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We have to give 2021 props for blessing us with shows (or, as we like to call them, pandemic-era distractions) like Mare of Easttown, WandaVision, and Succession. But 2022 has posed some steep competition in the TV department: With the return of favorites like Bridgerton, Euphoria, and The White Lotus, plus the arrival of buzzy new dramas like Severance and The Bear, this year’s slate kept our eyes glued to the screen.
From classic revivals to new installments of our favorite series, here are the shows we loved in 2022.
Abbott Elementary Season 2
Rarely does a show receive the accolades it actually deserves, but for once, the hype machine got this one right: Abbott Elementary is exactly as good as everyone says it is. Quinta Brunson’s teacher-centric sitcom is clever but not condescending, uplifted by a dream ensemble cast and their shrewd comedic timing. Like a handful of beloved sitcoms before it, Abbott is a show you can play countless times without ever losing a laugh. —Lauren Puckett-Pope, Associate Editor
The White Lotus Season 2
Checking into the White Lotus on Sunday nights meant checking out of my life for an hour—and I wouldn't have it any other way. The return of Mike White's vacation comedy-drama anthology is intoxincatingly good. Set in Sicily for its sophomore season, the second go sees a new set of guests (besides Jennifer Coolidge’s Emmy-award winning Tanya, who’s back for round two) get wound up in one another’s lives. It’s a luxrious and glamorous escape room where opera, palazzos, and toxic masculinity are the traps. The series also gained a cult internet following ever devoted to its viral moments and looming murder mystery. (Who died in episode one? Who isn’t checking out?) With an ensemble cast of Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, and more, rest assured that you'll be asking room service for five more seasons. —Sam Maude, Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief
Severance
It’s been months since I finished Severance, and the final shot of the final episode still replays in my head from time to time, prompting me to Google, once again, when the second season will be released. For the uninitiated, the show is a science-fiction thriller starring heavy-hitters like Adam Scott, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. In their universe, employees at the mysterious Lumon Industries can undergo a “severance” procedure, after which your work self (your “innie”) knows nothing about your private life, and your private self (your “outie”) knows nothing about your work life. Naturally, chaos ensues.—Madison Feller, Senior Writer/Editor
Pachinko
Based on Min Jin Lee’s bestselling epic novel of the same name, the big-budget series follows a single Korean family over four generations in the 20th century as they strive to make a life for themselves in Japan. Written by showrunner Soo Hugh, Pachinko features a handful of international talent, including Oscar winner Youn Yuh Jung and superstar Lee Minho, as well as Love Life’s Jin Ha. This rich and moving saga was painfully overlooked by Emmys voters, but you definitely shouldn’t do the same. —Erica Gonzales, Senior Culture Editor
The Bear
The internet is thirsty for The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White—and with good reason. As the fine-dining chef who inherits his family’s humble Italian beef sandwich shop, the tattooed short king commands attention simply by existing. Brash, tempestuous, and very passionate about his meat, Carmy (White) is hell-bent on saving the failing restaurant, and you’ll love watching him every step of the way. Yes, chef! —Claire Stern, Digital Deputy Editor
Heartstopper
Hopeless romantics beware: This show will make you cry. Many times. Hell, I think I cried every episode. An adaption of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel of the same name, this year’s breakout love story follows Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), two students at Truham Grammar School. The show features characters with different queer identities, all with their own plots and heart-pounding romances. It’s a celebration of love sprinkled with relatable high school moments perfect for any nostalgic adult or longing teen. The final cherry on top? Academy Award winner Olivia Colman as the loving mother every child needs. Game, set, rugby match.—SM
Andor
One of my favorite shows of the entire year, Andor is not just an excellent Star Wars story; it’s an excellent story, period. You needn’t know everything about the galaxy far, far away to get invested in Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, an unlikely, reluctant hero who becomes enmeshed in the infamous Rebellion as the Galactic Empire’s grip tightens around him. Featuring one of the best prison break sequences in recent memory—plus an all-important lovable droid—Andor is Star Wars at its best. —LPP
P-Valley Season 2
With its second season, this screen adaptation of Katori Hall’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play solidifies itself as some of the best television out there. COVID narratives are not easy to portray as the pandemic continues to rage on, but P-Valley delivers a compelling one about the fight for survival—for both the Pynk, the Southern strip club at the center of the series, and those in its surrounding town of Chucalissa. Nicco Annan’s Uncle Clifford remains as iconic as ever.—EG
Reservation Dogs Season 2
After premiering last summer, Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi’s Reservation Dogs returned this year and stuck the landing. The core group of young friends—Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), Elora (Devery Jacobs), and Willy Jack (Paulina Alexis)—continue to grapple with the loss of their friend Daniel, as well as an outsider’s encroaching on their tight-knit dynamic. While the show explores grief on a deeper level this season, it also tackles timely topics like white supremacy and gentrification on indigenous lands with honesty, levity, and heart. A few bottle episodes shine a welcome light on other members of the community, like Big (Zahn McClarnon) and the mother figures (played by Sarah Podemski, Tamara Podemski, Jana Schmieding, and Nathalie Standingcloud). I’m glad Willie Jack gets a bigger chance to shine this season because Paulina Alexis is a hoot. —EG
