This year, TV has been my safe haven
My top shows of 2024
I spend a lot of my downtime watching scripted television on various streaming services. Those of you who’ve subscribed to my newsletter for years know this, but newer subscribers might not. I adore my “stories” or shows. It’s my primary form of escape from the dumpster fire that the United States has become. It’s true that my daily life is far from a living hell, but as someone who lives inside my mind for many hours of the day and is highly analytical, things look pretty fucking bleak. I’m constantly thinking about how much worse the world my kids are inheriting is than when I was a kid. Maybe that’s just one of the burdens of parenthood, and is the rule instead of the exception. But I’m also a pessimist in many ways, and I really struggle to not pass on my feelings of despair to them.
Anyway, all of this is to say that I’m such a believer in the healing power of art—a category that includes music, TV, film, and books/writing. I believe so strongly in the power of the humanities, and hate the fact that they’re so devalued in our tech/STEM-driven society. Because I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have them as a haven from my cynicism and despair. I think the arts and humanities save lives.
Music has of course been one of my lifelong passions, which is why I dedicated my career to it (back when I was planning to be an academic). But as a middle-aged person, I’m just not keeping up with the latest music in the same way I do with TV. Unsurprisingly, I’m not passionate about 95% of new pop music. Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Shakira put out my favorite new music of 2024, and none of them are new artists. I can appreciate new artists (I’m starting to really like Billie Eilish) and even love standalone songs, but when it comes to that deeper, indescribable level of how and why certain music makes you feel deeply, I think we generally form those bonds earlier in our lives. So I find myself listening often to music from the 80s and 90s. That said, Bad Bunny has become one of my favorite artists in recent years, so it’s not impossible. Just rare.
When it comes to TV, however, I feel FOMO if I’m not in the zeitgeist and watching the shows critics are writing about and awards shows are recognizing. And it’s not reality shows, which aren’t my thing. It’s scripted, episodic TV. Would you believe that I still follow General Hospital (one of the few soap operas still on TV), which has been on for over 60 years now, daily? I don’t know what it is about wanting to follow these characters for decades, but I do. Recently, the show killed off one of its main characters, who had been on for 20+ years. I’m not sure I’ve ever cried through an entire episode of TV before.
In general I’m a sucker for “prestige” TV, but General Hospital obviously doesn’t fall into that category - with its often predictably outrageous storylines and melodrama. That said, some critics have actually pointed out how prestige TV dramas like Mad Men (my top show of all time) and The Sopranos (which I’ve been rewatching) have drawn from soap operas. After all, at the end of the day, Mad Men was mostly about “people talking in rooms,” and the evolution of people’s relationships with each other. If that doesn’t describe a soap opera, I don’t know what does! It’s probably not surprising that another one of my top shows is Succession, also about people talking in rooms. Another one, The Americans, has a lot of action and intrigue, but ultimately it’s also about family dynamics. I love a psychological character drama!
I have to say, however, that I also have gotten so much joy from comedy shows this year. One of my top shows of the year is legitimately one of the silliest shows to have ever existed, and yet it’s so delightful. In 2024 I’ve discovered the beauty of taking an edible and just laughing uproariously at great comedic writing.
So without further ado, here are the shows of 2024 that have made me the happiest or made me feel/think deeply - and this includes some rewatches. I kind of hate ranking shows and music, etc., so I’m leaving them unranked.
My top 10 of 2024
Ripley (Netflix)
It lost out on most Emmys to Baby Reindeer, but it’s on most critics’ lists. I’ve never seen anything like it on TV. It’s like black and white photography in motion. I shared more detailed thoughts about it earlier this year.
Shogun (FX/Hulu)
No need to say much - it won a bunch of Emmys and is on all the critics’ top 10 lists. An incredible accomplishment in all aspects, but particularly special as a historical drama made in two languages that in many ways is about the importance of translation.
What We Do in the Shadows (FX/Hulu)
This is the funniest show on TV, period. It is pure hilarity. There’s no blend of sincerity/pathos and comedy - it’s just jokes and the most delightful silliness. This show makes me believe in the healing properties of TV. The show just wrapped up its sixth and final season, and I already know I’m gonna be rewatching the whole series.
Say Nothing (FX/Hulu)
I was pretty stunned that this show was snubbed by the Golden Globes. The Emmys voters better not overlook it. It’s a historical drama (or rather a dramatization of a real-life story) about the height of “the troubles” in northern Ireland. This show has so much to say about revolutionary struggle/activism and how the things you do in your youth come back to haunt you. But it also does this incredible balancing act where the protagonists are two sisters who joined the IRA and did things that led to people being killed and maimed. Of course, we are sympathetic to their perspective and the Northern Irish liberation struggle, and one of my favorite portrayals is the actor who plays their comrade, IRA leader Brendan Hughes. But at the same time, we get to see the horrible effects of their actions later in the show when the daughter of an IRA victim becomes an important character. At the end of the show, the villain turns out not to be the British imperialists, but an IRA leader. (I won’t say more in case you don’t want a spoiler, though of course this show is based on historical figures, so history itself is a spoiler!)
Evil (Paramount Plus)
One of my favorite shows of the pandemic years was abruptly canceled, and so the final season got short shrift. But if you want a thoroughly enjoyable show that manages to be both a horror procedural (monster of the week) and a comedy, this is it. The three stars have amazing chemistry - I just wanted to hang out with them forever.
