The Best TV of 2023
I’m not sure what this says about my state of mind (or society in general) but my four favorite TV series this year featured people creating unconventional families or communities in a heartless world. There’s a lot about surviving grief on these shows, but not a lot of victimization. These are about people who soldier on without a lot of whining.
Once again, I am amazed at how little traditional network TV I watched this year. I still DVR a few shows but except for Saturday Night Live (not ranked here) I usually end of watching them on Hulu anyway. And speaking of which, Hooray for Hulu, which has the best content. I subscribe to the ad-supported service so it’s a bargain despite all the ads for depression, hair loss, and ED. Maybe one of these years I really will cut the cord. But’s hard for us Boomers to let go.
One final observation. Many of the lower-ranked shows were series that once ranked much higher. It’s surprising how quickly we tire of TV shows today. Not too long ago, a series could go on for seven or eight years with no drop-off in quality. Part of the problem is that many popular contemporary series are based on a unique premise that delights us at first and then becomes tiresome with repetition. Plus each season has a story arc with a lot of plot and character development. The long-lasting shows (like Cheers
or Seinfeld) had no story arcs — just stand-along episodes that you could watch out of order and not miss much. Those were the days.
1. Reservation Dogs (Hulu)
This was the third and final season of the most affecting TV show in years. Four teens on an Indian reservation have mourned and matured after the suicide of a fifth friend. Now we see them launched into early adulthood, with the support of their extended community. A clear-eyed comedy that refuses to make these kids victims, although they seem to have about three parents among them. The genius of the season is that it digs deeply into intergenerational story-telling and shows how one generation flows into another.
2. The Bear (Hulu)
A super-intense show about a talented chef from a dysfunctional Chicago family trying to open his own fine dining restaurant, even as he deals with his own grief and longing for connection. There’s a lot of yelling and making up after fights, although some wounds cannot be healed. This show also has the most amazing cameo appearances of the season, with multiple Oscar winners showing up for short bits. And for what it’s worth, I think this is the most conservative show of the year because it celebrates the dignity of work, doing the job right, and serving others.
3. Somebody Somewhere (Max)
Sam is an overly self-aware but emotionally blocked daughter of Kansas, who returned to her small farming town to care for her dying daughter and didn’t leave after the funeral. She’s slowly making connections and making herself vulnerable again. The show is sweet and slow-moving but it packs a punch.
4. Welcome to Wrexham (Hulu)
Who would have thought that a documentary about two actors (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) buying a Welsh soccer team could be so emotional and inspiring? This show is for anyone who has ever loved anything enough to keep loving it when it disappoints you.
5. Succession (Max)
I hated myself for watching Succession. On the one hand, it was the funniest show of the year. On the other hand, all the characters were either very loathsome or just a little bit loathsome. And then there was all that voyeurism. Do the fantastically rich really live like that? Not all the plotlines made sense this year, especially where presidential politics was involved, but still — it was beautifully acted, hilariously written, and gorgeously shot.
6. White Lotus (Max)
Another show with a huge budget and beautiful locations about rich white people acting badly. It introduced the much needed phrase “high-end gays.”
7. Letterkenny (Hulu)
For twelve seasons Letterkenny was the most hilarious and politically incorrect show on TV. Who knew Canadians could be so funny?
8. The Diplomat (Netflix)
Keri Russell plays the American ambassador to the UK, in a political thriller that that combines a lot of fast-paced, jargon-rich dialogue with some of the most ridiculous plot twists you could think of. But it’s very addicting.
9. The Crown (Netflix)
The final season of The Crown is by necessity kind of a downer, considering how badly those people messed up their lives, but it’s still an emotional rumination on influence, mortality, and duty. I’m glad it’s over, though, especially since Her Majesty has subsequently died.
10. Daisy and the Six (Amazon Prime)
Very loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, Daisy and the Six is a nostalgic recreation of the music scene in the 1970s, when sex, drugs and rock and roll ruled the world. The story is a weensy bit melodramatic but the really great music, all of which I downloaded, really saved the day.
11. Jury Duty (Amazon Prime)
Ronald Gladden, a regular schmo who doesn’t realize that everyone except him is an actor in a fake jury trial, is a true hero for our times. His deep decency and commitment to do the right thing, even as the circumstances become more and more outlandish, is legitimately heart-warming.
