The Best of TV 2024 : So Many Spies!
With shows starring Keri Russell, Jeff Bridges, Quinta Brunson and Kit Connor, did your favorite make the cut?
In no particular order, here are the shows that knocked my socks off this past year. I didn’t realize until I was writing up each one that more than a few are about spies. I wouldn’t think it’s one of my go-to genres but clearly it is! Let’s go!
Somebody Somewhere (Max): Growing up in South Bend, Indiana wasn’t exactly small town living but I knew so many small towns like Manhattan, Kansas that this comedy has always felt so relatable. I know these characters - from Bridgett Everett’s Sam to Jeff Hiller’s Joel to Mary Catherine Garrison’s Tricia - and feel all the laughs and the pain they experience in each episode. After just three seasons, the series finale just aired on Sunday and I can only hope someone has the sense to pick this brilliant little show up and give it more life. If there’s a show deserving of being saved, it’s Somebody Somewhere.
Heartstopper: I’ve often said HBO’s gone-too-soon series Looking was the gay show I always wanted but this teen-drama about centering around the romance between shy Charlie (Joe Locke) and popular jock Nick (Kit Connor) is the gay show I wish I’d had growing up. The show hits on issues like eating disorders, bullying, coming out, trans/cis romantic relationships and family issues but always manages to keep its heart pulsating strong. The show is growing up and with Locke and Connor blowing up on Broadway, Disney+ and elsewhere, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever get a season 4 but I’m going to keep the dream alive they find a way.
Matlock (CBS): Talk about surprises…and I don’t mean because there’s a broadcast drama on the list! Going into this show, I thought Kathy Bates was just going to do the female version of Andy Griffith’s legal light-drama Matlock (1986-1995) but this pilot added a twist that quickly set a high bar for what this sharp, witty show has been delivering since it’s premiere in September. In fact, Bates’ Maddie Matlock is really Madeline Kingston, who is undercover at a prestigious law firm to find out who is responsible for keeping the opioids that killed her addict daughter on the market. The show has heart, humor, drama but also, in its first season, has quickly become a solid workplace series we’ll all likely be spending time visiting for years to come.
One Day (Netflix): I could gush more about this wonderful drama that spans years in the heartwarming, frustrating and heartbreaking story of lovers Emma (Ambika Mod) and Dexter (Leo Woodall). Instead, here’s the story I felt compelled to watch after this non-binger couldn’t help but binge the show faster than ever before.
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu): Another 4th season comedy that knocked it out of the park with a new murder to solve and a slew of big name guest stars - though Melissa McCarthy as Charles’s (Steve Martin) unhinged sister is the one I hope we get to see again. Also, this is a rare show that had me actually looking forward to every episode, a testament to not dropping an entire season all at once. Don’t ever change, OMITB!
Abbott Elementary (ABC)/Ghosts (CBS): Apologies for lumping these two brilliant broadcast comedies together (along with an honorable mention for newbie St. Denis Medical over at NBC) but it just goes to show that not every great show is streaming (though I’ll admit I do tend to watch them on Hulu and Paramount+, respectively). Abbott is the perfect example of a show that in its fourth season is still growing but not missing a beat. And Ghosts, also in season four, is just flat out funny with one of the best sitcom casts in history.
Agatha (Disney+) Locke found a great stepping stone to show he can do much more than play the beautifully angst-ridden Charlie on Heartstopper in this series that marked a return to Marvel doing what it does best (and, come on, hasn’t done with its last few programs). Agatha Harkness (played to the hilt by Kathryn Hahn) was one of the best surprises that came out of 2021’s Wandavision and Agatha wisely knew how to put her front and center and expand her story while introducing a new world, as well. Add Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn (proving here and another show on the list that she makes any show better), Debra Jo Rupp and Sasheer Zamata and Agatha was a wonderful sci-fi treat.
English Teacher (FX/streams on Hulu): I stumbled upon this comedy shortly after it dropped and am so glad I did. While the show has a gay lead character, Austin-based high school English teacher Evan Marquez (Brian Jordan Alvarez), who gets to date, have sex (frequently with his ex) and talk about being gay, that element never makes this show a “gay show” since it’s about so much more. English Teacher is really about friendships, relationships and shining a light on the highs and lows of being a high school teacher much in the way Abbott focuses on an elementary school staff. FX needs to renew this show now.
