Halfway through 2024, we’ve already been treated to a rich banquet of TV—from the surprise success of Shõgun to the virality of the out-of-nowhere Baby Reindeer. Here’s our running list of the year’s best shows—many of them, Emmy nominees—and a sneak peek at the series we’re most excited about for the fall. You’ll find dramas and procedurals, sci-fi galore, and enough historical epics to keep you occupied.
Criminal Record on Apple TV+ (January)
If you’re a soft target for British crime procedurals and have fond memories of the Scottish actor Peter Capaldi dominating Armando Ianucci’s classic political series The Thick of It, Apple TV+’s Criminal Record is just the thing. In this eight-episode London-based series, Capaldi and Cush Jumbo go toe to toe as warring detectives—veteran and rookie—re-litigating a high-profile murder case. —Taylor Antrim
Expats on Prime Video (January)
Lulu Wang follows up her heartfelt 2019 film The Farewell with this rich and layered limited series. Like The Farewell, which told the story of a young Chinese American woman returning to China to spend time with her dying grandmother, Expats is (unsurprisingly) concerned with the experience of living between cultures. Here, the subjects again are Americans living abroad in Asia, a trio of women whose lives are intertwined with each other and with a random-seeming tragedy. The show resists easy categorization; in some ways, with its lush attention to the frenetic urban landscapes of modern-day Hong Kong, it bears the imprint of Wang’s previous creations, feeling like a vision-driven independent film. There’s a mystery associated with the tragedy, but this is hardly a whodunnit. Instead, it’s an examination of how people build a home in a foreign place, and how fragile those constructions can be. Nicole Kidman gives a harrowing performance as one of the trio of women, but it is Ji-young Yoo, playing a disaffected and aimless young Korean-American college graduate, who steals the show. —Chloe Schama
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans on FX/Hulu (January)
Revenge is a dish best served at La Côte Basque. Ryan Murphy’s latest installment of his Feud series tells the tale of Truman Capote’s (Tom Hollander) unfinished roman à clef Answered Prayers, and the bridges he burned when an excerpt from it was published in Esquire in 1965. Not since Diana’s swimwear on The Crown has the fashion hive anticipated a new series with such fervor. In Swans, the flock is glamorous and the plumage Olympics-worthy. The social doyennes of the second half of the last century are the main characters here, with Naomi Watts as the long-suffering yet sanguine Babe Paley; Chloë Sevigny as straight-shooting, Scotch-swilling green thumb C. Z. Guest; Calista Flockhart as the wounded, saber-tongued Lee Radziwill; and Diane Lane as the sage and vindictive Slim Keith. Directed by Gus Van Sant, languorous, malicious meals unspool at La Côte Basque, the midtown society lunch spot; gloves are sought at Saks (they are shamed for being behind the times and told to–gasp–try Lord & Taylor); and the infamous Black and White Ball is chronicled in painstaking detail over an entire episode, with Zac Posen brought in to design the swans’ gowns. (Murphy veteran Lou Eyrich handles the rest of the show’s costumes with aplomb—and real vintage.) The show is glamorous and gothic at once and, while not much happens, it’s still worth having a bird’s eye view. —Chloe Malle
Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ (January)
Based on historian Donald L. Miller’s bestseller, Masters of the Air follows the American bomber boys of the 100th Bomb Group (dubbed the Bloody Hundredth) as they engage in treacherous raids over Nazi Germany. Executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the show has a traditional feel, foregrounding the psychological and emotional toll paid by these young men. But there’s plenty of visual splendor to luxuriate in, with directors like Dee Rees behind the camera and in front of it the impossibly coiffed crème of handsome young Hollywood (Barry Keoghan, Austin Butler, Callum Turner) and Colleen Atwood’s costumes (indulgent thick leather bombers with shearling collars). —Lisa Wong Macabasco
Monsieur Spade on AMC+ (January)
