Summer TV Winners & Losers (2020): Michaela Coel, The Un-Renewed, Friends, Ted Lasso, Big Brother And More

With the passing of Labor Day and the return of rugrats to school (or "to" school), summer has unofficially ended. So as is tradition, it is time to take stock of TV's winners and losers during this admittedly unusual off-season.

Which creative voice gave herself a most magnificent megaphone (and destroyed us in the process)? How did Disney+ both delight and disappoint its subscribers? In what ways have a house full of reality-TV "all-stars" underwhelmed? And how did at least one political convention win our vote? Check out our list below for those answers and many more summertime highs and lows.

As always and forever, not every summer series was strong or weak enough to warrant a spot in our gallery! Lots of summer TV was simply fine, you know? (Not everyone gets a participation trophy, kids.) Instead, TVLine whittled down three months' worth of pandemic-era TV to more than 17 standouts, all of which deserve special recognition... for better or for worse.

Scroll through the list below to survey the summer fare that we have deemed to be winners and losers, then hit the comments to share your own picks!

HBO's I May Destroy You garnered universal acclaim, and it was in large part due to the specificity of the story it told and the unique POV from which it came — that of its creator and star, who previously was best known as the BAFTA-winning creator/star of the UK sitcom Chewing Gum. Coel now has everyone waiting to see what she does next, and it doesn't even have to be a Season 2.

Years and years of poorly kept secrets came to the fore as multiple websites (including our sister site Variety) delivered deep reporting on the behind-the-scenes grievances of the talk show's staffers. DeGeneres, to her credit, ultimately copped to some shortcomings, but also shifted much of the blame to producers under her. Regardless, the waves of allegations unarguably have tainted the image of America's jolly, dancing daytime host.

Politics shmolitics. During this election year's extremely atypical convention season, the DNC made the most of the "remote" aspect by having the nominations delivered from some notable, and oftentimes picturesque, locations from across these United States. Six months literally "in," it was nice to get "out" while on the couch!

While some renewals were rescinded as a result of a network shifting gears (as was the case with Comedy Central's Drunk History and Tosh.0), others reversals were swayed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (e.g., Netflix's The Society and truTV's I'm Sorry), which has impacted production schedules like never before. 

Not only was this the first virtual ceremony to be televised during the coronavirus pandemic, but it also aired amidst global Black Lives Matter protests, adding considerable gravity to the evening; many performances and speeches included powerful statements about police brutality. The fact that this year's BET Awards marked the show's 20th anniversary was merely the icing on the cake.

Given the coronavirus pandemic, it's a small miracle that any new season of Big Brother came together this summer, let alone the All-Stars cycle that fans have wanted for years. Imagine our disappointment, then, that Season 22 has been one of the show's snooziest years ever: With the Committee alliance dominating the game, and houseguests too afraid to make bold moves, we've been saddled with a summer so uninteresting, we're not sure any twist could save it.

From veteran showrunner Bill Lawrence and starring Jason Sudeikis, this Apple TV+ comedy (think Major League, but with English football) has amassed much acclaim and left many a grin on viewers' faces, due to its feel-good, non-cynical vibe. Season 2 is already greenlit.

Bedeviled by its shapeshifting-demon conceit and lacking a tie to the beloved original series (save for its name), the Showtime offshoot — sorry, "spiritual descendant" — failed to scare up an enthusiastic enough audience to win a second season.

Originally slated for an October 2021 theatrical release, the handsomely filmed version of the acclaimed Broadway play that so many never got to see (and that so many are always happy to see yet again) proved, as a Disney+ debut, to be the perfect mid-pandemic panacea.

That said....

Whereas the Hamilton movie was offered as a freebie to Disney+ subscribers struggling to find worthwhile fare between seasons of The Mandalorian, the live-action Mulan's Stateside premiere via the streaming service delivered with it the cautionary tale that, when possible, the House of Mouse will ask you for a li'l extra cheese.

Three new, well-received, summertime series — Perry Mason, I May Destroy You and the recently launched Lovecraft Country — have kept the pay cabler in the pop culture conversation, half a year after the buzzy Watchmen completed its one-and-done run.

Originally envisioned and hyped to help launch the HBO Max service in late May, the in-person reunion of all six cast members — which, being unscripted, was merely "interesting" — instead got waylaid, like everything, by the pandemic. And now, hundreds of TV Cast Reunions via Zoom later...? As we have said from Day 1, we'd much rather listen in on a hot mic left in the green rooms as the actors get ready for the eventual special!

The pandemic summer was a cruel one for TV fans, you say? Consumers of superhero and supernatural fare actually were in hog heaven, thanks to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s unexpectedly Marvel-ous swan song, the back half of DC's Stargirl's super freshman run, a half-dozen wild (and sexxxy) Wynonna Earp episodes, The Boys coming back as boisterous as ever, and more.

The iconic San Diego fan gathering did the very best it could, just a few months into the pandemic, to put on a virtual show. But with industry behemoth DC focused on delivering talent and trailers/first looks to its own DC FanDome event in August/September, the Comic-Con@Home pickings were slim, and generated comparatively little buzz.

It's no wonder the audience for the Paramount Network smash just kept growing in Season 3 (to the point that its explosive finale roped the series' best-ever numbers). Creatively, the show was on fire, as brutal and poetic as ever, with new cast additions fitting in like a butt in a well-ridden saddle.

For the first time in five years, since the TNT drama made its debut, its loyal viewers had to make do without a single new summertime episode, seeing as the pandemic shut down production midway through Season 5.

Delivering Season 2 after nearly an 18-month break, the Netflix series apparently came back with quite a bang, topping Nielsen's inaugural streaming Top 10 list with "3.01 billion minutes viewed" (during the week of Aug. 3), which was nearly triple the amount of second-place finisher Shameless.