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As networks and streamers adjust to this current moment of belt-tightening and post-election uncertainty, creators and actors are still delivering a dizzying breadth of quality television. Once again, Variety TV critics Alison Herman and Aramide Tinubu have overlapped with a single series in their picks for the year’s best shows, speaking to the deep pool from which they had to choose.
While some of these series have been major hits, like HBO’s “The Penguin,” or awards-season darlings such as FX’s “Shōgun,” other, less-discussed shows also earned their attention. For Herman, Prime Video’s prematurely canceled, ahistorical “My Lady Jane” and CBS’ procedural “Elsbeth” were highlights. Tinubu’s choices are also varied, including Netflix’s romantic drama “One Day,” which showcases the anguish and magic of a 20-year friendship, and The CW’s intense and evocative “Joan.” With themes that run the gamut, these 19 shows showcase the diversity and dimension of television in a landscape that continues to transform and reimagine itself.
Alison Herman’s Top 10 10. “My Lady Jane” (Amazon Prime Video) Image Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video The anachronistic historical romance space is somewhat oversaturated these days. But you know what “Bridgerton,” “The Buccaneers” and their ilk don’t have? A dashing love interest who turns into a horse! The short-lived Amazon drama “My Lady Jane,” adapted from the novel of the same name, is a full-on fantasy set in a 16th-century England that swaps Catholics and Protestants for so-called Verities and Ethians, or shape-shifters. The show sells the audience on this surreality with insouciant humor, a fiery lead performance by Emily Bader and, most importantly, crackling chemistry between its romantic leads. (When Jane’s husband Guildford isn’t a horse, he’s played by Edward Bluemel.) The real Lady Jane Grey was queen for only nine days before losing her head, and “My Lady Jane” streamed for less than two months before its abrupt cancellation. That makes the series a fitting tribute to its subject, if not one especially faithful to real-world events.
9. “Interview With the Vampire” (AMC) Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC AMC’s adaptation of the famed Anne Rice novel already earned acclaim for Season 1’s distinctive take on the tale of New Orleans bloodsuckers Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid), whose relationship was reimagined as an interracial gay romance. Season 2 delves deeper into Louis’ other relationships: with Daniel (Eric Bogosian), his ailing human interlocutor; with Armand (Assad Zaman), his rebound who turns out to have Lestat-like control issues hidden behind a more amenable facade; and with Claudia (Delainey Hayles, stepping in for Bailey Bass), the eternal teenager Louis took with him to Europe. Intellectual and sensual in equal measure, “Interview With the Vampire” combines twisted humor with a perceptive eye for dysfunction. When you have an eternity to work out your issues, it turns out they can always get worse.
8. “Elsbeth” (CBS) Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS At a time when the stand-alone episode is increasingly an endangered species, Robert and Michelle King have remained proud practitioners of the procedural arts. This year saw the end of “Evil,” their religious spin on “The X-Files” — but this list already has too many entries that have sadly left the air, so we’ll instead celebrate “Elsbeth,” the second spinoff of “The Good Fight” and the Kings’ take on the so-called “how-catch-’em.” After the success of Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face,” the “Columbo” format is somewhat en vogue these days, but “Elsbeth” sheds the fancy filmmaking and some of the star power for an even purer distillation of the genre. “Elsbeth” is, of course, a well-deserved showcase for Carrie Preston’s deceptively ditzy ace lawyer, now assisting NYPD homicide detectives as cover for an investigation into department corruption. But the structure of showing the crime first turns every episode into a cat-and-mouse game between Elsbeth and a worthy adversary, typically another TV stalwart (think Retta, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Krakowski). Television needs shows like “Elsbeth,” and along with its reboot of “Matlock,” CBS is both holding down the fort and nudging the form forward.
7. “Say Nothing” (FX) Image Credit: Courtesy of FX It’s rare for a story to balance the institutional scale of history with the emotional subjectivity of individuals like “Say Nothing” does. That quality alone makes the FX limited series a worthy adaptation of journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s nonfiction book of the same name. A collective account of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, as well as the fraught peace process that brought them to an end, “Say Nothing” has an eye for the specific traumas that tend to be whitewashed by statistics: the children who lost their mother, falsely accused of leaking intel to the English; the paramilitary fighters haunted by what they’ve done. Poetic license allows “Say Nothing” to immerse itself fully in its characters’ point of view, and embrace the nuance so often missing from ideological debates — which is different from avoiding any real stance in the name of “complexity.” The show is both a resonant echo of today’s dilemmas and a refreshing counterpoint to the prevailing discourse.
