Top Shows of 2023
It was an eventful year in streaming, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA got deals done after over 100 days on strike. Thankfully, they didn’t affect any 2023 releases! Here are our top shows of 2023.
10. Only Murders in the Building Season 3
Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building returns with two big star additions: Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd. Lots of murder-whodunits have formulaic structures. But Only Murders had enough pieces to make a new season of investigation fresh. Streep’s character Loretta was odd and felt tacked on. Despite this, her performance earned her a record thirty-third Golden Globe nomination. Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short also picked up nominations this season. Overall, it was an enjoyable follow-up to two successful seasons.
Released: Season 3, Hulu, August 8, 2023
9. Warrior Season 3
Had it not been for Warrior Season 3’s slow start, it could have very well landed in our top five.
Challenges abound for all of our main characters. Young Jun faces a leadership crisis as he deals with Father Jun’s dementia and the fallout of the Long Zii bailout. Mai Ling is off the rails after she gets out of jail and senses a coup. Ah Sahm’s new relationship proves to be a weak point, while Ah Toy picks up the pieces after her paradise was destroyed. Bill teams up with Leary against the chief.
Despite some of the slow pacing, epic fight scenes and satisfying revenge by some of our favorite characters made this an enjoyable binge. Not bad for a show that was in our top 2 during the pandemic. After three seasons, we still never skip the amazing title intro.
Released: Season 3, MAX, June 29, 2023
8. Upload Season 3
After Nathan downloads into a real body, he and Nora look for answers IRL. Ingrid, on the other hand, stays wrapped up with an uploaded backup of Nathan. Aleesha finds a new, complicated love, and the AI workers are starting to revolt. Confused yet? More Owen Daniels and an adorably funny Allegra Edwards propelled Upload Season 3 eight spots from last year’s list.
Released: Season 3, Prime Video, Oct 20, 2023
7. Jury Duty
Jury Duty was an inventive reality show that relied on improv, incredible set work and a lot of fast thinking. Ronald Gladden was the lone “real” juror, in a fake case, with a fake judge and actors posing as jurors. James Marsden –Golden Globe nominated for this role – played an egotistical (and funny) version of himself, the Hollywood star.
This was the first Freevee show to make any of our lists, so no need to subscribe to anything! Well worth a look if you want a break from scripted shows.
Released: Season 1, Amazon Freevee, April 7, 2023
6. The marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5
Award-winner Rachel Brosnahan returns one last time in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. A favorite of ours since the beginning, the show inspired our “Marvelous” t-shirt design – available in shop.
The final season wrapped up loose ends well. As her contentious appearance on the Gordon Ford show approaches, Midge takes a chance that will make or break her life forever. Flash-forwards were utilized to reveal how the rest of their lives really turned out, all the way into the year 2005. A solid victory lap for a great original Prime series.
Released: Prime Video, April 14, 2023
5. Smartless On the Road
Sebastian Manascalco’s Bookie was our first thought for number 5, but only because we totally forgot about Smartless On the Road. We binged it so fast, it slipped off our list!
Being fans of the podcast, we were delighted to find this series on Max. It’s even better than the podcast, bringing the trio’s trademark repartee to stages across the country, live in front of studio audiences. Guests included Conan O’Brien, Letterman, Matt Damon, Kevin Hart, and of course, Tracey in Wisconsin. Behind-the-scenes footage in hotels, green rooms, and planes made us feel we were on tour with them. The “hiccup” of having a non-celebrity guest in Boston (Max Tegmark) added to the show.
Released: MAX, May 23, 2023
4. The Gilded Age, Season 2
The Van Rhijns and Russells are finally back! This season, the main struggle has Bertha Russell moving against the established Academy of Music opera house. The Academy has “boxed out” new money from purchasing seats. Mrs. Russell fights to take it down with the newly built Metropolitan Opera. Though fictionalized, the opera war comes from the pages of real history.
What makes this season great are the huge swings it takes. The Van Rhijns’ fortune and identity are in complete peril. Capitalist George Russell takes on a union-hungry workforce. Peggy’s worldview is upended after a treacherous journey to the south. A woman secretly engineers the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, to the horror of some (“Men won’t want to cross it!”). Forever-spinster Ada falls in love. Footman Jack starts to move up in society through his ingenuity and inventiveness.
Numerous outlets reported The Gilded Age upgraded its Season 2 cast from 12 to 24 series regulars. Hopefully that means this great show has much more in store for us.
Released: MAX, October 29, 2023
3. Hello Tomorrow!
Hello Tomorrow! is a retro-futuristic story of Jack Billings, salesman extraordinaire who traffics in lunar dreams. It is by far our favorite AppleTV+ show of 2023, easily beating out Ted Lasso S3, Monarch, and Schmigadoon (Schmicago?).
In addition to marveling at Jack’s crafty salesmanship, there’re a lot of cool inventions in this universe at which to gawk. There is no shortage of flying cars, and even jetpack commuters. The show’s product design beautifully blends nostalgia and futuristic innovation. Like the dict-o-writer (our name for it), a typewriter that types as you talk. Or the cup that pops fresh popcorn at the baseball game! There’s a certain thread of design logic that make the inventions stylish and fitting. At the same time, their environment feels familiar to viewers. They still wear neckties, but their ties tie themselves!
Of course, what makes the show work is how we experience this cool world. That’s through the human characters, not the bartender robots. We feel the regret of Jack, the emptiness of Joey, and the anger of Shirley. Moon-goers’ hopes and desperations are palpable.
We had some trepidation about even starting Hello Tomorrow!, not being the biggest Billy Crudup fans. But as lead Jack Billings, Crudup is straight money.
Released: Season 1, AppleTV+, February 17, 2023
2. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2
While Star Trek: Discovery made waves as Paramount+’s flagship series, Strange New Worlds was the Star Trek show we were waiting for. The explosive and rule-breaking Discovery was divisive among Star Trek fans, but Strange New Worlds had broad appeal without the dark violence.
Star Trek fans and non-fans alike would appreciate the humor, effects (looks as expensive as Discovery), and variety of episodes. For example, “Those Old Scientists” crossed over with the animated, Star Trek: Lower Decks characters Boimler and Mariner, portrayed in live action by their voice actor counterparts. In “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” La’An goes back to the 21st century and partners up with a young Captain Kirk. There was the memorable “Subspace Rhapsody,” in which a quantum probability field caused the crew to break out into song.
Though Captain Pike has almost been relegated to an apron-wearing, dinner party host who cooks way too much, this amazing show (and breakout performance by Ethan Peck as Spock) transports Strange New Worlds to the second spot on our Top shows of 2023 list.
Released: Season 2, Paramount+, June 15, 2023
1. Beef
After a road rage incident between two strangers, their beef escalates into a cataclysmic conflict that upends lives. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, who both won Golden Globes for their roles, star in this funny, daring, and creative Netflix thriller.
Beef (which just won the Golden Globe for best television limited series, anthology series, or motion picture made for television) kept us on edge with its tense plot and made us feel for the dynamic, rich characters. Their cultural and class differences fueled every episode. The sense of family obligation and the unseen, internalized shame is strong on Danny’s life. We were sympathetic to Amy’s internal anxieties as a wife, mother, and hustling business mogul, but saw how they tainted her choices and escalated her feud. Supporting characters and their stories felt organic and important, too.
For us, Beef was the best, most addictive, bingeable show in 2023.
Released: Season 1, Netflix, April 6, 2023
