The 20 best TV shows of 2022 (so far)
Addictive newbies (like Severance and Slow Horses) and ambitious tried-and-true faves (think Atlanta and Barry) make the midyear cut
TV Lists Balwani
A lot has happened so far this year in TV land. We’ve said goodbye to favorites (it’s been real, Search Party and Better Things) and hello to new gems (welcome aboard, Pachinko and Slow Horses), and some boundary-pushing shows have forged ahead into even more ambitious waters. But before you jump into our rundown of The A.V. Club’s 20 favorite TV shows so far in 2022, some ground rules: To be included on this list, a series must have debuted its latest season in 2022. So that means no holdovers from 2021, shows with seasons that started last year but dipped into the year of our lord 2022 (which by extension means no Station Eleven or Yellowjackets or Abbott Elementary). Okay, glad that’s cleared up. On with the list, which we’ve organized chronologically by premiere date.
66 Comments
I felt Slow Horses dropped the ball after the first two episodes, but Oldman was a blast.I’ve been enjoying the new Queer as Folk despite the unnecessary tragedy, it feels the least sanitized version of Queer Culture we have had on TV in a long time while still feeling kind of after school special like the original.Somebody Somewhere was my personal fave so far tho.
I agree about Slow Horses and didn’t make it to the end, but I see they got a second season.
I feel like Slow Horses’ finale was deeply anticlimactic. Like, everything was wrapped up so friggin’ neatly without any real consequences. A last minute reveal felt tacked on and the whole thing just kinda ran out of gas.
Peacemaker, anyone? I wasn’t expecting much (his character was too annoying in The Suicide Swuad), but was surprised by how great it is.
Easily the best superhero show in a now crowded field. It’s the rare beast that avoids or subverts nearly every cliche in the genre.
Peacemaker showed that you can have an “edgy”, “adult” superhero show without it being the bleakest thing in existence.The Boys seems to revel its bleak hopelessness. As satire I suppose it’s effective (I’d also say heavy-handed, although having read some comments this season it still somehow goes over peoples’ heads despite lifting whole quotes from modern politics). But the hopelessness gets to me, as it’s just one shitty situation after the other with whatever miniscule victories the Boys actually attain being quickly overshadowed or undone by the series villains and folks in power. Just like real life! For a superhero fantasy show it certainly isn’t “escapist”.
Uhhhh you guys gave “Our Flag Means Death” like a C in your review
They’re allowed to change their minds. 🙂 I might have given it a C too, if just based on the first couple of episodes.
Search Party S5 is an absolute mess IMO – it’s only really worth watching because of how bizarrely crazy it gets. My list would include Stranger Things (S4 is best yet IMO), Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (S4 teetered a bit but the last two episodes and Lenny Bruce redeemed it for me), Reacher (just pure pulpy fun), and Julia (just pure wholesome fun). Would definitely not have Search Party or The Dropout (Seyfried was great but the show overall didn’t hold my interest that well) on my list. Not sure on the other two drops.
I thought Search Party’s last two seasons were its best, went completely bizzaro the more it reflected the bizzaro world we exist in.
To each their own I guess – I really did not like S4 with Chip and S5 just went too far off the edge for me. I do typically recommend people watch it all the same because I can’t think of another show that changes so wildly over the course of its run and the final act of the fifth season was so shockingly out of left field that it has to be seen to be believed.
I was a Search Party evangelist through season 4, despite it’s slight dip in quality. I cannot and will not recommend season 5. Swing for the fences creatively, sure, but betraying all semblance of character up until that point is no bueno. I will echo though – to each their own. But Season 3 – especially Shalita Grant as Cassidy Diamond – is incredible. I don’t care if it wasn’t this year, go watch that season.
Search Party was a mess. Honestly I am not sure if it is worth watching. The only show on this list that I disagree with.
The cast of Search Party was amazing. Alia Shawkat and Meredith Hagner are so good. It really went off the rails though in pursuit of its not terribly clever conceit that millennials are the worst
The claim that The Dropout shed any additional real light on how Holmes got away with that scam for more than ten years doesn’t really hold up. I suppose it tries, but at the end of the day leaves you every bit as puzzled as someone familiar with the story would have been going in. Anyone who works in finance, investing etc. knows how brutally arduous due diligence and board reporting are. In her case, recruiting high-profile board members too old or lacking in industry expertise to actually oversee the business, while providing credibility through personal reputations established long ago, appears to be about all it took. But I agree the show’s a great ride and Seyfried is phenomenal.
