The 21 Best TV Shows of 2024

 

There's nothing like a great theatrical experience. But some stories are only available on the small screen(s). And I'm not talking about streaming-exclusive movies. Though some previously strong shows had disappointing follow-up seasons (The Bear, Halo, The Rings of Power, Slow Horses), we've gotten some pretty decent television moments in 2024. Here are the 21 best series released this year:

21. The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

Former "students" of the Academy at Ivy Ridge reveal the appalling mistreatment they experienced while incarcerated at the behavior modification facility.

20. Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office: The Real Story

It's odd that this documentary was preceded by a scripted miniseries about the same events but it works as the perfect companion piece to said show depicting the fight against widespread corruption within England's postal system.

Dinner with the Parents

19. Unlocked: A Jail Experiment

This docuseries makes Oz a reality -- minus the rape and musical numbers. Pulaski County, Arkansas' sheriff Eric Higgins conducts an experiment in one of his jail's units wherein the inmates are not only allowed to freely roam their pod without locked doors or guards for six weeks but they're also provided free telephone calls. 

18. Iwaju

This Nigeria-set streaming series is a showcase of Afrofuturism reminiscent of Wakanda Forever. Co-produced by Kugali Media, a British-based studio founded by African artists, Iwaju is Walt Disney Animation Studios' first original animated series. 

17. The Vince Staples Show

The eponymous rapper's dramedy series is often described as Long Beach's version of Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover's Atlanta. But that reductive characterization is an insult to this much better show.

16. Dynasty: New England Patriots

This docuseries chronicles the rise and fall of the winningest NFL team of the 21st century, while exposing the head coach and members' cheating scandals, criminal behavior and unsavory political stances.

15. Murder Is Easy

I love that this 1954-set mystery adapts the racist Agatha Christie and not only touches on race and colonialism but also features a Black lead. The Rings of Power's Morfydd Clark co-stars in this, her first period (but non-magical) drama of the year.  

14. Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office

After a glitch caused by accounting software leads to his being falsely accused of embezzlement, British sub-postmaster Alan Bates wages a near 20-year campaign to clear his name and to obtain justice for hundreds of his fellow sub-postmasters victimized by a national cover-up led by Post Office Limited CEO Paula Vennells.

13. Masters of the Universe: Revolution

Greatly improving upon the incarnations that came before (especially its immediate predecessor), this season of an animated series focusing on a beloved Mattel toy explores Skeletor's origin as well as the clash between sorcerers and technology practitioners. 

12. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Fourteen years after a disastrous movie release, Nickelodeon's famed animated series has a live-action adaptation that does the source material justice. Not only were the characters appropriately cast with minority actors, but the production values are sky-high and theater-worthy. 

Aang, Sokka and Kitara face off against Ozai and his firebenders for the fate of the world.

11. Criminal Record

This British series examines racism and police corruption and the effects they have on the community.

10. Parish

Reformed criminal Gray Parish makes one of the oldest underworld mistakes: he agrees to help his crimey with a last-minute, "easy" score. Of course, the "piece-of-cake" safe heist goes sideways and before long, the retired car thief and wheelman is neck-deep in human traffickers and hit squads.   

9. Clipped

Chronicling the racism scandal that hit the Los Angeles Clippers a decade ago, this miniseries gives LA's other NBA team one up on the Lakers and their inferior streaming show "Winning Time". The downfall of the team's former owner, Donald Sterling, is seen through the eyes of head coach Doc Rivers, Sterling's sugar baby, V. Stiviano, and a handful of starters. 

8. How Music Got Free

Music executives, rappers and computer whizzes chronicle the music industry's spectacular crash due to the rise and normalization of digital file-sharing in the early 2000s. Bigwigs such as Steve Stout and Jimmy Iovine provide their accounts while Method Man narrates.  

7. Dune: Prophecy

While the first two entries in the Dune cinematic trilogy are critically-acclaimed, this prequel series has them both beat. And the production values are shockingly high (This thing must've cost a fortune). Set more than 10,000 years prior to the events of the films, the latest small screen adaptation focuses on the early days of the Bene Gesserit order and the beginnings of the group's sinister machinations and its influence on the galaxy as the Harkonnen and Atreides clans clash yet again.