We Own This City
Living up to The Wire is no easy feat, and We Own This City certainly pales in comparison to its spiritual predecessor when it comes to fan fervor. But that the Jon Bernthal-led series remains so overlooked is criminal; the show takes a hard look at the history of police violence in Baltimore, confronting The Wire’s own legacy in a careful but captivating manner. It’s well-acted, but perhaps even more importantly, it’s honest about the reality of crime and punishment in modern-day America. —LPP
Barry Season 3
Had you forgotten about Barry? I’d forgotten about Barry. To be honest, I’m glad I’d forgotten—that made the sheer joy of watching the series finally return all the more palpable. Though, perhaps “joy” isn’t the right word; Barry season 3 tests the boundaries of taste, its dark plot twists as diabolical as they are...well, hilarious. Bill Hader, as the titular hitman protagonist, gives an Emmy-worthy performance alongside Sarah Goldberg, Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan, and more. The series is one of HBO’s funniest, and one of its saddest—a dangerous but deliberate mixture. —LPP
Bad Sisters
My very good sister recommended I watch Bad Sisters and it quickly became my favorite show of the year. Sharon Horgan (Divorce, Catastrophe) has done it again with a series that follows the five Garvey sisters as they plot to off their awful brother-in-law, The Prick. The gripping first season wrestles with domestic violence, sexual assault, and other serious themes, but as with everything Horgan is behind, it is also laugh-‘til-you-cry funny. —Kayla Webley Adler, Deputy Editor
House of the Dragon
Easily one of the year’s most important chapters in appointment television, House of the Dragon shattered any worries that Game of Thrones had exhausted its welcome in its lackluster final season. The prequel series arrived with a bang, reigniting the worldwide fervor for George R. R. Martin's fantasy world and bringing with it spectacle, controversy, and memes. The show was the perfect reminder that, even in this time of division, fire-breathing beasts can still bring us together. —LPP
The Rehearsal
I’ve tried and come up short explaining what The Rehearsal is about several times IRL, so I’ll just say it goes places. Nathan Fielder takes the approach to people and their problems that he piloted on Nathan For You and pushes it even further, giving people the absurdist chance to rehearse something in their lives before it happens. Fielder is a social terrorist, but he’s fun as hell to watch. —Katherine Krueger, Features Editor
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars Season 7
Whoever decided to bring back eight Drag Race winners for an All Stars season deserves their own Legendary Legend Star, and whoever decided to shake up the show’s format deserves ten. In this rousing season of Drag Race, where no one gets eliminated until the final Lip Sync Lollapalooza for the crown, all of the winners had a chance to strut their stuff. From queens earning Legendary Legend Stars when they fell in the top two to blocking one another from receiving a star the following week when they won the Lip Sync for Your Legacy, it truly felt like a joyous season of, as Monét X Change put it, “Drag Survivor.” Oh, and let’s not forget what is quite possibly the best Snatch Game of all time. Queen of All Queens? More like Season of All Seasons.—SM
The Dropout
Amanda Seyfried has said that playing Elizabeth Holmes was “the hardest role of my life,” but her hard work sure paid off. In The Dropout, she believably portrays the disgraced Theranos founder from adolescence through her rise as a Silicon Valley wunderkind and downfall after her bio-tech business was exposed as a scam. The series from Elizabeth Meriwether isn’t just a riveting grifter saga, but also a story about how a blindly ambitious young woman manipulated an entire industry desperate to believe her, and was manipulated herself in the process. —EG
The Rings of Power
Was The Rings of Power a brilliant feat of imagination, or a crushing disappointment? It depends on the Tolkien fan you ask, but one thing is for certain: The series was a soaring success for Amazon, which is already speeding through production on season 2. The dialogue might have been lackluster, but the show re-captured the feeling of awe-filled immersion that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films once inspired, and you can be sure—fans or not—the world will be watching when the next episodes drop. —LPP
Industry Season 2
This show is Skins meets Succession meets Billions, but all the characters are even more unlikeable than the biggest villain in any of those shows. There's cutthroat outsider Harper, played by breakout star Myha’la Herrold, who’s slipped a slew of figurative knives into her so-called work friends’ backs, and Marisa Abela, a master of dead eyes paired with a welcoming smile, as her best friend (or maybe not?) Yasmin, as they duke it out at a London-based investment bank. Ken Leung is also fantastic as Harper’s sometimes-mentor Eric, but the whole ensemble cast is great. I need the next seasons ASAP! —KK
Search Party Season 5
Pour one out for Search Party, the irreverent, unpredictable, satirical, and truly hilarious five-season dark comedy that wrapped up at the beginning of this year. The series’ final episodes are some of its boldest, as we see Dory ascend (or descend?) into the position of cult leader who’s attempting to create, and hopefully mass-market, a pill for enlightenment. It’s difficult to dive too far in without giving much away, but if you thought you knew how Search Party would end, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. —MF
Euphoria Season 2
After an almost three-year wait, we finally reunited with TV’s most popular—and perhaps wildest—high schoolers. While Zendaya continues to prove she’s the best performer of her generation, her co-stars also began to earn their due this season, like Sydney Sweeney, who was rightfully nominated for an Emmy, and the effortlessly chill Angus Cloud, who showed off his range with Fez’s heartbreaking scenes. Let’s not overlook Nika King and Storm Reid as Rue’s mom and sister, either. Euphoria creator Sam Levinson may draw the internet’s ire, but the cast keeps us all hooked. —EG
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