The Diplomat (Netflix): TV should be fun, right? For a political series that brings some fantastic laughs alongside international intrigue and drama, nobody did it better than the second season of the Keri Russell-starrer. This is Russell’s show but she’s surrounded herself with the best cast including Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn (see? She really does make everything better), Rory Kinnear, Ato Essandoh and a welcome addition at the end of the season, Allison Janney as the U.S. Vice President. If TV were a rollercoaster ride, taking a spin on The Diplomat is something to do over and over.
Shogun (FX/streams on Hulu): If you’re a TV viewer of a certain age, you remember the miniseries (with 1980’s Shogun being one of the biggest) and this version of the James Clavell novel felt both nostalgic in its telling while also feeling fresh and new. The jaw-dropping cast includes Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Tadanobu Asano and Anna Sawai and thankfully this isn’t a one-and-done limited series. With all the acclaim for critics and audiences, more seasons are in development.
Pachinko (AppleTV+): If there’s an underrated show on my list it’s this special, intoxicating drama based on the novel by Min Jin Lee. Like Shogun, it’s sweeping and has an epic appeal while making the viewer feel such a close, personal connection to the tortured souls in the world. Every performance is breathtaking and the multiple timelines are fluid and never jarring, only drawing us in more. [I loved talking to showrunner Soo Hugh for Variety after the 2nd season finale aired. You can check it out here.] Apple TV+ has yet to renew the show for a third season but given we had a pretty big cliffhanger, we definitely need more Pachinko.
Slow Horses (AppleTV+): I was very late to this spy drama starring the great Gary Oldman as an aging spy in London corralling a group of rejects who somehow end up saving the day. As the fourth season was airing, I started bingeing the first three seasons and found a truly fun show with all the plot twists and turns you’d expect in this kind of world where nobody is safe (except for Oldman, I expect anyone could be taken out at any time). Special shoutout to Christopher Chung, who brings dastardly fun to hacker Roddy Ho and even has gotten out of Slough House more often as the series has gone on.
Mr and Mrs Smith (Prime Video): While I’m a little disappointed this thrilling spy (yes, more spies!) drama’s second season won’t feature Donald Glover and Maya Erskine but instead will feature a new cast (though Glover is an executive producer so isn’t completely gone). I can only hope the show will continue the surprises and character depths it explored so well in the first season. Glover and Erskine had that unique chemistry that drew me in and then the show brought a myriad of guest stars (Michaela Cole being a standout) that only amped up the fun.
The Old Man: TV has become quite the beacon for actors of a certain age doing some of the best work of their careers. Like 75-year old Kathy Bates in Matlock, 79-year old John Lithgow and 75-year old Jeff Bridges are unstoppable and extremely watchable in this taut drama about - shocker - older spies who still have a lot of fight in them. And who knew Alia Shawkat, who I knew from comedies like Arrested Development and Search Party, could do drama so damn well.
Nobody Wants This (Netflix): Like English Teacher, I wasn’t expecting to find such a funny, witty, show with heart featuring two actors (Kristen Bell and Adam Brody) I’ve seen in multiple TV and films for years but were never two actors I’d guess would have such on-screen magic. The series is a romantic comedy with a dose of religion (she’s agnostic, he’s a Jewish rabbi), family (Bell’s on-screen sister, played by Justine Lupe, is a true scene stealer), secrets and inevitably a look at two people who are drawn together despite all the things that should pull them apart. I am not a big binger but I tore through these episodes so fast and am ready for season 2 NOW.
Honorable mention to Max’s My Brilliant Friend, which I admit I have yet to watch the fourth and final season but based on the strength of its first three seasons, I just have faith it will land its ending just right so deserves a mention. If you haven’t watched this Italian/American series (don’t be afraid of the subtitles!), you should. It’s an epic story about the fiery Lila and the more reserved Lenu (played by different actresses depending on the era), two Italian girl friends and the years together and apart.
Did I miss one of your favorite shows of 2024? Let me know below in the comments! You can click the tab right here:
Until next time…
Matlock has been a fantastic surprise and that first episode reveal came out of nowhere. Kathy Bates will definitely be representing broadcast TV Emmy nomination time.
Thanks, Beth! And, yes, I love Warrior and would love for them to get a finale movie or more episodes. Fingers still crossed!!