Top 5 Shows of 2023

Despite having written nearly 90,000 words of a new novel (still in progress), developing two hobbies (playing ukulele and drawing zen tangles), working as both a teacher and administrator, cooking the majority of my family’s meals, and watching literally every Celtics game for the first time in as long as I can remember, I still somehow found time to watch over 50 television shows this year.

Some of them I watched with just my pre-teen kiddo. We’d cuddle up on the couch for an hour or so after dinner while my wife did laundry or chatted with her sisters or mother on the phone. Together, the kiddo and I watched newer shows such as One Piece, Sweet Tooth, and Upload, but I also introduced them to some of the older sitcoms, such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Superstore. For the record, of that list, the kiddo’s favorite was (officially) The Good Place.

Others I watched with the wife after the kiddo went to bed. We generally try to watch two shows at once: an hour-long drama (or dramedy) with a half-hour “mindless” sitcom to serve as a chaser. What usually happens is that, with the kiddo getting older and staying up later, my wife is too tired to watch an hour-long show after the kid finally stays in bed, so we watch an episode or two of the mindless show (e.g., Schitt’s Creek) and then she calls it a night while I complain about her going to bed too early.

At that point, I usually put on an hour-long fantasy or sci-fi show that my wife would never watch, such as Rings of Power or The Witcher, watch at least one too many episodes, and then follow her upstairs where hopefully my snoring isn’t too bad for the night. 

While I (or we) watched over 50 shows this year, not all of those shows were released in 2023. For this list, I’ve limited myself to just this year’s shows, including new seasons from older shows, which means the final season of Succession qualified despite its first season being released in 2018. 

Now, from these myriad experiences, ranging from family-friendly tales to blood-curdling violence, came compelling stories, memorable characters, and inspiring worlds. But among these, a few stood out, not just for their captivating storytelling but also for their resonance: something about each of them stuck with me long after the credits had rolled and my TV had moved on to something else.

After much deliberation, I’m excited to share the creme de la creme: the five shows that left an indelible mark on me, the ones that truly defined my viewing experience in 2023. 

The video game for The Last of Us was released in 2013. It won multiple Game of the Year awards and broke records for sales. Despite being 10 years old, it is still considered one of the best video games of all time.

A lot of that success had to do with the relationship between the player character, a Texas smuggler named Joel, and his charge, a teenage girl named Ellie whom the player is responsible for escorting across the United States. One reviewer called the game “the most riveting, emotionally resonant story-driven epic of this console generation.” Another added, “We’re so invested in the characters that moments of suspense and danger, of which there are many, are given an extra urgency.”

Although I did not play the game myself, HBO’s decision to make The Last of Us their next prestige show struck me as apt. The game’s reputation made it a promising candidate for a high-caliber adaptation.

Like the game itself, the success of the TV show depends on the relationship between its main characters. Joel is played by the Internet’s favorite daddy, Pedro Pascal. A stoic yet cynical survivor barely hanging on after the death of his daughter, Joel resents having to babysit some annoying teenage kid while avoiding the post-apocalyptic horrors of a zombified United States. 

Ellie, meanwhile, is played perfectly by Bella Ramsay, who first wowed audiences as Lady Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island on Game of Thrones. Ellie is just as strong-willed as Lady Lyanna but she’s more sensitive and less sure of her place in the world. Despite growing up without a mother or father and spending the entirety of her life in a world where humans are not the apex predator, she maintains a teenager’s sense of humor, develops friendships, and remains open to others, making her a perfect foil for Joel’s wizened ways.

If the television show only had the strength of that relationship going for it, it might still appear on most “best of the year” lists, but the creators of The Last of Us (which includes the original game creator) went further, writing one of the best television episodes anyone has ever seen.

After setting up the series’ world, plot, and relationships in the first two episodes, they chose to depart from their main characters for virtually all of Episode Three, focusing instead on the love story between two minor characters. The only possible comparison for the episode is the first ten minutes of the movie Up, in that both tell a completely heartwarming and heartbreaking tale of true love. 

If audiences had come to The Last of Us for the intense, zombie-filled action, they were now sticking around for the profound, character-based drama.

And that’s why it claims the fifth spot on my list.

The Diplomat was surprisingly good. I enjoy Kerri Russell as an actress, but for some reason, I didn’t have high expectations for this one. Probably because I’m such a fan of The West Wing that I expect every other show about government officials to pale in comparison.

The Diplomat is definitely not The West Wing. For one, it does not have the self-righteousness of Aaron Sorkin behind it, nor does it have his hyper-paced, too-witty-by-half method of dialogue writing, nor his genius at developing thematic ties between the A, B, and (sometimes) C plots in each episode.

Instead, it has feminist sensuality and sexuality, realpolitik foreign strategizing, and Tom Clancy-style plotting, with the twists, turns, double-crosses, and personal and political intrigue you’d expect in any spy thriller where the protagonists and antagonists are all sexually attracted to one another.

Kerri Russell absolutely nails this character. She’s a brilliant, self-conscious, self-doubting, self-sabotaging political ingenue who is manipulating and being manipulated by all the men around her. Every episode increases the audience’s interest in her and her story, and the season ends perfectly, providing answers to all the major questions while opening a bunch more for the second season.