12. Abbott Elementary (ABC)
This is the only series from old-fashioned traditional TV (ABC) that I watched this year. Abbott Elementary is a real throw-back to the days when sitcoms were reliably funny and warm. Set in a low-income elementary school in Philadelphia, it features the usual combination of characters who would never be friends in real life but who somehow manage to bond in workplace comedies. It’s mildly funny but very sweet.
13. Fargo (Hulu)
I’m taking a risk here in listing the series so high since I haven’t seen the conclusion yet, but based on the track record of the show I am hoping it sticks the landing again. Each season of Fargo is set in Minnesota, with a very decent cop investigating deep depravity, and this is creepily no different.
14. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
A cute show that spoofs New York City, show business, and podcasts, although you have to wonder if the writers have any idea how podcasts actually work. After only three seasons, the series is beginning to show its seams, and I feel my interest waning. The murder mystery did work, though, and as usual I never did guess the killer.
15. Poker Face (Peacock)
Very good premise for a show. Natasha Lyonne has the power to tell when people are lying but the misfortune to make friends with people who are always being murdered. She’s also on the run from a gambling casino mob boss. Often compared to Columbo, in that we know who committed the murder and enjoy the pleasure of seeing her solve the case.
16. What We Do In the Shadows (Hulu)
Season five was a bit of comeback after a mildly depressing season four, but I don’t think it will ever feel as fresh and hilarious as it did in the first couple of seasons. The premise is still funny — four clueless vampires trying to adapt to life on Staten Island — but the show is on cruise control.
17. Justified City Primeval (Hulu)
The original Justified was one of the great TV shows of the 2010s. Timothy Olyphant played a US Marshall in his native Kentucky. But in City Primeval he’s a stranger in Chicago and the combination doesn’t quite click.
18. CB Strike (Amazon Prime)
The Cormoran Strike novels are the product of JK Rowlings’ capacious imagination, featuring a gritty London detective and his aspiring partner and would-be love interest teaming up to solve brutal murders. The BBC made five of the novels into short series and we watched three of them this year. All excellent. That JK Rowlings! She really does know how to spin a tale.
19. Beckham (Netflix)
A fascinating documentary about David Beckham, soccer star, media celebrity and obsessive-compulsive patient. Unless you followed soccer, he’s one of those guys that you heard about constantly but can’t remember why, so I was glad to get the lowdown. And it was amazing. His entire life is documented on video and the producers were able to follow him from a 14-year-old teen phenomenon to his crusty self today. (By the way, between this and The Crown, I can’t understand how any famous person ever survives the British media.)
20. Winning Time (Max)
Highly entertaining but historically questionable recounting of the early LA Lakers dynasty, with a heavy focus on Magic Johnson, who has to be happy that this was cancelled after two seasons.
21. The White House Plumbers (Max)
I haven’t wallowed in Watergate for a long time, so I appreciated the opportunity to review some of the highlights (or, rather, lowlights) of that woeful saga. This version was told from the bottom up — from the perspective of Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, the guys who planned the break-in and went to jail for their troubles. How well I remember the 70’s, may they rest in peace, and yet my mouth was agape at seeing some of the crazy things I had long forgotten about.
22. Trailer Park Boys (Netflix)
Again, who ever guessed that Canadians could be this funny? We’re just catching up with this 20-year-old series about the residents of a Canadian trailer park. I would rank this higher except I feel a little uncomfortable laughing at the pathos of poor white trash.
23. Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime)
I never thought that Jim Halpert could be an action figure but turns out he’s an Boston College-trained economist who can outfight terrorists and communists. The show has a lot of shooting, explosions, and emotions and is a perfectly fine way to spend several hours in front of the TV.
24. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Another series that lasted a little longer than it should have. Anything this quirky eventually begins to become annoying. So much talking, so many outfits, so much interpersonal drama! I will say this, though: the show ended with a lot of truth. Characters this self-absorbed are unlikely to have fairytale lives.
25. Yellowstone
I thought the first season was great TV. I started to get disenchanted in the second season and by the third season I’d given up completely. There’s only so much plot that any series can bear (and so many murders, in a series that is supposed to reflect real life). Like Succession, almost all the characters are reprehensible, but Yellowstone lacks the sharp dialogue that makes Succession watchable.
Really!!? 