Some of us are prepared to travel wherever Clive Owen takes us, which in the case of the AMC+ crime series Monsieur Spade happens to be the south of France. These six episodes came to us from the writer-director-producer Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit) and tell the story of the iconic hardboiled detective Sam Spade (of Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon) in retirement in Bozouls, where, bien sur, a group of nuns is murdered. Owen is dashing with a cigarette and suit, and the twisty plot pulls in Cold War, religious doings, and espionage. Satisfying, grown-up entertainment. —TA
True Detective on Max (January)
Set during the eternally dark and snowy days of late December in a remote Alaska town where Indigenous locals and a mining company coexist uneasily, the newest iteration of True Detective bears the closest resemblance to the thrilling first season 10 years ago. This time around, though, with Mexican writer and director Issa López at the helm, women are the heavies: Jodie Foster brandishes the badge for the first time since Silence of the Lambs 32 years ago, while real-life pro boxing champ Kali Reis more than holds her own as her tough-as-hell partner. Both are haunted by ghosts from their traumatic pasts as they attempt to solve a grisly massacre at a scientific outpost. It’s the perfect binge, not to mention scary as hell, and both True Detective diehards and those who have never heard of “time is a flat circle” are sure to enjoy the eerie, supernatural, supremely satisfying ride. —LWM
The Woman in the Wall on Showtime (January)
Ruth Wilson can be an incendiary performer—who could forget her turn as a manipulative psychopath in Luther?—and she’s at full boil here in this BBC mystery (airing in the US on Showtime and streaming on Paramount+). We’re in a small village in Ireland, where Wilson’s troubled character, Lorna Brady, suffers from extreme bouts of sleepwalking—and wakes up one day to find a corpse in her home. This crime connects to the trauma in her past: as a teenager she was sent to one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalene Laundries to conceal a pregnancy. Bereaved and borderline insane, Brady may be a killer, or whoever murdered one of the village’s priests in Dublin may be responsible. The appealing and mordantly witty Daryl McCormack is the detective trying to untangle it all. —TA
Constellation on Apple TV+ (February)
Apple’s streaming service continues to take big swings with sci-fi; check out Foundation, Invasion, or Silo…or don’t! For all of their ambition, none of Apple’s splashy sci-fi series have so far become essential viewing. But Constellation is absolutely worth your time: a space-drama-meets-conspiracy-thriller starring the always-good Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks (whom we loved in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul). The UK writer Peter Harness is behind the eight-episode series, and the promise of his track record (McMafia, Wallander, Dr. Who) pays off with an unsettling story that twists through space exploration, high-level physics, and the spooky sense that reality itself is coming undone. It’s just a shame that Apple TV+ has decided not to renew it. —TA
Drive to Survive, Season 6 on Netflix (February)
The hugely popular F1 racing series that started the whole reality-TV-sports documentary craze has come back for a speedy, escapist sixth season. If you’re an F1 fan you already know what went down during the 2023 season, but Drive to Survive is so well-paced and edited that reliving it is nothing but pleasure. —TA
Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Prime Video (February)
Prime Video’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith stars Donald Glover and Pen15’s Maya Erskine as a pair of spies navigating dangerous weekly missions—often around New York, where they’re based in a gorgeous townhouse, but also sometimes in the dramatically beautiful Dolomites, or the Costa Rican jungle, or on the shores of Lake Como—while also attempting to maintain their arranged marriage, one that quickly evolves from a strange shared burden to a font of real passion and pleasure, as well as conflict and competition. The 2005 film of the same name, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, inspired this series, but Glover and Erskine are doing entirely their own thing—and the results feel exciting and fun. Plus, the show boasts a murderers’ row of supporting actors, among them Sarah Paulson (fabulous as a batty couples therapist), Alexander Skarsgård, John Turturro, Sharon Horgan, Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, and Parker Posey. —Marley Marius
The New Look on Apple TV+ (February)
