KPop Demon Hunters, South Park, Love Island USA, Wednesday and More

Labor Day weekend is here, the leaves are changing, and summer is drawing to a close… which means it’s time to declare some winners and losers.

Each year, the TVLine staff looks back on the summer that was and takes stock of the TV shows and personalities that soared… and yeah, the ones that soured, too. We take into account a show’s overall quality, ratings and social media buzz when making our judgments, and this year, we came up with plenty of winners, from Netflix’s unstoppable smash hit KPop Demon Hunters to HBO’s surging costume drama The Gilded Age to Peacock’s dating show phenomenon Love Island USA.

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Unfortunately, a few shows had a summer they’d like to forget, too, and we had to highlight some lowlights like the recently axed And Just Like That… and the cancellation bloodbath over at HGTV. (We even threw in a few draws, since several notable shows saw mixed results this year.) So read on to get our verdict on more than 20 standout shows and names that made this summer in TV what it was — for better or worse. Plus, be sure to hit the comments at the end to give us your personal list of this summer’s TV winners and losers.

WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters

Who knew that the summer’s biggest pop culture sensation would be an animated musical that dropped quietly on Netflix in June? Demon Hunters — centered on a K-pop girl group who hunt demons when they’re not on stage singing and dancing — has become Netflix’s most-watched original movie ever, with more than 230 million views. It’s also dominating the music charts, with the original song “Golden” topping the Billboard Hot 100. It’s so popular, Netflix put a sing-along version in theaters two months after its streaming debut … and it topped the box office. It sounds like we’re getting an encore, too: There’s already talk of a sequel. — Dave Nemetz

WINNER: The Gilded Age

With its impeccable costuming, sweeping cinematography and period-appropriate banter, The Gilded Age has always been the perfect show with which to wind down on a Sunday night. But someone behind the scenes decided to flip a switch in Season 3, injecting the show with thrilling twists that had us waiting between episodes with bated breath. A royal wedding! A carriage crash! A shooting! Is this even the same show? We’re not sure, but we’re more invested than ever, so keep it coming. (We’re not the only ones invested, either; Season 3 hit a series high in viewership five weeks in a row.) — Andy Swift

LOSER: And Just Like That…

Carrie Bradshaw’s second chapter came to an abrupt end when HBO Max announced the Sex and the City sequel would be ending after three seasons… just two weeks ahead of the series finale. Showrunner Michael Patrick King insisted this was a planned conclusion, but the series finale earned a big fat “F” from TVLine readers, with fans complaining that it wasn’t a fitting ending at all for Carrie and company. — D.N.

WINNER: South Park

Nearly 30 years into its run, Comedy Central’s savage animated satire still hasn’t lost its ability to shock and surprise us. (Thank God.) The new season, which debuted in July, set its sights on President Donald Trump and recaptured the gonzo, anything-goes energy of its glory days. It’s pulling vintage ratings, too, with the Season 27 premiere drawing the show’s biggest linear rating in the 18-49 demo since — wow — 1999. Cue up some Prince! — D.N.

WINNER: The Summer I Turned Pretty

What better way to spend the humdrum months of summer than on the side of the road with Conrad and Belly biting into a big, old, juicy peach?! Whether you’re Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad, we can all agree that Season 3 of the Prime Video adaptation has gotten us talking like never before. And with a wedding looming over our young couple, the stakes have truly never been higher. — Claire Franken

LOSER: Wednesday

Given that the first season of Wednesday debuted as Netflix’s most-watched English-language program, expectations for Season 2 were understandably high. So why then did Netflix, after making us wait more than two years for Season 2, decide to split it into two halves? It’s a strong season, but the month-long break between halves totally killed the show’s momentum. (And the ratings suffered, too.) Did we really need that midseason cliffhanger? Did any viewer really think that Wednesday would kill off a character named *checks notes* Wednesday? — A.S.

DRAW: The Bear

After a decidedly lukewarm Season 3, Hulu’s acclaimed restaurant dramedy turned up the heat in Season 4, delivering the raw emotional intensity and spectacular acting fireworks we’ve come to expect. (That wedding episode was an all-timer.) Unfortunately, it looks like some customers just aren’t coming back: Season 4’s first-week ratings were down 24 percent from last season’s. — D.N.

WINNER: Dexter: Resurrection

We were cautiously optimistic about Dexter coming back from the dead, and we’re happy to report that Resurrection has been a smashing home run. Peter Dinklage’s Leon Prater is a mesmerizing new foe for Dexter, while having Dex mix it up with other serial killers (played by Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet and more) raised the tension and gave our titular antihero some real pros to contend with. Plus, the Batista/Dexter showdown has been nothing short of riveting to watch. — Nick Caruso

WINNER: Love Island USA

Last year’s ratings surge was no fluke: Peacock’s red-hot dating competition dominated the streaming charts all summer long, logging more than 18 billion (!) minutes of viewing time and becoming the streamer’s most-watched season of original programming ever. It earned endless social buzz as well — thank you, Hurricane Huda, Amaya Papaya and #Nicolandria — and after adding a reunion special and a follow-up spinoff (Love Island USA: Beyond the Villa), we can confidently say it’s Love Island season all year long. — D.N.

LOSER: CBS

The Eye network took a black eye on a couple of fronts over the summer months. First, CBS paid President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, leading media observers to suggest the payout was a bribe to get the Trump administration to approve the merger of CBS parent company Paramount and Skydance Media. Then CBS unceremoniously dumped frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert, cancelling The Late Show after a three-decade run. But hey, at least that merger went through, right? — D.N.

