The best new TV shows of 2024 (so far)
Is the year already half over? Time flies when you’re watching TV. The first three months of 2024 served up some excellent new shows, and the second quarter didn’t disappoint either—really, Q2 could have coasted on Prime Video’s Fallout alone. Here’s that and nine more freshman series that nailed it.
The best new TV shows of April–June 2024
Sugar | Apple TV+ | Drama, mystery
It’s framed as a vintage Hollywood noir mystery, but Sugar is a contemporary crime drama with more than a few twists up its trenchcoat sleeve. Private investigator John Sugar (Colin Farrell) is hired to track down the missing granddaughter of a legendary movie producer, only to uncover far more than he bargained for. Sugar also stars Amy Ryan, James Cromwell, Anna Gunn, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
In A24’s The Sympathizer, Robert Downey Jr. plays multiple roles, not unlike the great Peter Sellers in the classic wartime satire and espionage thriller Dr. Strangelove. The seven-episode series, based on Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning novel, follows “The Captain” (Hoa Xuande, Cowboy Bebop), a communist spy at the end of the Vietnamese War on a new mission in Los Angeles. The Sympathizer is a masterful, pitch-black comedy.
Fallout | Prime Video | Drama, sci-fi
She made splashes in Yellowjackets and Sweetbitter, but Ella Purnell has broken through big-time as Lucy in Prime Video’s gonzo adaptation of the Fallout video game. The series, helmed by showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (Westworld), deftly weaves humor and pathos into the post-apocalyptic landscape of Los Angeles, and Walton Goggins chews all the scenery as snarky cowboy mutant The Ghoul.
Conan O’Brien Must Go | Max | Reality, travel
He’s been a Saturday Night Live and Simpsons writer, a late-night talk show host (three times), and a podcaster (Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend), but now, the redheaded giant has stumbled into a new TV chapter as an international travelogue host. In the four-episode Conan O’Brien Must Go, he hilariously makes his way through Norway, Ireland, Argentina, and Thailand. A longer season 2 is on the way.
The Veil | Hulu | Drama, thriller
In a departure from her usual distressed underdog roles, Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) kicks action-heroine ass in The Veil, an international spy thriller from Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders). Moss plays Imogen, an MI6 agent who joins forces with a French operative (Yumna Marwan) to stop a cataclysmic disaster against the gorgeous backdrops of Paris and Istanbul. Moss can do it all.
Dark Matter | Apple TV+ | Drama. sci-fi
Chicago physics professor Jason Desson (Joel Edgerton) is kidnapped and transplanted into an alternate reality where he’s married to a different woman (Sonia Braga). At the same time, a second version of himself is dropped into his original life with his original wife (Jennifer Connelly). Dark Matter is a twisty sci-fi thriller with infinite possibilities but still grounded by a solid cast and smart multiverse scripting.
Dramatizing the 2013 downfall of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (played by Ed O’Neill), Clipped is a tidy sports history lesson and a meaty showcase for O’Neill’s rage-jerk acting. When the Clippers finally had an NBA championship shot, thanks to coach Doc Rivers (Lawrence Fishburne), Sterling and his assistant (Cleopatra Coleman) spectacularly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Acolyte | Disney+ | Drama, sci-fi
The newest live-action Star Wars series follows a Jedi master (Lee Jung-Jae, Squid Game) and his former padawan (Amandla Stenberg) as they investigate the suspicious deaths of fellow Jedi and—as per Star Wars lore law—the vast conspiracy that shadows them. Since The Acolyte is set 100 years before The Phantom Menace, the series is a fresh start in an old franchise—just ignore the review trolls.
Even if you’re familiar with his previous show, Los Espookys, you’ve never seen anything like creator/director Julio Torres’ Fantasmas. Playing a version of himself in a surrealistic New York City, “Julio” navigates his acting career with the help of his agent, Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez), and his robot assistant, Bibo. Fantasmas also breaks into dreamy narrative sketches, each more bizarre than the last.
Set in 2052, decades after the events of the cult clone-conspiracy series Orphan Black, Echoes follows Lucy (Kristen Ritter), a woman with no knowledge of her past other than escaping from a mysterious lab. Is she a product of biotech cloning? Not quite: She’s a “printout,” and there’s more than one of her—specifically, 16-year-old Jules (Amanda Fix). Orphan Black: Echoes is a worthy, intriguing sequel.
