The best TV shows of 2023

Entertainment

From “Succession” to “The Bear,” Boston.com readers and our entertainment writer share their picks for the best TV shows of 2023.

This was supposed to be the year everything returned to normal. After COVID turned the TV landscape on its head for more than two years, 2023 was going to be the year when we finally got to enjoy a full slate of original scripted programming. But picking the best TV shows of 2023 has proved no easier a task than selecting the top TV of 2020, 2021, or 2022.

The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes wiped out six months of productions, delaying many popular shows until 2024. The Emmy Awards, which usually air in September and crown the TV shows that typically appear on these lists, were also delayed until January 2024.

And after years of “Peak TV,” studios began cutting costs left and right. Top shows like “The Great” were cut down in their prime, and studios began exploring unorthodox schemes to save money, including removing their own shows from their streaming platforms or leasing shows out to rival companies.

Disney Plus will soon swallow Hulu whole. HBO Max (now just called Max, for some reason) may soon merge with Paramount Plus, which itself merged with Showtime earlier this year. Combine that with the rise in FAST streaming services and every major streamer now offering an ad-supported tier, and we’re closer to re-creating the cable TV bundle than ever.

That’s a long-winded way of saying that choosing the best TV shows of 2023 was a daunting task, made even harder by the fact that it’s physically impossible to watch every awards-worthy show in a given year — even a year shortened by strikes.

After mulling over dozens of fantastic TV shows, I’ve narrowed my list of the best TV shows of 2023 down to 10. And after asking Boston.com readers to complete the same difficult assignment, we’ve got the community’s top 10 as well. Quite a few shows made it onto both lists, which is clearly proof that all of you have excellent taste.

Here are the best TV shows of 2023, as chosen by me and the Boston.com community.

Kevin Slane’s Best TV shows of 2023

10. “Party Down”

Cult classic “Party Down” found a way to do the reboot right in its third season, thirteen years after Rob Thomas’ comedy went off the air. Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Martin Starr, and Jane Lynch — who all moved onto bigger roles after the show ended — are back together again at the catering company that slowly drained their characters of all of their Hollywood ambitions. After dispensing with the self-referential reboot humor in the first episode, “Party Down” gets back to what made it so great in 2009, giving the talented comics space to riff and seamlessly incorporating new cast members Jennifer Garner, Tyrel Jackson Williams, and Zoe Chao. As Party Down’s team leader, Ron Donald, Marino continues to be the show’s cringing, simpering center of gravity. (Marino was also great on the gone-too-soon comedy “The Other Two,” which could be considered an honorable mention for this list.)

How to watch: “Party Down” is streaming on Starz.

9. “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off”

Watching the first episode of “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” is initially an odd experience. Edgar Wright’s 2010 film adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel was already so perfectly cartoonish that watching an animated version featuring the same lines of dialogue and the same insanely talented voice cast (Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, to name a few) almost feels like a fan edit. But the eerie similarities are a clever feint, and by the end of the first episode, the series throws all your expectations out the window. The show could rightfully be called “Ramona Flowers vs. the World,” as Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s groovy delivery girl finally takes control of her own life and finds closure with her league of evil exes. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” was one of my favorite movies of the 2010s, and O’Malley has made a worthy successor.

How to watch: “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” is streaming on Netflix.

8. “Jury Duty”

“Jury Duty,” co-created by “The Office” producers Gene Stupnitsky and Needham native Lee Eisenberg took the hidden-camera prank show genre to ambitious new heights in 2023, making a solar tech named Ronald Gladden the unwitting star of his own reality show. Gladden is summoned for jury duty, and has no idea that he’s the only person involved in the case — from the judge to the defendant to his fellow jurors — who isn’t an actor. Gladden does know that there’s at least one actor, though: James Marsden, who, despite telling everyone about all the movies he’s been in (“The Notebook!” “Sonic The Hedgehog!” “X-Men!”), can’t convince the judge to excuse him from his civic duty. Gladden never comes off as anything less than a genuinely nice guy who is trying not to show how bewildered he is by the behavior of basically everyone around him.

How to watch: “Jury Duty” is streaming on Amazon Freevee.

7. “The Curse”

If you’re a fan of the cringe comedy of Nathan Fielder (“The Rehearsal”) and the panic-inducing filmmaking of the Safdie Brothers (“Uncut Gems”) like I am, “The Curse” was always going to be a hit. Satirizing HGTV, gentrification, consumer culture, and a good deal of other things over its 10-episode run, the show follows Asher (Fielder) and Whitney Siegel (Emma Stone), play a budding reality TV couple who move to a remote New Mexico town in order to bless the poor residents by building eco-friendly homes, saving them money and helping the environment. But when a local girl places a curse on Asher after filming a scene for their show, things start to go horribly wrong. Fielder is playing a fictional character this time around, but like his roles playing a heightened version of himself in other shows, he has a way of making you pity him even as he is relentlessly, hopelessly cringeworthy.

How to watch: “The Curse” is streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes airing Sundays on Showtime.

