Were past Peak TV, but these series prove were still reaching new creative heights.
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And yet it was surprising how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era.
10.True Detective: Night Country
- for portals to the supernatural.
Catch up on the rest ofVultures in-depthTrue Detective: Night Countrycoverage.
9.Fantasmas
9.
Given thecautionandcontractionthat permeated the TV landscape this year, my appetite for risk-taking was even greater than normal.
But the best part ofFantasmasis that its never clear where its stream-of-consciousness flow will take it next.
8.Bad Monkey
8.
Adapted by Bill Lawrence from the novel by Carl Hiaasen, this Apple TV+ series could beNight Countrys B-side.
Read ourfull reviewofBad Monkey,essay on summers B-plus series, and interview with starJodie Turner-Smith.
7.Extraordinaryseason two
7.
(Its actually little, you see.
6.Shogun
6.
Catch up on the rest ofVultures in-depthShoguncoverage.
5.Girls5evaseason three
5.
(Wickie: Hes gotta be bribing the coroner.)
4.John Mulaney Presents: Everybodys in L.A.
4.
Would David Letterman and comedian Luenell canoodle beneath a large blanket?
Would Mulaney hang up on Karen Bass, the mayor of L.A., on live TV?
What the hell, why not?
Promise made, promise thankfully kept.
Read ourrecapsof the fourth season ofEviland Jen Chaneys interviews with creatorsRobert and Michelle Kingand starChristine Lahti.
2.Ripley
2.
1.Somebody Somewhereseason three
1.
Not everything that happens in this portrait of life in Manhattan, Kansas, is nice.
Watching every single episode makes you feel better about humanity, at least for a little bit.
Read ourprofileof creator and star Bridget Everett,interviewwith star Tim Bagley, andrecaps.
RoxanaHadadisTop10Shows
I lovedShogun.
What surprised me this year was how many other people lovedShogun, too.
The six-part series is, of course, beautiful and immersive.
Read ourinterviewaboutWe Are Lady Partsseason two with creator Nida Manzoor.
And at the end, what was it all for?
Bring on season four.
Catch up on the rest ofVultures in-depthIndustrycoverage.
How would Magnetos no-assimilation politics jibe with the X-Mens conformity-to-maintain-the-status-quo approach?
Other highlights include the series declaring the Avengers suck and Gambit wearing a little crop top.
A real This show is for adults flex.
Read our essays onX-Men 97stake on the Avengersandthe series nostalgiaand why wethink the showdeserved a Best Drama Emmy nom.
Robotremains the top tier of television that referencesFight Club, butThe Acolyteis a close second.
5.Tokyo Viceseason two
We so rarely get good shows about journalism, let alone great ones.
Watanabe in particular deserves more roles like this; the man should always be squinting and smirking in disgust.
How cool he looks smoking a cigarette is stuck in my brain on a sexy-hazy-stylish loop.
Read ourreviewof season two ofTokyo Vice,essayon the final episode andinterviewwith Show Kasamatsu, andrecaps.
Hardest TV moment of the year.
Wheres that season-three renewal already?
Read ourfull reviewofThe Old Manseason two, interviews with starsNavid NegahbanandAlia Shawkat, andrecaps.
No television show this year looked this good or felt this ugly.
Most grimly hilarious sequence of the year.
1.Shogun
Yabushige forever.
7.English Teacher
A crucial comedic decision underpins much ofEnglish Teacher: The students are crazy, too.
Read ourfull reviewofElsbeths first season,analysisof the shows wardrobe, andrecaps.
There was sex and gore and big military engagements, but the highest stakes were in the subtleties.
Why not have your bigGame of Thronesinheritor hinge on a poetry competition?
TV melodrama can be deceptively difficult, butInterview With the Vampirehas it down to a monologue-choked, blood-splattered art.
KathrynVanArendonksTop10Shows
Too many of the shows that made my list this year were late-season series.
These shows had no reason to work but somehow did anyway.
Why produce a gorgeous new version of Patricia HighsmithsRipleyand utterly fail to market it?
Financially, who knows.
From a critical perspective, though, these are the standouts the flukes and surprises that actually felt fresh.
Read ourfull reviewofSlow Horsesseason four, interviews with starsJack LowdenandHugo Weaving,recaps, and our weekly Incompetence Index.
Theres also a striking and often quite sad queer couple working hard to stay together despite significant traumatic headwinds.
Its not really about plot twists, though theres some of that, too.
But beyond all that, was there a more visually astounding series on TV this year?
No, and its not a close contest.
Readfull reviewofThe Decameronandprofileof star Saoirse-Monica Jackson.
In its aftermath, most other things on late night seem stuffy and safe.
But in 2024,Shogunhad all the components of a show that rarely manages to exist anymore.
That framework is too reductive, though.
Its not generically about All People.
Many of those selections appear above in our top-ten picks.
Itll work better because of our relationship.
What we make together is good because of it, Ava tells Deborah in the season finale.
J.C.
Read ourrecaps ofHackss third seasonand essay onwhy the comedy works better as a drama.
J.C.
Read ourfull review ofConan OBrien Must Go.
Roxana Hadadi
Read our recaps ofUnder the Bridge.
Read ourOne Dayseries recap.
Yes, the show overdid it a little on the celebrity-cameo front.
Well, yes and no.
Could the algorithm have written Oh my Lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su?
Read ourfull review ofFargoseason five,interview with star Jennifer Jason Leigh,andclose read of the ending.
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