The best new TV shows of January–March 2024
The Brothers Sun | Netflix | Comedy, drama
Bruce Sun (Sam Song Li) is living a straight life in Los Angeles when his brother Charles (Justin Chien) unexpectedly arrives from Taiwan. Bruce then learns that he comes from a family of Taipei gangsters and was sent to America by “Mama” Sun (Michelle Yeoh) to build a legit existence—but now Bruce has to join the family business. Unfortunately, the fast and funny Brothers Sun has since been canceled by Netflix.
Funny Woman | PBS | Drama
Funny Woman, based on the Nick Hornby novel Funny Girl, follows Blackpool beauty queen Barbara Parker (Gemma Arterton) on a hard road to break into the male-dominated London comedy scene in the 1960s. Contrary to the title, the six-episode Funny Woman is more of a drama than a comedy, which Arterton carries effortlessly—she’s more than just a blonde and British Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Original True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto wasn’t into it, but audiences welcomed new director and co-writer Issa López to Night Country. This time, the troubled detectives are women (Jodi Foster and Kali Reis) investigating the disappearance of an Arctic Circle research team in Alaska. The supernatural touches recall True Detective’s first season, but Night Country stands on its own.
Ted | Peacock | Comedy
It didn’t seem likely at first, but a Mark Wahlberg-free prequel with a 16-year-old Johnny (Max Burkholder) and his foul-mouthed living teddy bear is a far better—and even funnier—setting for Ted. The ’90s origin story of Ted (voiced by writer and director Seth MacFarlane) and Johnny’s unusual friendship is further boosted by the killer supporting cast of Giorgia Whigham, Scott Grimes, and Alanna Ubach.
After Midnight | CBS, Paramount+ | Comedy, game show
Years ago, Comedy Central’s @Midnight encouraged comedians of various stature to mock internet and pop-culture trends in a zero-stakes game show. CBS’ new After Midnight reboot is more significant on three fronts: It finally lets a woman (host Taylor Tomlinson) shine on late-night TV, it gives lesser-known comics a national showcase, and there’s no James Corden. After Midnight is also consistently hilarious.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Prime Video | Drama
Fans of the 2005 movie were iffy about a series remake of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine nail it with their palpable chemistry and action skills as married undercover spies. The eight-episode series takes an unexpected case-of-the-week tack, which brings in guest stars like Sarah Paulson, Ron Perlman, and Parker Posey. The cliffhanger ending suggests a second season (let’s hope).
FX’s adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, Shōgun tells the beautiful and brutal 1600s tale of relentless Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), Englishman John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), and mysterious samurai Lady Mariko (Anna Sawaiis). It doubles the length of the first 1980 miniseries (10 episodes instead of five) and multiplies the epic scale and critical acclaim, making it a must-see.
3 Body Problem | Netflix | Drama, sci-fi
In adapting the first part of Liu Cixin’s sprawling Remembrance of Earth’s Past novel trilogy, Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with The Terror writer Alexander Woo, have struck sci-fi gold with 3 Body Problem. The eight-episode series jumps between the 1960s and the present day, with an alien invasion looming. 3 Body Problem isn’t always easy to follow, but it’s worth it.
Palm Royale | Apple TV+ | Comedy, drama
Maxine (Kristen Wiig) is an outsider looking in at Palm Beach high society in 1969, and she’ll do anything to become a member of the Palm Royale country club. The show’s ’60s aesthetic is on point, and Wiig’s performance is as expectedly wacky as it is surprisingly melancholy. Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Leslie Bibb, Mindy Cohn, Julia Duffy, Kaia Gerber, and Carol Burnett(!) also star.
X-Men ’97 | Disney+ | Animation, drama
Saturday morning cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) is reborn as an adult drama, and the fans are here for it. X-Men ’97 smartly updates the original’s look and feel just enough for 2024. It picks up the story after Professor X’s (spoiler) death, leaving the X-Men to carry on their mission of defending mutants and the humans who hate them. Conveniently, the O.G. series is also available on Disney+.
Bill Frost has been a journalist and TV reviewer since the 4:3-aspect-ratio ’90s. His pulse-pounding prose has been featured in The Salt Lake Tribune, Inlander, Coachella Valley Independent, Las Vegas Weekly, and many other dead-tree publications (see BillFrost.tv). In addition to being a Senior Staff Writer at CableTV.com, Bill is a syndicated streaming TV columnist forSalt Lake City Weekly and other alternative weeklies, and host/producer of TV Tan Podcast. By night, Bill cranks a Flying V with his band at the bar.
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