2023 Year In Review, Television

Was there anything other than Succession and The Bear? Actually, yeah…

Let’s talk TV for just a minute.

We live in a golden age of television right now with a plethora of options with so many streaming services from which to choose (and yes, some terrestrial and cable holdovers). I am not a professional TV critic so everything I have seen here is from a service for which I have paid (well, mostly; I did see Shrinking somehow), which means I have missed what I have heard are some of the best sci-fi shows of the past few years because they are owned by AppleTV+, thus explaining their absence from this list. Apologies if I missed your show, but based on what I did watch, this is my top 10.

1. The Bear
2. Succession

Both The Bear and Succession are fantastic TV shows, some of the best that have ever been made. The latter of the two has since concluded so it benefits from the fact that the entire series can be considered as a whole, while the former is only two seasons in. Both shows are very strong on characterization, and it’s only with such wonderfully talented actors involved in both series that make them shine so very brightly in their own ways.

One show is about billionaires and their broken family as they tear each other apart trying to claw their way to the top of the hill, which is ultimately the CEO spot of their father’s company. The other is about damaged, possibly broken, people trying to make their dreams come to fruition with little to no safety net. If they fail, they fail, and there may be no picking up of the pieces. The billionaires of Succession will most likely always be billionaires, regardless of whether or not they symbolically hold the crown or not.

And let’s face it, the characters of Succession are all awful, horrible people that deserve a comeuppance that will never be realized. While the crew of The Bear lacks for angels, none of them are intentionally evil. Yes, people will be hurt in their wake, but none of it is intentional. No one is willingly trying to destroy anyone else’s life. That’s not true of Succession.

With two shows containing such a wealth of talent in front of and behind the lens, I have to give the nod to the working class people fighting to survive, and maybe, just maybe, achieving their dreams. I’ll take that over a group of sociopaths (who, mind you, were created by their awful mother and father, so they get a small amount of consideration) who believe it is their destiny to control a massive conglomerate and a chunk of the world because daddy said so.

Both are amazing shows, but gun to my head I’ll choose the one with a glimmer of hope. That’s The Bear.

FTR, though, the ending of Succession was perfect. I haven’t seen an ending to a series that well done since perhaps the endings of either Sons of Anarchy or The Shield.

3. Poker Face

Sneaking in right behind the above two shows as a dark horse candidate for best of 2023 is the Rian Johnson/Natasha Lyonne joint, Poker Face. the premise is that Charlie Cale, played by Lyonne with sincerity and swagger, is a human lie detector. When someone lies, she knows. How? Doesn’t matter, just accept the conceit and move on with enjoying the series.

Because of this talent she is under the employ of a casino, but when that owner’s son tries to do things his own way it leads to the deaths of Charlie’s friends, which Charlie quickly becomes wise to. Predictably she ends up on the run but along the way encounters many interesting characters and an above average amount of murder, which she feels compelled to see brought to justice.

Is this a modern take on the classic Columbo with a twist? Of course it is, but imitation can be the sincerest form of flattery. With Poker Face you won’t find a more flattering duo than Johnson/Lyonne.

4. Star Trek: Picard

I say this as a loud and proud Trekker/Trekkie: skip the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard and just dive right in with season three. If you must know, read a synopsis of both seasons and then move forward because the first season is just OK (even though it undoes one of its major plot points with s03) and the second is just a way to remove everything that didn’t work in s01 in as poorly crafted and executed way as possible.

S03 gives us, the fans, what we wanted, which was a far superior reunion and finale to the original crew of the Enterprise-D than the disappointing Insurrection ever did. Is it pandering? 100%, especially when you consider that they brought the “D” back through convoluted means.

(Aside: perhaps I am in the minority here, and yes, I have said this ad nauseam on the Kybercast, but the Enterprise-E is my favorite version of the Enterprise and since season one this hero ship has received nothing but short shrift from the powers that be. The possibly canonical comics from BOOM! Studios noted that Worf became captain of the “E” eventually, and honestly, that’s a show I would have loved to have seen 10 years ago: Captain Worf. It’s my fantasy that I won’t let die; regardless, I still want to see more of the “E” and would prefer that Paramount quit disrespecting my preferred vessel, thankyouverymuch.)

Despite the obvious catering to fanboys, each character from TNG does get their moment in the spotlight and as cynical as I may sound I loved ALL OF IT.

Is the show perfect? Far from it. There are reveals that don’t really pass the sniff test and this season, just like the previous two, includes the Borg. Again.

So yeah, there are definitely criticisms, but it does wrap up some plot lines from TNG, DS9, and VOY from decades ago while also introducing a handful of new characters that fit nicely into the mix (even if some [all?] of them are the progeny of existing characters).

Regardless of what Patrick Stewart wanted this show to be, s03 is what s01 should have been. It’s just too bad that this show couldn’t realize its potential before its final season.

Now if Paramount could get off its ass and announce Star Trek: Legacy already…

5. Ted Lasso/Shrinking

I put these shows together as they share some DNA, in the form of creators Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, and now that …Lasso has concluded the mantle of “most earnest show” falls squarely on Shrinking.

The premise is simple enough: a therapist has lost his wife about a year ago and he’s trying to put himself and his connection to his daughter back together. Dubiously ethical is his new approach to interacting with his clients, one of whom moves in, but ultimately it’s all about a father and daughter trying to navigate their way through grief.

