“Many of this year’s best comedy specials share a reflective sense of mid-career reconsideration.”

Vulture’s annual ranking names Kumail Nanjiani’s “Night Thoughts” (Hulu) as the best of the year—a reassessment of his career and relationship with comedy after more than a decade away from regular stand-up. The list also features Bill Burr, Mike Birbiglia, Marc Maron, and Cameron Esposito. Steph Tolev’s “Filth Queen” and Jordan Jensen’s “Take Me with You” are “a matched pair of specials on human debasement.”