15 best shows of 2024: ‘Baby Reindeer,’ ‘Shōgun,’ ‘Hacks’ top the list
If it felt like television was completing one era and starting another as 2024 dawned, it’s because it really was. Such critical smashes as Succession, Ted Lasso, The Crown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry, and Reservation Dogs took their final bows in 2023, wrapping up the same year as twin strikes of the WGA and SAG. It consequently felt like the TV world was welcoming a group of fresh faces (along with a few acclaimed returnees) this year.
There may not have been as many out-of-the-gate hits in ’24 as there were in previous years, but there were nonetheless plenty of buzzworthy shows to celebrate, including an exceptional class of limited series — the hottest genre from an awards perspective.
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Here is our ranking of the 15 best television/streaming programs of the year:
15. Say Nothing (FX)
This extraordinary limited series adaptation of the nonfiction book by Patrick Radden Keefe spans four decades in the life of Dolours Price, a member of the Irish Republican Army, and the story of the Troubles of Northern Ireland. When you watch this, you get the unmistakable feeling you’re in very good hands indeed. The performances and direction are astonishingly good, as are the camera work and editing. Few adaptations are pulled off with such power and grace as Say Nothing, a compelling story of young revolutionaries that feels urgent and timely.
14. Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The writers strike-delayed third season did nothing to slow down a comedy that is no longer seen as particularly inventive or hilarious but in fact looked to be improving with age. Creator-star Quinta Brunson (Janeane) was never better, nor was costar Tyler James Williams (Gregory), whose comic chemistry together is something to behold. Moreover, it keeps hitting fresh gears that serve to reinvent the mockumentary format. This remains network TV’s funniest series, which is no small feat. Abbott is at this point maddeningly underrated and underappreciated.
13. Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
What felt going in like a one-joke concept built into a great, deep and heartwarming rom-com starring Kristen Bell as Joanne, an atheist and sex podcast host who falls for Noah, a mensch-y rabbi played with great heart and believability by Adam Brody. Tovah Feldshuh and others also lend strong support for a show that defies expectations while providing abundant laughs at the star-crossed attraction our protagonists are struggling so hard to navigate. The series is as hip as it is charming, as long as you can get past the abundant Jewish stereotypes.
12. Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)
While the multi-parter failed to generate the excitement of its WWII miniseries predecessors Band of Brothers and The Pacific, this airborne series from the stable of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman was a masterwork in its own right. It chronicled the exploits of the 100th Bomb Group, the famed “Bloody Hundredth,” with a terrific cast featuring Callum Turner, Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, and Nate Mann. Theirs is a fascinating and alternately tragic historical tale told with power and style.
11. The Bear (FX)
No, the third (season) wasn’t the charm for The Bear, which sometimes played out as gimmicky and self-satisfied. It felt somehow less lively and consequential. But the “comedy” that isn’t a comedy had a long way to fall, and when it was on, the record-settling 21-time Emmy victor really nailed it (though it lost the biggest prize to Hacks in September). It’s impossible not to rank it among the greatest shows of the year, particularly when it still has Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, and Liza Colón-Zayas delivering the lines.
10. The Diplomat (Netflix)
Nobody seemed to notice last year that Keri Russell was delivering the finest dramatic performance of anyone in television during the first season of this series. As U.S. Ambassador Kate Wyler, she is a powerhouse of cynicism and coiled rage. Things picked up in the second season with even greater intensity, the writing sharper, the direction more self-assured — and it added an awards magnet named Allison Janney to the mix as a very different vice president from the one embodied by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep. The Diplomat is one edge-of-your-seat firecracker of a show.
9. Under the Bridge (Hulu)
It happens sometimes that a wholly deserving show simply fails to capture the zeitgeist. Such was the case with this riveting limited series that tells the harrowing true story of 14-year-old Indian-Canadian Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) and her shocking murder at the hands of a group[ of fellow teen girls in British Columbia. Based on the book by the late Rebecca Godfrey, the series pulls exceptional performances from Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, and newcomer Chloe Guidry, sensitively conveying the collective trauma Reena’s killing had on her community.
