Top TV shows of 2022

With perennial favourite Shameless off the air, This Is Us finishing up, and no new season of Succession this year, I was really worried I wouldn’t find new shows to replace them. I was actually shocked at the wealth of amazing content that popped up this year.

The Bear

When I saw the poster for this one, I gave a shrug and couldn’t have cared less. And yet, this Hulu offering landed in my top five of the entire year. It follows a young chef – known from the fine dining circuit – who must return to Chicago and take over his family’s sandwich shop after a sudden death.

Shameless alum Jeremy Allen White is incredible, and Lionel Boyce, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach make up just part of an absolutely incredible ensemble. It’s a dramedy you’ll be able to sink your teeth right into.

Yellowjackets

I know, I know. This one started in 2021, and hasn’t had a new season come out yet. But we had a lot of people late to the party on this one.

Yellowjackets is a freaking incredible thriller, and is must-watch, can’t-miss television. Two And A Half Men alum Melanie Lynskey is incredible here, but turns from veteran actors like Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, and Tawny Cypress are also fabulous. Add to that turns from young stars Sophie Nelisse, Ella Purnell, Jasmin Savoy Brown and more, and we have an incredible ensemble.

It follows a girls soccer team whose plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, their fight for survival, and the circumstances that bring the survivors back together decades later. It is so good I can barely describe it, and you simply need to start binging.

Peacemaker

As someone entirely fed up with superhero anything, I’m more surprised than you might be to see a show like this on the list. Alas, James Gunn – the man behind The Suicide Squad and Guardians Of The Galaxy – has created a hilarious gem.

It follows our titular character as he deals with the fallout following the Suicide Squad film and his antics in his pursuit of justice.

John Cena further proves he’s a thespian heavyweight here, Robert Patrick sees his best role since T2, and Danielle Brooks is fabulous in her first major role since Orange Is The New Black. Throw in an absolutely hilarious pair of turns from Steve Agee and Chukwudi Iwuji, and we’re cooking.

It’s hilarious. It’s bloody. It’s able to laugh at itself, and it defies genre convention. I absolutely adore this show.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone has been one of my absolute favourite shows since it premiered in 2018, but somehow this cowboy show seems to be just finding its stride with audiences.

Created by Taylor Sheridan – the man behind Wind River and Hell Or High Water – it’s a smart, tightly-scripted drama about a Montana ranching family fighting against those encroaching on their land.

Kevin Costner is a perfect lead, with Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Forrie J. Smith, Gil Birmingham, Kelsey Asbille and more. It’s a fabulous cast and they all bring a sense of morality to their characters.

Of all the shows on my list, this one is certain to be the biggest overall crowd-pleaser.

The White Lotus

The White Lotus was originally set to be a miniseries, but with a 10-Emmy winning first go, the powers that be greenlit a second season quickly.

Jennifer Coolidge returns, but the rest of the cast is fresh. It follows the happenings on a tropical resort, and the intermingling of employees and guests over a week.

Stars this season include Theo James, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, and so many more.

It’s an absolutely fabulous show, top-to-bottom, and everyone is talking about it. Watch it before it’s spoiled for you.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

I’m aware I’ll likely catch some groans for this one. As a true story, the margins are pretty thin here.

But as a cautionary tale and depiction of pure evil, Dahmer absolutely does its job. Creator Ryan Murphy – of Glee and American Horror Story fame – makes a show that has kept people buzzing for weeks.

Sometimes, you measure the worth of a program by the impact it leaves – I’m not ashamed to say Dahmer absolutely shocked and frightened me to my core.

Based on the true murders committed by Dahmer, it’s a terrifying portrayal, even if it’s heavily dramatized.

Evan Peters absolutely transforms here, and Richard Jenkins and Niecy Nash are fabulous. It’s a haunting miniseries, and one I won’t ever forget.

Love it or hate it, you won’t be able to get Dahmer out of your head.

The Lake

Perhaps unfairly overlooked by many during its summer release on Prime Video, I urge you to give this one a try.

It follows Justin – a gay man who returns home from living abroad – and his biological daughter Billie. They decide to spend some time and connect, and head to the family cottage.

But Justin finds himself in a fight for the place when he finds out his late father left it to his unruly, rude stepsister.

I absolutely love this show. To see 2SLGBTQIA+ representation – and not pandering to straight audiences at that – was absolutely wonderful. Jordan Gavaris and Madison Shamoun are fabulous in the lead roles.

Julie Stiles, Terry Chen, Travis Nelson, and Natalie Lisinska are hilarious, and it’s a show the cast obviously loves making.