Can fashion history make for compelling drama? The New Look, a series from Apple TV+ that begins in Paris under Nazi occupation and charts the rise of Christian Dior after WWII, brings star power and a veteran TV creator to the task. Here is Ben Mendelsohn as an exquisitely dignified Dior, working in obscurity for the couturier Lucien Lelong (and reluctant to design dresses for Nazi wives), and Juliette Binoche as his high-profile rival Coco Chanel, comporting with members of the Third Reich and living at the Ritz. The creator is the genre specialist Todd Kessler, known for pulpy entertainments like Damages and Bloodline, though with The New Look he’s aiming for something more high-minded and polite (think The Crown, but with fashion designers instead of royals). The series has escapist sweep and is packed with familiar faces: Emily Mortimer as socialite Elsa Lombardi, John Malkovich as Lelong, Maisie Williams as Dior’s sister Catherine (arrested and imprisoned at a concentration camp), and Claes Bang as Chanel’s aristocratic Nazi boyfriend, Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage. Mendelsohn is the moral and creative hero, but the striving, anything-to-survive Binoche gives the series a ruthless spark. —TA
One Day on Netflix (February)
I didn’t want to like this show. A mainstream bestseller turned into a mid-aughts toothless rom-com (sorry, Anne Hathaway stans!) turned Netflix show? Talk about tired IP. But boy, did I love it. I chalk it up to the incredible chemistry between Ambika Mod (a real discovery and an unapologetic comedic talent) and Leo Woodall (the rascally charlatan who charmed on The White Lotus Season 2), playing university friends who circle each other romantically for most of their 20s. Each episode checks in on them on the same day but a different year (hence the title), and the show somehow convinces you that they have grown older (not wiser) and, eventually, more assured of themselves and their relationship. Rarely has something I expected to be nothing more than a treacly confection so surprised me with its genuine heart. —CS
Shōgun on FX/Hulu (February)
One of the surprise hits of the year, this epic, years-in-the-making adaptation of James Clavell’s best-selling, 1,000-plus-page historical novel from 1975 proved to better than anyone expected, and quickly became a bit of a streaming phenomenon for FX/Hulu. Set in 17th-century Japan, the story is satisfyingly complex and the acting is superb, especially from Anna Sawai as the translator Lady Mariko, veteran Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as feudal leader Yabushige, and the highly appealing Cosmo Jarvis as the English sailor John Blackthorne. Addictive, well-paced, and lavishly produced. —TA
3 Body Problem on Netflix (March)
In the quest for the next culture-dominating Game of Thrones-esque series, consider Netflix’s big bet: 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of Chinese novelist Liu Cixin’s 2008 science fiction novel (the tote-around paperback for the haute-nerd set). It’s no small thing to transform Cixin’s extremely complex, time-jumping, alien-invasion story to the screen, but this is a show with ambition on hyperdrive: among the clutch of big name producers, none other than David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (of Thrones) serve as writer/producers, along with Alexander Woo, who was responsible for the excellent The Terror: Infamy. —TA
The Gentlemen on Netflix (March)
Guy Ritchie returns! Sometimes you just want to cheer the streamers for handing over a big budget to someone with the verve and vision of Ritchie. Another White Lotus star, an extremely charismatic Theo James, is the second son of a recently departed duke, who (first episode mild spoiler here) is unexpectedly named his father’s heir. The reasoning quickly becomes apparent as the extent of the first son’s dissolute disfunction unfolds. Further revelations ensue: namely, a criminal operation that is part of the inheritance. Ritchie feels like he’s back in beloved territory, among the charming rakes and bullish thugs of the British underworld. The British actor Kaya Scodelario (perhaps, like me, you remember her as the singular Effy from Skins) is creepy and convincing as a woman confidently navigating that seedy scene. —CS
Girls 5Eva, Season 3 on Netflix (March)
If you’re in the market for a sitcom that packs in maximum jokes per minute, à la 30 Rock or The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, look no further than this Peacock series (now available on Netflix) that chronicles the improbable mid-40s reunion of an early-aughts girl group. Girls5Eva admittedly took a few episodes to find its footing, but its highly Tina Fey-influenced comedic voice and bevy of magnetically watchable stars (Renée Elise Goldsberry playing a clear piano! Busy Philipps as a dippy influencer type! Paula Pell, enough said!) make it well worth seeking out. —Emma Specter
