The Daily Valet. - 12/7/21, Tuesday

✔️ 2021’s Best TV

December 07, 2021

Tuesday, December 7th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I watch a lot of TV. I do, so sue me, okay?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

2021’s Best TV

For a not-so-great year, we got some great TV shows

As we slowly close the book on another long, strange, uncertain year, we’ve reached the time where a lot of publications look back on the “best TV” of the past 12 months.

Let’s face it, 2021 certainly had its highlights, for many—first vacations or big-screen movies or Thanksgivings with family since the pandemic began. But amid so much uncertainty and upheaval, plenty of us still spent a lot of our free time safely curled up on our couches. TV was there for us, once again, during this interminable limbo, and TIME says that it’s fitting that 2021 also turned out to be a transitional year for the medium.

Television changed dramatically in 2021. If 2020 was all about nostalgic repeat comfort watches and newer shows dealing with the pandemic, television came roaring back this year. And according to Decider, there were a lot of shows that rose—and vaulted over—the challenge.

Even by the standards of the choose-your-own-adventure TV landscape, exceptional TV spread diffusely across the landscape this year. While there are a clear standouts—Hacks, Succession and White Lotus—so many of the best-of lists varied wildly.

But according to Vanity Fair’s television critic, there is some overlap if you look closely: shows about the bad behavior of the very rich, characters haunted by past trauma, murder mysteries with unique settings and costume dramas with a flair for retelling history.

The Ringer says there’s little that unites the year’s best shows, aside from their quality. Their picks range from epic space dramas (plural!) to intimate character studies, from shrewd satires to wacky adventures. Some are massive hits that grabbed hold of the zeitgeist; others are hidden gems, possibly because you don’t subscribe to their streaming service. But all are worth celebrating at the end of a long year when we leaned on TV, even more than usual.

↦ Dig Deeper: Inverse has a countdown that salutes the unforgettable small-screen characters of the year.

U.S. Plans Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics

American athletes will still be able to compete in the Winter Games

The United States will not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a symbolic but substantial slap at China for human rights abuses.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez called such a diplomatic boycott “a necessary step to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to human rights in the face of the Chinese government's unconscionable abuses.” He called on “other allies and partners that share our values to join with the U.S.”

According to the New York Times, the boycott allows American athletes to compete, but it is seen as an affront and one of President Biden's most public condemnations of Beijing. China said it would respond with “resolute countermeasures.”

But The Hill says that China will regret weaponizing sports—clarifying that for the CCP, sports and politics have long been inseparable. Harmonized action on the Games could serve as a first step toward galvanizing a larger international movement against Xi Jinping's regime, if not triggering a “boycott China” movement along the lines of the sustained global boycott that helped end the apartheid system in South Africa.

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The Decline of Movie Theaters

Will people ever return to the darkness?

Have you been back to the movies yet? I kept thinking there was going to be a film that drew me back into the darkness with my popcorn and Raisinets, but it just hasn't happened yet.

And it sounds like my experience is shared by the general public. At least, for now. A study published by the research company The Quorum shows that while most restaurants have rebounded, 49% of pre-pandemic moviegoers are no longer buying tickets.

Over the weekend, ticket sales in the United States and Canada stood at roughly $96 million, compared to $181 million over the same period in 2019.

And it's not just COVID. According to the New York Times, Rising ticket and concession prices are to blame. As well as decreasing “experiential value,” including the perception that moviegoing has become a hassle. The run-down state of shopping malls, which house many theaters. A generational shift toward streaming, gaming and other smartphone-based entertainment.

What’s Going on With the Grammys?

Nominations are getting dropped and withdrawn left and right, it seems

Drake has withdrawn his two 2022 Grammy nominations, a rep for the Recording Academy has confirmed to Variety.

Sources tell Variety that the decision was made by Drake and his management and the Grammys honored the request, although his motivation was unclear at the time of this article's publication.

Grammy nominations must be submitted by a representative, usually the artist's record label, and if an artist does not want their music considered, the label simply doesn't submit it. The decision to remove a nomination at this late stage—after it has been submitted and announced, let alone on the day the ballots are posted—may be unprecedented.

Meanwhile, the Academy withdrew Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and others credited on Olivia Rodrigo's “Sour,” but the awards don't count interpolations—parts of a song's composition are rerecorded to create something new—toward album of the year consideration.

↦ FYI: The Grammys will be held on January 31, 2022.

In Other News

↦ Spotify Pulls Hundreds of Comedians’ Content Amid Dispute Over Royalties

↦ Oil Companies’ Profits Soared to $174 Billion This Year As U.S. Gas Prices Rose

↦ Jack in the Box Buys Del Taco in $575 Million Deal

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Cardi B’s new job

Making our own playlists

Private space stations

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