Even if, as some do, you believe the world is moving from Peak TV to Trough TV, there are still more shows released in a given year than anyone could possibly consume (trust us, we’ve tried). Between major networks, cable TV channels and streaming services, there is simply too much to watch. You’ll definitely miss your new favorite binge watch. We are here to help. Below are our picks for the best TV shows you might have missed in 2023.
A spy among friends
In the midst of the Cold War, MI6 intelligence officer Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) is shocked to learn that his old friend and colleague Kim Philby (Guy Pearce) has been secretly working for the KGB for the past thirty years. When Philby defects to the Soviet Union, suspicion falls on Elliott and how much he could have known. Ultimately, it is left to Elliott to ask Philby for a confession about what he did and shared with his Russian cohorts. Lewis and Pearce make for formidable enemies And friends in this smart spy thriller, based on Ben Macintyre’s 2014 book about two very real men.
The Grand Door Prize
It’s one thing to know what you want to do with your life; it’s another to hear where your destiny lies. A small town is thrown into turmoil when a mysterious ‘Morpho’ box suddenly appears in the Deerfield store, promising to reveal the true fate of its residents. As everyone around him begins to rearrange their lives – including quitting their jobs and leaving their spouses – to fulfill their Morpho predictions, local school teacher Dusty Hubbard (Chris O’Dowd) feels like the last sane man who does not believe in the machine’s predictions. O’Dowd, as usual, shines in this charming series, which will have you laughing out loud one moment and thinking deeply about your own potential the next. Apple TV+ has ordered a second season, which is expected to debut in mid-2024.
Class of ’07
After Zoe Miller (Emily Browning) is publicly humiliated on a TV dating show, she decides to disconnect from the world for a few months. When a freak weather event prompts her to seek higher ground, she heads to her old high school, where she discovers her 10-year reunion is in full swing. When a catastrophic weather event further isolates Zoe and her classmates from the rest of the world, they are forced to find a way to survive while once again immersed in the insecurities and (often petty) arguments they thought they left behind. . The Australia set Class of ’07 (which should not be confused with Class of ’09) is a deeply layered apocalyptic comedy, perfect for those moments when you’re feeling nostalgic.
Dead Ringers
Just because David Cronenberg’s creepy body-horror classic didn’t need an update doesn’t mean this gender-swapped miniseries wasn’t appreciated. Rachel Weisz is a force of nature, playing the dual roles of Beverly and Elliot Mantle, twin gynecologists who are doing everything they can to reinvent the way people give birth – medical ethics be damned! Weisz offers a masterclass in being completely unhinged, and clearly enjoys every second of it. Her talent is equally matched behind the camera, with indie authors like Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s body) who steps in to direct.
Deadloch
It’s winter festive season in the sleepy town of Deadloch, on Australia’s Tasmanian coast, when the body of a man is discovered on the beach. To work quickly to find the killer, two detectives with completely different approaches to the task – by-the-book Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and unpredictable Senior Investigator Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) – must find a way to to work. together to solve the case. What makes the police cases even more confusing (and funnier) are the assists Dulcie and Eddie receive from junior officer Abby (Nina Oyama) and noted slacker Sven (Tom Ballard).
Drops of God
Camille Léger (Fleur Geffrier) hasn’t seen her father, a renowned wine expert and creator of the Léger Wine Guide, since she was just a child. But when she hears of his death, she is suddenly flown to Tokyo to read his will. Although their relationship was strained, she is still shocked to learn that she must not only leave behind a wine collection worth more than $100 million, but also compete with Issei Tomine (Tomohisa Yamashita), her father’s protégé, for the collection to claim and inherit it. It’s a visually striking series that combines moments of humor with genuine sadness and anger, all adding up to a satisfying meal of a series.
The gold
It has been called the ‘crime of the century’. On November 26, 1983, a half-dozen men broke into the Brink’s-Mat warehouse near Heathrow Airport, where they accidentally came across £26 million worth of gold bullion, which would be the equivalent of more than $130 million today. It remains one of the largest robberies in England’s history, and to this day very little of the gold has been recovered. On the fortieth anniversary of the robbery, this six-episode series tells the events of that monumental theft, with Downton Abbey‘s Hugh Bonneville as DCI Brian Boyce, the detective tasked with getting to the bottom of the crime (which remains unsolved). At the end of November the BBC made ordered a second season of the series.