6. “John Mulaney: Everybody’s in LA” (Netflix) Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix John Mulaney’s most recent stand-up special, “Baby J,” was hailed as the comedian’s most personal yet for centering his recommitment to sobriety after an intervention and a stint in rehab. But in a sneaky, roundabout way, the six-night (though since-renewed) talk show “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA” is just as, if not more, revealing about the host’s inner life. An extended tribute to a city that “fascinates and confuses” Mulaney as many before him, “Everybody’s in LA” turned what could’ve been a pro forma promotional exercise for the comedy festival Netflix Is a Joke and turned it into a singular take on a staid and struggling format. Talk shows are, by design, generic platforms designed for longevity and mass appeal. “Everybody’s in LA” is limited and specific, channeling the music tastes, classical showmanship and pet obsessions of its MC. The “Helicopters” episode, a highlight, culminated in Marcia Clark and Zoey Tur discussing O.J. Simpson’s recent death while wearing sunglasses indoors. The conversation was like someone’s loopy dream come to life — which is exactly what it was.
5. “The Sympathizer” (HBO) Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO The Captain (Hoa Xuande), the narrator and title character of “The Sympathizer,” is a North Vietnamese Communist who embeds with a South Vietnamese general in Los Angeles after the conclusion of what the Vietnamese call the American War. To bring the Captain’s story from Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning novel to the screen, director Park Chan-Wook and co-showrunner Don McKellar create a reality that reflects blurred identities and fractured loyalties. Robert Downey Jr. plays not one character, but four separate embodiments of white American hegemony, from a C.I.A. operative to an Orientalist professor to a film director to a Congressman; Park directs a bravura sequence in which a lit cigarette fades into a falling bomb. Cerebral yet kinetic, “The Sympathizer” builds to a searing illustration of nihilism and self-abnegation, with the Captain taken prisoner and interrogated by his estranged, mutilated best friend. On top of the actual story, “The Sympathizer” weaves in a meta critique of its own medium, planting its flag as a seminal depiction of what Vietnamese call the American War while thumbing its nose at “Apocalypse Now.”
4. “Tokyo Vice” (Max) Image Credit: Courtesy of Max Creator J.T. Rogers knew he would have at least two seasons to adapt his childhood friend Jake Adelstein’s memoir about organized crime in Japan’s capital into an ensemble series, starring Ansel Elgort as an American journalist at the turn of the millennium. That runway allowed an expanded Season 2 to culminate 18 hours’ worth of storytelling into a final confrontation between Jake, police detective Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), ascendant yakuza boss Sato (Show Kasamatsu), and their mutual nemesis. Archvillain Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida) represented the underworld’s shift from an honor-bound moral code to a ruthless, corporate new reality that would soon swallow the yazuka itself. But rather than ease the blow of the series’ cancellation by Max, such satisfying finality only proved how much more potential remains untapped, especially in cultivating a wide ensemble and showing new corners of Tokyo’s jam-packed sprawl. From hostess clubs to public baths, “Tokyo Vice” never felt voyeuristic in its boundless curiosity — adopting Jake’s attitude even as it grew beyond his limited perspective.
3. “Industry” (HBO) Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO HBO’s finance drama has always been good, but in its third season, “Industry” became truly great. That’s a testament not just to the increasing confidence of its creators and cast, but also the value in letting a show run long enough to come into its own — an increasingly rare opportunity in an austerity-minded, post-Peak TV landscape. Season 3 of “Industry” elevated poor little rich girl Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela) to true co-lead, followed its once fresh-out-of-college main characters into ethically compromised adulthood and blew up its own premise in a breathtakingly daring finale, wiping its slate clean for a forthcoming Season 4. Supporting players like trader Rishi (Sagar Radia) got their turn in the spotlight, while Kit Harington joined the cast as perfectly punchable posho Henry Muck, taking “Industry” into new centers of power within England’s rigid class system. “Industry” has kicked into gear, and shows no signs of slowing down.
