TV shows · Reel 08
Cutting a year this good down to ten was, dare we say it, a little emotional. Comedy, drama and action — every genre represented, every show worth staying in for.
So many exciting TV shows debuted or continued in 2017 that it has been genuinely difficult to cut this list down to ten. It was — dare I say it — a bit on the emotional side to deliberately remove some shows for one reason or another. It would have been far easier to write up the twenty best. But ten is still a good number.
Unlike many of the top-ten lists you’ll find online — lopsided, in my opinion — I have tried as much as possible to pick the best of every genre, from comedy to drama to action. They are all well represented here. So far, these are the shows that have rocked 2017.
You can usually identify a big-budget production by the hype that runs for months before release — and many still disappoint. Following its quiet arrival on January 6, I was charmed by this captivating comedy, which reimagines the classic 1970s sitcom with a thoroughly modern twist. Among the topics it tackles: wage inequality, post-traumatic stress disorder and teenage sexuality. One Day at a Time is a dose of sunshine for gloomy days.
Today’s theatre is awash with superheroes, and Noah Hawley could easily have followed the trend and smiled all the way to the bank. Instead, the creator introduces a twist within the genre and a genuinely ground-breaking story: the origin of lesser-known superheroes — their vulnerabilities, their families, their failures — depicted in a way you have simply never seen.
If you loved Twin Peaks and Gossip Girl, imagine what crossing the two would look like — and you have Riverdale. The cast is splendid, and a subtle murder mystery drives the plot. A few twists and turns will keep you glued to the screen while the hours quietly trickle away.
If there is one thing Ryan Murphy achieves through the long-running rift between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange), it is dragging into the limelight how men subtly manipulate women who are made to battle for their attention.
Dear White People showed great promise from its very first season, representing multiple points of view with real sincerity while avoiding any dogmatic portrait of what an American is. The characters feel utterly real — with hopes, hobbies and passions of their own.
At one point, fans of The Good Fight worried the series would not live up to expectations — but it did. Robert and Michelle King have flourished, and the secret may simply be that this is that rare thing: a genuinely good spin-off.
Those who saw the first series were stunned to watch a man vanish into the embrace of a goddess. The show only gets weirder for those willing to put in the effort — and it rewards them richly. American Gods is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 masterpiece.
There was deep concern after season four, following the departure of creator Armando Iannucci. Season five held the bar high, and season six has kept it there. Veep remains one of the first political comedies to find success well beyond politics.
The timing of The Handmaid’s Tale — landing after last November’s election results — was perfect. It tells of the few fertile women forced into a form of slavery, serving as surrogates for wealthy couples after a global disaster made conception nearly impossible.
Despite already being in its seventh season, no list would be complete without Game of Thrones. For the still-uninitiated: GOT tells the story of seven noble families fighting for the Iron Throne, and each episode ends on a climax of gut-wrenching suspense. It is, without doubt, one of the best TV shows of 2017.