I’m with you on Stranger Things and Julia. The latter is honestly one of the most comforting shows I’ve seen in the past few years, it’s just lovely.Stranger Things though, man, I don’t know what the Duffers did during those few years, but more stuff like S4 has been so far please. It really is the strongest story since the 1st season and it’s been a genuine highlight of the year, especially considering this has been going on for a while and that there are many other great shows contesting with it.I’d also include Evil and For All Mankind. Both for being genre shows that go above and beyond their premises and will, hopefully, be considered classics at least by the time that they wrap up.
I just wish the ST4 gang was all together.
Same, though it seems they will be for the final two episodes. At least in some portion. Though I also understand why they’re being kept apart. Juggling that many characters together all the time is difficult and even split up, some characters get less focus than others. Granted, that was bound to happen anyway.
For All Mankind is great but given there have only been three episodes out this year so far, can get why it didn’t make the cut for a first half of the year type of list (can’t assume S3 will end great even though it seems likely).Haven’t seen Evil but guessing it’s the same with that show given it premiered around same time as For All Mankind this year.
That’s right yeah, absolutely fair!
Agreed about Stranger Things. Whatever pre-release fuss was made about the hiatus and kids’ ages seems to have evaporated. Apparently the best tool for fighting criticism is awesome storytelling
I’d agree Maisel was missing. When it’s clicking it can’t be beat. The scenes with Bruce were among the best of the year so far. Just hold your breath, oh my God good.
The guy they found for Reacher is stunning, and it makes me wonder how Tom Cruise ever scored the role in the first place
So glad to see The Bear make it. Such a great show, even though the last moments of the final episode were a tad unbelievable, and didn’t make much sense. Also as another poster mentioned, The Peacemaker was great. This was truly a very good year for TV thus far.
Yeah, I binged that over the weekend and loved it. Agree about the ending, although I think they’ll make it work in season 2 (I hope they get a season 2). Definitely one of my favorites this year so far.
Planning to start The Bear this week. I watch a lot of FX so I’ve been seeing a ton of ads for it and The Old Man for the longest time now. I hope the article was a typo saying a chef returns home to “ruin” his family’s restaurant. I assume run, unless that was a Freudian slip.
Freudian spoiler?
I will be finding out soon enough if that’s the case!
Really liked it but yeah, scratching my head at that ending.
While the ending is certainly implausible, it was one of those shows where how the show made me feel was more important than the specifics of the plot. also, sorry for the spoiler, but to have a workplace show where no one fucked – or wanted to fuck – was truly a nice change of pace.
Regarding Barry, this can’t be stressed enough… excellent and also condensed in time is a gift from the TV gods. That each episode was better than the last and that none exceeded 35 minutes is a testament to Hader and series co-creator Alec Berg’s knack for efficient but still resonant character exploration.
The Baby and Resident Alien are two of my favorites. Both have deadly babies, which seldom works but does in these shows.
Glad you specified. “The Baby and Resident Alien” sound like it could be one show.
Ooh, yes! I don’t like babies, so I was hesitant to watch The Baby, but it’s SO good!
Oh boy, a slideshow!
Jim Spamfeller’s email is readily available online for you to send complaints direct to the source.
Peacemaker is better than the Boys and I fucking love the Boys!Shame you forgot Peacemaker which should get some serious emmy buzz.
Peacemaker is great, and I’d have agreed with you, had I not just watched episode 6 which really, really thrilled and shocked me.
Wait till you get to the end. I watched the full show 3 time and episode 6 to 8 at least 2 more times.
The Bear rocks. It’s been a long time since a pilot hooked me so quickly. Well, not that long: since Severance. But it’s still really good.
I’m going to disagree on the request for more 6-episode runs. I feel like I’m just getting to know the characters by then; 10-12 seems more appropriate (provided there’s enough story to tell).
Agreed. Between 15 years of KDramas and now Netflix and Disney I’ve watched (single-season) shows shrink from 24 ->20 ->16 ->12->10->6, and IMO the 12 to 16 episode series have the best pacing. Anything shorter just plays like a really long movie, anything longer tends to drag in the middle. (That said, I also think there is still a place for fully episodic ‘monster/crime-of-the-week’ 22 episode TV shows. There’s something to be said for being able to rewatch your favorite episodes on a whim without having to remember some complicated backstory, or just having the comfort of knowing that characters you like will be on your TV every Thursday during the summer.)
