#10 

Jury Duty

Why It Made The List:

No one saw this one coming, including the show’s unlikely star Ronald Gladden. A hilarious take on reality and prank shows, this unlikely hit from earlier this year documents Gladden as he sits through an entire fake trial with no idea he’s the only one who isn’t a paid actor. Shenanigans ensue, but highlights of the show include James Marsden, who hilariously plays a (possibly?) exaggerated version of himself, and the fact that allegedly Jury Duty is Amazon’s biggest hit. If true, that would mean this dirt-cheap production pulled in better numbers than Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power, which cost the streamer over $465 million. Don’t tell Bezos!

Where You Can Watch:

Amazon Prime

#9 

Beef

Why It Made The List:

No longer content to only sweep Gen Z and the Oscars off their feet, A24 came for television earlier this year with Beef, a show that was darkly funny, artful, and deeply unsettling all at the same time. One of those “I can’t turn away from the car crash” shows, we all watched with increasing horror (and dare I say glee?) as Stephen Yeun and Ali Wong ratched up their acts of vengeance to the point of absurdity. Beef is one of the most unique shows to have come out this year, if not for its fresh take on class warfare but for its relentless commitment to (what would seem) a pretty simple premise on paper. What if you followed that person who flicked you off in their car home?

Where You Can Watch:

Netflix

#8 

Mrs. Davis

Why It Made The List:

Years from now, when television scholars (that’s a thing, right?) look back on this past decade of too much TV, Mrs. Davis will likely be a shining example of how much leeway creatives were allowed in this growth-at-all-costs-let’s-produce-anything era. The show’s cartoonish violence and WTF plot that revolves around AI, stage magicians, Nevada, nuns, and the Holy Grail is just as bizarre as it sounds. Betty Gilpin was incredible as the snarky, ass-kicking warrior-nun hero, and the show managed to stick the landing despite all the various spinning thematic plates it tosses into the air (like Christianity, self-determination, our reliance on technology, and bro culture).

Where You Can Watch:

Peacock

#7 

Dave (Season 3)

Why It Made The List:

Dave has quietly been one of the best comedies on TV for years, and Season 3 was no exception. Its hilarious satire of the entertainment industry and the inherent narcissism of artists is so incisive that the industry itself is often in on the joke (this season’s cameos include Rachel McAdams, Don Cheadle, Jack Harlow, Emma Chamberlain, and one star so big I’m reluctant to spoil it). Dave Burd continues to prove his impressive talent (both comedically and legitimately as a rapper), but most importantly, Season 3 also exemplified how the best part of the show is the surprising pathos at its center. Dave spends most of the season grappling with his ego and the giant elephant in the room that he may-kind-of-sort-of be trading on a culture that is not his own. Come for the cameos and gross-out sex humor; stay for the surprising commentary on the intrinsic conflict within an artistic pursuit of fame.

Where You Can Watch:

Hulu

#6

Extraordinary

Why It Made The List:

You may be surprised to see a show you never heard of so high on the list. That’s because it was criminally under-watched. Maybe it was the Disney-ish premise (that admittedly is very similar to 2005's Sky High) or the superhero component in general, but those who skipped missed out on a show that has more in common with Girls than anything in the Marvel universe. As with most great comedies these days, Extraordinary’s snarky, off-the-wall tone was wrapped around a bittersweet center, but the real draw remained the endlessly humorous thought exercise of what if everyone in the world had superpowers, but most of those powers were offputtingly weird or simply mundane.

Where You Can Watch:

Hulu

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#5

Poker Face

Why It Made The List:

Poker Face drew a lot of buzz from both its star creator Rian Johnson and also because of its zag in today’s streaming landscape. The pitch was not "check out this appointment-viewing limited series ASAP while it lasts." It was, "Hey, we're serving up a repeatable, highly-entertaining format one hour a week every week." Luckily Poker Face wasn’t just a gimmick and delivered on its promise in spades (sorry). It was suave, fun, and immediately settled into a comfortable rhythm (largely thanks to Lyonne's take on bumbling detective Charlie Cale). Johnson delivered the stylish narrative and visual flairs that have become his trademark, and the seemingly endless parade of big-name guest stars chewed up the scenery with glee. Thank god this is so easy to recreate, so we can get more Poker Face for years to come.

Where You Can Watch:

Peacock

#4

The Last of Us

Why It Made The List:

Those sons of a bitches finally did it. After decades of failed video game adaptations like Super Mario Bros, Halo, Assassin's Creed, Doom, and Prince of Persia (people don't forget Jake Gyllenhaal!!!), we finally got a bonafide, critically-appraised TV series based on a hit video game. Episode 3 will likely go down as one of the best episodes of television ever (who wasn’t crying into a bowl of strawberries with Linda Ronstadt on repeat for weeks?), Pedro Pascal continued to make a case that he’s our generation’s Burt Reynolds, and a new star was born in Bella Ramsey. The only reason The Last of Us isn’t higher on the list is that as the season went on, it started to feel a little, well, like a video game. Enter a new area. Defeat the boss. Move on to the next. Here’s hoping Season Two delivers more episodes like “Long, Long Time” rather than more scene-for-scene recreations of the video game.

Where You Can Watch:

Max

#3

The Other Two (Season 3)

Why It Made The List:

Season 3 is officially the last (Zazlav strikes again!), but it also was the show’s best. No other show on television so perfectly pokes fun at what fame and its pursuit look like in our digital age, at times reaching prophetic levels (the internet was quick to point out how Disney’s real-life announcement of a live-action Bambi remake was predicted by the show’s writers years ago). This season reached new heights as the writers nosedived their main characters into total moral depravity in their quixotic hunt for notoriety. Highlights included Cary taking on a role as Disney’s first “unapologetically gay character” despite that character being an animated glob and Brooke deciding whether or not it’s worth it to leave the industry even if it means she’ll literally be invisible to those within it. The whip-smart writing (and Josh Segarra as Mimbo Lance) will be desperately missed.

Where You Can Watch:

Max

#2

The Bear

Why It Made The List:

Maybe it’s all these limited series over the years, but it’s easy to forget how comforting it is to be reunited with a cast of sitcom characters you love. When season two of The Bear opened with Bruce Hornsby’s “The Show Goes On” and those overhead shots of the Windy City, I truly felt like I was coming home. Season Two might even improve on The Bear’s first time around, trading in much of its erratic, whiplash pace for quieter moments between its characters that are just as (if not more) compelling as anything that was in Season One (including that smoldering introduction to Shiva Baby’s Molly Gordon - holy hell, who knew grabbing milk in a bodega could be so spicy?). Whoever is casting this show deserves an award, as every person on The Bear not only feels like someone who could actually live in Chicago but also someone I can’t wait to spend more time rooting for. No sophomore slump to be found here - The Bear remains one of the best shows on television.

Where You Can Watch:

Hulu

#1

Succession

Why It Made The List:

Doy. As if this spot would be taken by anything else? We never covered Succession here on the Stream because why would we? Everyone and their mother was watching it and you didn't need us to tell you to. That doesn’t mean it didn’t earn its spot as the best show so far this year. Season Four was the show at its best simply because it had a destination. No more constant reshuffling of the chess table; it was time for someone to finally take the throne (and it was always going to be Tom, wasn’t it?). That slow march to the show’s inevitable conclusion was more satisfying than we ever could have thought it would be: Logan’s death in episode three, Tom and Shiv’s increasingly brutal unraveling, and of course, the final episode that proved what Logan was saying all along. We were not watching serious people - just kids playing with toy soldiers.

Where You Can Watch:

Max

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