Manhunt on Apple TV+ (March)
The reason to put Manhunt on your to-watch list is its 49-year-old star, Tobias Menzies, recently of The Crown and Outlander and You Hurt My Feelings and a clutch of TV shows before that (This Way Up, Catastrophe, The Terror)—each one of them worth watching precisely because of the steady, slightly raffish sophistication that Menzies brings to any project he’s in. Manhunt is an adaptation of a nonfiction bestseller about the hunt for President Lincoln’s killer in 1865, and Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War and the lead detective—of a kind—in the search for the man who pulled the trigger, John Wilkes Booth. Call it true-crime-meets-historical fiction. —TA
Palm Royale on Apple TV+ (March)
Call it the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel effect: a certain type of TV show that presents a super-saturated, candy-coated vision of the past. Palm Royale, which stars Kristin Wiig as a beauty pageant queen who marries up, sets its sights on Palm Beach society. Like a Lilly Pulitzer fever dream, the show is awash in tangerine and flamingo pink, a confectionary visual delight. The plot is nominally an outsider narrative, with Wiig’s character attempting to infiltrate the upper echelons of that milieu, but it’s really the fashion and the slightly camp but still enjoyable performances from the cast (Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Kaia Gerber, Ricky Martin—does the man ever age?) that keep the show afloat. —CS
Fallout on Prime Video (April)
Video-game TV adaptations are usually a case of hype cycles run amok—even though HBO’s The Last of Us was a genuine prestige-TV hit in 2023 (and has been renewed for a second season). Prime Video’s adaptation of the post-apocalyptic role-playing game Fallout has gold plated executive producers, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy of Westworld, and proved to be an interesting stew of cowboy action, robot mayhem, and kooky world-building. —TA
Ripley on Netflix (April)
Another recycled story that holds its own appeal. This time the beloved Andrew Scott stars as Tom Ripley in an adaptation of the gripping Patricia Highsmith novel. Scott is joined by Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn, and the sun-soaked palette is replaced by an austere black-and-white scheme. Written and directed by Steven Zaillian, creator of the gripping and dark HBO procedural The Night Of, this Ripley has a distinctly noir feel, and a different tone overall than the sun-drenched Matt Damon and Jude Law version. Scott delivers a subtle and sinister performance. —CS
Under the Bridge on Hulu (April)
Based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey’s gripping 2005 bestseller, Under the Bridge recounts the true story of 14-year old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta), who in 1997 went to meet friends at a party and never returned home. Trailing Godfrey (played by Riley Keough) and a local British Columbia police officer (Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone), the series delves into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder, revealing shocking truths about the unlikely killer.—LWM
Baby Reindeer on Netflix (May)
After arriving on Netflix with a bang in April, Baby Reindeer quickly became one of the year’s most-talked-about shows—thanks in no small part to the fact that its shocking depiction of stalking and sexual assault was closely based on the real-life experiences of its creator, the British comedian Richard Gadd. (Much of the debate surrounding the show centered on whether it was too closely based on real life, as internet sleuths made efforts to track down the real people involved.) What impressed most, though, was Baby Reindeer’s tonal tightrope walk between black comedy and moments that felt more akin to a thriller—as well as its sensitivity in dealing with a number of hot-button topics. —Liam Hess
Bridgerton, Season 3 on Netflix (May)
If Shonda Rhimes followed the chronological order of Julia Quinn’s original book series, Season 3 of Bridgerton would be about Benedict Bridgerton’s quest to find love. Yet the showrunner made the executive decision to focus instead on fan favorites Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, whose slow-burn story has been building over the past few years. It turned out to be the right creative call: Season 3 of Bridgerton is not just an ugly-ducking-to-swan love story, but one that examines female ambition and the loss of individual identity that can come with a marriage. Oh, also, there’s a lot of instrumental Taylor Swift. Who doesn’t love that? —Elise Taylor