I’d recommend 61st Street and Abbott Elementary.
Winning Time was a surprising delight & John C Reilly might have given my favorite performance of the yearEvil is off to another terrific, unsettling season I think & Katja Herbers giving a really great performance Dark Winds is also really interesting & authentic & Zahn McClarnand one of the best, most unsung actors today I also really enjoyed Stranger Things s4 and would be fine with Sadie Sink and Gaten Mazzaro getting awards recognition
I legit loved “Winning Time” – as someone who was not a basketball fan but vividly remembers the era, it was SO perfect. And you’re right: Reilly was incredible. Although Adrian Brody as Pat Riley was my favorite.
I also really liked Adrien Brody and thought he had a very effective character arc as Pat Riley
I know very little about basketball so I’m hoping renting Pat Riley College Basketball for the Mega Drive 35 years ago gives me a good grounding in what’s going on.
Moon Knight deserves to be here more than The Boys does, although the latter hasn’t been as tedious as last season, even though they still insist on following The Deep and A-Train.I just finished watching Severance myself, I wasn’t prepared for it to be as good as it was. I’ve never been so attached to a character played by Christopher Walken before. He’s great in everything, and he’s one of my favorite SNL hosts, but he plays Burt with such a sad vulnerability. He’s a lock for a best supporting nom.Wasn’t so fond of Russian Doll this year. It was enjoyable enough, but it felt so aimless and not really doing anything to justify a second season, contrary to Undone, which was incredible in expanding the show’s world and having a really touching story about family, regret, shame, and trying to deserve your second chance at the risk of everything. It was beautiful.
Severance was brilliant. I’m with you about Russian Doll S2, seemed aimless and purely existed to hangout with the cast a bit longer.
I disagree about Moon Knight however, I’m an MCU fanboy, yet Moon Knight was one of the weaker MCU offerings this year in my opinion. Everyone’s freaking out about Oscar Issac’s acting but he really just threw on a theatre kid british accent no? The only episode that really stood out was the first one due to the perspective changes.
I felt the other way around: Russian Doll S02 was even better than S01, with the story about the mother being really poignant. The first season of Undone was my favourite show of that year, but S02 took an unwanted turn toward a Spielbergian sentimentality.
“Breeders” belongs on this list.
It is absolutely fitting that Dropout is the one representative of the tech industry shows here as it basically lapped the rest of them with ease. And it is seriously difficult to praise Seyfried’s performance too much. Like I’ve always thought she was good, but her Holmes was a goddamn revelation.
Just had to click through quickly to make sure Our Flag Means Death and Somebody Somewhere were here. :)Although they just started, I’m really into Dark Winds on AMC and The Old Man on FX.
I didn’t watch all of The Dropout but I just couldn’t see the point. Holmes isn’t really that interesting a character aside from what she was able to get away with, and the show doesn’t really make her intriguing or give any real insight into what makes her tick. The performances were great, but it felt like a plot in search of a story worth telling.
Ellie & Natasia beats the shit out of anything comedy here.
I wanted to like this, but barring the Brothers Pomodoro, it’s just not working for me.
I thought we all were in agreement that Barry kinda sucked this season. Good finale, tho.
I don’t think it was a good as Season 2, but it was still solid
I wasn’t expecting it, but holy hell how is Peacemaker not on this list
Most of my favorite modern shows have completed their runs, but the ones that still remain- Atlanta, Barry, Better Call Saul, The Boys, Ozark, Stranger Things, and Undone all came back in 2022 so its been a great TV year for me so far. The only favorite that let me down was Killing Eve.I haven’t had time to watch much new stuff, but I really liked Severance. Currently checking out We Own This City.
I assume Derry Girls Season 3 isn’t available in the US yet?
Heartstopper is quite lovely. And in a time when LGBTQ+ rights are and continuing to be threatened globally, letting queer teens be and learn to be themselves in a wholesome and mostly drama-free series is comforting.
Leaving MoonKnight off just seems like anti MCU pandering.
I didn’t see anyone else mention this, but Homelander is The Boys version of Superman, not Captain America. Soldier Boy is their Captain America…
Angelyne is one of the most tedious shows I’ve watched in awhile.
Really nothing has been good that has been new. I just want Bob’s Burgers to start