This year, television was on fire.
We got to say hello to some great new shows, especially “Beef,” “I’m a Virgo,” and “The Last of Us.” These held strong promise to captivate us in the coming seasons. But the ones that really hurt were “Succession”, “Reservation Dogs”, “Barry”, “Happy Valley”, “Billions”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “Perry Mason”, “The It was to bid farewell to “The Other Two” forever. But that wasn’t the case — save the Queen — The Crown’s final season was a shoddy, fictional but genuinely human take on the royal family that marred everything short of heart-tugging. It turned into a tabloid melodrama and was a huge failure in the end. Episode 10, final episode.
But in a year so rich for television, like The Weeknd starring He Who Must Not Be Named (that’s The Weeknd), there’s no point in sticking with a boring job. There were standalone episodes of beloved series that most Hollywood movies couldn’t hope to match.
I’m referring to the “Succession” finale that leaves the Roy family adrift after the death of King Logan, played by Brian Cox (damn, I loved that lot of schemers), and the pause on Armageddon. I’m talking about the outstanding third episode of The Last of Us. To give you a taste of the eternal love between Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. Best of all is “The Bear” Season 2’s singular sixth episode, “Fishes.” In this episode, the chef’s neurotic mother (an unmissable, unforgettable Jamie Lee Curtis) invites her entire family to a hellish Christmas dinner.
Yes, firecrackers on the TV exploded in the house so often that I probably couldn’t keep up. no worries. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of his 10 best TV shows of 2023 here.
10. “Jury Duty”
In terms of comic originality this year, it’s hard to beat this mockumentary starring non-actor Ronald Gladden. Ronald Gladden is a solar panel contractor called to jury duty in a Los Angeles courtroom where everyone else is an improv actor.
James Marsden is a riot of laughs as the self-centered star. After the hoax was exposed, the two became friends and embraced the atmosphere of hilarious pranks that makes the Amazon Freevee series so much fun through jury system.
9. “Sharper”
Hollywood is so focused on comic book blockbusters that we’ve almost forgotten how to entertain us with sophisticated, sexy thrillers like this one. So thank his Apple TV+ for filling the gap with this captivating tale of two con men, played with sweet and disgusting betrayal by Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan.
Director Benjamin Caron, whose shrewd television work includes “Andor” and “The Crown,” never fails to keep the audience guessing as the show takes one amazing turn after another. It’s really fun to be fooled.
8. “Fargo” (Season 5)
Noah Hawley’s irregular anthology series is back in style. Funny and intense, Season 5 is reminiscent of his great 1996 film by the Coen brothers, which Hawley was inspired by. Set one year before the 2020 election, the season follows women fighting hard for their rights, especially housewives on the run from their abusive ex-husband Sheriff Roy Tillman (the evil good Jon Hamm). and her mother Juno Temple.
Jennifer Jason Leigh also appears as Dot’s monster-in-law Ace, whose feminist agenda will cheer you up.
7. “I’m a Virgo.”
About the Prime Video series from the great Boots Riley, the story follows Cootie, a 13-foot-tall black teen (an amazing Jharrel Jerome) who breaks free from the overprotective cocoon of her uncle and aunt (Carmen Ejogo and Mike Epps) What do you say about ?Reilly’s surreal and provocative vision of black power explodes everything you thought you knew about fast food and other capitalist horrors. Riley’s unique Whatzit is unlike anything you’ve seen before.
6. “Happy Valley” (Season 3)
Even in its third and final season, which aired on BBC America, AMC+, and Acorn TV, the incredible British crime series failed to garner support from the Emmys. Don’t share their ignorance, because Category 5 Hurricane actress Sarah Lancashire gives a timeless performance as Sgt. Catherine Cawood tracks down a West Yorkshire serial killer (James Norton). The finale builds to 18 propulsive episodes. And it doesn’t disappoint.
5. “Little Light”
The true story of Anne Frank and her diary hiding from the Nazis in an attic in Amsterdam is known to most people. The little-known but moving story of Miep Gies (an outstanding Bel Powley), a non-Jew, leads Anne (Billy Boulet) and her father Otto Frank (a quietly destructive Liev Schreiber) to He is the person who helped keep his family, including those who died, in isolation for two years. they were captured. This eye-popping limited series from National Geographic is an exemplary suspenseful depiction of humanity under siege.
4. “The Last of Us”
No video game-based miniseries comes close to matching this nine-part phenomenon from MAX, which revolves around a fungus that has left the world in ruins and left most of the infected population running around like zombies. We attribute a major part of this film’s triumph to Pedro Pascal, an actor who gets better every time he faces the camera. Pedro Pascal played a resistance fighter assigned to protect Ellie (Bella Ramsay, beyond amazing), a brash 14-year-old girl who knows Ellie well. How to avoid disaster.
3. “Beef”
Introducing the best and most addictive new series of the year. This Netflix juggernaut begins with Steven Yeun backing his truck into a Mercedes SUV driven by Ali Wong in a Los Angeles parking lot.
The pair explores how series creator Lee Sung-jin has gone from detailing the haves and have-nots in primarily Asian communities to universal insights into the anger that festers within a modern world divided by poverty and privilege. It attracts attention by transitioning into a story.
2. “The Bear” (Season 2)
Season 2 of this FX series on Hulu is actually more fun, more intense, and deeper. Cheers to Dynamo Jeremy Allen White. He returns as Carmy Belzat, a walking, talking, stress-inducing chef who is trying to turn a Chicago sandwich shop into a fine dining restaurant.
Ayo Edebiri is excellent as Carmy’s sous chef, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach also plays her conflicted best friend. Wait, there’s more. Oscar winners Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman appear in separate episodes and provide a masterclass in acting. Showrunner Christopher Stoller makes one restaurant opening a microcosm of the comic tragedy of survival in a post-corona world.
1. “Succession” (Season 4)
This fictionalized version of the Murdoch-like media empire is astonishing in every detail, and we’re reminded that creator Jesse Armstrong left the MAX standard-bearer behind after just four seasons. Most will never forgive. But in his tenth episode at the end, it is sent away in a blaze of glory.
Beginning with the death of modern-day King Lear, Logan Roy (Brian Cox at the height of The Lion’s Roar), the series ends with a battle for control of the traitorous children, starring Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck appears. and Sarah Snook give the performance of their lives, with the series staking its rightful claim to television immortality.