Did anyone else feel like this was a relatively slow year for television and an even slower year for movies? I watched several new shows and got into some old ones, but I wanted to boost the signal on my ten favorite TV shows that rose above the rest in 2024. What were your favorite TV shows this year? Take a look at my list first, but then let me know yours!
Two brief notes, before we begin:
- Normally Fargo, season 5 would have made the list, but it mostly aired in late 2023, and only the final three episodes aired in 2024. As a result, I did not rank it this year, but it did make my Top Ten TV Shows of 2023.
- English Teacher, season 1 would have made the list, until I read this Vulture article from December 17, 2024, about the behavior of the show’s creator and star. I can no longer recommend or even watch the show in good conscience.
Finally, here we go!
10. Interior Chinatown, season 1 (Hulu) – This was such a pleasant surprise! It’s a twisty crime show, a parody of Law and Order, and a deconstruction of Asian-American identity, especially in terms of assimilation and representation. But it was also something more — something far weirder and harder to explain. I always appreciate metafiction, breaking of the fourth wall, and stories that confound your expectations, ending in complete different genres than they began. If you are patient and willing to suspend your disbelief, this might be a show for you. Also, it was nice to see Chloe Bennett from Agents of SHIELD again, even if I kept thinking she looks like Aubrey Plaza in every shot.
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm, season 12 (HBO) – It helps that my brother, my wife, and I started binge-watching this show for the first time in late 2023, catching up just in time to watch the series finale when it aired in April 2024. The cantankerous curmudgeon Larry David is a comedy genius who elevated two sitcoms to legendary status: Seinfeld and Curb. After finally getting around to watching Curb, it was clear Larry was the brains of the operation and the creative force behind Seinfeld back in the ’90s, with how hacky Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up has always been, and how bitter and humorless he seems these days. Larry (on TV and in real life) might be an anhedonic altacocker, but he can spin laughs from the most awkward, unpleasant situations and create lasting catch-phrases and hilarious situations like nobody’s business. Even though I still have all 12 seasons and 24 years of Curb fresh in my head, the final season that aired in 2024 did not disappoint or drop the ball.
8. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, season 1 (Amazon Prime Video) – I am a giant Donald Glover fanboy. I’ve seen him live twice — performing stand-up comedy in Miami Beach in 2012, and holding a sold-out arena in the palm of his hand as Childish Gambino earlier this year in Tampa. He is The Man, so I was going to watch and enjoy this show no matter what. It will be interesting to see if it continues, and if so, if he’ll be back. I was more intrigued by the larger world that was hinted at than most of the “missions of the week,” but I don’t want to say too much to spoil anything. Like Glover’s previous show Atlanta (which I absolutely loved), it was often strange, but understated at the same time, creating a very unreal-feeling reality.
7. Hey! (EW) (YouTube) – The most obscure thing on this list, Hey! (EW) is a free, short, weekly Internet show where comedian/raconteur/former professional wrestler R.J. City interviews different AEW wrestlers, sometimes for just ten minutes at a time, but usually (hopefully) longer. Sometimes they stay completely in character, sometimes they “break kayfabe” and reveal a bit of their everyday personalities, and sometimes they threaten him. R.J. is one of the funniest people out there — quick and sarcastic with a razor-sharp wit, and excellent at improv — and he is constantly needling these wrestlers, forcing them to break character, cracking them up, challenging them, or pulling them along in weird and inspired conversational directions. He is also a writer and producer behind the scenes at AEW, using his encyclopedic knowledge of classic cinema to shape and mold some of my favorite storylines (including a feud between female wrestlers Toni Storm and her protégé/betrayer Mariah May, inspired by Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve). I love how Hey! (EW) pulls back the curtain on the wrestling business and sets some of that seriousness aside, but it wouldn’t work without R.J. City. He is better at his job than any of the big name talk show hosts and funnier than the vast majority of professional comics. Plus, he also trash-talked the tired, washed-up, MAGA-supporting Undertaker, so he gets even more cool points from me.
6. X-Men ’97, season 1 (Disney+) – A nice introduction to radical politics disguised as superhero action and melodrama, with plenty of rousing moments for all your favorite characters. As a teenager, I gave up on the original ’90s animated series after the first season, but I appreciated how modern, relevant, and allegorical these new stories were (as X-Men stories should always be), while still fitting perfectly into the original continuity. Even if you’ve never seen a previous X-Men cartoon or any of the movies or read any of the comics, you could probably watch this first season of X-Men ’97 and get everything. If you did grow up with the original animated series (which was responsible for shaping and forming the sexuality of a bunch of people I know, and probably people you know too), rest assured that X-Men ’97 is definitely written for that same audience, only paying respect to the fact that we are adults now. It went hard at various points — harder than it had to, and props to the creative team for that — but I appreciated them writing with grownups in mind and remembering that the X-Men don’t uphold the status quo like other superheroes, but fight the good fight against it. “The name is Gambit, mon ami. Remember it.”
