The 19 Best TV Shows of 2023

 

We've gotten some pretty decent television moments in 2023. Here are the 19 best series released this year:

19. Love & Death

Though this is the second miniseries about Texas middle-school teacher Betty Gore's grisly axe-murder at the hands of her frenemy, Candy Montgomery, in as many years, it's still worth watching (However, Love & Death's glacial pace in the introductory episodes helps to give 2022's Candy the edge.).

18. How to Create a Sex Scandal

There's more than what initially meets the eye in a Texas calamity that underscores the importance of thorough investigations in this docuseries that explores a particularly shameful situation. 

17. Wolf

When DI Jack Caffery moves back home to London in order to investigate his dead brother's 10-year-old abduction, he becomes embroiled in the double-murder that may have been closed prematurely. 

Far from the copaganda with which we've been inundated for decades, the corruption of one of Caffery's colleagues (including building her career off of a high-profile frame-up) is on full display. With a mere six episodes, Caffery has already solidified his place next to Sherlock Holmes and John Luther as immensely watchable British detectives.

16. Dark Winds (Season 2)

15. The Castaways

After Lori Holme's flight goes missing, her obnoxious little sister Erin burns bridges and alienates everyone she knows in her quest to learn the truth of what happened. Meanwhile, Lori and the other survivors of her downed flight fight to navigate life on an uncharted Pacific island. The titular castaways include a combat vet, the captain, a very pregnant woman, a retired doctor and a millionaire. And one of them is a murderer.

14. The Dreamer

Superstar comic Dave Chappelle closed the year with this incendiary stand-up special that takes aim at a vast array of comedic targets during his DC homecoming.

13. Kennedy

The 35th president's career is chronicled in this eight-part series that covers his life from birth to his assassination in Dallas.

12. The Bear

11. Lawmen: Bass Reeves

The legendary deputy marshal gets his due in this series boasting top-notch production values and cinematography. Reeve's life spanning from slavery to free family man through his first few years as a renowned lawman is explored with care and meticulous attention to detail. 

10. What If...Iron Man Crashed Into the                      Grandmaster?

Far and away the best episode (by a long shot) of the second season of the MCU's flagship animated series shows us how things would've played out had Tony Stark allied himself with Gamora, Valkyrie and Korg and led a coup on Sakaar. 

9. Slow Horses (Season 3)

8. Beckham

Football legend David Beckham opens up about his childhood, his career, his Spice Girl and his life in the spotlight.

7. Skull Island

This "cartoon's" gorgeous animation, live-action series approach to comedy and compelling new characters all make for a vastly superior product than the mega-budget movie that inspired it.

6. Rabbit Hole

Corporate spy, John Weir, is drawn into a world of intrigue, kidnapping and murder when his latest assignment involves high-profile corporate and political figures. 

5. UnPrisoned

Following his release from federal prison upon completion of a 17-year sentence, Paige Alexander finds herself living with her father, Edwin, for the first time since childhood. Unfortunately, even her experience as a family therapist hasn't prepared her for the sudden reemergence of emotional issues and complexes that confront her when Edwin -- and his ex-girlfriend (Paige's surrogate mother for 10 years) -- moves in.  

4. Dreaming Whilst Black

Jamaican-British aspiring filmmaker Kwabena suffers through the racism that comes with pursuing goals -- and simply existing -- as a Black man living in a major caucasian city.

3. Average Joe

BET+ enters the prestige television ranks with this series about a Pittsburgh contractor who finds himself hunted by a Russian organized crime group while simultaneously -- and desperately -- attempting to stay one step ahead of the state police detective assigned to investigate the ever-growing number of homicides. 

Comedian Deon Cole finally takes his rightful place as a small-screen lead in this impressive drama. One headscratcher, though, is the filmmakers' decision to provide an accomplished assassin with an unearned happy ending. 

2. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

The production values in this streaming series about a government agency dedicated to researching kaiju surpass some of the feature films (namely, Skull Island and King Kong vs. G*dzilla) in the franchise to which it belongs. At times a prequel to the last two Hollywood G*dzilla movies and sometimes a prequel to the entire series, Monarch explores the eponymous organization's inception and previously unknown history with MUTOs.

1. The Artful Dodger

This period series gives a Charles Dickens classic the Cobra Kai treatment. Set over a decade after his dealings with the most famous orphan of all time, the title character has created a new life for himself in Australia.