6. “I’m A Virgo”

Rapper and activist Boots Riley made my favorite movie of 2018 with his filmmaking debut “Sorry to Bother You,” a surrealist, anti-capitalism dark comedy that, for my money, is still LaKeith Stanfield’s career-best performance. For his second project, Riley has returned to examining how young Black men are treated in a capitalist society with “I’m A Virgo,” which follows a 13-foot teenager named Cootie (Jharrel Jerome). Shy and sensitive, Cootie eventually leaves the confines of his sheltered childhood home, tempted by fast food, friends, and the fairer sex. “I’m A Virgo” is unlike anything else I saw on TV in 2023 both in its daring visuals (including grotesque animation and inventive puppetry) and its refusal to give one inch in its indictment of a crumbling empire.

How to watch: “I’m A Virgo” is streaming on Prime Video.

5. “Beef”

Confession: I am totally in the tank when it comes to Steven Yeun, who is almost always the best thing about any project he’s in. Nevertheless, I was a little concerned that the conceit of “Beef,” about two people (Yeun and comedian Ali Wong) whose brief road-rage incident turns each into the other’s worst enemy — wasn’t strong enough to sustain a 10-episode series. Thankfully, creator Lee Sung Jin builds a thrilling narrative that is funny, alarming, and familiar, even when its protagonists veer into extreme territory to enact their revenge.

How to watch: “Beef” is streaming on Netflix.

4. “Poker Face”

Rian Johnson almost singlehandedly kicked off a mystery movie boom with 2019’s “Knives Out,” and kept the fun going with 2022’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” For his new series on Peacock, Daniel Craig is replaced by Natasha Lyonne (“Orange is the New Black”), a quirky casino worker turned amateur detective whose superpower is being able to instantly tell when someone is lying. “Poker Face” feels like a throwback to the days of “Columbo,” where half the fun was watching Peter Falk chew scenery on his way to unraveling the case. Each episode brings a new group of star cameos — Chloe Sevigny, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Lil Rel Howery are just a few of the many familiar faces who show up — and Lyonne anchors it all with her sly, hangdog sensibility.

How to watch: “Poker Face” is streaming on Peacock.

3. “Reservation Dogs”

“Reservation Dogs,” which wrapped its third and final season, is the rare Indigenous North American story that features primarily Native and First Nation talent. This season, which premiered in August, picked up with Season 2’s storyline involving Bear Smallhill searching for his absent father far away from their rural Oklahoma home in California. What makes “Reservation Dogs” so wonderful is how, beyond the occasional interlude from dead ancestor William Knifeman, the show feels almost like a slice-of-life documentary. For the life of me, I cannot understand how this show got zero Golden Globes nominations in its farewell season.

How to watch: “Reservation Dogs” is streaming on Hulu.

2. “The Bear”

One of my favorite TV shows of 2022 as well, FX’s restaurant drama “The Bear” was back in business this summer with Carmy (Jeremy Allen White, “Shameless”) and Sydney (Dorchester native Ayo Edebiri) working on their new restaurant. Much like last season, things go to hell in short order — which is a problem, since the terms of the loan mean that Carmy will lose the restaurant if it flops. “The Bear” continues to mine comedy from the characters’ inner demons, and shines because of how authentically it portrays its chefs as real human beings and nails the intricate dynamics of a restaurant’s inner workings.

How to watch: “The Bear” is streaming on Hulu.

1. “Succession”

This may be the 100th “Best TV shows of 2023” list to feature “Succession” in the top spot. But how can you pick anything else but Jesse Armstrong’s searing portrait of a Murdoch-esque family fighting for control of a media empire? With the (spoiler alert!) absence of Brian Cox’s patriarch Logan Roy following his death early in the fourth and final season, “Succession” had plenty of time to grapple with the reverberations. The pettiness and back-stabbing reached a new low, and the public repercussions were greater than ever, giving us a hint of what may happen when Rupert Murdoch either departs from his media empire or from this earth.

How to watch: “Succession” is streaming on Max.

The best TV shows of 2023, according to Boston.com readers

9 (tie). “Silo”

After numerous attempts, Apple TV+ may have found its first great sci-fi drama with “Silo,” an ambitious project starring a cast of heavy hitters (Rashida Jones, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, David Oyelowo). The pilot episode grabs you immediately, introducing us to a society of 10,000 people who have lived inside an underground bunker for generations. The outdoors are merely a concept to most at this point, but word is that a cataclysmic event has made venturing out of the silo a certain death sentence.

Boston.com reader Matt D. of Hopkinton picked “Silo” as the best TV show of 2023 because he “enjoyed the suspense,” while Ryan of Lowell was even more succinct in his praise: “It was great.”

How to watch: “Silo” is streaming on Apple TV+.