It’s only going to get better, and I can’t wait for the second season. If you haven’t seen it, you definitely should catch up in the meantime.

Barry

There are few shows that just continue to get better with age, but Barry is absolutely one of them.

The madcap premise about a hit man from the Midwest who decides he wants to quit the life and become an actor is too ridiculous to believe it’s real. And yet, not only is Barry a greenlit show, but it’s an incredible one.

Alec Berg and Bill Hader have created a show that deftly blends comedy and drama, and one which has a love of film and theatre that’s unmatched.

The acting from Hader, Stephen Root, Anthony Carrigan, Sarah Goldberg and Henry Winkler is Emmy-worthy.

If you are even a little bit tickled pink about the premise, I urge you to give this weird little show a try.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

I have to be honest, I’m not a Star Wars fanatic.

The “prequel” trilogy started coming out when I was nine, and my father had me there opening night. I come from a Star Wars family, and I’ve seen them 1,000 times. But I’m not a die-hard.

I can’t begin to talk about whether Han shot first, or discuss what technology is best for pod-racing. The product gives me my sci-fi kick, and I move on.

But with Disney’s series Obi-Wan Kenobi, I truly felt some real nostalgia, and it was something I haven’t felt very often throughout the films.

It follows the Jedi Master Obi-Wan as he attempted to save young Princess Leia following her kidnapping. All this while he’s pursued by his former apprentice Darth Vadar.

Given my age, to see actors like Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, and James Earl Jones was absolutely beautiful. Pair that with stars like Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr. And Kumail Nanjiani being given shots in the franchise, and I felt like this one was meant for me.

Between this and The Mandalorian, I’m confident Star Wars is on the right track now, and this was a wholly satisfying endeavour.

Stranger Things

I hadn’t seen past season two of this one until this year. But someone I love and respect raved about it so long, so much that I had to start from the beginning.

I binged four seasons in five weeks, and it now ranks among my favourite shows of all time.

Stranger Things is a nostalgic, sci-fi show about the strange, supernatural happenings in the small town of Hawkins, all occurring following the disappearance of young man Will Byers.

His friends, his mother and brother, and a police chief must fight to bring him back, and that’s just in the first season.

The central cast – including Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matazzaro, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, and Sadie Sink – is uniformly the best mostly-teen ensemble I’ve seen on television.

You will react emotionally to this show in ways you never thought possible. I absolutely love it, and I can barely wait for the new season to come out.

Love, Victor

The single-worst thing Disney has done in the last five years is cancel Love, Victor.

The 2SLGBTQIA+ teen comedy depicts gay romance in high school in ways we’ve barely even seen on-screen before, and does so with class.

Inspired by the Love, Simon film, this series follows Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School who seemingly has it all. However, he’s hiding from the world that he’s gay, and it’s tearing him apart.

Michael Cimino, Rachel Hilson, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood, George Sear, Mason Gooding, James Martinez, and more make up a fabulous cast.

This amazing show lasted three lovely seasons, and I would have watched three more. It’s impossible not to enjoy this one.

Heartstopper

In a similar vein to the above, this show came out and literally shocked everyone to their core in 2022.

With little notice it was even coming, Netflix dropped a heartfelt, British queer coming-of-age show and collectively captivated us.

Based on creator Alice Oseman’s novel, it follows teens Charlie and Nick, who begin to realize their friendship may be turning into a budding romance.

The performances are uniformly fantastic, but I can’t believe leads Joe Locke and Kit Connor somehow manage to make me forget Oscar winner Olivia Colman is even in this one.

It’s so adorable, nuanced and heartfelt that it received a number of Children’s Emmy awards. It’s one for the whole family.

Wednesday

On the darker side, we have this Addams Family offshoot that ended up being miles better than I could have imagined.

Jenna Ortega is perfect as Wednesday in this early-years story about her time as a student at a private school for gifted, villainous kids.

She tries to handle her psychic powers while solving a mystery surrounding her parents. As is only right, Tim Burton’s vision is dark, macabre, and ghoulishly fun.

Ortega is joined by Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci, Jamie McShane, Newfoundlander Percy Hynes White, Hunter Doohan, and appearances from Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

It’s been the source of so many GIFs and memes, and it’s so playful that you can’t help but get lost in it.

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Among shows I didn’t even get to see yet:

Lord Of The Rings, House Of The Dragon, Three Pines, 1899, Tulsa King, Slow Horses, Severance, Andor, and The Sandman.

Have any more shows you think I need to binge? Email me anytime at jordanparker339@gmail.com.