Best TV shows of 2024, including House of the Dragon
MaxHouse of the Dragon Season 2 joins our list of 2024’s best TV shows so far.
2024 started strong, with Shogun wowing audiences with its high drama and incredible historical setting, and the new True Detective featuring a mystery that had everyone guessing until the final few reels.
July was a strong month, with Season 3 of The Bear making audiences all emotional, and The Acolyte taking Star Wars in a brand-new direction.
Below you’ll find our TV picks – in alphabetical order – with a brief synopsis, and details of our thoughts, or a review where available. We’ll also be adding to this article throughout the year, so keep checking back for more recommendations.
The Acolyte
Official Synopsis: An investigation into a crime spree pits a Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past.
What we said in our Acolyte recap: “Fans have struggled with the enormous changes to the Star Wars timeline, but over the course of its eight episodes, The Acolyte has delivered something truly dynamic.”
Baby Reindeer
Official Synopsis: When a struggling comedian shows an act of kindness to a vulnerable woman, it sparks a suffocating obsession which threatens to wreck both their lives.
What we think: Baby Reindeer is one of the surprise TV hits of the year. Created by comedian Richard Gadd – and based on his own dark past – the show is a tough watch, most notably during the devastating fourth episode. But it also grips like a vice, asking tough questions of its characters and the audience across seven superb episodes.
The Bear
Official Synopsis: The Bear is about food, family and the insanity of the grind. It’s a losing battle every day in the restaurant business, and as Carmy pushes himself harder than ever and demands excellence from his crew, they do their best to match his intensity. Their quest for culinary excellence propels them to new levels and stresses the bonds that hold the restaurant together.
The Bear review: “Though it might not beat its predecessor, it’s another delicious serving of emotional depth and culinary drama. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have heart palpitations… and you’ll be left hungry for more.”
The Boys Season 4
Official Synopsis: In Season 4, the world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son and his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.
The Boys Season 4 review: Even though The Boys Season 4 is the weakest of the bunch, it’s still great TV. [Showrunner Eric] Kripke and co. continue to push the boundaries of what’s acceptable to put on screen. And even though the foundational battle is getting tiring, there are enough surprises to keep this beast going.
Echo
Official Synopsis: The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward.
Echo review: “Echo is a rich show that explores a type of character the MCU has never dealt with before. Though it’s unclear how she will fit into the world at large going forward, there’s no mistake that Maya will prove herself to be a formidable force going into Phase 6.”
Fallout
Official Synopsis: Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. 200 years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird and highly violent universe waiting for them.
Dexerto review of Fallout: “Fallout is one of the most confident, impressive video game adaptations ever made; it’s not without its flaws, but it’s hard to imagine a better opening season.”
The Gentlemen
Official Synopsis: The Gentlemen sees Eddie Horniman unexpectedly inherit his father’s sizeable country estate – only to discover it’s part of a cannabis empire. What’s more, a host of unsavoury characters from Britain’s criminal underworld want a piece of the operation. Determined to extricate his family from their clutches, Eddie tries to play the gangsters at their own game.
The Gentlemen review: “The cast all shine across the eight episodes, each one just as enjoyable as the last. There was a concern Ritchie’s style could be off-puttingly indulgent in the long-form format, but there’s no flotsam and jetsam; excluding one side mission with an extraordinary punchline, the main narrative’s pace rarely dips, nor does it disappoint.”
Griselda
Official Synopsis: Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization shows Griselda Blanco’s journey from Medellin to becoming the ‘godmother’ of Miami’s drug empire.
Griselda review: “Griselda is very much an ensemble series, though Sofia Vergara’s name is probably the only one that’s overly familiar to Western audiences. The supporting cast effortlessly gels into the unfolding storyline, dancing to the tune that Vergara is setting in her leading role. It might be Griselda Blanco’s world in 1980s Florida, but both the cast and series itself highlight how dependent she was on the strengths of those around her.”
House of the Dragon
Official Synopsis: Following King Aegon II’s coronation and the death of Queen Rhaenyra’s son, House Targaryen is divided in two. In King’s Landing, Aegon II rules from the Iron Throne, supported by Alicent and the Green Council, under the protection of the largest dragon in Westeros. From exile on Dragonstone, Queen Rhaenyra and her Black Council consider their next move. Civil war looms as both sides seek support from the great houses of Westeros, ultimately amassing armies — and dragons.
House of the Dragon Review: “It’s not bringing anything “new” to the Game of Thrones landscape. But House of the Dragon Season 2 still remains bloody, thoughtful, and conniving. It’s building on strengths from the first season and working on the weaknesses, peeling away the layers of this multi-leveled political war one page at a time.”
Invincible
(Genuine) Invincible Synopsis: Mark goes back to college, reads his dad’s books, and nothing bad happens to him or his family. This is a very official synopsis.
Invincible Season 2 Part 2 review: “Invincible Season 2 Part 2 is dynamite television. But, despite its brilliance, the fact we’re now condemned to an even longer wait after the frustrating break feels like a pretty raw deal; perhaps that’s the price to pay for greatness.”
Masters of the Air
Official Synopsis: Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of Masters of the Air. Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.
Masters of the Air review: “Masters of the Air is big, beautiful, and horrifying; as impeccable as a tribute to the sky-faring majesty, tragedy, and heart of the Bloody Hundredth could ever be.”
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Official Synopsis: Two lonely strangers land a job working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch: new identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. & Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier, espionage or marriage?
Mr. & Mrs. Smith review: “On the face of it, Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the same as countless other reboots of classic movies nobody asked for. But this spy comedy series’ first season differs from those do-overs in one simple yet important way: it’s good – killer, even.”
Ripley
Official Synopsis: Tom Ripley is a grifter scraping by in early ’60s New York. He’s hired by a wealthy industrialist to travel to Italy to try to convince the man’s dilettante son, Dickie Greenleaf, to return home. Accepting the job is Tom’s first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder.
Dexerto review of Ripley: “Ripley is a new Netflix series that stars Andrew Scott as the talented killer and con artist, and while the pace is slow across eight episodes, patience is rewarded in a show that’s both a twisted thriller and rich character study.”
Shogun
Official Synopsis: Based on James Clavell’s novel, Shogun is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.
What we think: Shogun was first adapted as a 1980 miniseries that starred Richard Chamberlain, and was watched by nearly a third of all US households. This new version is darker and more violent, while also focussing on the Japanese characters as much as their English interloper. The result is a perfect piece of television, featuring stunning photography, a story that’s complex and rich, and incredible performances across the board.
3 Body Problem
Official Synopsis: A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.
3 Body Problem review: “3 Body Problem has to be seen to be believed, largely doing its source material justice in interpreting what is incredibly complex physics into something engaging and palatable. However, as it leads itself out of the door, the show shoots itself in the foot, leaving its parting note as a damp squib, when it should be a towering inferno of self-reflection.”
True Detective: Night Country
Official Synopsis: When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.
True Detective Night Country review: “A story so dark shouldn’t be this much fun, but Night Country is a cracking whodunnit that will keep you guessing until the final few reels. It’s also the best True Detective since Season 1.”
Those are the best TV shows of the year so far. For more reviews click here, while you can head here to check out our favorite movies of 2024. While these are 5 films to watch if you lovee Shogun.