Awards Daily’s Megan McLachlan lists her Top 10 TV Shows of 2023, including a network comedy, Peacock favorites, an HBO phenomenon, and three docuseries that kept her on the edge of her seat.
Whoever says there’s nothing on television clearly isn’t watching the right shows. In 2023, we were blessed with a wealth of stellar programming, including honorable mentions like Amazon’s Daisy Jones & The Six, The Righteous Gemstones, FX’s Dave, The Morning Show Season 3, Jury Duty, and Somebody Somewhere. It was so hard distilling this list down to 10, but these were the shows I couldn’t stop thinking about throughout the year.
10. Dear Mama (FX)
Director Allen Hughes manages to skilfully weave two distinct stories — that of Afeni and Tupac Shakur — into one narrative thread and does so beautifully in this five-part FX docuseries. Not only do you get a historical perspective on the Black Panther movement and hip-hop in the early ’90s, but you also gain a little more insight into one of our most misunderstood icons of the last 30 years.
9. Burden of Proof (HBO)
This four-part true crime series completely flips the script halfway through. For the first two episodes, you assume Jennifer Pandos went missing in 1987 because of her parents, with her older brother Stephen Pandos leading the argument against his own mother and father. But then you discover new facts right along with Stephen, which prove to be devastating since Stephen has been estranged from his parents for years because of his miscalculated beliefs. Burden of Proof makes you question your memories, and most heartbreaking of all, whether we’ll ever know what happened to Jennifer Pandos.
8. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Remember Amazon’s pilot program? They used to try out one-and-done episodes of prospective television shows and air them for the general public in an American Idol-esque competition. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the most successful series to come out of this program (RIP One Mississippi), and even in that first episode, you knew you were watching something special. The Palladinos’ comedy series goes out on top in its final season, but doesn’t do so without taking risks, including implementing flashforwards and acknowledging the real-life fates of characters like Lenny Bruce. I’m still thinking about that last scene between Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and Suzie (Alex Borstein) and how their friendship became the enduring thread of the series.
7. Poker Face (Peacock)
An hour-long mystery show that solves the mystery in the first 10 minutes of the episode? Pass, right? Nope! Even though Rian Johnson’s show puts the DUH in who-duh-nit, the fun of the series is watching Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) put together the puzzle pieces and solve the riddle. A show like this one shouldn’t work, but Johnson and Lyonne prove to be a dynamite combination.
6. Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Can you believe Abbott Elementary is only in its sophomore season? That’s a testament to how classic Quinta Brunson’s show has already become. Week after week, you tune in not just for the will-they-or-won’t-they romance between Janine and Gregory (Tyler James Williams), but for the day-in and day-out dynamic among one of the best casts on television. It’s easy for a series to get stuck in a rut in its second season, but Abbott Elementary pushes its characters beyond their comfort zones and opens them up to new possibilities, as any good teacher should.
5. I Think You Should Leave – Season 3 (Netflix)
Tim Robinson’s sketch comedy series has become event television. Every two years, you wait for him to drop a measly six new episodes, and fans gobble them up like 55 burgers, 55 fries, 55 tacos…For the next six weeks, you and your friends’ personalities become tethered to the series, all the while clamoring for more unreleased sketches. Like his characters who want total control of the Loaded Nachos, Tim Robinson knows how to keep his fans always wanting more.
4. Mrs. Davis (Peacock)
Religious allegory? Sci-fi action? Commentary on the current AI craze? Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof’s ambitious series bundles all of these threads into a ball and untangles them over the course of 8 episodes. While you might scratch your head during the first three episodes, by the end Mrs. Davis takes you on a journey most Marvel films aren’t able to pull off.
3. Succession (HBO)
In an age where nearly everything gets spoiled, kudos to Succession producers for keeping Logan Roy’s death under wraps. We all knew something big was going to happen during “Connor’s Wedding,” but to collectively go through the shock of death and grieving with the Roy family was truly a one-of-a-kind TV-watching experience. And where many shows would have peaked with that episode, Succession only got better after that, proving that the kids could survive without their father…just not in his coveted power position.
2. The Bear (FX on Hulu)
It’s rare to watch an episode of television and feel like you’re already watching a classic, but that’s what happens during The Bear‘s holiday episode “Fishes,” filled with cameos, fights, and insight into why the Berzatto family is so fucked up. And that’s just one of the many highlights of the season, with other notable episodes featuring trips to Copenhagen and a poignant Taylor Swift musical moment.
1. Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (HBO)
Even though it’s a documentary, Love Has Won feels like a narrative series, with director Hannah Olson immersing you in the cult the same way Amy Carlson and friends welcomed followers into her house in Mount Shasta. Of course, these characters are real-life people, but in so many docuseries, you close the book without thinking much about the talking heads you viewed on screen. Here, you can’t stop thinking about them. Love Has Won is a devastating character study of Amy Carlson and the effects of alcohol, drugs, and wanting more from life than what’s possible.