I, for one, can’t wait.

Watching this semi-reality series gave me similar feelings to watching the first season of Ted Lasso. In a year during which so much about the world has sucked, Jury Duty was a surprising reminder of goodness.

If you’re not familiar with the show, Jury Duty is a reality series in the vein of The Truman Show. All of the people in the show are actors, except for one, who has no idea he’s on television. He believes he’s serving on a real jury that is being filmed for a documentary on what it’s like to serve on a jury. He has no idea that everyone — the other jurors, the lawyers, the defendant, the judge, the bailiff, everyone — is in on the joke.

What starts as a crazy little conceit becomes an incredible examination of kindness and humanity. The real person they are “pranking” turns out to be way kinder and more tolerant than the producers could have imagined, which makes the show way better than they could have predicted.

The show has been nominated for 19 awards so far, including an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best New Scripted Series. It was also the winner of the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming and the American Film Institute’s TV Program of the Year.

I can’t recommend this one enough. Some of the scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, while the final episode, where they reveal all, is so sweet and heartwarming that you’ll tear up from pure joy.

This is such a good show. It’s so good that the audience should rightly boycott any capitalist attempt at Season Two.

S2:E6 of Hulu’s The Bear has gone down in history as “the perfect episode,” and history isn’t wrong. It is a perfect blend of form and content, an overlong depiction of dynamic anxiety, family tensions, mental instability, emotional manipulation, hyper-efficient characterization, and flat-out jaw-dropping performances.

Some have tried to criticize the episode for its stunt casting. If every member of the “stunt” cast hadn’t slayed when it was their time onscreen, then maybe the criticism would hold water. But Jon Bernthal? Killed it. Gillian Jacobs? Assassinated it. John Mulaney? Murdered it. Sarah Paulson? Destroyed it. Jamie Lee Curtis? Massacred it. Bob Odenkirk? Annihilated it.

The episode wasn’t an example of stunt casting; it was an example of perfect casting.

Episode Six, “Fishes,” was of such high quality that if every other episode of The Bear sucked this season, the show might still make my Top 5. But then they followed it with another incredible episode, “Forks,” which was great on its own but also served as the absolutely perfect (and absolutely necessary) chaser to the walking panic attack that was “Fishes.”

Of course, then there was Episode 4, “Honeydew,” when we spent the episode in Copenhagen, learning more about Marcus and his journey to become a master dessert maker with the help of one of Carmy’s friends.

Between those three episodes, The Bear lived up to the expectations created by its amazing first season. The other episodes didn’t approach the greatness of 6, 7, and 4, but they held their own, leaving me excited (and anxious) for the next season.

With Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley, Lukita Maxwell, and Luke Tennie all playing their roles perfectly, and the writing room firing on all cylinders for each episode, there is simply not a bad or boring moment in the first season of Apple TV+’s Shrinking.

The premise is solid: a grieving, widower therapist (Jason Segel), after living the last year very selfishly, starts telling his patients exactly what they need to do in their lives.

But the joy of the show is in the way the characters talk to one another. Segel’s teenage daughter relates to everyone in a properly precocious way. His new patient/friend, a veteran with PTSD, becomes his tenant and establishes a cozy relationship with his daughter, putting her in her place while also respecting her for the young woman she’s becoming. While Segel’s character became selfish and nihilistic in the wake of his wife’s death, his neighbor took over parenting his daughter, judging him at each step, while her husband supports her and everyone else in all the best ways. Meanwhile, Segal’s mentor (Harrison Ford) struggles with Parkinson’s Disease and being an emotionally unattached boomer, while his colleague (Jessica Williams) struggles with being incredible around all these hurting white men.

If you haven’t seen it, watch the clip below. Each line is a surprise, and the scene just keeps getting better and better with each new bit of dialogue.

I’m naming this one my favorite show of the year for all the reasons above, plus the fact that it has Jason Segel. I’m such a huge fan of this guy — from Freaks & Geeks to Undeclared to The End of the Tour to Forgetting Sarah Marshall to The Muppets to How I Met Your Mother, not to mention Jeff, Who Lives At Home — that to see him do well in a show he stars in, created, and writes for just makes me happy.

But more importantly, this show stuck out because of the simplicity of its story. In a year when so many shows were high concept, shows such as Rings of Power, The Witcher, Silo, Ahsoka, Secret Invasion, and Mrs. Davis, it was refreshing to watch a high-quality show about a group of realistic characters, all of whom struggle with humble but serious issues: a dead wife and mother, retirement, disease, long-term relationships, and love. It’s hilarious, poignant, and relatable, and each episode hits on all cylinders. Simply put, it was the best show of the year.

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Each series in my Top Five this year brought something unique to the table, whether it was the emotional depth and stunning visuals of fantasy epics, the laugh-out-loud moments in family comedies, or the poignant storytelling in character-driven dramas. These shows not only entertained but also challenged and moved me, providing a rich tapestry of experiences that resonated with my family and me in different yet profound ways.

As we look forward to another year of exceptional TV, these shows will remain benchmarks of excellence, creativity, and the possibilities of what can be achieved on the small screen.