Now that we've put the first half of the year behind us, the most important thing about the best TV shows of 2024 so far is how many of them were a surprise. Sure, some of the shows we expected to stand out, like one of network television's brightest lights or the final season of a beloved favorite, didn't disappoint. But two of our top five shows of the year weren't even on our radar last January, and yet they gave us some of the most compelling on-screen moments of the year.
That, to be clear, is a good thing, because it speaks to how powerful a great show can be, especially one we experience in the privacy of our own homes. That level of connection is what television can do better than any other medium, whether it's taking audiences to a totally different time and place, highlighting a side of World War II in a completely new way, or challenging our assumptions about the person that we could imagine. see walking down the street or hanging out at a local pub.
Below are ConsequenceThe 15 best series of 2024, some of which concluded as limited series, others will return in some form at some point. What they all have in common is that it was worth our time.
— Liz Shannon Miller
Senior Entertainment Editor
Editor's note: Check back for all of our 2024 Midyear Report coverage, including our list of the 100 best songs so far..
fifteen. Echo
Created by: Marion Dayre
Cast: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Charlie Cox, Devery Jacobs, Zahn McClarnon, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D'Onofrio
Network/Platform: Disney+
This limited series may not have ended as strong as it started, but there was a lot to admire, appreciate, and be excited about in this new MCU entry: at least, that one-shot fight from Episode 1 between Maya Lopez. , a group of thugs and a punk named Matt Murdock had us excited. With a protagonist like no other in the Marvel universe and a cast of mostly Native actors (including star Devery Jacobs and icons Tantoo Cardinal, Zahn McClarnon and Graham Greene) Echo delivered plenty of action and a new spin on the superpowered drama (and finding a new spin on this genre is a pretty impressive feat these days). — L.S. Miller
14. masters of the air
Executive producers: Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Gary Goetzman
Cast: Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Nikolai Kinski, Stephen Campbell Moore, Sawyer Spielberg, Isabel May
Network/Platform: AppleTV+
The key thing to know about Apple TV+'s lavish follow-up to Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's epic World War II chronicle is that the second half of the season is more compelling than the first half. While the first few episodes do a solid job of establishing the big ensemble cast and the harrowing nature of being a bomber pilot, in the second half you have a survival story set inside a prisoner of war camp, an officer (Anthony Boyle) who becomes entangled with a British officer (Bel Powley) who It could just be a spy, and doctor who Star Ncuti Gatwa says any real line of dialogue. It's rare to see a show constructed that way, an achievement almost as impressive as those aerial sequences. — L.S. Miller
13. in the knowledge
Created by: Brandon Gardner, Mike Judge, Zach Woods
Cast: J. Smith-Cameron, Charlie Bushnell, Zach Woods, Mike Judge, Caitlin Reilly, Carl Tart
Network/Platform: Peacock
Mike Judge is back with him extremely Mike Judgian in the knowledge, a show that finds the absurd in the mundane, revels in its over-the-top satire, and features surprisingly stunning stop-motion animation. Following the eccentric crew of an NPR station, Judge and company target their own demographic: bleeding heart, self-absorbed, New Yorker-reading “intellectuals.” While the celebrity cameos sometimes feel more like filler than hilarious bits or plot development material, in the knowledge still presents a tremendously fun and impressively made ride. — Jonas Krueger
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