Looking back at my favorite TV shows of 2023, the list would have to include the latest (and in some cases, the last) seasons of “Fargo,” “Winning Time,” “The Bear, “Ted Lasso,” “Succession,” “Billions,” “For All Mankind,” “Somebody Somewhere,” “Schmigadoon,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Barry,” “Party Down,” “The Afterparty, ” “Yellowjackets,” “Reservation Dogs” and “The Gilded Age.”
If we’re not in the Platinum Age of television, it’s still pretty golden. Having said that (to quote “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which returns in 2024 for one last season), rather than revisit shows we’ve already praised multiple times, let’s concentrate on the best NEW series of 2023. As much as I enjoyed the likes of newcomers “The Curse,” “Fellow Travelers,” “Lucky Hank,” “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” and “Jury Duty,” here are my Top 5.
1. ‘Beef’ (Netflix)
Road rage has rarely resulted in such an insane and unstoppable chain reaction. Showrunner Lee Sung Jim has fashioned a brilliant, searing, horrific, hilarious, sexy and wholly original cautionary tale about two people whose lives are forever changed in drastic ways — all because of what should have been a minor traffic dustup in which each was convinced the other was in the wrong. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun deliver Emmy-quality performances as Amy and Danny, two human car wrecks who make one horrible choice after another as their lives become entangled in ever-surprising fashion. With crisp and insightful writing, pitch-perfect editing and a myriad of supporting characters just as fascinating and complex as the leads, “Beef” is the best show of 2023 and one of the best series of this decade.
2. ‘Poker Face’ (Peacock)
Natasha Lyonne is such a singular talent I’d watch her in a dual role in an Old Navy ad. Oh wait, we are doing that! Lyonne has a unique ability to make it seem like she’s commenting on her own life even as it takes the craziest turns, and she’s perfectly cast in Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face,” which plays like “The Fugitive” meets “Columbo.” Lyonne (who also serves as executive producer and writer) plays Charlie Cale, who zips around the country in her banged-up 1969 Plymouth Barracuda, picking up temporary jobs that always seem to place her smack dab in the middle of a crime that only Charlie can solve. The “Case of the Week” format is decidedly 1970s old-school and allows for at least a couple of fantastic guest stars each episode.
3. ‘Shrinking’ (Apple TV+)
Comparisons to “Ted Lasso” are warranted in this warmhearted, wonderfully acted, consistently funny comedy about three therapists who might be great at listening and counseling, but sure could use some couch time of their own. Created by the “Ted Lasso” duo of executive producers Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein along with Jason Segel, who stars as the widowed single father Jimmy, “Shrinking” also features Harrison Ford at his funniest and most accessible as the crusty old Paul, and Jessica Williams as Gabby, who was Jimmy’s wife’s best friend and seems to have it all together — only she doesn’t. Every episode of this series had me laughing — and getting choked up.
4. ‘Silo’ (Apple TV+)
The more I think about the world that was built in “Silo” and the characters whose fate now hangs in the balance after a heart-stopping cliffhanger, the more I’m looking forward to Season Two. Set in an undefined era some 140 years after the Earth has been rendered uninhabitable, “Silo” has a distinctly mid-20th century, Eastern European look as a society of 10,000 people live in a high-rise structure beneath the surface of the world. We already know Rebecca Ferguson can be a formidable badass from her work in “Mission: Impossible,” and she delivers some of the most impressive work of her career here as Juliette, an engineer who works on the massive generator in the lowest levels of the Silo, but becomes involved in some deadly entanglements with some of the powers-that-be up top, including Tim Robbins, the head of the IT department. The citizens of the Silo are told that if they set foot outside, they’ll die within minutes — something we see happen more than once. But can we trust what we’re seeing? Is the Silo the only world on the entire planet? We shall see. We cannot wait to see.
5. ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ (Prime Video)
A 10-part series framed as a documentary about a fictional, Fleetwood Mac-esque band? In the wrong hands, “Daisy Jones & the Six” could have been a disaster, but Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (adapting the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid) teamed up with Riley Keough (who plays Daisy) and Sam Claflin (as Billy Dunne, Daisy’s co-leader of the band and romantic partner) to create something authentic, memorable, musically authentic and addictively soapy. Keough is mesmerizing as the iconic Daisy Jones, who commands the stage like Stevie Nicks but is a complete mess in her personal life, while Calflin brings a leading-man presence to the role of the equally troubled Billy. Daisy Jones & the Six might be the best fictional band we’ve seen on a screen big or small since Stillwater from “Almost Famous.”
