As I mentioned last year, we really do live in “a golden age of television right now with a plethora of options with so many streaming services from which to choose.” While studios did pull back a bit on spending last year, there’s still so much out there to discover. Again, I am not a paid nor professional TV critic so there is a LOT that I missed.
I am sure that SHOGUN is amazing, and it’s on my and my partner’s list of shows to watch, but we just didn’t get to it in 2024. I’m sure it deserves a place on my list, but as I haven’t watched it, well, it doesn’t get included.
For my money, there simply was no better show on television this last year, and certainly no better performance than Colin Farrell’s. His immersion into the character of Oswald Cobb is so complete that I actually almost believe that Oswald Cobb is a real, living, breathing person. I know he’s not, but Farrell’s portrayal is a thing of beauty that has to be experienced to be believed.
I admit that I am a bit biased in that for me, Christian Bale is my Batman, so even though I liked The Batman I cannot say that I loved it.
But The Penguin is so good it has made me reassess my take on that film; it actually made me want to go back and watch it again to see if I was too harsh, too biased when I first watched it.
This isn’t to say that Farrell is the only good thing about the show, far from it. Cristin Milioti has turned in a performance nearly as grand. NEARLY. Like I said, I forget that Farrell is Cobb, but that should not take away from the fact that Milioti has absolutely nailed her role as Sofia Falcone. If ever there was a year that she deserved the Emmy for any work she has done, this is it. No one goes from vulnerable to pissed-pants scary better than she has done this last year. Brava!
This is a late edition to this list, and technically, I watched it after the end of the year (January 25), so I didn’t actually watch this show in 2024. That said, it premiered in 2024, so I am including it.
While I am not typically one for rom-coms, this one grabbed a hold of me in the first few minutes as I erupted in full-bodied laughs and then never let go.
How do I know?
We binged all 10 episodes of the first season in one evening, just shy of five hours.
Let me just say this: Kristen Bell and Adam Brody have amazing chemistry on this show, so much so that I actually said to Shalee that Dax Shephard had better watch out.
Seriously, it’s almost palpable.
The women who always picks the wrong guy finally picks the right guy, only she’s an atheist and he’s a rabbi, is a romantic conflict that I never expected to be into, yet here we are.
Listen, Hacks has been perfect since season one and somehow it has only gotten better and better. It’s clear that these two people love each other, but it’s also so very clear that they do not know how to be normal, functional human beings, so of course they have to try to destroy each other as well.
That final scene of the season finale was epically perfect and I can’t wait for more.
I admit, I initially placed this on the list because I wanted to include it based on how fantastic its first season was, which came out in 2022. Yes, that goes against the rules, but Shalee and I didn’t discover this show until 2024.
And I admit that the second season is not as good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but that first season is a complete story from beginning to end. They could have capped it with just that one season and it would have been a perfect show.
It’s impossible to top perfection. Good seems like a step down after perfect.
That said, the final episode so completely stuck the landing of this season, and apparently this series, that for me, it washed away almost all caveats I had about including it on my “best of…” list.
What’s to love? Well, it’s familial dynamics, but not just any family, female familial dynamics, as the show focuses on (not surprisingly, based on the title) on the many sisters of this family (mom and dad have long passed). There’s conflict and friction between them all, but ultimately they all support one another and love each other in their own, wonderfully Irish and fucked up way.
I would not hesitate to watch a third season, though that does not seem to be in the cards.
This show turned out to be nothing like I thought it was going to be, and certainly only tangentially related to the movie from which it gets its title, but holy shit was this show good.
Maya Erskine and Donald Glover have all of the chemistry that Adam Brody and Kristen Bell didn’t use up and make for a believable couple in an unbelievable situation.
The cliffhanger of an ending for season one has me chomping at the bit to know what happened, and honestly, I don’t know that we’ll ever get an answer.
Fun, smart, and sexy TV.
This show that became a brief cultural phenomenon is like watching a slow-moving car crash unfold, but just like the analog, one simply can’t walk away.
There are so many poor and questionable decisions made by many characters in this series, but mostly the main two, where there are times it is abundantly clear that the exact opposite approach should be taken.
But that’s life, isn’t it? Just a line of decisions, hopefully mostly good, but yeah, a fair amount of bad ones that hopefully can be outweighed by the good ones, but sometimes, they don’t.
IMHO, one of the most clever and funny shows on TV this last year, served with a heavy dose of parody about the world we live in.
That said, the recent allegations made against its creator certainly give pause and question if I should support a second season (that was only recently green-lit).
A big TBD on this one.
There’s not much I can say about this show to get someone into it if they aren’t already. Shalee and I love it, but so many tell me that the machinations and backstabbing that make this show so enthralling are a shadow of what was seen in the original GoT series.
I can only speak to what I’ve seen, but the castle and royal intrigue, and of course the dragons, keep us coming back.
Last year this was listed as #5 because honestly, the first season was stronger, but again, this season was very, very good. Additions to the cast, like Damon Wayans Jr., enhanced the cast and the show.
I don’t know that I see this show going on more than another season, honestly. Season one was clearly all about the denial, anger, and bargain stages of grief, whereas season two seemed to be about depression and starting of acceptance, I suspect that season three will continue on the road to acceptance with perhaps a focus on renewal.
It’s still the most earnest show on television.
Every episode is a delight and makes me giggle, and I really can’t find anything wrong with that.
Honorable Mention:
© 2025 Michael A. Diaz