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.