The 20 best TV shows of 2022

Once seen as a spinoff of the beloved Breaking Bad, first and foremost, Better Call Saul became considered one of the best dramas of the new millennium in its own right. The final season aired in 2022, during which star Bob Odenkirk suffered a heart attack while filming. Fortunately, he recovered, and he continued delivering an incredible performance. Better Call Saul managed to get creative and stick the landing for long-time fans equally. Dramatic TV didn’t get better in 2022.

It’s hard out there for network sitcoms. Even Tina Fey can’t ensure a hit. Mr. Mayor was another joke factory, with Ted Danson and Holly Hunter starring for good measure. And yet, after its second season aired in 2022, Mr. Mayor was canceled. It's unfortunate because Mr. Mayor was as funny as any network sitcom in recent memory.

Speaking of canceled before its time, Paper Girls aired one season on Amazon Prime and was canceled. We still recommend checking it out. The sci-fi series based on a Brian K. Vaughan comic delivered on the potential found in the comic but, unfortunately, was overlooked by audiences. It’s hard to get much traction in the wake of The Rings of Power, perhaps, a show that was fine but did not make this list.

Like Better Call Saul, Atlanta came to an end in 2022. Donald Glover’s show was always willing to dance to the beat of its own drum. One episode of the final season was dedicated to the fictionalized story of A Goofy Movie. It was fascinating. You could usually count on Atlanta for that. It was often good, and it was never boring.

The Suıcide Squad brought the vulgarity and gore associated with the comics, thanks to James Gunn's ability to let his hair down and do his thing (the man started at Troma, after all). This spinoff series focused on John Cena’s Peacemaker, an anti-hero among anti-heroes in the film. It didn’t take pretzel logic to make him the show’s protagonist, though. They managed to, dare we say, humanize him, bringing substance to a show loaded down with plenty of blood and swearing.

In 2022, Apple TV+ became more than that streaming service with Ted Lasso on it. Severance is a trippy sci-fi drama that landed in a big way. The Emmys loved it, as did critics and audiences. Ben Stiller directed and executive produced. Adam Scott stars, but the supporting cast of Severance is full of distinct performances.

From one Apple TV+ show to another, Slow Horses is a little more traditional but still quite good. As opposed to the trippiness of Severance, Slow Horses is a British-infused spy thriller that executes on the story beats we are used to. It helps that Gary Oldman stars in the show. Best Actor winners making the move to TV often bodes well for a show.

Speaking of Best Actor winners moving to TV, The Old Man stars Jeff Bridges in his first TV show alongside John Lithgow. Bridges plays a former CIA agent whose past catches up to him. Sure, Bridges is still doing his grizzled, muttering guy thing, but he’s so good at it, and Lithgow is a great foil.

Let it be known: The Simpsons has been quite good the last couple of seasons. The people in charge have sort of given the iconic sitcom a mild reboot, giving it a spark of life. The Simpsons hasn’t been this funny in several years. It’s not even inconsistent anymore. Bad episodes have fallen by the wayside. The most recent season has also been experimental in a way that really works.

In the wake of Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Star Wars TV show really hit it out of the park. Andor was created by Tony Gilroy, primarily a film director. It shows in the style of storytelling and in how good it looks. Rogue One was a really good film, and the show that serves as its prequel lived up to the quality.

This was the best limited series on TV in 2022. The Dropout tells the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, whose fraudulent actions led her to great success and brutal downfall. Amanda Seyfried is fantastic as Holmes, and it’s impressive how The Dropout manages to thread the needle. This is storytelling at its finest.

Speaking of company founders with rises and falls, WeCrashed wasn’t quite as good as The Dropout , but it still earned its spot on the list. The story of WeWork and its married founders largely lives on the performances of Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto in the center of the show.

In 1996, Olivier Assayas made Irma Vep, a French movie about the making of a remake of a silent film. Many years later, Assayas returned with an eight-episode limited series effectively retelling the same story. Now, though, he can flesh it out. Also, he had Alicia Vikander to star. Remaking your own movie, which is about remaking a movie? Yeah, that’s a level of meta we can get behind.

In 2022, some beloved shows said goodbye, and some new shows wowed. Then, there are the old standbys that we shouldn’t overlook. Barry aired its third season this year, and it was as good as anything. It was also as dark as anything. Sure, Barry was always a dark comedy, but in its third season, the comedy basically disappeared. The show was not hurt by that in the slightest. Bill Hader and company still made incredible television.

Yeah, the fourth season of Stranger Things was overstuffed. A few episodes were straight-up movie-length. Those are quibbles, and we aren’t saying Stranger Things was the best thing on TV. However, we gladly watched all those lengthy episodes because the show was still exciting, fun, and at the height of bombastic sci-fi storytelling.

The network sitcom that could. Abbott Elementary debuted midseason right before the start of 2022. It found critical acclaim and popularity with audiences. As a network sitcom, it earned seven Emmy nominations, winning three. The second season of Abbott Elementary avoided the stress of uncertainty, allowing the show to stretch out its legs and build upon that acclaimed inaugural outing.

The first season of Only Murders in the Building was a pleasant surprise on Hulu. Sure, it had Steve Martin and Martin Short, but would the show about three strangers in the same building making a true crime podcast work? It did, as a comedy and as a murder mystery. Could the second season recreate that magic? By and large, yes. Martin and Short still have great chemistry, and Selena Gomez clearly has developed a rapport with them. The second season was a bit overstuffed with melodrama, but it delivered laughs and was a murder mystery once again. 

Euphoria was not necessarily expected to be one of those HBO shows that gets audiences buzzing, but it became just that. It is feverishly adored and a meme factory at this point. However, it’s also rife with quality, especially in the acting. The Emmys certainly agreed with that and gave Zendaya her second award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

If you want to watch goofy comedy, What We Do in the Shadows delivers as much as any show. That remained true in the fourth season of the show. There has been no slip in quality, no dip in the laughs. The vampire comedy based on Taika Waititi’s movie is still going strong. Silly can be brilliant too.

Harley Quinn was salvaged from DC Universe by HBO Max, and we are richer for it. The raunchy animated show didn’t reinvent the wheel in the third season, but we don’t care. We watch Harley Quinn for the vulgar jokes, the absurd violence, and, of course, James Adomian’s performance as Bane.