AP – It could be argued that 2024 wasn’t the best year for television.
Highly anticipated shows like the final season of Stranger Things, The Last of Us and The White Lotus didn’t even make it on the calendar and will instead return in 2025. Streamers and networks tightened their budgets by saying yes to less.
Writing off this year’s selection, however, seems unfair. There were new standout comedies, dramas, reality TV and remakes of old favourites that caught the attention of viewers, awards voters and the zeitgeist. In no particular order, here are 10 new shows from 2024 to check out before the new year.
RIPLEY
Andrew Scott stars in Ripley, a neo-noir Netflix adaptation about the con artist and serial killer created by Patricia Highsmith. Like the 1999 movie starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, this limited series is based on the Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley.
Tom Ripley is hired by a wealthy businessman to travel to Italy and encourage his son, Dickie, who is living a life of leisure, to return to the States. Ripley ends up becoming enamoured with Dickie’s lifestyle and the ruse turns deadly.
SUPACELL
The British series Supacell introduced a smart spin on the superhero template. Created and written by Rapman, the show centres on a group of Black, working class people in London who discover they have superpowers.
At first, it seems the powerful are linked by just the colour of their skin but their real connection is a family history of sickle cell disease. The show addresses themes like the medical exploitation of the Black community, poverty and how the media often overlooks cases of missing people of colour. The show has been renewed for a second season and is on Netflix.
THE PENGUIN
Another fresh take on the world of superheroes and their villains is The Penguin, on Max. The story picks up after the 2022 film The Batman starring Robert Pattinson but here, Batman is more a background character to the gangster story of Oz Cobb.
Colin Farrell played the criminal kingpin in the Pattinson film and reprises that role here. Cristin Milioti has also gotten positive reviews – and a Golden Globe nomination – for her portrayal of villain Sofia Falcone.
MATLOCK
When CBS first announced a new Matlock with Kathy Bates in the lead role, it seemed like just a gender-flipped remake. Au contraire.
Bates plays Madeline Kingston, a wealthy lawyer who comes out of retirement under the alias Mattie Matlock (with a similar folksy demeanour as Andy Griffith’s). Her reason for returning to work is that she needs money but, in reality, she’s out for revenge.
It’s also fun to see how the series addresses older people being often overlooked and underestimated, which Madeline sometimes leans into for her own benefit. It streams on Paramount+.
SHŌGUN
Shōgun had a triumphant first season on FX, winning a historic 18 awards at this year’s Emmys – including best drama series and best actor and actress in a drama for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai. It’s set during the power struggles in feudal Japan and is based on a 1975 James Clavell novel.
FX didn’t skimp on the production value, netting comparisons to Game of Thrones. It was originally planned as a limited series, but now two more seasons are planned. Episodes stream on Hulu.
MR & MRS SMITH
Another adaptation with a twist is Prime Video’s Mr & Mrs Smith, starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. It shares a title with the film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but differs dramatically: Glover and Erskine play spies assigned to pose as a married couple named John and Jane Smith.
They quickly go from strangers to co-workers to lovers. Each episode sees John and Jane on a new assignment, with notable guest stars like Alexander Skarsgård, Michaela Coel and Sharon Horgan. The show was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes.
ENGLISH TEACHER
Brian Jordan Alvarez created and stars in FX’s English Teacher as Evan, a high school teacher in Texas, juggling the normal demands of the job amid societal changes.
In one episode, Evan must show sensitivity to a student who has self-diagnosed herself with a made-up disease. In another, he successfully gets the school’s gun safety programme shut down but then is told all faculty must receive firearm training. – Alicia Rancilio