6. Ice Age

The seventh episode of the television adaptation of Time Bandits stands head and shoulders above all of the rest -- which is probably why the series has been cancelled.

5. Unprisoned (Season 2)

All three generations of the Alexander family (and Nadine) begin overdue group therapy, which is ironic, and a bit humiliating for Paige, given her status as a well-known psychiatrist herself -- especially since their chosen analyst is a famous therapist who showed her up on camera during a talk show appearance together. Meanwhile, Mal has moved on to a new relationship and Finn seeks one with the dad that he's never met. In that same vein, Esti yearns to learn more about her Korean heritage.

4. Fallout

The best live-action series adapted from a video game to date, Fallout follows the quest to retrieve a cold fusion device, specifically focusing on three very different survivors of a nuclear holocaust in the distant future. The showrunners of HBO's Westworld have upped their sci-fi game considerably. Hopefully, this series doesn't fall apart after the first season the way that one did. And it would behoove them to steer clear of further bestiality references in upcoming seasons.   

3. Shogun

This adaptation of the classic 1975 book overwhelmingly eclipses the 1980 miniseries while proving that prestige TV is alive and well with its silver screen-worthy production values, cinematography and overall craftsmanship.

2. We Were the Lucky Ones

Following Shogun, Little Fires Everywhere and The Sister, Hulu continues their streak of  prestige miniseries with this true tale of one Polish family's experiences during WWII. The Kurc clan face stunning antisemitism, imprisonment and brutality in this chronicle of their wartime ordeals, separately and together, from Poland to Siberia to Brazil to the Italian Alps.

1. The Gentlemen

Contrary to Quentin Tarantino's belief, some directors improve drastically with time. And surprisingly enough, one such auteur happens to be Guy Ritchie (along with Martin Scorcese, for his stupendous Killers of the Flower Moon). The small screen adaptation of his 2019 film of the same name is a massive improvement on its disappointing namesake. It's also leaps and bounds better than his past stories centered around modern British crime organizations.  

The 10 Best Movies of 2024

 

The big cinematic stories this year included the financially dismal launch of the summer season, the dramatic comeback of Pixar and the MCU's return to the billion-dollar box-office club (right alongside Pixar). Dystopian action prequels flopped just as hard as Nepo baby horror debuts and adaptations of 80s TV shows The best experiences that I had at the theater in 2024 were at rereleases (G*zilla Minus One and the 10th anniversary release of Interstellar). But a collection of indie gems, space operas and sports comedies made up for all of the panic at the cineplex.   

10. The Book of Clarence

Writer/director Jeymes Samuel reteams with LaKeith Stanfield and RJ Cyler following their collaboration on the western The Harder They Fall. This time they give the predominantly-Black treatment to the biblical genre. Removing the white-washing usually given to bible-based films greatly enhances the verisimilitude; if only the bestiality joke (involving a donkey) had been left on the cutting room floor. 

9. Bad Boys: Ride or Die

So far, the doubts about Will Smith's drawing power following his Oscars scandal seem to have been unfounded, as his first theatrical release post-slap did serious business at the box office, becoming the second-highest grossing installment in the long-running Bad Boys series.

Picking up where 2020's Bad Boys for Life (the biggest American money-maker of the year) left off, Marcus Burnett is forced to cut his retirement short in order to reteam with longtime partner Detective Mike Lowery to both clear their deceased captain's name and to help Mike protect his son survive being placed on a hit list.

The whole gang's back -- except for the glaring omission of Theresa Randle, who's been inexplicably recast -- for near non-stop thrill ride with more action than its predecessor. And, perhaps, enough to rival 2003's Bad Boys II.

8. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter

Kevin Costner clearly has a soft spot for the western genre. And after working in that space for nearly 40 years, beginning with 1985's Silverado, the director/actor/producer/writer has achieved his magnum opus with this epic about settlers and indigenous people.

