Best Moments on TV of 2018... So Far

10. Roseanne, the reboot, was a hit on ABC. It premiered to over 27 million viewers, making it the highest rated comedy in years. In many ways, it was the same show from the late 1980's and early 90's but it had the added appeal to Trump voters starved for representation, even though conservative values and even lower middle-class to poverty representations have been on TV for a while like ABC's The Middle or CBS' Mom. The show was renewed three days after it premiered but two months later, Channing Dungey, the first African-American president of ABC Entertainment, cancelled the sitcom after Roseanne Barr made a racist tweet. (March 27)

9. Philadelphia celebrated Super Bowl LII (52) win. The Eagles beat the New England Patriots by a score of 41 to 33. It was the first Super Bowl win in the Eagles' history, even after star quarterback Carson Wentz had been injured. The game had the smallest audience in nearly a decade, but the eruption in the streets of the City of Brotherly Love was incredible. (Feb. 4)

8. Bubba Wallace finished 2nd at Daytona 500 and broke down. Bubba's full name is Darrell Wallace Jr. He's 24 and is from Mobile, Alabama. He competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He's No. 43 commanding a Chevy Camaro ZL1 for Richard Petty Motorsports. He is one of the most successful, African-American drivers in the history of NASCAR. For more about the really, cool racer, check out his web series Behind the Wall: Bubba Wallace. However, it was during his post-race interview where he got real emotional. (Feb. 19)

7. Kanye West appeared on TMZ and implied or said slavery was a choice, which caused a supreme backlash in the black community but none more memorable than Van Lathan, a staffer at TMZ who confronted West right there in the office. (May 1)

6. CNN Town Hall - Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action was hosted by Jake Tapper and featured the students who survived a mass shooting on Valentine's Day speaking out against Florida politicians like Marco Rubio and the representative of the NRA. (Feb. 21)

5. Michelle Wolf hosted the White House Correspondents Dinners. The female comic who worked at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Late Night with Seth Meyers ripped into a lot of people, but she made the most headlines with her jokes against Sarah Huckabee Sanders, which caused a firestorm in the media. (April 28)

4. Anderson Cooper interviewed Stormy Daniels and lawyer Michael Avenatti for 60 Minutes. The lead up to it was just as riveting as the interview itself and the aftermath of which have been incredible as Avenatti has dominated the media with his fierce advocacy on behalf of the porn star and against President Donald Trump who is alleged of having an affair with Daniels and then using a shady attorney named Michael Cohen to cover it up. What started as a simple case of a Non-Disclosure Agreement has escalated into ties to Russian collusion. The dominos that kept falling week-after-week by far makes this the story of the year. (March 25)

3. Donald Glover hosted SNL and same night released Childish Gambino's "This Is America." Glover smoothly slid into the skits that played off his charm exuded in his recent performance as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. An 80's music video and dirty talk skit are proof, but his simultaneous release of his music video was a one-two punch that nobody expected. (May 5)

2. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. America was founded by separating from Great Britain, but there's something about the British royal family that still enchants us. There are issues in England that deserve attention that events like the royal wedding overshadow, but the wedding is notable for some basic reasons. The wedding was broadcast worldwide to every English-speaking country and what audiences saw was not just the opulence but also black culture and black people put on a global stage that rarely happens unless you're Beyoncé. (May 19)

1. Beyoncé performed at Coachella. What more needs to be said. Beyoncé's show was a tribute to HBCU's and black feminism. The two-hour set simply blew people away. It was the most-watched set of any performance there and she made history by being the first black woman to headline the Coachella festival.  (April 14)

Special shout-out goes to Mamoudou Gassamu who is a French immigrant from Mali. On May 26, he climbed up the side of a building four stories. He did so to rescue a 4-year-old boy who was hanging from the balcony. The mayor of Paris nicknamed him "Spider-Man of the 18th." President Macron gave him a medal of courage, offered him citizenship and a job with the fire service. Last month, he received the BET Humanitarian Award in Los Angeles at the 18th annual BET Awards. (June 24)

Another shout-out goes to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on his episode regarding Vice President Mike Pence where he introduced his book about Marlon Bundo. (March 18)

But, in the meantime, I've compiled a long list of the TV shows within this past season that I think have really been extraordinary. Here are my favorites for 2018.

Best TV Movie

THE TALE (HBO)
ALEX STRANGELOVE (Netflix)
CANDY JAR (Netflix)
FIRST MATCH (Netflix)
MARRYING MR. DARCY (Hallmark)

Best Reality / Variety

QUEER EYE (Netflix)
AARON HERNANDEZ UNCOVERED (Oxygen)
THE RACHEL DIVIDE (Netflix)
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (HBO)
MARLON WAYANS: WOKE-ISH (Netflix)
BEHIND THE WALL: BUBBA WALLACE (Facebook Watch)

Best Comedy

THE GOOD PLACE: SEASON 2 (NBC)
ATLANTA: SEASON 2 (FX)
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT: SEASON 4 (Netflix)
THE LAST O. G. (TBS)
SILICON VALLEY: SEASON 4 (HBO)
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: SEASON 9 (HBO)
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: SEASON 4 - REMIX (Netflix)

Best Drama

SEVEN SECONDS (Netflix)
THE GOOD FIGHT: SEASON 2 (CBS)
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER: SEASON 4 (ABC)
POSE (FX)
THIS IS US: SEASON 2 (NBC)
SHADES OF BLUE: SEASON 3 (NBC)
BLINDSPOT: SEASON 3 (NBC)

Best Individual Episode

THE X-FILES: SEASON 11 - "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat"
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE: SEASON 2 - "Chapter VIII"
SCANDAL: SEASON 7 - "Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself"

Best Individual Performance

Crystal R. Fox - THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS: SEASON 5
Judith Light - THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
Antoinette Robertson - DEAR WHITE PEOPLE: SEASON 2
Jessica Walter - ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: SEASON 5
Finn Wittrock - THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
Bill Hader - SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: SEASON 43
Sean Samuels - GIANTS: SEASON 2
Jason Mitchell - THE CHI
Petrice Jones - STEP UP: HIGH WATER