2. “Shōgun” (FX) Image Credit: Courtesy of FX Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo expanded the viewpoint of James Clavell’s novel from English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) to various notable figures in the 17th century Japan where Blackthorne’s ship runs aground. The resulting 10-episode limited series brings Clavell’s classic closer to a modern one: “Game of Thrones,” the current benchmark for dense, violent, epic television. Lord Yoshi Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) enlists Blackthorne to help in a brewing struggle for power, bringing him into contact with a society so distant and cut off from Great Britain it might as well be another planet. But by series’ end, characters like translator Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai) and self-serving feudal deputy Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) aren’t just familiar; their incentives and psychologies become the drama’s driving force. No wonder FX has worked so hard to expand this story into future seasons. It’s hard enough to build a world of this depth these days. Why leave it behind after just one chapter?
1. “Somebody Somewhere” (HBO) Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO While the rest of TV has spent the last half decade chasing bigger budgets and blockbuster scope, “Somebody Somewhere” is about as small as they come. New York cabaret star Bridget Everett plays Sam, a version of herself who hasn’t yet discovered the cathartic power of letting loose onstage. Left adrift after the death of her sister, the only member of her family who truly understood her, Sam slowly connected with other residents of her Kansas hometown: Joel (Jeff Hiller), a high school classmate who shares her passion for singing and silly banter; Trisha (Mary Catherine Garrison), her surviving sibling; Frank (Murray Hill), a trans professor at a local agricultural college. Brick by brick, Sam built a true community, one “Somebody Somewhere” sometimes showed through big gestures — Sam singing “Gloria” at Frank’s wedding was a series highlight — but more often through small, remarkably natural beats. Season 3, its last and best, ended “Somebody Somewhere” as it began: with Sam a work in progress, but open to whatever’s next.
Honorable mentions: The Acolyte; Evil; Fargo; Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show; Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Aramide Tinubu’s Top 10 10. “A Man on the Inside” (Netflix) Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix A delightful mystery comedy, Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” which is based on Maite Alberdi’s Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Mole Agent,” reunites Ted Danson with “The Good Place” creator Michael Schur. In the series, Danson portrays Charles, a retired widower leading a monotonous life. Pushed to find a hobby to fill his days, Charles finds work with Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), a private investigator. Charles soon finds himself planted in a local retirement community in an attempt to catch a thief. Though a mystery remains at the center of the series, Charles also begins to find true camaraderie in his new home. Full of laugh-out-loud moments, “A Man on the Inside” is about curiosity, human connection and life’s beautiful and unexpected paths.
9. “Genius MLK/X” (National Geographic) Image Credit: Courtesy of National Geographic The lives of Civil Rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre) have been depicted and examined ad nauseam. However, National Geographic’s “Genius: MLK/X” uniquely examines the men’s personal and professional legacies. The series chronicles them from their adolescence through manhood, highlighting the moments that radicalized them and shaped them into the towering leaders that they became.
Though the men stand at the center of the series, “Genius: MLK/X” also spotlights the lives of Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson), whose sacrifices and personal ambitions allowed their husbands’ legacies to continue reverberating across time.
8. “Joan” (The CW) Image Credit: Courtesy of ITV In The CW’s “Joan,” an adaptation of Joan Hannington’s memoir, “I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief,” Sophie Turner portrays Joan, a young mother desperate to take control of her destiny. Set in 1985 in London, the drama follows Joan’s transformation from a scared young woman to a determined and feisty jewel thief, who’s resolved to make a better life for her daughter no matter the cost. Engaging and fast-paced, the series is intensely detailed and richly executed. What’s most fascinating is that Turner and series creator Anna Symon invite their audience into Joan’s emotional interior, allowing viewers to understand her profound intelligence and shocking choices. Full of twists and turns, “Joan” showcases the costs of obsession.
7. “Criminal Record” (Apple TV+) Image Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+ While there is no shortage of police dramas on television, Apple TV+’s “Criminal Record” narrows in on a complex web of racism, negligence and inconsistencies in London’s police force. The series follows Detective Sgt. June Lenker (Cush Jumbo), whose missing persons case leads her to an old murder case helmed by Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi). As June continues to dig, Hegarty’s career and legacy slowly unravel, unveiling decades-long corruption. As June grapples with the evidence, her race and gender make her a target of the Old Boys Club, who will do anything to maintain their grip on a lifetime of power.