Dark Matter on Apple TV+ (May)
Would you believe it? Another reality-bending sci-fi-esque thriller from Apple TV+ (see also Constellation, Severance, Invasion, Silo). Dark Matter could seem like run-of-the-mill prestige TV—adapted from a bestselling book (by Blake Crouch), noir-ish in look and tone—except its cut-above cast raises the stakes. The usually excellent Joel Edgerton plays a physics professor who slips into an alternate reality and has to fight his way back to save his wife, played by Jennifer Connelly. —TA
Hacks, Season 3 on Netflix (May)
With its third season, Hacks overcame the nearly impossible feat of topping itself. After a strong sophomore season, many viewers wondered how the odd-couple comedy would continue its trajectory. Now, it’s clear there was no reason to worry. The show’s latest installment is funnier, smarter, and more poignant than ever, especially thanks to Jean Smart, who delivers bigger laughs and gut punches as Deborah Vance—whether she’s turning an NA meeting into a tight 10, or scheming to get her own late-night show. The promotion of Meg Stalter and Paul W. Downs to series regulars has added a delightful B-plot to the series, and Hannah Einbinder continues to bring greater depth to Ava with every passing episode. Lucky for us a fourth season is on its way.—Hannah Jackson
Babylon Berlin, Season 4 on MHz Choice (June)
Photo: Frédéric Batier, X Filme Creative Pool, SKY, Degeto
The first two seasons of this brilliant German-language crime epic set during the Weimar Republic debuted back in Netflix’s halcyon, try-anything days (before the Floor is Lava era). It was one of the most rewarding discoveries on streaming, and acquainted American audiences with the charisma of its lead actors, Liv Lisa Fries and Volker Bruch, whose characters worked for the Berlin police, uncovering misdoings (Fries’s Charlotte Ritter was also a part-time prostitute). Season 3 later appeared on Netflix before the series disappeared from the platform altogether. Now all three seasons have returned on the service MHz Choice (which, if you’re into Euro TV, is well worth a trial subscription). The new Season 4, which brings Weimar Berlin ever closer to the grip of Nazism—heretofore unavailable to US viewers—will debut in June. —TA
The Bear, Season 3 on FX/Hulu (June)
The third season of The Bear, focused on the titular restaurant’s rocky first months of operation, proved its most divisive yet. At times the show abandoned the larger plot for more intimate character studies, leaving viewers yearning for some form of resolution in Carmy and Claire’s relationship, Carmy and Richie’s relationship, and Carmy’s relationships with pretty much everyone else. But the choice also gave us my favorite episodes of the season, “Napkins,” a closer look at Liza Colón-Zayas’s Tina (and Ayo Edebiri’s directorial debut) and “Ice Chips,” which follows Natalie, a.k.a Sugar (Abby Elliott), as she is forced to lean on her mother, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), for support when she goes into labor. Let’s just consider Season 3 an amuse-bouche; with Season 4 already filmed, we know the main course is on the way. —HJ
Blue Lights, Season 2 on BritBox (June)
The streaming service BritBox, from the BBC and ITV, continues to serve up hidden gems. My new favorite discovery is Blue Lights, a Belfast-based police procedural with an appealing class of officer trainees who have to earn their stripes on the violent streets of the capital city of Northern Ireland. Start with Season 1 (available on the service) and then charge into the new second season where Grace, Annie, Tommy, and their superiors in the force must confront a dangerous confluence of organized loyalist gangs and meddling from the UK intelligence services. A bingeable, highly satisfying import. —TA
House of the Dragon, Season 2 on Max (June)
The action of House of the Dragon’s impeccably acted second season picks up in the immediate aftermath of Season 1, the engine of plot a rather serious difference of opinion about the deathbed pronouncements of the late king Viserys Targaryen. This sets in motion a pleasingly straightforward story about power—who has it, who wants it—and the small-scale pleasures of the new season are in the maneuverings at court and shouted arguments at councils. (These too were among the amusements of Game of Thrones.) But there also many, many scenes of gorgeously rendered dragons and breathtaking settings—castles, ruined chambers, fields and forests—that make the series feel satisfyingly grand. If we’d been feeding on scraps this summer in TV world, Game of Thrones has given us a banquet. —TA