WINNER: King of the Hill

Yup: It turns out that after 15 years off the air, Hank Hill still has plenty of propane left in the tank. Hulu’s revival of the Fox animated hit may have moved forward in time, with Hank and Peggy’s son Bobby now all grown up, but the new episodes struck the same warm and funny tone the original did. It’s a hit with viewers, too: The premiere reached 4.4 million viewers in its first week, making it the most-watched adult animated premiere on Hulu and Disney+ in five years. — D.N.

WINNER: Law Roach on Project Runway

Law Roach has brought a renewed sense of style — and sass! — to our beloved Project Runway. He’s not only unafraid to share his honest thoughts with contestants — remember when he called Ethan’s look a dilated cervix? — he also has no qualms correcting his fellow judges’ poor taste. Today, Law, you’re in! — C.F.

LOSER: FUBAR

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s blow-‘em-up action series returned for a second season on Netflix in June after blazing up the streaming charts in Season 1. But it returned with more of a whimper than a bang, garnering zero buzz despite the addition of The Matrix alum Carrie-Anne Moss and barely making a dent in the streaming charts. Sure enough, the cancellation axe fell two months later. — D.N.

DRAW: Squid Game

Yes, Netflix’s mega-hit Korean drama returned to huge ratings when its third and final season bowed in June, piling up more than 100 million views in its first 10 days of streaming. But not all of those viewers were happy with what they saw: The final episodes drew a puzzled reaction from fans (TVLine readers gave it a “B”), and the previous season got completely blanked by the Emmys, after Season 1 nabbed 14 nods. It’s game over, we guess. — D.N.

WINNER: The Vampire Diaries Fans

The road to Mystic Falls may be closed for now, but fans of The Vampire Diaries franchise remained well-fed this summer, thanks to shows like Netflix’s The Waterfront (created by TVD’s Kevin Williamson and co-starring The Originals’ Danielle Campbell, with appearances by TVD’s Zach Roerig and Matt Davis) and Prime Video’s We Were Liars (developed by TVD’s Julie Plec and The Originals’ Carina Adly MacKenzie, featuring TVD’s Candice King). The cherry on top was Paul Wesley’s A+ performance channeling William Shatner’s iconic acting style in the latest season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. — A.S.

WINNER: Resident Alien

We’re still sad that we’ve reached the end of Patience’s extraterrestrial saga, but what a way to go out. The Mantid proved to be a gross, yet formidable antagonist for Harry, while Alan Tudyk’s performance kept us giggling and seated until the very end. Thanks to its fantastic fourth and final run, we’ll forever miss Asta, D’arcy, Mike, Liv and the rest of the town’s zany characters and antics. — N.C.

LOSER: HGTV shows

The home-improvement cable network did some heavy demo work this summer, cancelling a slew of fan-favorite shows like Farmhouse Fixer and Bargain Block in a drastic cost-cutting move. Sure, HGTV did renew hits like The Flip Off and Love It or List It… but it’s still starting to feel awfully cramped around here. — D.N.

WINNER: Alien: Earth

Noah Hawley already brought one cinematic classic to the small screen with Fargo, and it looks like he’s still got the touch. FX’s Alien: Earth — an offshoot of the venerable Alien film franchise — debuted to very strong reviews in August, and it quickly rocketed to the top of Hulu’s streaming charts, too, grabbing 9.2 million views in its first six days of streaming availability. — D.N.

WINNER: Sistas

On Tyler Perry’s Sistas, Karen’s seasons-long pregnancy has been one of the show’s soapier storylines (twins from two different fathers?!), but it took a serious turn this season when a racist doctor’s negligence cost one of Karen’s twins their life. In addition to giving the show’s cast some meaty material to work with, this tragic twist allowed the BET drama to expose an all-too-real healthcare crisis, one disproportionately affecting Black and brown women. And the show isn’t tip-toeing around this sensitive subject; it’s being confronted head-on, like when Danni exclaimed at the hospital, “They don’t believe us until we’re dead.” — A.S.

LOSER: Mountainhead

HBO slipped in this original movie from Succession creator Jesse Armstrong right before the Emmy deadline… but they shouldn’t have bothered. The bitter-edged capitalist satire, which found a quartet of filthy rich tech bros hiding out at a luxe ski lodge while the world descended into chaos, earned mixed reviews from fans and critics, and it only managed one measly Emmy nod. (Those tech bros can dry their tears with hundred-dollar bills, tho.) — D.N.

DRAW: Big Brother

The return of winner Rachel Reilly has added some spice to BB27, but the allure of the season’s Hotel Mysteré theme has more than worn off. Like most other seasons, this summer’s edition has had its ups and downs, but overall, Season 27 is shaping up to be a fine, middle-of-the-road installment of CBS’ summer reality bash. Nothing more, nothing less. — N.C.

WINNER: Las Culturistas Culture Awards

Bravo’s freshman awards show wasn’t just a spoof; it was a celebration of camp. From Ben Platt’s iconic rendition of Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi” to the “In Absentia” segment honoring those who couldn’t attend the show (not because they were dead but because they were busy), the spectacle was most definitely the moment in culture that made us say culture is for us. — C.F.

LOSER: Broadcast TV Originality

After a few glorious years of injecting the summer months with fresh scripted programming, network TV has gone back to the good old days of reruns, essentially giving up on new shows this year and relying on creaky old reality shows like America’s Got Talent to carry them through the dog days of summer. It probably saved them a few bucks… but it didn’t inspire us to tune in. — D.N.

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