House of the Dragon (Max/HBO)
I think the second season of the follow-up show to Game of Thrones took a big leap in quality. I was absolutely riveted the entire season. It hasn’t gotten a lot of love by critics in their year-end lists, and one particular arc (Daemon’s) was not well-loved by many fans, but that arc really paid off at the end of the season for me. I think it’s cuz a big portion of the fandom is watching it to see (CGI) dragon battles. Where I think the show really leveled up this season was its exploration of the characters’ psyches.
Industry (Max/HBO)
This HBO drama flew under the radar for its first 2 seasons but really got more notice this 3rd season. I think it’s the show’s best season so far. It’s a dark show about young brokers in London trying to get ahead in the world of finance. Everyone is incredibly fucked up and does terrible, unethical things in one of the most immoral industries in the world, so if you want an escape from our dark reality, this may not be the show for you. But it hits that sweet spot for me as a psychological character drama.
Hacks (Max/HBO)
Hacks is an Emmys favorite so I don’t need to say much, but I rank Hacks just below What We Do in the Shadows in terms of the laugh factor and joke density. Incredible comedic writing/jokes and the cast, particularly Jean Smart, is amazing.
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
One of the most irresistible rom-coms I can remember, about a shiksa (non-Jew) and hot rabbi who fall in love. The two stars, Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, have an electric chemistry. This show is so bingeable. And yet, I do have one big caveat which I really think needs to be addressed in season two: all three of the Jewish female characters were portrayed in very stereotypical ways - as overbearing, cultish/insular, and mean. This was particularly notable given how easygoing and well-adjusted all the Jewish male characters were. I want the show to do better
Somebody, Somewhere (HBO/Max)
This underrated show is heartwarming and I would recommend it to everyone. It just wrapped up its third and final season. It’s a slice-of-life show about a woman, played by the amazing Bridget Everett, who moves back to her small town in Kansas and her misfit friends and family. It’s funny and irreverent and just really *real* - the antithesis of a glitzy Hollywood show. It also gets an A+ for fat representation and is one of very few shows on TV right now starring a fat actress.
Honorable mentions
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
I really love this soapy Irish dramedy about five very close-knit sisters and their shenanigans. The first season (released in 2022) featured one of the most deliciously despicable villains I’ve ever seen on TV, played by Claes Bang. His nickname was literally “the prick” lol. The second season is currently airing (which is why I didn’t think it should be in the top 10 - it hasn’t ended yet), and I’m still absolutely riveted, particularly because the great Fiona Shaw joined the show.
True Detective: Night Country (HBO/Max)
As I wrote early this year while it was airing, I’m really glad we got a feminist version of the True Detective franchise this year, and really loved the way the show leaned into supernatural elements. (I also wrote about the sexist backlash to the show by male fans). My main critique was that it was so short (only 6 episodes), and that may be why a lot of critics didn’t think the show’s finale was great. However, I thought it had a successful conclusion, and I loved seeing Jodie Foster back at the top of her game.
Finally, two shows that I thought were incredible but that bridged 2023 and 2024 were The Curse (I wrote about it earlier this year) and Fargo, season 5. I think they deserve a mention because both of the finales (which aired in 2024) were so stunning and thought-provoking.
Rewatches and old TV that’s new to me
I’m almost finished with a full Lost rewatch, which I’ve been doing with my 12-year-old son. Truly one of the most remarkable, innovative shows TV has ever given us, a show that changed episodic storytelling in a lot of ways. I got to write an essay about an aspect of the show that I think aged poorly: the fatphobia baked into the writing of Lost’s only fat character, Hurley. It was my first byline in The Atlantic! I will say that later seasons did treat Hurley better and I loved the conclusion of his storyline. In any case, despite the show’s faults, it really holds up, especially considering the extremely high degree of difficulty the show was operating on with its time-jumping and all the mysteries it had to untangle.
Now that I’m towards the end of my months-long rewatch of The Sopranos, I hate Tony far more than I remember finding him despicable when I first watched. I really can’t fathom how the audience somehow felt (and many still feel) that creator David Chase was glorifying the mafia. Tony Soprano was a horrible, cruel person! I don’t think there was any doubt about that!! I’ve particularly loved rewatching Michael Imperioli as Christopher, one of TV’s most tragic figures—he’s just so vulnerable and volatile. I understand why the show is considered one of the greatest of all time, but I don’t think I’ll revisit it again. It’s too brutal.
On a much lighter note, I’ve started rewatching episodes of 30 Rock, and my god is it one of the greatest comedies ever made! Everyone knows this, but it’s so much fun to rediscover its greatness. In the same vein, a show that was a big blind spot for me until this year was The Office. I now get why it’s so beloved. What I don’t understand is how Steve Carrell never won an Emmy for playing Michael Scott. Like, WHAT??? This is one of the greatest comedic TV performances of the 21st century, easily.
I’m more of a TV than film nerd (though I’m definitely dedicating more time to movies in recent years), so I don’t have a top 10 film list. But I just wanted to mention a new movie that’s going to stay with me for a long time: Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, about two cousins who go on a Holocaust memorial tour after the death of their grandmother. There are a lot of the parallels in my own family history, including a close relationship with a cousin that was fostered by a grandmother who was incredibly important to me. But beyond the personal resonance, the script is incredible (Eisenberg wrote and directed it), and Kieran Culkin gives a tremendous performance. I really think this film will resonate strongly with fellow Jews in particular.
I know we’re all approaching 2025 with dread, so it feels trite to wish you a happy holidays and New Year. I hope you can at least share a good meal with loved ones, have some good conversation and laughs, and escape into an incredible show, book, film, or album/music playlist. xoxo