9 (tie). “The Fall of the House of Usher”

In the past decade, Salem native Mike Flanagan has become one of the most exciting and talented horror directors in Hollywood, helming some of the best Stephen King movie adaptations in recent memory (“Gerald’s Game,” “Doctor Sleep”) as well as several fantastic shows for Netflix (“The Haunting,” “Midnight Mass”). Flanagan has struck gold again with “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which loosely takes its subject matter from the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) shares his name with the character in Poe’s original short story, but little else. As the CEO of a shady pharmaceutical company, he and his family are a blight on society, and no one sheds a tear when a mysterious stranger (Carla Gugino) begins to pick off the Ushers one by one.

“Very clever writing and a fantastic cast!” said KC, a Boston.com reader from Reading. “Love that it worked in all of the Poe classics, episode by episode.”

How to watch: “The Fall of the House of Usher” is streaming on Netflix.

8. “Poker Face”

The first of three shows to also appear on my Best TV shows of 2023 list, Boston.com readers similarly loved “Poker Face” for its “Columbo”-esque qualities.

“‘Poker Face’ was the most enjoyable show, a love letter to Columbo but still completely modern,” said Heather S., a Boston.com reader in Somerville. “It could exist in any time and doesn’t need super fancy effects to tell the story.”

How to watch: “Poker Face” is streaming on Peacock.

7. “Abbott Elementary”

After placing ninth among readers on our Best TV of 2022 list, “Abbott Elementary,” a mockumentary-style sitcom that follows the exploits of the teachers at its titular underfunded Philadelphia public school, moved up two notches despite the premiere of its third season being delayed until 2024.

“It’s very heartfelt and genuine,” wrote Boston.com user Bluefish, of Dracut. “The comedy is great without being crass. And the characters compliment each other really well.”

How to watch: “Abbott Elementary” is streaming on Hulu, with Season 3 set to premiere February 7, 2024 on ABC.

6. “Sex Education”

The first of three shows on this list that ended their final seasons in 2023, Boston.com readers picked Netflix’s British comedy “Sex Education” as one of their favorites. Featuring a cast of high schoolers (including Asa Butterfield, and Emma Mackey) receiving their sex education from the classroom, the bedroom, and in Butterfield’s case, from his well-known sex therapist of a mother (Gillian Anderson), “Sex Education” dealt with intimacy in a fun but mature way over four seasons.

Boston.com reader Jen from Marshfield praised “Sex Education” as “endlessly entertaining and memorable,” and for its “diverse and vibrant characters.”

How to watch: “Sex Education” is streaming on Netflix.

5. “The Morning Show”

Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” may have heightened its soapiness with each episode, but for Boston.com readers already on board, that wasn’t a bad thing. Alex (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) begin the season in almost untouchable positions of power at the fictional UBA network. But the company’s finances are in peril, and UBA’s CEO (Billy Crudup) has been talking to tech billionaire Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) about an acquisition. “The Morning Show” remained an addictive guilty pleasure, especially with its propensity to add incredibly talented and charismatic actors like Hamm at will.

How to watch: “The Morning Show” is streaming on Apple TV+.

4. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

In its fifth and final season, the Prime Video series and its star, Rachel Brosnahan took a big leap forward, showing through flash-forwards how the life of Midge, Brosnahan’s Jewish housewife turned stand-up comic, has changed more than 40 years after the show’s late 1950s/early 1960s setting. Though there are decades of drama for Midge as she achieves stardom, involving everyone from her children to her longtime manager (Alex Borstein), “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has the good sense to provide its protagonist with a happy ending.

“Consistently good writing and acting,” said Jean, a Boston.com reader from Methuen. “A great way to end a good series.”

How to watch: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is streaming on Prime Video.

3. “The Last of Us”

Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) successfully broke the video game adaptation curse with “The Last of Us,” his HBO series based on the hit 2013 game of the same name. Set 20 years after a pandemic in which a toxic fungus has turned humans into rage-filled zombies, “The Last of Us” finds Joel (Pedro Pascal, “The Mandalorian”) living in the quarantine zone of Boston, Joel is tasked with providing safe passage across the U.S. for teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey, “Game of Thrones”). Sure, the show’s “10 miles West of Boston” gave us plenty of laughs, but “The Last Of Us” also provided thrilling tension and a heartwarming chemistry between two roughnecks in Pascal and Ramsey.

How to watch: “The Last of Us” is streaming on Max.

2. “The Bear”

My list and the readers’ list (and plenty of other TV critics) had an identical top two, with “The Bear” finishing in the runner-up position.

Dave, a Boston.com reader from Arlington, praised the show’s “humor, pathos, and “exceptional acting” as well as the “inspired guest casting” of Jamie Lee Curtis as Carmy’s emotionally erratic mother.

“Amazing acting, great character development, great story,” said Gary R. of Fall River. “Looking forward to the next chapter.”

How to watch: “The Bear” is streaming on Hulu.

1. “Succession”

What else is there to be said about “Succession,” the consensus Best TV show of 2023? According to Boston.com readers, the unanimity says it all.

“It was the television event of the year,” said Brendan, a Boston.com reader from Woods Hole. ‘A rare moment of monoculture in our post social media world.”

How to watch: “Succession” is streaming on Max.