Every year gets better. For television. Last I year I watched 73 shows and had 21 that I didn't finish. This year I had 87 and 44 that I didn't finish.
Of the 15 shows in my Top 10 new last year (I combined Marvel and Star Wars into one entry, and I'll do the same this year), none of the Marvel or Star Wars shows had a second season in 2022. Midnight Mass and Cowboy Bebop were both one season shows from Netflix (Bebop was canceled, Midnight Mass was planned), Top Chef Family Style was a one season show so far, Resident Alien lost my interest, and Only Murders in the Building stayed in my top 10, Sex Lives of College Girls stayed in my top 20, and Physical and Rutherford fell outside the top 20, mostly because the offerings this year were so good.
Yes, I know about Reservation Dogs and Our Flag Means Death. I gave both second chances after they failed to impress me, and I finished Our Flag and still can't get into Reservation Dogs. I'm glad people love them, they're just not for me. And yes, I know everyone loved Andor and I know why, but it wasn't even my favorite Star Wars show this year, and none of them cracked the top 50.
In the Top 20, 3 came from Disney+ (6 less than last year), 3 came from Netflix (the same as last year), 5 from networks and Hulu (same as last year), 1 from Apple+ (1 less than last year, 1 from AMC+ (more than last year), 1 from Prime (more than last year), 1 from Paramount+ (more than last year) and 5 from HBO Max (4 more than last year).
Network Breakdown:
Apple+
Even without Ted Lasso, Apple+ had 6 shows I liked, including more Physical and Mythic Quest, and new ones in The Afterparty, Severance, Loot, and The Patient.
Disney+
Disney+ had 9 shows for me, but they were mostly different flavors of Marvel and Star Wars.
HBO Max
HBO Max came on strong this year with a 1/4 of my Top 20, and 11 really good shows. Last year I wasn't sure it was worth the $15/month, but at this point, it was well worth it. Wonder if Zaslav will change all that in 2023.
Hulu
Hulu had 13 shows, less than the 23 from last year, and of those, 4 are finished (Atlanta, Woke, Pam & Tommy, The Orville). Then again they have 1/4 of my top 20 as well, although that's a big drop off from the number of shows I was watching.
Netflix
Netflix had 16 shows, 5 less than last year, and of those, it seems unlikely Cat Burglar or Russian Doll will be back, and Midnight Club and Archive 81 are both, sadly, canceled.
Paramount+
Paramount+ came on strong this year, not just with a really solid slate of Star Trek (5 shows!) but with 7 other shows, two of which are from CBS, but most of which are originals for the network. The Good Fight didn't make my list, but I might finish it out.
Peacock
Peacock had 6 shows, most of which were either just OK, canceled, or moved to a new network (RIP Rutherford Falls, see you on Netflix, Girls5Eva). But they're the only place to watch the new Quantum Leap, which I'm really enjoying, which will keep it on my list until hopefully another show comes along.
Prime
Prime continues to be underwhelming overall, but they delivered some great TV this year, with 6 shows I'd call good to great.
Most of the streaming services took a notable uptick this year, with HBO Max, Paramount+, and Apple+ in particular being notable in terms of quality. Netflix and Hulu, however, while still being worth the money, both lost a ton of viewing time to their challengers. Streaming is likely to change a lot in the next year or two, I'll be interested to see who's still standing by 2025. Based on this year, Paramount+, Apple+, and Disney+ are my must-haves that keep improving, and I suspect HBO Max and Netflix will continue to decline in 2023. Hulu remains solid with a decent back catalog, FX shows, and impressive originals, and Prime is moving up with new seasons of Rings of Power and The Boys (and its upcoming spinoff), and now Mike Flanagan's Dark Tower and Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40K in development. 2023 could be a slower year for them, because I doubt any of those will show until 2024, but we'll see what they have on deck.
One thing is for sure, though, I won't be sorry to see Peacock go, as they've lost all the shows I loved and so they basically at this point are only an obstacle to Hulu or Netflix having Quantum Leap.
- HBO Max (#6 last year)
- Apple+ (#5 last year)
- Disney+ (#1 last year)
- Hulu (#3 last year)
- Netflix (#2 last year)
- Paramount+
- Prime
- Peacock (#4 last year)
Top 10 Ongoing Shows:
Interesting to see how many of these have been gone for one, two, or in one case four years. Better Call Saul, Harley Quinn, and Hacks jumped way up for me. The first one is the big surprise, because I've always loved it, but I guess there was just a lot of competition in 2020.
