This is only the 5th year I’ve been writing about the best in TV in addition to the best movies of the year. There is so much good television to write about- some series below have been featured before, and others are new (at least to me). Read about the best TV of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
The Bear: I finally got to watch all 3 seasons of The Bear, and if you think of it as a drama and not a comedy (category fraud be damned), it is indeed a very, very good show. Season 3 was released this year, and although critical consensus was mixed, I enjoyed it all. Season 2, however, has moments of transcendence, mainly in the episodes “Honeydew” and “Forks”. In “Honeydew”, we get to see Marcus, played by Lionel Boyce, discover a sense of purpose and discovery while training in Copenhagen. And in “Forks”, perpetual kid Richie, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, also finds a higher calling in the mundane, namely, polishing forks. If you’ve ever known anyone like Richie, it’s especially heartwarming. There’s hope for everyone. The Bear is a fundamentally optimistic show.
True Detective: Night Country: Each episode of this miniseries on HBO was chilling- pun intended. It was a mystery, a meditation on life at literal extremes, and an opportunity for acting powerhouses Jodie Foster and Kali Reis to show their stuff. The mystery is satisfyingly resolved in the end, and we actually come to miss the small, fictional town of Ennis, Alaska and its inhabitants.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Action, love, gorgeous locales and underlying suspense- will things unravel and how- made Mr. and Mrs. Smith an entertaining, well-acted take on the spy genre. I expected Donald Glover, AKA the young Lando Calrissian, to be great, but I was pleasantly surprised by Maya Erskine, who more than proved herself up to the task of playing spy/newlywed. If there is a second season, I’ll miss the original couple. But the concept definitely has legs.
Somebody Somewhere: The final season of this delightful little show made me alternately giggle and cry every week. Bridget Everett, in her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, presents us with a sweet portrait of life lived in the margins- people who find happiness in middle age but just outside the norm (gay, divorced, unmarried). It’s an ode to friendship first and foremost.
A Man on the Inside: This one didn’t just make this list because the exteriors were shot at the gorgeous building pictured above, just a 20 minute walk from me. But I am partial to movies and TV shows set in beautiful San Francisco. In addition to the setting, A Man on the Inside gives beloved character actors like Stephen McKinley Henderson and Margaret Avery a chance to shine. But it all works because of the charm of Ted Danson as a retiree who’s happy to be useful again as a detective “on the inside” at a retirement home. It’s highly bingeable.
Dishonorable Mention: Disclaimer is a classic example of a show that was too showy for its own good. Prestigious director, prestigious star, and an overwrought script with excessive narration and overdone photography. Sometimes, bad movies happen to good actors. Sadly, this is an example that the same can happen in TV.
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