As I prep to write about the best of television in 2022, I feel as though I need to offer some upfront disclaimers. There were several programs I found very good this year that members of staff I know also enjoyed that were absolutely torn apart by review bombing on websites like Rotten Tomatoes. Frankly, this is a year where diverse casting and deep storytelling often led to a series of trolls taking to the internet to try and prove their point, something that Amazon certainly felt. While Rings of Power isn’t in my top 10 list, it wasn’t a bad series and was quite fun. Meanwhile, I laugh where I feel as though the same crowd jumped on the exceptional The Boys without seemingly getting the message of the story … at all. That said, below are some of the best shows that aired on all streaming formats and television, in no particular order, with reasons why in my perspective.
Very few shows came out this year that I thought were as brilliantly structured as Apple TV’s Severance, a show that checked all the boxes for what it would be like if corporations controlled the way we worked and functioned and monitored the way we lived to control intellectual property. Talk about a way to throw us curveballs! Adam Scott nails his role in this, but the other characters, including Christopher Walken, provide a fantastic supporting cast and make this show one of my favorites of the year.
The Bear is a story that hits on every front. Taking over and restoring a restaurant hits every foodie favorite, has a the tale of addiction, and has twists along the way that keep everyone involved. No matter what you were prepared for, you are not prepared for the direction this series goes as it makes you wander through the life of the characters and buy into the process. I’m trying to be intentionally vague here because it is way too easy to give away too much about The Bear, but you need to put it on your watch list.
All hail Jean Smart in this witty sequel to the already fantastic Hacks on HBOMax. The second season of Hacks gives us characters that have grown up a little bit but also a young writer who is still finding her place in the world. The opening joke, which runs through the season about her breaking an NDA, is a hoot, but it is the building of a relationship between the two characters that makes this season work in every way that made me enjoy the first season.
Netflix came back with Warrior Nun, season two. Yes, I know this isn’t going to make a lot of people’s top lists, but for me it is the perfect cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer season five and Angel season four. If you could mash those two seasons together, out would come Warrior Nun season two. Plenty of great action, unique locations, a fun plot, and a potential setup for a season three (please Netflix, give it to us!). Warrior Nun was a blast to watch.
What if I could tell you a Star Wars story that wasn’t built around the concept of a super Jedi figuring out superpowers? What if the story was about the regular people impacted by the happenings of the empire and the war itself? I have contended in the past that Rogue One is maybe my favorite of all modern Star Wars IP, finding the film a brilliant take on the concept because it is the only one that leans into the hero sacrifice, a method that is important in much of literature and storytelling. Andor tells a story that doesn’t provide clean good or bad guys, just people trying to survive the worst of circumstances and it succeeds along the way. Truly enjoyable.
Bring on the hatred! Very few series went through the same outright attacks online as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Fanbois lined up at Rotten Tomatoes and declared the world had ended, Marvel had crumbled, and the fact that this wasn’t dark, noncampy, or whatever was everything that was wrong with the direction of Disney. Conservatives just lost their mind at a Marvel show that would do this to characters! How dare they mess with fantasy, not-real characters? How could the same company that had drawn Howard the Duck and engaged in truly, truly zany plots in the 1980s and 1990s of my youth put forward a show like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? Here’s the truth: She-Hulk may be the most successful Marvel show I watched since it began airing on Disney Plus in that the one enemy that She-Hulk faced was one that needed to be torn down: overblown fanbois who were starting to get way, way too in control of what they felt the comics and scripts owe them. She-Hulk’s fourth-wall-breaking, humor-wielding, destruction of a super boss whose chief trait was the fact he didn’t think a woman should get superpowers before him, this series made me laugh. Isn’t that what a good comedy is supposed to do? Lighten up, all of you Marvel fans who want something else. Not everyone has to think like you. If I could predict any first-time commenters coming in to trash me, it might be this selection of She-Hulk that does it.
We are in a period of great comedies right now, and Abbot Elementary is at the top of its game in season two. Coming off of a fantastic season one, this show manages to hit every single note right every week and I have watched several episodes multiple times just for the in-jokes or to have them to cut and use later. A few of them—and let me say the Halloween episode in particular—will be replayed for years to come. This is a wonderfully well-written show that has characters you can relate to and want to know more about. Excellent.
This is it. I’m going to talk about my 10 favorite shows this year, but this is the show I could not stop raving about to anyone who would listen. Station Eleven on HBO Max is beyond brilliant. It is one of the most haunting, well-written, strongly acted shows I have ever watched, period. It is a masterpiece that I think a lot of people missed out on because it didn’t fit within what they expected, but if you stick this series through you will find something that is moving in a way that is hard to just convey in a few paragraphs. The show touches on rebuilding society, finding hope when hope is lost, what happens when culture falls apart, dealing with trauma, what makes us family, how we find community, why art matters, why we hold onto the past, what parts of the past matter and if we retain it without the vestiges of artifacts. Station Eleven is a rarity for television. It is a bold, thought-provoking effort that doesn’t dumb itself down in order to be accessible. Instead, it challenges the viewer to decide what they think about the outcome.
Funny is an understatement. In a year of great comedies, it is hard to think of a list where there are 10 deserving of a mention and leave out Reservation Dogs, a series that manages to tell heartwarming, hilarious stories that carry punch lines and laughs that just work in a timeless way. Scriptwriting sells this series, but the actors themselves are perfectly cast.
Like a whole lot of other Americans, I was glued to my TV for Stranger Things season four and I was not disappointed. This show plays out in a way that makes me think of my youth in the 1980s with malls and food courts. While HBO, Apple, and Amazon have moved to release series week by week, Netflix continues to drop everything all at once, allowing you to binge watch. I may have lost some time in there. It’s a real blast to watch and I am looking forward to finding out how the whole thing ends.
Notable mentions: HBO’s Succession, Amazon’s The Peripheral, Amazon’s The Boys, Paramount+ The Good Fight, Paramount+ Evil.
Election season overtime is finally winding down, so Democratic operative Joe Sudbay joins David Nir on The Downballot as a guest-host this week to recap some of the last results that have just trickled in. At the top of the list is the race for Arizona attorney general, where Democrat Kris Mayes has a 510-vote lead with all ballots counted (a mandatory recount is unlikely to change the outcome). Also on the agenda is Arizona's successful Proposition 308, which will allow students to receive financial aid regardless of immigration status.
Over in California, Democrats just took control of the boards of supervisors in two huge counties, Riverside and Orange—in the case of the latter, for the first time since 1976. Joe and David also discuss which Democratic candidates who fell just short this year they'd like to see try again in 2024, and what the GOP's very skinny House majority means for Kevin McCarthy's prospects as speaker.