Presumed Innocent on Apple TV+ (June)
You can watch this show with intimate familiarity with the book and Harrison Ford film, or you can come to it—as I did—with absolutely none, and fully enjoy it. (We ran an experiment with a sample size of two in our household, and this was our definitive conclusion.) It’s not that surprising, actually, when you consider the caliber of the cast: Jake Gyllenhaal as the wrongfully (or is he???) accused lawyer fending off a life-damning murder charge; Ruth Negga as his long-suffering wife; Peter Sarsgaard as the smarmy colleague out to get him; the luminous Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person In the World) as the murdered girlfriend; Bill Camp—a revelation—as the lawyer and best friend defending Gyllenhaal’s character. It’s a powerhouse collection, and they are all doing their part to weave together this supremely watchable and classy show. The story seems to be setting itself up for resolution in the final episode, but with a second season already announced, we can look forward to more suspense to come. —CS
Tour de France: Unchained, Season 2 on Netflix (June)
Last summer, Netflix’s Tour de France: Unchained felt like a word-of-mouth hit. It snuck onto the streamer amid the welter of sports documentary series (and was produced by the same team behind Netflix’s mega hit Drive to Survive), offering eight episodes that told the story of the 2022 Tour. Was it the bird-bodied, single-minded cyclists, each with more difficult-to-pronounce names (Pogačar, Vingegaard, van Aert); the French-language paeans to suffering; the clever editing, that teased mini character-arcs out of individual stages? The series returns in June, just in time to binge and prep for this summer’s big race. —TA
Industry, Season 3 on Max (August)
Photo: Simon Ridgway/HBO
I think this might just be the best show on television this year? The episodes I watched are under strict embargo, so I can’t say too much about the specifics. But suffice it to say that it keeps up the breakneck pace, the rapid-fire patter that is (to a non-finance type) inscrutable and somehow fascinating at the same time, and all the bad behavior that happens on and off the floor. The favorite characters return, their fiendish traits on full display. The episodes are dense and well-paced; this is not a ponderous artistic experiment, though the tightness of its construction speaks to a care for the craft of TV-making. If the absence of Succession has left a dark and gaping hole in your heart, formerly filled by the epic, desperate machinations of the one-percent: tune in. I think this is the best season yet for this entirely excellent show. —CS
The Perfect Couple on Netflix (September)
Nicole Kidman knows what she’s doing, starring in yet another prestiegey murder mystery series set in a fastidiously manicured community, and people with a throng of compelling (if suspicious) supporting characters. This time, however, the backdrop is Nantucket, not Monterey; and the author of the involving source material is Elin Hilderbrand, not Liane Moriarty. In A Perfect Couple, Kidman plays Greer Garrison Winbury, a famous novelist whose son, Benji (Billy Howle), is due to marry Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) at Summerland, the Winbury family’s seaside compound; drama and intrigue ensue when a body washes up on the beach. With a cast including Liev Schreiber (as Greer’s husband, Tag), Dakota Fanning, Meghann Fahy, and Isabelle Adjani, we’re almost certainly in for a delectable, late-summer treat. —MM
Dune: Prophecy on Max (November)
Great news for Dune-heads: Not only did the latest entry in the blockbuster sci-fi franchise storm the box office in March (and receive glowing critical notices to boot), but there’s another chapter of the space opera set to arrive on TV screens later this year. Set many thousands of years before the rise of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atriedes, the show—which stars Emily Watson and Olivia Williams—charts the origins of the Bene Gesserit, the religious sisterhood whose behind-the-scenes plotting will come to shape the future of humanity. The spice must flow… —LH
