From 'The Traitors' to '3 Body Problem,' these are the best TV shows of 2024
What’s hot and cold and red all over? That would be the year in TV so far.
From scalding nuclear explosions (Amazon’s “Fallout”) to icy Alaskan winters (HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country”) and a lot of blood (FX’s “Shogun”), it hasn’t exactly been a quiet year of television, even as the effects of the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes can be felt in the sparse schedule.
But even with fewer series than recent years, it feels like there’s been a little bit of everything on TV in 2024, from big, expensive epics to small, intimate true stories. There are cops, punk rockers, survivors, politicians and physicists ready to captivate you with stories both mundane and metaphysical.
So with nearly half the year behind us, here are the 10 best TV shows (new and returning) so far.
10. ‘The Traitors’ (Peacock)
“Traitors” is that rare kind of genre show (in this case, reality competition) that both delights longtime fans and can lure in skeptics by highlighting all the best elements of these series while leaving their worst impulses behind. "Traitors,” a contest featuring alumni of other reality series in which backstabbing and role-playing is the whole point, was fun in its first season but rose to greatness in its deliciously dramatic second. Everyone was both a hero and a villain and host Alan Cumming looked darned good in every elaborate outfit he donned. What’s not to like?
9. ‘Mary & George’ (Starz)
Sex, court politics and ugly Elizabethan collars? It must be a Starz historical drama. A new entry in the premium cable network’s venerable line of royal romps, “Mary & George” is a steamy, conniving little tale about a mother seeking power and glory (and to stay alive in the patriarchy). In 17th-century England, Mary Villiers (the always wonderful Julianne Moore) schemes and manipulates her son George (Nicholas Galitzine) into seducing the King (Tony Curran), thus granting her family power and wealth. All smut, smiles and mischief, the series checks all the good Starz boxes.
8. ‘Baby Reindeer’ (Netflix)
If you can emotionally make it through through all seven episodes of this sleeper hit from British comedian Richard Gadd, you will surely be shaken and horrified. But you will also experience one of the most affecting, stirring and reflective series you’ll ever see. Gadd tells a fictionalized version of his own experience as a victim of stalking and sexual assault, a kind of dramatized therapy session that is deeply engrossing. His performance is mesmerizing, and so is that of Jessica Gunning as his stalker. The scripts walk a fine line to make the story both hard to believe and deeply real. “Reindeer” is a one-of-a-kind piece of art that proves how powerful television can be.
7. ‘3 Body Problem’ (Netflix)
This isn’t “Game of Thrones,” and that’s a good thing. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, creators of the HBO fantasy blockbuster, turned to Netflix and science fiction for their first post-”Thrones” project, alongside producer Alexander Woo. And it's a good thing they did. The producers turned a dense series of books into an ethereal, thought-provoking nail-biter that turns the alien-invasion narrative upside down: What do you do when the aliens aren’t coming for hundreds of years? It's anxiety-provoking and emotional, without ever seeing a single little green man.
6. ‘Fallout’ (Amazon)
It might just be the golden age for video game adaptations, and it might just be because Hollywood has started making movies and TV based on actually good video games. “Fallout,” a post-apocalyptic thriller from Amazon, blasted onto the scene this year. Set centuries after a nuclear armageddon, the series has an appealing cast, a uniquely irreverent tone, good jokes, bold visuals, cute dogs and is fun for all. Its retro-futuristic setting mixes 1950s music and sensibilities with mutants and power suits, making “Fallout” a very good time in a very nasty world.
5. ‘Manhunt’ (Apple TV+)
Who knew a Civil War-era TV show about an asthmatic bureaucrat hunting down the man who shot Abraham Lincoln could be such a rollicking good time? “Manhunt” turns a social studies lesson – what happened after Lincoln was assassinated and the manhunt for his killer – into an action-adventure banger. Anthony Boyle’s (“Masters of the Air”) smarmy performance as John Wilkes Booth is a massive part of the series' success, as are the clever, fast-paced scripts and the upright decency of Tobias Menzies as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
4. ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ (Hulu)
Based on a harrowing but ultimately uplifting true story of Holocaust survivors, “Lucky Ones" excels at revealing hard historical truths without becoming too difficult to watch. Starring Joey King and Logan Lerman, the series follows one Jewish family from Poland, separated by the war, who suffer through indignities while fighting for their lives at every turn. With sweeping stories and deep feelings, “Lucky Ones” reminds us why we can never forget this part of our history.
3. ‘We Are Lady Parts’ (Peacock)
The British series about an all-female Muslim punk band returns three years after its near-perfect first season, a good reminder that any day without “Lady Parts” is a day robbed of joy. The second season sees our brilliant band dealing with money troubles (ugh, capitalism), a rival Muslim girl group and rom-com shenanigans in the most charming, delectable way possible.
2. ‘Shogun’ (FX)
FX is plotting two more seasons of its adaptation of James Clavell’s sweeping novel "Shogun," and it’s excellent news considering how much more there is to this gorgeous, rich world of 17th-century Japan. “Shogun” is a true epic with little pretension and a wealth of awe-inspiring moments big and small as it tells the story of the first English contact with feudal Japan. Violence, romance and politics collide in the exquisitely crafted drama, and it's hard to wait for more.
1. ‘True Detective: Night Country’ (HBO)
Literally chilling, shocking and impossible to look away from, HBO's anthology drama “True Detective” returned to its best form in its fourth season, subtitled “Night Country” and helmed by a new producer, Issa López. Set in the long period of winter darkness in Alaska, the mystic crime drama puts Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Detective Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) to work investigating the frozen deaths of seven men at a research facility. The twists start early and don’t stop until the last few seconds of the finale, but even without such a bombastic story, the performances of Foster and Reis would be enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best shows on TV for 2024 (so far), from 'Shogun' to 'Baby Reindeer'