5. Fallout, season 1 (Amazon Prime Video) – Usually post-apocalyptic shows are so dour and dire, but Fallout was ridiculously fun by blending much-needed, tension-breaking humor with all the action and horror. I’ve never played the video games, but I have a feeling I would like them, since I loved the first season of the show so much. The retro-futuristic aesthetic and 1950s soundtrack differentiated Fallout from so many similar stories, and the actors brought their A-game. Kyle McLachlan already played one of my favorite TV characters of all time (Special Agent Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks), and Walton Goggins has played at least a couple of them (Boyd Crowder on Justified and Uncle Baby Billy on The Righteous Gemstones). They were great here too, but Ella Purnell knocked it out of the park as the lead — sweet, innocent, wide-eyed, and naïve, but able to fend for herself and kick ass as needed. Okey-dokey.
4. The Girls on the Bus, season 1 (Max) – This light, refreshing dramedy about four female reporters covering a presidential campaign was so much fun in an ugly, exhausting election year. I am a sucker for stories about crusading journalists solving mysteries and uncovering corruption, and while The Girls on the Bus served up plenty of that, it also focused heavily on the female friendships. Melissa Benoist (best known as Supergirl) was delightful as always, and my favorite actress of all time (and celebrity crush), Carla Gugino, brought the gravitas as the most experienced and successful political journalist. By the way, I met her this year and told her my wife and I loved this show. It’s a damn shame it was already canceled, ending with at least one major unresolved plotline, but don’t let that stop you from giving this show the chance it deserves.
3. Everybody’s in L.A., season 1 (Netflix) – The late-night talk show is such a tired, outdated format, but this show proved it could be fun, hilarious, and even exciting by shaking up the ancient formula. Find a great host (John Mulaney, one of my favorite stand-up comics ever), surround him with celebrities who are either funny or have good stories (not just there to hype their latest projects), also interview regular people who have interesting jobs or are experts in unique fields, bring on cool bands playing their beloved hits, show off a truly singular American city in remote, pre-taped segments, and film the whole thing live. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to L.A. for work a few times now, and I marked out for some of the hyper-specific local references that I actually GOT. It made me feel like an honorary Angeleno! I believe Mulaney will be hosting more talk shows for Netflix in the year to come, so I’m glad this wild experiment was so successful.
2. Sugar, season 1 (Apple TV+) – This was 100% my shit: a stylish neo-noir set in gorgeous Los Angeles, starring a protagonist who is a morally upstanding, noble, empathetic hero — the kind of character who does good because he is good. Private detective John Sugar transcends the pantheon of two-fisted, hard-boiled film noir gumshoes, many of whom are morally ambiguous antiheroes. Instead, I’d rank him alongside the aforementioned Dale Cooper, Superman, Captain America, Captain Christopher Pike, and even Ted Lasso, all uncomplicated good dudes. I could watch mensches like this all day — protecting the innocent, standing up to bullies, and throwing down when someone pushes them too far. Just be forewarned: Sugar has a pretty major twist that may have been spoiled for you already, but if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I implore you to watch the show without researching anything about it beforehand. I’m begging you to take my word for it, and you’ll have a much richer experience.
1. Bad Monkey, season 1 (Apple TV+) – This was also 100% my shit: a fun, sunny crime comedy set in Key West, Miami, and the Bahamas, based on a novel by one of my lifelong favorite writers, the legendary Miami Herald columnist and crime fiction author Carl Hiaasen. Like his contemporary, the late, great Elmore Leonard, Hiaasen excels in writing likable, down-on-their-luck protagonists and hilariously stupid, occasionally vicious criminals. Bad Monkey was a blast — a great mystery that kept us guessing and laughing, thanks to showrunner Bill Lawrence (of Scrubs and Ted Lasso fame). The entire cast was on point, but Vince Vaughn as the loquacious lead has never been better, and the otherworldly Jodie Turner-Smith needs to be cast as Storm in a GOOD X-Men movie right away.
For anyone who made it this far, here are my lists from previous years:
Top Thirteen TV Shows of 2023
Top Fifteen TV Shows of 2022
Top Twenty TV Shows of the Decade (2011-2021)
Top Ten TV Shows of 2021
Top Twenty TV Shows of 2020
Top Twenty TV Shows of 2019
Top Ten Movies of 2019
Top Ten TV Shows of 2018
Top Ten Movies of 2018
The Saboscrivner 