Review: The 10 Best TV Shows of 2024

It was pretty, pretty, pretty sad to say adios to comedy’s greatest dag Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm this year. Likewise the happy bloodsuckers of “What We Do in the Shadows”.

And I’m really going to miss Tom Selleck and the Reagan cop family, who have begun their 14th and final season on Blue Bloods. Also, I’m still not sure how Kevin Costner left Yellowstone. That was nasty – and it was also another show that lost out.

Admittedly, series favorites like “Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders in the Building” continued with flying colors. The same goes for Season 2 of Squid Game. And what a bonus that “Hacks”, “Industry”, “Somebody Somewhere”, “Shrinking” and “Slow Horses” actually went one better. Even Season 3 of The Bear was much better than its critics claimed.

But I want to ask you something: Don’t you prefer something original instead of constantly repeating oldies? “Ripley,” “Presumably Innocent,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Day of the Jackal” are all based on better, less padded films. I love seeing the great Kathy Bates take on the role of Andy Griffith in a retrofitted Matlock – but please! Having the same shows win Emmys year after year becomes a burden.

To change this stale mindset, I tried to limit my “10 Best” list to the shiny new things that debuted in 2024 and gave us something new to get excited about.

10. “Fallout”

Television shows that consist of video games are usually boring or worse. Not The Last of Us, the exception that proved the rule and – woo-hoo! — not “Fallout,” a gem of an eight-part series set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, where survivors live in underground vaults and play dangerous games. All hail the reliably fantastic Walton Goggins in the dual role of Cooper Howard, a former 1950s Cowboys star deposed for alleged communist connections, and the Ghoul, the noseless, irradiated remnant he becomes 200 years later . Let Goggins accompany you on this wild ride full of action, terror and laughter that brings unexpected surprises.

9. “Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez”

You can watch the flaws in Ryan Murphy’s sensational 10-part limited series about the conviction of the Menendez brothers Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch) for the 1989 murder of their parents José (Javier Bardem) Kitty (Chloë Sevigny). But the fifth episode, in which Koch as the imprisoned Eric speaks directly to the camera in one uninterrupted shot for 33 minutes and describes his alleged abuse at the hands of his father, is television at its mesmerizing, demented best, a tour de force for Golden The reigning Globe nominee Koch and a convincing argument for reopening the case against the brothers.

8. “Black Pigeons”

Rarely has spy stuff been done with such delicious sass and by such a stunning cast. The six-part series stars Keira Knightley, who oozes class and sophistication as the wife of the British Defense Secretary (Andrew Buchan).

When she’s not raising her two children or traveling with her lover, she’s selling state secrets to the highest bidder with the help of a friendly gay sniper (the always fabulous Ben Whishaw) at the icy behest of one Mrs. Reed (the Priceless). Sarah Lancashire from “Happy Valley”), who runs a spy syndicate called the Black Doves. Charmed? How could it not be you? It’s an action gem.

7. “A Man Inside”

The always welcome Ted Danson is a real star in this docu-sitcom – if there is such a thing – as a retired widower still grieving the death of his wife and working undercover in a nursing home to help a detective (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) catches an in-house jewel thief. The story is inspired by a real-life case that took place in Chile, but 76-year-old Danson and series creator Michael Schur, who worked wonderfully together on “The Good Place,” bring laughs and touching seriousness to this Americanized, one-of-a-kind series , which respects the crime-solving seniors, played by a live cast that includes Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sally Struthers and John Getz. It’s impossible not to cheer for them.

6. “True Detective: Night Country”

As a crime anthology series, “True Detective” always starts from scratch with new characters and stories. And the series hit the jackpot in Season 4, under the direction of stunning showrunner Issa López, by introducing two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster as a tough sheriff in an Alaskan town that stays dark half the year. This adds spooky supernatural elements to the mystery as the sheriff and her deputy (Kali Reis) bring raw female energy to the case when eight missing scientists from an Arctic research center turn up naked and frozen, crammed together in the ice, their faces twisted in fear.

5. “Nobody wants that”

Come on, everyone wants this. The best, most beguiling new sitcom of the year (it’s about the unlikely attraction between a Smarta – an LA podcaster played by Kristen Bell and a hot rabbi played by Adam Brody) – is based on this Skills of show creator Erin Foster, daughter of pop maestro David Foster, to turn clichés on their head. What’s particularly worth mentioning is the sparkling chemistry between Bell and Brody – they’re simply irresistible – who exude the rare charm that keeps “Nobody Wants This” running at full speed across ten half-hour episodes.

4. “Disclaimer”

A great film director, Alfonso Cuarón, and two Oscar-winning actors, Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, create a TV fireworks display together. The seven-part series centers on a novel self-published by a retired teacher (an Emmy-winning Kline) that readers believe tells the true story (set 20 years in the past), like Blanchett’s filmmakers cheated on her husband (Sacha Baron Cohen) with Kline’s teenage son (Louis Partridge), then turned his back on her when the boy drowns trying to save their young child. “Disclaimer” walks the fine line between truth and fiction and raises the bar for what television can achieve when it’s on full blast.

3. “Baby Reindeer”

Show creator and magnet star Richard Gadd has shaken us all up with this riveting, semi-autobiographical series about how, as a London bartender and struggling stand-up comedian, he is taken over by a frumpy, middle-aged lawyer (a disturbing, unforgettable film). Jessica Gunning was followed and sexually harassed). Of course, it’s not that simple, even after the lawyer sent 41,000 emails, hundreds of tweets and 350 hours of voicemails to the man she calls “Baby Reindeer” – a reference to her favorite childhood toy. In seven half-hour episodes, Gadd builds one of the best and boldest original series of the year – the kind you never forget.

2. “The Penguin”

Tired of “Dark Knight” overkill? Me too, until this high-octane, highly dynamic series took its own original approach to the saga by virtually ignoring the Caped Crusader and focusing on Oswald “Oz” Cobb, aka the Penguin. Oz’s ties to the Mafia leave him little time to harass The Batman, as he did in the 2022 blockbuster of the same name.

Colin Farrell, unrecognizable in his character transformation, brings ferocity and emotion to Oz as he tries to deal with Sofia Falcone, the vengeful daughter of Gotham’s top crime family. She’s been played for ages by Cristin Milioti, whose virtuoso villainy is Emmy-worthy. Watching Milioti and Farrell bicker is one of the most powerful and perverse pleasures of the television year.

1. “Shogun”

Can 18 Emmy wins be wrong? Not this time. Based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell (it isn’t). complete (new as the novel was also previously adapted into a 1980 miniseries), this historical epic is proving to be the undeniable event of the streaming year. Set during a looming civil war in feudal Japan in the 1600s, this 10-part series stars the great Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga and the radiant Anna Sawai as Lady Toda Mariko, the translator whose scandalous love for the imprisoned British captain John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis ) threatens to topple an empire. From the first scene to the last, the scale and intimacy of this thunderous odyssey will take your breath away. That’s what I’m talking about.