- Atlanta (FX/HULU) (#2 in 2018)
- What We Do In the Shadows (FX/HULU) (#2 last year)
- Better Call Saul (AMC+) (#38 in 2020)
- Barry (HBO Max) (#5 in 2019)
- Only Murders in the Building (HULU) (#1 new last year)
- Harley Quinn (HBO Max) (#47 in 2020)
- Cobra Kai (NETFLIX) (#4 last year)
- Hacks (HBO Max) (#32 last year)
- The Boys (Prime) (#5 in 2020)
- Never Have I Ever (Netflix) (#5 new in 2020)
Top 10 New Shows:- Star Trek Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
- Marvel Shows (She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Guardians of the Galaxy & Werewolf by Night Specials) (Disney+)
- The Afterparty (Apple+)
- Peacemaker (HBO Max)
- Sandman (Netflix)
- Julia (HBO Max)
- The Bear (Hulu)
- Reboot (Hulu)
- Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)
- Severance (Apple+)
Just Outside the Top 10:
I know, I'm cheating even more than usual, but this was such a good year for TV. Any of these shows would have been top 10/20 in a slower year. If I extended out to Top 20 on New and Ongoing, here's roughly where everything lands
- Mythic Quest (#11 on Ongoing)
- Avenue 5 (#12 on Ongoing)
- Sex Lives of College Girls (#13 on Ongoing)
- Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (#14 on Ongoing)
- Grand Crew (#11 on New)
- Star Trek (Discovery S4, Picard S2, Lower Decks S2, Prodigy S1) (#15 Ongoing, big huge cheater pick)
- Girls5Eva (#16 Ongoing)
- Midnight Club (#12 on New)
- Minx (#13 on New)
- The Offer (#14 on New)
- Welcome to Chippendale's (#15 on New)
- Death to 2021 (#16 on New)
- Quantum Leap (#17 on New)
- HALO (#18 on New)
- Tulsa King (#19 on New)
- Last Week Tonight (#17 Ongoing)
- Inside Job (#18 Ongoing)
- Rings of Power (#20 New)
- Pam & Tommy (#21 New)
- Murderville (#22 New)
- The Orville New Horizons (#19 Ongoing)
- Evil (#20 Ongoing)
Complete List of Shows:- Star Trek Strange New Worlds
- Atlanta
- She-Hulk
- Ms. Marvel
- The Afterparty
- Peacemaker
- What We Do In the Shadows
- Better Call Saul
- Sandman
- Julia
- Barry
- The Bear
- Only Murders in the Building
- Harley Quinn
- Cobra Kai
- Reboot
- Moon Knight
- Hacks
- Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
- The Boys
- Never Have I Ever
- Mythic Quest
- Avenue 5
- Sex Lives of College Girls
- Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Severance
- Grand Crew
- Star Trek Discovery
- Star Trek Picard
- Star Trek Lower Decks
- Star Trek Prodigy
- Girls5Eva
- Midnight Club
- Minx
- The Offer
- Welcome to Chippendale's
- Death to 2021
- Quantum Leap
- HALO
- Tulsa King
- Last Week Tonight
- Inside Job
- Rings of Power
- Pam & Tommy
- Murderville
- The Orville New Horizons
- Evil
- Baymax
- Rutherford Falls
- Ghosts
- Made for Love
- Loot
- Kids in the Hall
- So Help Me Todd
- Archive 81
- Stranger Things
- Tales of the Jedi
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Book of Boba Fett
- Andor
- Reacher
- Mayor of Kingstown
- Big Shot
- The Watcher
- Our Flag Means Death
- Fleishman is in Trouble
- Uncoupled
- Physical
- Dragon Prince
- Killing It
- Shoresy
- Letterkenny
- Umbrella Academy
- Bumper in Berlin
- Woke
- Russian Doll
- Undone
- Cat Burglar
- The Resort
- The Expanse
- The Patient
- Wolf Like Me
- Pieces of Her
- Upload
- Maggie
- The Outlaws
- The Woman Across The Street From The Girl in the Window
Shows I Didn't Finish:- House of the Dragon
- Little Demon
- Superman & Lois
- Westworld
- We Own This City
- Bust Down
- Reservation Dogs
- Interview with the Vampire
- From
- WeCrashed
- Slow Horses
- Resident Alien
- Welcome to Wrexham
- American Horror Stories
- American Horror Story
- Bad Sisters
- The Imperfects
- Paper Girls
- League of Their Own
- The Old Man
- Players
- Cyberpunk Edgerunners
- Tokyo Vice
- American Auto
- Man Who Fell To Earth
- Dahmer
- The Baby
- How We Roll
- The Dropout
- Bel-Air
- Single Drunk Female
- Legend of Vox Machina
- Pivoting
- Suspicion
- Life & Beth
- Joe vs. Carole
- Echo 3
- Outer Range
- Roar
- The Endgame
- Naomi
- Stay Close
- How I Met Your Father
- Welcome to Flatch