It’s a lovely show not without its complications, but Harrison Ford is hilarious as the therapist who acts most like how you think Harrison Ford would act if he was a therapist.

As for …Lasso, this season was a bit all over the place as it tried to create new storylines but also wrap up the first two seasons, including an unsatisfying resolution to Nate’s betrayal. While nobody likes to say goodbye, and though we all knew it was coming, this final season seemed hurried. Yes, Ted came in and did what he planned to do and it was heartwarming to see him choose his family over his career, and again, I am all for a show going out while it’s on top, but it just felt like there was more to be done here. If you think this is the last time we see the crew of AFC Richmond, well, there’s a bridge in London I’d like to sell to you.

6. Beef

Full disclosure here: I actually wrote most of this article in December & January, but after the Golden Globes and Emmys Shalee and I figured we should check this show out. As such, it made the cut.

The premise is simple enough: there’s a minor road rage incident but the two antagonists (there are no protagonists in this show) can’t let anything go, so things escalate and then they escalate some more. It’s full on cringe but it’s a figurative car wreck that you can’t stop watching, at least for us.

Whereas Succession is a show about awful people doing awful things to each other, Beef is a show about broken people continuously making the wrong choice despite knowing it’s the wrong choice. Sometimes there’s a pause and you hope they would make the right choice, but this is a TV show, what conflict would there be if they did such a thing?

This show asks what would happen if you took things too far? What are the consequences? Is losing everything the worst thing that can happen to you?

I know there are plenty of people out there that could not stomach this show after an episode or two, but for us, well, we couldn’t look away. But we couldn’t binge it, either. Sometimes we would have to take a “breather” and come back to the show hours or a day later because our anxiety levels were just too high. Such is a testament to the story, the direction, and most certainly to its two leads: Steven Yeun and Ali Wong.

It may seem disingenuous to heap praise on a TV series that has already won so many awards, but I counter that sometimes accolades create their own bias. We could have gone into this overhyped and finished disappointed.

That didn’t happen. This is one of those times where the hype is real.

7. Loki

Loki is in my opinion the only Marvel show worth mentioning from 2023 (Secret Invasion was as big of a turd as season two of Star Trek: Picard, if not more so).

While the first season is definitely the better of the two, this was still a strong season that not unlike the Ouroboros that is referenced throughout, loops back upon itself to create an ending that not only vindicates Loki as a character, but fits with who he is. Remember, the original Loki redeemed himself in Thors: Ragnarok, but this Loki came from The Avengers timeline.

It’s also very convenient in that it also nicely creates a path forward that cleanly removes Kang as the big bad from the rest of Phase 5 of the MCU, and yet, it doesn’t feel overly contrived.

8. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Though the absence of Anson Mount as Captain Pike, the most charismatic of all of the Starfleet captains, was certainly felt this season (I mean, he was still around, but not as much as often as he was having a kid, give him some slack), SNW still gave us some of the strongest Trek we’ve seen in 20 years. Admittedly not as strong as s01, there were still plenty of adventures through space and time that boldly went where no one has gone before.

Personally, I prefer the episodic nature of this series versus the “big bad” of the entire season we’ve seen in some of the other Trek shows (Disco and …Picard) and look forward to more of Captain Pike and the rest of the crew in s03.

9. The Other Two

Not since 30 ROCK has there been a better satire of pop culture than The Other Two. Sadly, it appears that the people running this series were awful people so three all-too-short seasons of this smart, hilarious show that held a mirror to our faces is all that we get.

RIP, Chase Dreams and the other two, you will be missed (and I’m sorry the showrunners were abusive. BOO!)

10. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

I never watched Gilmore Girls so I was not accustomed to the snappy dialog of a Palladino show such as this, but I came into the world of Mrs. Maisel at the start of season two as this was a show that Shalee watched from its debut. I had caught bits and pieces of the first season as she watched and I was engaged in something else and it drew me in enough that when the second season premiered I was invested.

I could go on and on about how interesting it was to watch the gender norms of the 50s and 60s be challenged by the comic talent of the eponymously name Mrs. Maisel, but others have done it far better than I have already. What I will say it that sometimes shows go on past they “best buy date” but this definitely was not one of them. The last few episodes skipped through the lives of Miriam Maisel, her ex-husband, her parents, her manager, and many others, as we saw snippets during the 70s, 80s, and onward. I wanted to see them all as the 60s ended. I wanted to see her assent through the 70s. I wanted to see her become a respected, and wealthy, comedy legend in the 80s.

I wanted more.

And really, that encapsulates the profession that that Miriam fought to have: leave them wanting more.

You did, Mrs. Maisel, you did!

Honorable Mentions

• Only Murders in the Building: while not as strong as the first two seasons, this cast is a pleasure to watch.
• Love on the Spectrum: Perhaps more earnest than Shrinking, but real? Or, at least as real as reality TV wants to be. Who doesn’t want to root for people that just want to find love?
• Indian Matchmaking: I am not in nor interested in an arranged marriage, and though slightly brown, I am neither Indian nor Pakistani, but I was enthralled. Again, who doesn’t want to root for people that want to find love?
• The Crown: Oddly enough, the British Royals are their own kind of car wreck as a family. A very posh car wreck, but a car wreck nonetheless.