It may be tough to imagine this, at a moment when consumers are drowning in high quality series. But there was a time when it was tough to cobble together a list of 10 TV shows worth remembering at the end of the year.

I’ve been in this game since 1997, and for a long time the networks and studios which made TV assumed their audiences were less sophisticated and less demanding than filmgoers. They gave them simpler plots, which mostly revolved around people talking in rooms, with storylines that spelled out every emotional beat in excruciating detail.

No more. The best TV these days is indistinguishable from film – other than its length – with visual stylings and grand displays cribbed directly from the most influential figures in cinema.

So my list this year highlights the wide spread of material now available to TV audiences, who may have been spoiled by all the greatness available to them with the flick of a remote or the tap of a finger to open an app.

Shogun (FX) – It’s tough to describe how big a swing this show was for FX, which sunk many millions of dollars into an epic miniseries centered on feudal-era Japan with dialogue largely in Japanese and a story de-centered from the white, British sailor who was the star of previous versions. Its story on the price of duty, the pain of loss, the courage required to resist dysfunctional leadership and sometimes unappreciated value of unfamiliar cultures spoke perfectly to the current moment.

Click here: Talking Shogun on Pop Culture Happy Hour

Shrinking (Apple TV+) – I’m a sucker for comedies which lean into the complexities of life, with characters who have been around tackling the issues which arise when you live long enough to learn how much you don’t know. This show manages all that and more, unlocking an ace supporting cast – including greats like Jessica Williams, Harrison Ford, Michael Urie, Ted McGinley (!!) and Christa Miller.

Disclaimer (Apple TV+) – Yeah, lots of people found this series manipulative and implausible. But I think director/writer Alfonso Cuaron delivered a series which took advantage of streaming’s breadth to deliver a story which evolves over episodes, leaving you rooting for different characters at different times as the narrative unfolds, with a gut punch twist at the end.

Click here: Disclaimer is a thriller built for the streaming age.

The Diplomat (Netflix) – Feels like an alternate universe, where government staffers are good at their jobs and working hard to save the world, but Keri Russell is outstanding as a no-nonsense diplomat who stumbles into a sprawling conspiracy in Britain and then must face TV’s most formidable vice president, Alison Janney’s Grace Penn.

Click here: Diplomat is just as savvy in season 2.

Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist (Peacock) — It’s easy to dismiss whatever Kevin Hart does as empty, flashy comedy – okay, that may tell you what I think of his standup specials. But this is a blaxploitation-inspired, Black-culture-filled dramatic thriller masterpiece featuring heavyweights like Sam Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard in the story of how America’s biggest Black gangsters came to Atlanta for a landmark Muhammad Ali fight and wound up getting robbed by thieves that had no idea who they were ripping off.

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in Two Pieces (Apple TV+) – You don’t realize how much you don’t know about one of the most beloved comics in Hollywood, until you watch these two films, which dig into his life using an archive filled with items and footage from Martin’s own vaults – including a list of bits from shows he performed as a kid for Boy Scout troops.

Hot Ones (YouTube) – This is a magnificently unassuming reinvention of the celebrity TV talk show interview, turning the format on its head by having big names answer often-incisive questions while eating increasingly hot chicken wings (or a veggie version). The show’s not-so-secret weapon is host Sean Evans, whose easygoing style and talent for asking questions these often-interviewed celebrities have rarely heard, creates the show’s signature moments.

Doctor Who (Disney+/BBC America) – Hiring Ncuti Gatwa and letting him bring his infectious, sultry wide-eyed energy to TV’s legendary Time Lord was the best idea this franchise has had in a very long time.

Click here: Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa feels sorry for critics of show’s diversity.

Have I Got News for You (CNN) – TV’s third place newschannel is not the place you would expect to see a fresh, funny American translation of a classic British news satire. But when you put Roy Wood Jr. in the driver’s seat, backed by Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, great things can happen.

Somebody, Somewhere (HBO) – A sweet story about urbane misfits who build a potent found family, anchored by the ace team of Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller.

True Detective: Night Country (HBO) — The only thing better than watching Jodie Foster and Kali Reis dig into heroically antiheroic characters throughout this Alaska-set masterpiece was seeing how freaked out anthology creator Nic Pizzolato got, after he realized how effectively showrunner Issa Lopez revitalized his fading anthology with a potent dose of female and indigenous energy.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime Video) — Turning a reboot of a failed espionage story into a meditation on starting a new job, falling in love and maintaining a relationship across cultures is a heavy lift. But somehow Donald Glover and Maya Erskine managed it.

The Bear (FX) — Sure, its third season has a lot of underwhelming moments (John Cena, my brother, I’m looking at you.). But the episode dedicated to Liza Colon-Zayas’ Tinas Marrero is better than most anything else I saw on TV this year.

Listen to my interview with Hollywood Black director Justen Simien for KCRW’s The Business

Hollywood Black (MGM+) — Dear White People creator/showrunner Justin Simien directs this amazing docuseries tracing the evolution of Black images and performers in Hollywood, based on the landmark book by historian Donald Bogle.

The Day of the Jackal (Peacock) – A smart, compelling way to turn a James Bond-esque thriller about the hunt for the world’s best assassin into a limited series that, despite its slightly outlandish ending, made me believe ginger scarecrow Eddie Redmayne could be a highly trained killer.

Click here to hear the interview with Lauren LaFranc.

The Penguin (HBO) – The best superhero series without a superhero I have seen yet, anchored by Colin Farrell’s transformative performance.

Black Doves (Netflix) — Keira Knightley is so good she makes you root for a character who had two children with a man while spying on him over 10 years for a shadowy intelligence agency, and sees that life threatening to unravel when her lover is assassinated. And that’s not even factoring in Ben Whishaw, another scarecrow-thin British actor playing a hitman and Knightley’s backup.

Click here: On Black Doves, spies on TV are juggling work and family – just like the rest of us.

Honorable mentions

Criminal Record (Apple TV+)

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (ID)

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

The Boys (Prime Video)

Batman: Caped Crusader (Prime Video)

X-Men ’97 (Disney+)

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

Photographer (National Geographic)

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)

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