20. “Hacks” (HBO Max)
The Jean Smart renaissance has been percolating for some time with buzzworthy roles in “Legion” and “Watchmen.” It may have peaked, however, with another series on this list, “Mare of Easttown” and her Emmy-winning performance as an “old school” stand-up comedian, Deborah Vance, in “Hacks.” While the premise of having Ava (Hannah Einbinder), an early twenty-something comedy writer, realize she has a lot to learn from the old veteran wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, Smart’s ability to make you root for her often uncomfortably blunt Hollywood lifer helped the program transcend it’s inherent. Creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky also peppered the story with a slew of fantastic character actors ready to break out in a more mainstream endeavor (Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Johnny Sibilly, Megan Stalter). And while Vance’s stand-up routines weren’t necessarily as funny as you might have hoped, the depth of her character made the first season of “Hacks” a standout. – GE
19. “The Great” (Hulu)
Tony McNamara took his examination of power in “The Favourite” and expanded on some of its themes in his brilliant Hulu comedy loosely based on the rise to power of Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Elle Fanning plays the ambitious and conniving Catherine, but her relationship with the dangerously idiotic Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) drives the comedy. If the first season was about a man who was wildly unprepared to lead, the second was about a woman learning it’s not as easy as it looks. Hoult and Fanning gave even richer performances this year, leaning into the fact that they have the best chemistry on television as Catherine struggled with what to do with a man who may be good for her but bad for her country. – BT
18. “Exterminate All the Brutes” (HBO)
The brilliant Raoul Peck (“I Am Not Your Negro”) directed and narrated this four-episode documentary about nothing less than the history of colonization and genocide on this planet. Premiering on HBO in the United States, “Exterminate All the Brutes” takes its name and some of its education from the Sven Lindqvist book of the same name–although he borrowed it from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” The four episodes unpack the power of the United States as a colonial force around the world, examining everything from Christopher Columbus to the enslavement of Africans. Peck draws a line from a history of racially driven conflict through the return of white nationalism in the modern era, revealing how so many of these issues never fully go away as their impact has rippled across the entire landscape of human history. – BT
17. “The White Lotus” (HBO)
Impossible to watch without getting the magnificent, Hawaiian, wallpaper credits theme stuck in your head, Mike White’s “The White Lotus” is about such horribly privileged rich sycophants (see also: “Succession”) that it will not be for all tastes, but for those who can get on its comically eviscerating wavelength, the gnashing, and subversive, tropical vacation getaway, was a riot from week to week, and tinged with a surprising layer of intrigue, given its murder mystery framework. Boasting an exceptional cast led by Murray Bartlett as Armond, the White Lotus hotel’s concierge who can’t get whining man-baby, Shane (a perfectly pouty Jake Lacy), off his back for booking the wrong room—he wanted the Pineapple Suit. Hilarious and unexpected from week to week, the show also reminded us what a singular talent the infectious Jennifer Coolidge is, her mother’s funeral at sunset scene a comedic highlight of the year. – Andrew Bundy
16. “The North Water” (BBC/AMC+}
Andrew Haigh (“Lean on Pete”) adapted the novel of the same name by Ian McGuire and delivered one of the most intense and unsettling dramas of the year. Colin Farrell plays a vicious predator on a whaling expedition to the Arctic while Jack O’Connell plays the man of science who discovers his dark secrets. The battle of wills between both actors makes for a TV highlight but this is really Haigh’s show, displaying his top-notch craft with incredible sound design that puts viewers right on the creaky ships stranded in the middle of nowhere. “The North Water” is a brutal drama that provides no cheap hooks or easy answers for viewers as it unpacks how the most dangerous animal in the world is man. More television should be this challenging. – BT