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Top Ten TV Shows from 2023

2023 was another terrific year for me when it comes to television shows. I watched numerous amazing seasons of television throughout this year. Whether classic shows or newer series, whether returning or debuting seasons, here are the shows that defined this year for me.

10. South Park Season 26

The most recent season of South Park is overly short and it ended on a very sour note, but for the most part it featured very good episodes and a couple of incredible ones that are instant classics. Yes, they continued serialization in certain instances, but going back to simpler storylines and their signature brutally honest and edgy humor worked in their favor here.

9. Big Mouth Season 7

The seventh season of Big Mouth is flawed. Most characters did not get their proper due with Jay and Lola being sidelined. Still, Andrew was hilarious throughout while Jessi and Nick got their solid storylines too. It’s an uneven season, but it has its fair share of terrific episodes, so I was mostly satisfied with it.

8. The Golden Girls

This year I finally decided to watch all seven seasons of The Golden Girls and it was an absolute blast. As is the case with all these shows, the seasons are quite large, so they were uneven in quality, but for the most part this was a tremendous sitcom that featured excellent acting, wonderful characterization and superb humor. It has aged like fine wine and is still widely enjoyable to watch to this day.

7. Hilda

I also watched all three seasons (and one movie) of Hilda, which is this incredible family-friendly animated fantasy on Netflix. It features gorgeous, warm animation and a great roster of memorable characters. Above all else, its ecological and other strong themes were so well incorporated and the series is a lovely watch for kids and adults alike.

6. Spy x Family Season 1

Spy x Family is uneven in pacing and structure, but this is undoubtedly one of the funniest anime shows that we’ve gotten recently. The dialogue is stupendous and the situational comedy is top-notch, especially due to how these characters are vividly portrayed and instantly iconic. It’s truly a great show and I am excited to watch the second season.

5. Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1

Castlevania: Nocturne offered a great return to this intriguing, dark world. The storytelling is rich, the animation is polished, the action sequences are fantastic and the character development is largely outstanding, leading to a great start for this new series in the Castlevania franchise that is quite underrated.

4. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

The gorgeous, colorful animation coupled with a terrific score made this anime an audio-visual treat while its strong characterization made it emotionally rewarding and riveting throughout. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is one of the best game adaptations that we’ve gotten so far and a great example of anime science fiction operating on highest levels.

3. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 16

Sunny’s Season 16 saw all four characters and actors delivering and having great moments throughout. The sophisticated nature to a couple of episodes was also surprising and quite welcome. It’s a flawed, but mostly terrific season of one of my favorite shows of all time. The fact that it’s still this great so late in its run is mind-blowing and they deserve extra props for that.

2. The White Lotus Season 2

The second season of The White Lotus is even better than the first. It’s incredible entertaining from start to finish with terrific dialogue, humor and acting performances. The characters are uniformly fantastic and so well developed while the conflicts are also grounded in reality and quite juicy to follow. It’s just a great show that only gets better with each new season.

1. Succession Season 4

The fourth season of Succession was fantastic. Its finale was explosive, unexpected and ultimately perfect. It is truly one of the best episodes in the history of television. The acting performances are outstanding, the dialogue is brilliant, it deals with the business world in a very realistic manner and every character’s arc got a proper sendoff. It’s overall one of the best drama shows of all time and by far the best television season that I watched in 2023.

Honorable Mentions:

The Terror Season 1 – The Terror is a superb television series based on the novel by Dan Simmons. It has great acting, an intriguing story and very cinematic qualities to it.

Rick and Morty Season 6 – Rick’s character arc was tremendous in the sixth season of this show that was ultimately improved over its predecessor.

Mythic Quest Season 3 – While I did miss F. Murray Abraham, everybody else was superb in the third season of this underrated comedy that is so much fun to watch.

Demon Slayer – Demon Slayer got a very weak third season, which is why I didn’t include it in the top ten ranking, but the first two seasons were shonen anime at its best.

Sex Education Season 4 – The final season of Sex Education capped off with a beautiful finale, but getting to that final episode was rough and quite uneven.