7. Land of Bad

Russel Crowe headlines one of its best movies in this story about a military extraction gone wrong and the drone pilot who assists the men on the ground.

6. Suncoast

In this true story, based on writer/director Laura Chinn's real experiences, teenaged Doris begins to emerge from her shell and begin her life just as her brain cancer-stricken older brother's is slowly ending -- in the same hospice facility that houses Terry Schiavo. While coping with Max's impending death, Doris struggles to endure her relationship with her widowed, neglectful "Karen" of a mother; befriends a group of wealthy classmates (one of whom is a self-described feminist who overlooks her boyfriend's cheating); and even makes the acquaintance of a quasi-father figure -- whose advice she doesn't appreciate nearly enough. 

The stroll down memory lane, courtesy of early 2000s songs and reality shows, is the cherry on top of an already-engaging story 

5. Code 8: Part II

Deadpool and Logan may have ruled the box office but the best mutant movie belonged to streaming this year. This modestly-budgeted sequel surpasses its predecessor in every way in its grounded world-building and depiction of how society treats people born with special abilities. 

4. Romance with a Twist

After letting go of her dream to be a professional dancer, Luna joined the family construction business and settled into small-town life. But when the local art festival has an opening for an aerialist, she jumps at the chance to learn a new skill that would allow her to express herself through movement. And her partner just happens to be single. 

3. The Underdoggs

Combining Friday with The Bad News Bears, The Underdoggs is the funniest movie of the year and deserved to be seen in theaters as opposed to being a streaming exclusive. This story of an abrasive, retired NFL star who agrees to coach a Pee-Wee football team in his hometown as a publicity stunt (that will hopefully land him a broadcasting job), takes a standard band-of-losers led by a cynic with a heart-of-gold story and fills it to the brim with uncensored comedy.  

2. Rebel Ridge

Police corruption, racism and greed collide with a former U.S. Marine when he arrives in a small town seeking to bail his cousin out of jail before he's transferred to prison. Wearing obvious similarities to First Blood on its sleeve, Rebel Ridge surpasses every movie in the franchise that arose from John Rambo's screen debur.

1. Rebel Moon Part Two: The Curse of                      Forgiveness

Writer/director Zack Snyder's follow-up to last year's A Child of Fire is a vast improvement as the recruited warriors join the Veldt villagers in engaging the full military might of Admiral Noble's forces. While this sequel's predecessor showed promise, Curse of Forgiveness genuinely makes good on Snyder's Star Wars ambitions, providing backstories as well as juxtaposing ground skirmishes with a fight aboard a crashing starship. Like The Empire Strikes Back, the story picks up with the revolutionaries being hunted by the reigning regime and ends with them set to embark on a quest to locate a loved one (in this case a princess instead of a smuggler), teasing much more to come.

Derivative or not, the Imperium's walking tanks are vast improvements on the ones seen in the Prequel Trilogy, outclassing them in every way. And underscoring the abundance of gray morality on display, two of our heroes kill enemy combatants attempting to provide medical assistance after posing as their injured comrades-in-arms. 

There are surprises too. it's refreshing and, frankly, astonishing in this day and age that, given his introduction as "the village's greatest hunter" and Gunnar's rival for Kora's affections, that Den is never depicted as an avatar of "toxic masculinity" and instead was always counted among the heroes. This second half of Rebel Moon's Snyder Cut is the best sci-fi movie of the year and the best "Star Wars" film anything since Rogue One.

"Remember the Titans" Still Holds Up

 

by Robert Zenoni

I know, I know, this movie is really old BUT I just watched it for the first time and it was good! For those of you who haven’t seen “Remember the Titans” (2000), it's about a high school team in Virginia right after the Civil Rights Movement's success; as you can imagine, it wasn’t smooth sailing right away. But it shows that we are all humans and deserve proper respect from one another. It still holds up 24 years later and still the message rings clear -- and truly is a good testament to the human condition that we all just want to like each other but most of the time don’t try to get to know one another.