I’m the only person I know who has hated House of Cards from the start. It’s always seemed pompous and too impressed with itself, and never has worked for me, but I dip a toe in every season to see if it’s gotten any better, and it’s like, “Nope!” I really tried with Westworld, but while I was watching it — which I did because my wife loves it and I’m a good husband — I kept thinking to myself, “This is pretentious bullshit.” I know I’m supposed to be wowed by The Handmaid’s Tale — I liked it, but it was a little too monotone for me, and everything after episode two felt like filling in time. I kind of wanted to vote for Better Call Saul because it hasn’t gotten the love that it deserves — it’s so well-written, so well-acted and not like anything else on television — but I didn’t. I loved Stranger Things — it was creepy and fun, you could just feel the passion that went into it and they really nailed that '80s sensibility and got some terrific work out of those kids. I loved The Crown even more. I’ve been an Anglophile since The Beatles showed up, and this show was so beautifully presented, like the old Masterpiece Theatre, that I just felt like, “Oh, my God, I’m right there with her.” But I voted for This Is Us because it was the most surprising of all of these. Every episode was great, everyone can relate to at least one of those characters, and it was the one show this year that we would rush home to watch and talk about; I mean, they just posted a teaser clip from season two and I showed it to my wife and I was in tears. Also, it’s a network show — which means having to make more episodes than any of the others and having many more opportunities to belly flop — and I like TV networks. There’s something about them that harkens back to the days of Ed Sullivan or Friends or M*A*S*H, when everyone across America watched the same thing. It made me feel good to see that happening again.

MY VOTE This Is Us (NBC)