Is there any good TV to watch in 2024? The answer, of course, is yes. Here are the 15 best shows you should be watching right now. Whether you like drama, romance, action, or humor, there’s plenty here for you to enjoy.
Baby Reindeer
Image Credit: Netflix
Baby Reindeer might sound cute, but don’t let the name fool you. It’s a harrowing psychological thriller at its core. Obsession can be terrifying, and when a man named Donnie finds himself the object of Martha’s obsessive stalking, mild bemusement gives way to abject horror.
The Veil
Photo Credit: FX
Sometimes, you just want a good spy show. That’s what you get with The Veil, a breakneck thriller starring Elizabeth Moss as Imogen Salter, an MI6 agent tasked with secreting terrorist Adilah El Idrissi out of a refugee camp. The mission causes Moss to reexamine her code of ethics amidst a thorny political landscape.
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA
Image Credit: Netflix
John Mulaney’s highly publicized bout with relapsing alcoholism became the topic of tabloids for months. The comedian discusses his turbulent personal life in detail in John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, a late-night talk show that upends the genre’s conventions by being made to end in six episodes from the beginning.
Eric
Image Credit: Netflix
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this eerie, gripping drama about a puppeteer named Vincent who begins to lose his grasp on reality when his son, Edgar, goes missing in 1980s New York. Vincent becomes convinced he can get his son back if he creates a puppet based on one of Edgar’s drawings, a monster called “Eric.”
Presumed Innocent
Image Credit: Apple TV+
If you’ve ever read the excellent 1987 novel, you already know how gripping Presumed Innocent is. This legal thriller follows Rusty Sabich, the chief deputy prosecutor for the city of Chicago. Sabich stands trial for the murder of Carolyn Polhemus, a woman he worked with—and allegedly had a relationship with.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
Yes, there was a Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie by the same name, but the Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane remake bears few stylistic similarities to that Mr. and Mrs. Smith. This show, by contrast, is a slower-burning story in which the title characters are already aware of each other’s jobs as spies.
Ren Faire
Image Credit: HBO
Documentary film Ren Faire focuses on George Coulam, the founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival, and his struggles in finding someone else to take over. The documentary gives viewers a unique look into the psychology of succession, including the ways in which those in power delay handing it over for as long as they can.
Tokyo Vice
Image Credit: HBO
Tokyo Vice is based on Jake Adelstein’s memoirs regarding the seedy underbelly of Tokyo and clashes between criminal organizations like the Yakuza and upstart street gangs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It’s a gripping show, offering a window into the dangerous world of gangs, codes of honor, and ruthless violence.
The Sympathizer
Image Credit: HBO
The Captain is a fascinating protagonist for thriller The Sympathizer, a show that sees a North Vietnamese communist infiltrate the inner circle of a South Vietnamese general in LA. The tense, brutal show is a deep meditation on ideology, nihilism, and lines that divide people and lead to violence.
Interview With the Vampire
Image Credit: AMC
Who doesn’t love steamy vampire romance stories? The original entry in that long-standing genre is Anne Rice’s phenomenal book, Interview With the Vampire, now adapted again as an AMC series. It’s perfect for any fans of blood-sucking relationship drama or pretty, tormented undead monsters.
X-Men ‘97
Image Credit: Disney+
You know you can hear that theme music just by looking at a still frame from X-Men ’97. This excellent throwback picks up right where the iconic 90s series left off, finding our mutant heroes caught in a new web of problems. If this show teaches you anything, it’s that the X-Men can star in comics, movies, and TV shows from now until the end of time.
Fallout
Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video
HBO struck gold with The Last of Us, a video game adaptation uniquely suited to the format of prestige TV. Fallout is not the first series that comes to mind when you think of glossy still shots from lauded TV shows, but the team at Prime Video managed to make their adaptation a gripping, genuinely funny meditation on the dangers of militarization and capitalism.
Shogun
Image Credit: FX/Hulu
When English captain William Blackthorne washes ashore in 17th Century Japan, he has no idea that he’s arrived at a time of unparalleled political strife. The hapless sailor finds himself swept up in a conflict of royals like Lord Toranaga and Lady Mariko, and the show dizzyingly keeps all of the major players at the forefront of the tale. This makes for great TV and deftly sidesteps problematic white savior themes that could have been (accidentally or otherwise) adapted from the James Clavell novel.
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The Acolyte
Image Credit: Disney+
The Acolyte gives Star Wars fans their best look yet at the galaxy as it was before the rise of the Sith in The Phantom Menace. This wide-ranging TV series sees the Jedi of the High Republic era tangle with a new threat rising from the shadows to upend the balance of peace in the galaxy.
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House of the Dragon
Image Credit: HBO
Game of Thrones might have gone out with a whimper, but its prequel series, House of the Dragon, is spitting fire like its progenitor did in its earlier seasons. This sweltering fantasy drama ropes you into the gnarly civil war that threatens to pit dragon against dragon for the right of sitting on the Iron Throne of Westeros. It’s gripping, sexy, and perfectly crunchy, just like Thrones before it.
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