6. “One Day” (Netflix) Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix A heartfelt adaptation of David Nicholls’ beloved novel, Netflix’s “One Day” is a two-decade-long drama centering on love and friendship. The U.K.-set series follows Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall), who meet by chance on their final day of college and form a life-long connection that shifts and changes across time. Heartbreaking and thoughtful, the series chronicles how bonds weaken and solidify through the ebbs and flows of life.
“One Day” is a series that will stay with audiences as an homage to friendship, romance and all of the magic and anxieties that come with living.
5. “Presumed Innocent” (Apple TV+) Image Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+ An adaptation of Scott Turow’s best-selling 1987 novel from David E. Kelley, Apple TV+’s “Presumed Innocent” is an evocative psychological thriller. It follows Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal), Chicago’s chief deputy prosecutor, who finds himself on trial after being accused of murdering his colleague and lover, Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve).
Much more than just a whodunit, “Presumed Innocent” depicts a man whose self-awareness is at war with his conduct. In addition to unraveling the murder, the show takes viewers into the chaotic politics of a prosecuting attorney’s office. The series also spotlights Rusty’s home life, where his wife Barbara (Ruth Negga) and his teen children suffer amid his selfishness. Full of twists and turns, “Presumed Innocent” is exhilarating. It also proves that even some of the guiltiest pleasures can be dynamic and truly engaging.
4. “The Day of the Jackal” (Peacock) Image Credit: Courtesy of Marcell Piti/Carnival Film & Television Limited Based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel and adapted for television by “Top Boy” creator Ronan Bennett, “The Day of the Jackal” is a different kind of action thriller. Starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, the Peacock series (airing on Sky in the U.K.) is an exhilarating cat-and-mouse game between an impeccable assassin, Jackal (Redmayne) and MI6 arms specialist Bianca Pullman (Lynch). With gasp-worthy cinematography and action sequences, the series is a breathless adventure centering two-goal-obsessed people willing to put anything, including their families, on the back burner to win this gripping game of espionage.
3. “Baby Reindeer” (Netflix) Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix A genuinely distinct television series, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” is comedian Richard Gadd’s fictionalized retelling of being harassed and stalked. Set in the U.K., Gadd portrays Donnie, a bartender and aspiring comedian who becomes the object of fixation for Martha (Jessica Gunning), an older woman who stumbles into his bar one day. Though he’s initially flattered by Martha’s affection and attention, things quickly become obsessive and violent, spilling into all areas of Donnie’s life and forcing him to confront a dark period of his past.
Centering themes of abuse and trauma, “Baby Reindeer” is a gutting series about the lies we tell ourselves to survive and why facing the truth is often so painful and overwhelming.
2. “Somebody Somewhere” (HBO) Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO As my co-critic established in her entry, in its third and final season, HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” solidified its place in the realm of exceptional television. The Peabody Award-winning dramedy follows Sam Miller (Bridget Everett), a forty-something woman who returns to her small Kansas hometown following her older sister’s illness and death. While the first two seasons focus on Sam working through her grief and anger and building a tight bond with her best friend, Joel (Jeff Hiller), the third season showcases Sam navigating change while trying her best not to retreat into old habits of isolation and self-loathing. A series centering on friendship, grace and courage, “Somebody Somewhere” reminds us that we must pursue the lives we want, even if we stumble.
1. “The Penguin” (HBO) Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO A mesmerizing crime drama that moves beyond “The Batman,” HBO’s “The Penguin” is a masterful examination of criminality. With an unrecognizable Colin Farrell transformed into Gotham Kingpin Oz “The Penguin” Cobb, the crime drama showcases a man molded by hardship and despair but consumed with a lust for power and status. While Farrell is thrilling in the role, “The Penguin” also tells the story of Sofia Falcone, and in a stunning performance, Cristin Milioti portrays a woman betrayed by her family and driven by a calculated rage and desire for vengeance.
A profoundly textured series about survival, monstrosity and the environments that foster evil, “The Penguin” is a standout that spotlights the most grotesque among us.
Honorable mentions: How to Die Alone; Black Doves; My Lady Jane; Supacell; Fallout; Fight Night; Under the Bridge, Eric; Diarra From Detroit; The Gentlemen
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