8. A Man on the Inside (Netflix)
The Good Place creator Mike Schur tapped his star Ted Danson for this almost impossibly poignant charmer of a comedy that also goes deep. Danson is an ordinary elder looking to spice up his life after his wife’s death. He finds it when he’s enlisted to go undercover as the resident of a resident at a San Francisco senior living investigating a series of unsolved robberies. It’s a spy-com, sure, but also a buddy comedy and, not least, a sincere look at the social fabric of elderly life that features a who’s who of old-time character actors like Sally Struthers, Susan Ruttan, and John Getz.
7. Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
This remarkable dramedy that flew well under the radar and never got its due during its three seasons (completed this year) was a lovely, heartfelt piece of what always came across as refreshingly genuine. It starred Bridget Everett as Sam, a women who returns to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas following the death of her sister. She’s stuck in her grief, which feels like a lead weight on her psyche as she watches everyone else going on with their lives. Everett centers a talented cast in an ongoing storyline that focuses on the simple joys of friendship and emotional support.
6. Ripley (Netflix)
The 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley never seemed to be crying out for a do-over, but this gorgeously shot, chillingly acted limited-series adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel drove home the genius of writer-director Steven Zaillian. While the awards may not reflect it, Andrew Scott’s ingeniously aloof performance as con artist extraordinaire Tom Ripley is a performance for the ages. Cinematographer Robert Elswit creates a stunning black-and-white world that’s at once lonely and irresistible, one from which you can’t look away for even a second.
5. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Amazon Prime)
You wouldn’t think that the 2005 film that gave the world Brangelina could lead to one of the smartest, sexiest, and most fun reboots of recent years. That’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which joins Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as a pair of assassins linked in a fake marriage that finds them falling for each other for real. It’s visually delicious and darkly comic, and the chemistry between the principals (one of whom, Glover, also created the show) is palpable. This is just a kick of a series that actually exceeds the movie on which it’s loosely based.
4. Shrinking (Apple TV+)
The greatest comedy that not nearly enough people are talking about enjoyed the equivalent of a soft opening in its first season but suddenly seemed to catch fire in season two. Part of it was due to the role taken on by writer-producer Brett Goldstein as the massively remorseful drunk driver involved in Jimmy’s (Jason Segal) wife’s death. Its incredible cast also features Harrison Ford, Michael Urie, Jessica Williams, and (newcomer) Damon Wayans Jr. This is a brilliant series that masterfully blends pure laughs with genuine pathos and makes it all pay off in spades.
3. Hacks (Max)
The third season of this series that casts its women (Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder) as both heroine and villain continued its climb up the comedy ladder, effortlessly treading new turf and incorporating it into the series milieu ingeniously. The narcissistic and barely-relevant Deborah (Smart) and the insecure but determined Ava (Einbinder) have never been better in a season that focused on aging and respect (not necessarily in that order). It deserved its shocking Best Comedy Series win at the Emmys. The show has grown increasingly consumed with female ambition in a world ruled by dismissive men, leading to an unparalleled level of wit. And how will Ava do as Deborah’s new head writer? Stay tuned!
2. Shōgun (FX)
The sweeping, sumptuous adaptation of James Clavell’s seminal novel set in 16th century Japan has it all, which is why it won a record 18 Emmys in September. It’s a show that plays up the clash of cultures and values, its cutthroat politics demonstrating that things haven’t changed all that much in 400 or so years. The cast is singularly spectacular, the action superbly staged, the romance vivid and moving. By the time its done with its 10 episodes, you’re only craving more — making it a rare television epic indeed.
1. Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Based on creator-star Richard Gadd’s real-life experience with a stalker and — more pointedly — his own psyche, Baby Reindeer was not only the buzziest show of the year; it was also the best. The limited series is a multi-part horror movie of grooming, sexual assault, and madness, with the magnificent Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, and Tom Goodman-Hill adding stellar support. There has never been anything like it on television or in any other medium, its primary strength being Gadd’s unflinching honesty in his own culpability for the frightful mess in which he found himself.
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