social media influencer who hosts a vlog in a post-apocalyptic dystopia after being reanimated by a small group of “slime people.” You know, that old story. As I wrote back in July, it’s 29-minutes of insane, hysterical bliss. That’s right, you can watch all six-episodes in only 29 minutes!

If you’re a fan of anything on this list, trust me, you’ll love Sarah’s Channel.

Where to stream Sarah's Channel

Why is the 1992 film The Cutting Edge on my best of 2019 list? Great question. One, it’s a solid movie and if you don’t like it you’re rude. Two, earlier this year, I heroically tried to flip the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score from rotten to fresh. Did it work? Nope! But it was quite a journey.

The movie is currently at 56% — infuriatingly close to the 60% needed to be considered fresh — so if you’re a writer who enjoys The Cutting Edge, do your boy a solid and write a positive review so that my 2019 isn’t a complete and utter failure of epic proportions.

Where to stream The Cutting Edge

Billy Ocean’s “Love Really Hurts Without You” was my most played Spotify song of 2019. This means that A) My dating life wasn’t exactly thriving in 2019 and B) I was a big fan of Netflix’s Sex Education. As someone who loves any and all public pop culture declarations of love (Seth Cohen, Summer Roberts, and a coffee cart. Need I say more?) Jackson’s (Kedar Williams-Stirling) adorable rendition of “Love Really Hurts Without You” thawed this icy heart of mine.

Where to stream Sex Education

Seth Meyers and Mike Birbiglia produced my two favorite comedy specials of the year. Lobby Baby and The New One are not only superbly written and explosively funny, but both specials made me feel optimistic about love, marriage, and life in general — a welcome change from my default setting, which was once described as “the human embodiment of a Garfield hating Mondays cartoon.”

If you’re having a bad day, I highly recommend one or both of these sensational storytelling shows.

Stream Seth Meyers: Lobby Baby on Netflix

I loved, loved, loved I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. The show’s strange, immensely rewatchable “Garfield House” bit is just the type of weird, wonderful sketch comedy I crave. From Kate Berlant’s character being obsessed with everyone knowing that the house came fully furnished to the “I hate Mondays” alarm, watching this sketch was like discovering a previously unreleased episode of The State or Mr. Show.

Stream I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson on Netflix

When you consider the overabundance of comedic talent on Veep, Anna Chlumsky’s sensational acting often gets lost in the shuffle. Well not anymore, buster.

Sorry, that was aggressive. But you know what else was aggressive in 2019? Political discourse Anna Chlumsky’s symphony of fantastic reaction shots. If I had to sum up 2019’s vibe in a single image it would be the above tweet. Choosing a favorite Veep character is an impossible endeavor, but Amy Brookheimer will always be… (apologies in advance) my girl.

What do you want from me, people? It’s the end of the year. I’m running on fumes over here.

Where to stream Veep

Do you want the straight jazz? Well here it is: The above scene from Comedy Central’s The Other Two is the funniest three minutes of the year. Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider pack an absurd amount of humor into this scene. A few of my favorites:

• “That’s Hollywood, baby!”
• Drew Tarver and Heléne Yorke’s reaction shots
• Everything Lorraine
• Streeter referring to Lorraine as a “handful”
• “I’m also an actor/oh no”
• The Richard Kind of it all
• Streeter being surprised by Chase’s date
• “Run, bitch!”

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Where to stream The Other Two