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Top Ten TV Shows from 2024

2024 was another great year for television shows for me. I did not watch all that many classic shows, but I did end up seeing all of of the great new stuff. Whether returning, new or recent shows, these ten series defined this year for me.

10. Overlord

During the last quarter of the year I watched the entirety of the Overlord anime, which is this interesting isekai show set in a video game world. While the first season remained the best one, I did end up liking all four seasons as the series was consistently entertaining and even charming in its own right. This is not an action-heavy show, but one that relied on witty dialogue and fun characters a lot while also benefiting from the main character being a villain.

9. Euphoria

Euphoria is a famous HBO series that tackled the teenage experience today in an extremely realistic manner. It’s an important show that is very dark and unforgiving, but also delightfully juicy and entertaining. The superb acting performances and grounded dialogue are its highlight while its messy pacing and storytelling as its main weaknesses. While I did not care all that much for the second season, the first one was stellar and one of the two specials was a masterpiece.

8. Wednesday Season 1

Netflix’s Wednesday is an utterly delightful, cozy and charming series that is visually appealing, immensely enjoyable throughout and so well cast. Jenna Ortega stole the show, literally becoming Wednesday Addams in the process. The shortcomings of its overall plot notwithstanding, this is a lovely show that benefits from strong dialogue, humor and characterization.

7. Baby Reindeer

This limited series is very much a show of the moment. It won’t really be remembered for years to come, but for the time being it is definitely juicy and entertaining enough that it will fascinate thousands of viewers. It did seem a bit sensational at times, but it was also genuinely well written, nuanced and sophisticated in the tackling of its very serious issues. It’s a wonderfully acted and made series that came as a surprise to many this year.

6. Blue Eye Samurai Season 1

Blue Eye Samurai is an excellent new show that sets another benchmark for American animation. This is probably the best anime of 2023 due to superb, stylish animation and phenomenal action sequences that were thrilling throughout. It has a great character roster, an interesting story and a meticulously detailed, intriguing world. It’s somewhat short and rushed, but for the most part this was a fantastic Netflix series that I can’t wait to return for what will undoubtedly be a phenomenal second season.

5. Vinland Saga

I watched the entirety of this phenomenal anime this year and I had an absolute blast. While Vinland Saga’s first season is highly entertaining, epic and rousing, it is the second season that truly surprised me and very pleasantly. It changed gears entirely from a blood-soaked revenge story to a pacifist, philosophical take on a period piece. The resulting two seasons are entirely different pieces of this one puzzle that made the show uniquely its own.

4. Hacks Season 3

Hacks continues to fire on all cylinders and this last season is the best and most confident season of this series yet with so many powerful speeches, excellent points being made about Hollywood and fantastic character arcs for Deborah and Ava. Their relationship was the heart of this season and every single scene of theirs was fantastic. It’s amazing that they continue to top themselves every single time.

3. Ripley

By far the most artistic series I watched all year has to be Ripley, which is one of the best-looking shows of all time without any doubt. Yes, it is overlong and slow at times. But it’s still very engaging due to its strong character development, a pretty terrific script and an unforgettable main character played effortlessly by the great Andrew Scott. The series is worth seeing for its technical aspects alone – the score is lovely, the production design is fantastic and its black-and-white cinematography is artistic, refined and just stunning to behold.

2. Shogun

Shogun is a phenomenal series that deserves all the praise that it got. It’s so well written, so superbly performed by its talented cast and so emotionally rewarding that it was a thrilling watch all-around. The highlights are its impressive technical aspects, fantastic characterization, evident thematic richness and stellar dialogue. This is a period piece that was so amazingly mounted in every single area that it’s almost impossible not to be in awe with its overall production, narrative and emotional resonance. It’s rare for a show to get as many awards as this one got and not feel that it wasn’t fully earned, but Shogun most evidently was worthy.

1. Beef

This miniseries is extremely relevant for today’s age as it explores deeply universal themes of rage, dissatisfaction and frustration. It’s a brilliantly scripted, tonally diverse series that is propelled by two outstanding turns from Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, both being compelling throughout. Beef is wild, unexpected and unique. It’s one of the best shows of 2023 and one of the most purely entertaining series I watched this year, so it gets this number one spot in this very tough field of opponents.

Honorable Mentions:

The Haunting of Hill House – This series made Mike Flanagan a household name. Although it is most certainly too slow, it’s also genuinely moving and very well acted.

Carol and the End of the World – A deeply existential animated drama that benefits from a strange tone and protagonist. It’s quite mature and heady in its themes.

Love, Death & Robots Season 3 – This show got a a thrilling, eclectic roster of episodes in this stellar installment and I can’t wait to see the next season.

Now and Then, Here and There – This is an effective post-apocalyptic anime that features a unique steampunk world. It’s a flawed, but artistic and intriguing series.

Fellow Travelers – A grounded gay romance story and a terrific period piece all in one, Fellow Travelers is a beautifully acted and written series that was uneven, but mostly satisfactory.