TV We're Thankful For in 2017: Grey's Anatomy, Game of Thrones and More

From a Grey's Anatomy milestone to a Game of Thrones getdown, TV has given us plenty to be thankful for this year

By TV Scoop Team Nov 22, 2017 1:00 PMTags
TV We're Thankful ForThe CW; NBC; ABC / Melissa Hebeler; E! Illustration

It's that time of year, TV fans.

Time to gather around with loved ones, pile your plate full of turkey and pumpkin pie, unbutton that top button on your pants, and dig in. But before you do, it's only customary to go around the table and share what your most thankful for. In that spirit, the E! News TV Team is coming at you with what we're most grateful for this year—and you know it all has to do with our beloved small screen. (Yeah, yeah, we're thankful for our families and our health, too. But you don't want to hear all that mushy stuff!)

Every Thanksgiving, the members of our team reveal what TV delights got them through the year, ranging from massive milestone episodes to minor moments. So join as as we share with you what we'll be talking about when we get together with our families to distract us from ruminating on what a bizarre year this has truly been. And, as always, be sure to let us know what you're thankful too!

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TV We're Thankful For in 2017
This Is Us For Giving and Withholding

I fully admit I was a bit nervous going into season two that the show, which has possibly achieved a new level of hype and exposure in the TV world, would hit the dreaded sophomore slump, doubling down on aspects of the show fans loved. (We get it, Internet, you all want to know how Jack died!) Fortunately, the show gave us a few clues in the premiere, and are slowly but steadily doling out the explanations, choosing to focus on character-building and relationship-testing storylines. —Tierney Bricker

Crazy Ex's Continued Excellence

Bless Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna and the entire cast and crew of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The beloved CW musical dramedy continues to push boundaries in every possible direction without feeling forced or preachy. Rebecca Bunch's evolution (or spiral to rock bottom) has been handled with grace, while remaining hilarious. Striking that hilarious/poignant balance is no easy feat, especially when dealing with mental illness, but Crazy Ex-Girlfriend continues to walk that line expertly in season three. —Chris Harnick

Grey's Anatomy's Ghosts

Grey's Anatomy joined an elite club of shows this year when it aired its landmark 300th episode, and in doing so, paid perfect homage to all those who helped get the series off the ground and keep it afloat for 14 years. From the trauma patients who bore uncanny resemblances to former stars T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh and Katherine Heigl, to the very early Grey's feel of the interns' actions, to Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) seeing Ellis (Kate Burton) up in the O.R. observation gallery, applauding her Harper Avery win, it was a pitch-perfect episode. —Billy Nilles

Riverdale

I don't know what this show is smokin' most of the time. It's insane and makes no sense, but I love that it exists. I love that there's a show on TV that will just throw out any wacky thing it thinks of in the most dramatic fashion while we're just supposed to accept it. Sure, that's how you join a gang. Sure, Jingle Jangle is a great name for a drug. Sure, shower sex is a great idea while you're washing your father's blood off of your clothes. Whatever. It's great, and I'm so thankful we have it. —Lauren Piester

Game of Thrones For its Incest*

OK, I am NOT a fan of incest. BUT I did like finally feeling vindicated by Jon Snow and Dany's hookup this past season after calling  that it would happen for years! Yes, my need to gloat tops my disdain for relatives hooking up. (Also, they don't know?! I am trying to convince myself it's OK to help this 'ship sail, people. No one said shipping was easy.) —Tierney Bricker

*But Cersei and Jaime are just messed up. Period.

The Good Place

NBC's The Good Place is easily my happy place. Kristen Bell and Ted Danson lead a cast that's on top of their games. The Good Place turned everything on its head at the end of season one, allowing for season two to truly blossom. If D'Arcy Carden doesn't get an Emmy for playing Janet, well, fork that. —Chris Harnick

The Funny Ladies of Netflix

It seems like Netflix drops a new series every time I blink my eyes, to varying degrees of quality, but since the January release of the One Day at a Time reboot (starring the luminous Justina Machado), they've proven to be a haven for some of the funniest women in the game. Aside from mainstays Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Grace & Frankie, the streaming giant brought Drew Barrymore to TV in the madcap zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet, introduced the world to the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling with GLOW, found Dear White People's trio of fantastic female leads (Logan Browning, Antoinette Robertson, and Ashley Blaine Featherston), and gave us a second season of Maria Bamford's sweetly surreal Lady Dynamite. Even The Defenders was slightly redeemed by Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones and the humor she injected into the otherwise dull proceedings. In a year that's proven there are more bad men in Hollywood than we could even count, turning these funny ladies on and tuning out an ugly world has been a true godsend. —Billy Nilles

Babysitter Steve Harrington

I loved all of season two of Stranger Things (even that terrible episode!), but what I loved most was the fact that my season one love of Steve Harrington was not only justified, but it became larger and more widely accepted. The whole world now sees the joy in this '80s jock who's really just a kindly single mom at heart, with Farrah Fawcett hair and a baseball bat covered in nails. We can all now unite behind Steve Harrington, and for that I am thankful. —Lauren Piester

Luann Falling Into a Bush on RHONY

Sure, Luann (or Lu, as her friends like to call her) has given us so many .gif(t)s over the years, but does anything top her falling harder than she fell for (Please don't let it be about) Tom into a bush after drinking a few too many margaritas on the RHONY ladies' infamous trip to Mexico? Oh, and then her subsequent fall off of a four-foot high cement platform? Classy as ever, she laughed it off…and woke up to do yoga, surf and give zero effs about her drunken antics the following day. This is how you Housewife, people! —Tierney Bricker

90 Day Fiance

Somehow I have become somebody who not only DVRs 90 Day Fiance, but also tweets about it. The guilty pleasure reality show satisfies all my curiosity and drama needs. Who's actually in love? Who's so delusional? My judgmental nature flies freely thanks to this show. Don't even get me started on Before the 90 Days—Chris Harnick

SNL's Lowkey Obsession With RHOBH's Erika Jayne

All hail the kitty ambassador to the twink republic of Quonk! I'm not sure who in the SNL writers' room is a hardcore fan of the RHOBH fave, but I'm so glad they are. It was exciting enough when, during Chris Pine's episode in May, he and Bobby Moynihan performed a "lip sync for your life" to Erika's "XXPEN$IVE." But watching Cecily Strong become Erika—excuse me, Candace—during the "New Wife" sketch with Larry David in early November slayed me. Now who do I have to bribe with munty and Givenchy hunty to have Candace and Erika meet? —Billy Nilles

Every Single Season of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix

Grey's Anatomy has been my entire life for the past month, and it was the happiest month of the year, maybe (not really). Sure, I cried a lot about things that normally wouldn't make me cry, but those tears were cathartic. I needed them. Everyone should rapidly rewatch all 13 1/2 seasons of Grey's Anatomy at least once in their lives. —Lauren Piester 

What TV are you thankful for this holiday season? Sound off with your faves in the comments below!

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