I’m a Virgo
If sorry to bother you has taught viewers everything, it is that the rapper became a filmmaker Boots Riley operates on a completely different level as a storyteller. He continues that tradition I’m a Virgo, the story of Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13-foot-tall teenager protected from the outside world by the aunt and uncle who raised him in Oakland, California. But when he is discovered by a group of young political activists, they offer Cootie the chance to experience the world as they know it, with all its ups and downs. The series features the voice talents of a brilliant cast of actors including Elijah Wood, Joel Edgerton, Danny Glover and Juliette Lewis. But it’s Walton Goggins who, as always, steals the show as The Hero, Cootie’s old idol.
Happy Henk
On December 8 AMC announced That Happy Henk would not get a second season. As a sequel to Break bad And You better call Saul, this now marks the first time in nearly 15 years that Bob Odenkirk has not starred in an AMC series. While we wait to hear what’s next for the beloved comedian/actor, now’s the perfect time to catch up on all eight existing episodes of Happy Henk. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Richard Russo Honest mantells the story of Hank Devereaux Jr. (Odenkirk), a professor and the accidental chairman of the English department at the financially struggling Railton University in Pennsylvania. But nothing seems to be going right for Hank, who is in the midst of a midlife crisis and seems determined to burn his life to the ground. It’s the charming, miserly role that only an actor like Odenkirk can play, and it’s definitely worth it.
Mrs. Davis
If you asked ChatGPT to spit out a storyline for a silly TV show, it might sound like a lot Mrs. Davis. Sister Simone (Betty Gilpin) is a nun determined to destroy Mrs. Davis, an AI program that seemingly everyone (except Sister Simone) is using. In her attempt to destroy technology as we know it, Simone makes a deal with the faceless AI: if she can locate and retrieve the Holy Grail, Mrs. Davis will remove herself. Yes, it’s as wild as it sounds, but somehow it all works. Gilpin is the non-hero you never knew you needed, and the series is action-packed with a compelling storyline pitting faith against technology. There are only eight episodes in season 1, and that’s probably all we get, as the excellent finale wraps everything up wonderfully.
Primo
If you’ve ever wondered what Shea Serrano was like a teenager, Primo is about as close a glimpse as you can get. The semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy, which Serrano created, follows the adventures of Rafa Gonzales (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a San Antonio teenager raised by his mother (Christina Vidal) and five very strong-willed uncles. Rafa deals with all the typical teenage problems, including family, friendships, first loves and worries about the future, including most likely becoming the first member of his family to go to college. It’s premium comfort TV at its best: sweet but not sentimental, funny but not crazy, and thoroughly authentic.
Rain dogs
There’s hardly a shortage of dysfunctional family dramas these days, but… Rain dogs makes it practical Succession‘s Roy family looks like the Brady Bunch. Partly that’s because the “family” at the center of this black comedy isn’t of the blood-related variety. Costello Jones (Daisy May Cooper) is a single mother to daughter Iris (Fleur Tashjian) and is just trying to keep a roof over their heads. This is where her wealthy best friend Selby (Jack Farthing), who is fresh out of a prison stint when the show opens, comes in, although their relationship does come with some strings attached. Namely that Selby can be violent and abusive, even though he loves Costello and Iris. “It’s completely normal to hate the people you love,” he tells Costello at one point. Which might as well serve as a tagline for the series. It is brilliantly constructed, beautifully acted and painfully honest.
Silo
Although it is technically billed as a science fiction series, Silo plays out more like a murder mystery set in a dystopian future. In a gigantic bunker stretching hundreds of floors underground, approximately 10,000 people go about their daily lives, avoiding the toxic world outside their carefully constructed community, which they believe is for their own good. But when one resident begins to question the Silo’s many rules, he ends up dead. Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), an engineer, is convinced it was murder and investigates the case, but discovers shocking details about the lives of the Silo residents.