The 17 best TV performances of 2023
Which small-screen turn from a year chock-full of amazing ones will nab the top spot on our list?
TV Lists Entertainment, Culture
Clockwise from bottom left: Emma Stone in The Curse (Richard Foreman/A24/Paramount+), Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (Shane Brown/FX), Kieran Culkin in Succession (Claudette Barius/HBO), Jharrel Jerome in I’m A Virgo (Pete Lee/Prime Video) Graphic: Karl Gustafson
What a victorious year it’s been for TV—and we’re not just talking about the WGA and SAG winning their contract negotiations. The past 12 months have also boasted some truly great series, as evidenced in our best shows of the year list, that were brought to life by some truly great performers. From breakout turns in I’m A Virgo and Beef to celebrated final bows in Succession and Reservation Dogs, these are The A.V. Club’s favorite performances from 2023. (Heads up that we limited it to one actor per show, a daunting task for any fan of The Bear … or Barry … or Abbott Elementary … or …. )
44 Comments
Um no.
Uncle Baby Billy > the rest of the gemstone cast.
Edi Patterson for me. In an incredible ensemble cast that includes John Goodman just killing it, she still stands out. I mean, when you’re actually out performing the Goggins as Baby Billy, that’s really saying something.
Agree 100%. Normally Danny McBride is the funniest guy in anything he is in. And as great as he is on RG, I am not even sure if he cracks the top 5 of the funniest characters. Edi is #1, Goggins #2
She is so fucking funny and such a find, truly a woman who matches — and even exceeds! — Danny McBride’s energy.
Nice to see Edi and Drew in this list. Amazing improvisers!
So you all know:Richie wears suits now.
Principal Coleman is so nearly identical to a principal have worked for that I had trouble watching season 1.
I personally prefer the performances of Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter on Abbott Elementary as the wise–but not cynical–veteran teachers. Janelle James is very funny though and that is a sneaky layered part
What I am saying is that the incompetence, corruption, vapidness is not a fictional portrayal of a principal, the stuff she pulls in season one really happens. I was not commenting on the performance, acting, other roles in the show or anything else. I was just saying that the principal in the show is hyper realistic.
Agreed. It’s so difficult to discern the actor’s performance in an already cartoonish character.
Kieran Culkin somehow managed to.
Yes, that character had years of hurt and layers uncovered by Culkin, eh. Right now the Principal from Abbot E is about as deep a one of the Housewives of South Philly.
You’re right and that’s a very funny description. Inaccurate comparison on my part.
But we love her!!! She’ll show depths upcoming I’m sure!
Fuck Beef was absolutely awful.
Well I’ve never enjoyed any of Cinemax’s original programming, so I can’t imagine I’d like Fuck Beef very much, either.
You need to go to Halsted Street on a Sat night then. Also, Beef was awesome and I’m surprised Steven Yeun didn’t get a mention here. He outshone most actors on TV this year with his performance.
I thought Kate Box on Deadloch gave a really good performance, sort of the straight woman but just barely keeping it together
Such a tonally challenging show, but she set the standard that I kept going back to whenever I needed the reminder.
Devery Jacobs was terrific on the final season of Reservation Dogs & a lot about her performance that season has really stuck with me, especially the episode where she reunites with the father she didn’t know about. But Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack gave my favorite performance on the show, I thought she was the funniest and also the most affecting of the young actors. Her tossed off curses and puzzled expressions were enough to make me laugh. Her face is usually deadpan and yet somehow very expressive
She is amazing and I’m proud to say she’s from the reserve close to where I live in Alberta.
Agreed, Willie Jack really came into her own in the final season. Her scenes with Lily Gladstone’s character were some of the most moving, heartbreaking scenes I’ve seen in recent memory.
Willie Jack was my favorite too, such a kind person with a rough veneer on top.Elora’s arc with her father was a neat and unexpected turn though.
Wow, that’s an amazing still of Elle Fanning in that thumbnail.
I saw McClarnon in Doctor Sleep and thought he was great, glad to see him in so much stuff lately
I thought Zahn McClarnon as Mathias on Longmire was the best Native American character I had ever seen & now he has had several performances that might be even better
Came here to make sure Ebon Moss-Bachrach was on here. Not number one (should have been) but glad to see it.“Forks” is one of the best episodes of any series, ever, but the man’s done amazing work on The Bear since the first episode.
Came here to check the same. I’ve been a fan of Ebon’s since GIRLS, where he gave a seriously underrated and batshit performance.Re Succession, it’s almost impossible to include only one of them on this list. Kieran deserves this spot, but I’m praying that Sarah Snook finally gets her overdue acknowledgement as well. Shiv is one of the best female characters I’ve ever seen.
I assume this is for series regulars only. Single-episode guest-stars don’t qualify.Nick Offerman crushed it in The Last Of Us harder than anything else I’ve seen on TV this year. But he was a single-episode guest-star.
I don’t say this to be a contrarian, but I found Culkin to be exhausting. Every line in every situation involved way too much stammering and pausing and hand work pulling on his hair or rubbing his face. That funeral clip wasn’t much different than him ordering a hot dog, but without the weird breakdown at the end.
Kulkin does a pretty good job of letting Roman’s mask slip in unexpected ways (while I agree going over the top), so if I’m picking one actor from Succession it’s Macfadyen. He starts the series as such a drip, a competent corporate drone at best whose last name alone was annoying, and gradually emerges to say what he thinks and take what he wants – also while balancing being subservient to the big bosses that determine his fate. The dinner scene where Tom elects to further his career by eating Matsson saying he could probably fuck Shiv if he wanted to was simultaneously funny and sickening. It’s also what made him CEO.
That was an incredible scene. I could write pages and pages praising the performances of each of them, and I think Jeremy Strong’s will be studied for decades. It’s hard to pick a “best,” but I do feel that Sarah Snook is overlooked a lot (much like Shiv.)
What I admired about both Macfayden’s performance and the way his character was written is how much he gradually sneaks up on you. He’s much smarter and more cunning than you ever would have believed at the beginning, culminating in being named to the CEO role by not demonstrating too much naked ambition.
I hated Roman so much in the first episode that I almost stopped watching. His character arc and “growth?” was something to behold though. Watching Culkin become a more complex and somewhat sympathetic actor as the seasons progressed was right on track with Roman’s arc. It’s a pain in the ass to explain to some people I know that no one can judge him (or any of them) accurately without watching the entire series – it can sound like homework to busy people. But, I ended up loving Roman while wanting to strangle him. Culkin threaded the needle between revolting and appealing perfectly.He deserves the accolades. The show and everyone on it does as well. None of them are overrated.
The series refuses to give any easy answers about the morality of Joel’s last act in season one And I don’t think that would have worked if anyone but Pedro Pascal was playing Joel. As it stood, for me, I was with him the whole way, and not only did I understand his actions, but fully applauded what he told Ellie.I don’t know if they plan more seasons. I’ll watch if they do, but I kinda thought that was just a perfect series end. (Never played or saw the video game – so I’m not sure if they have like hours and hours of more plot to adapt…)
Penn Badgley in You? Seriously? That series got worse with every season. It does not belong on a list like this.
Yes its is Don’t know what is going on.
Martin Short in Only Murders in the Building is my favorite performance this year, because he holds his own in a romantic plot with Meryl Streep. I did not love the musical theatre plot and was disappointed in Paul Rudd, but damn Short can make things that should not work work and he does.
“A great Gillian Jacobs,” who is the long-time partner of showrunner Chris Storer.
How is Spader not on this list?
Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb.