The best new TV shows of 2024

“What if X famous character, but older?” is a classic trope, but sometimes it works. “Monsieur Spade” is both that and a fish-out-of-water story. Sam Spade, the grizzled American private eye, has retired to France living the life of a widower. Then, he finds himself pulled into his small, lush town’s seedy story. Also, once nuns get murdered, somebody has to step up. “Monsieur Spade” came from TV veterans Tom Fontana and Scott Frank, and while it may have been a one-off, it was not presented as a limited series.

At least this Amazon Prime series tweaks the concept from the 2005 film of the same name best known for its role in the romance of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. That was a breezy action-comedy about a married couple who find out one another are rival spies. In “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” the show two strangers are recruited to pose as a married couple to do spy work. Having Donald Glover and Maya Erskine serving as the leads helped make this one pop.

Unquestionably, “Shogun” is the TV story of 2024. The FX show (which admittedly is watched by the majority of viewers on Hulu) is based on an acclaimed novel that was turned into an acclaimed limited series in 1980. Though primarily the cast is Japanese and much of the dialog is in Japanese, “Shogun” was a hit, but also a critical darling. The show won 18 Emmys, including for Outstanding Drama Series.

This book adaptation proved a bit more polarizing than “Shogun,” but we come down on the positive side of things when it comes to “Palm Royale.” The period piece looks great, and the cast is stellar. Kristen Wiig serves as the hard-to-pin-down center of this dramedy as a social striver willing to lie, cheat, and steal to become one of the social superstars. “Palm Royale” has been renewed for a second season, and one does wonder (and worry) when a show adapted from a book has to start generating more of its own story.

Is it pure nostalgia? Well, yes and no. “X-Men ‘97” fully exists because of all the Millennials who grew up on the cartoon and still have fond feelings for it. Disney surely noticed the original show being watched on Disney+ and figured there was nostalgia to be mined. On the other hand, it proved to not just be empty nostalgia. “X-Men ‘97” picks up where the original series left off, but by delivering quality stories the show remained engaging beyond simply letting the animation style wash over you.

We were only tangentially familiar with the “Fallout” video game series, and the long history of dubious video game adaptations had us skeptical. If not for the promise of Walton Goggins playing a gunslinger with a skull face called “The Ghoul,” we may have skipped it. Fortunately, we didn’t. Yes, Goggins is the shining light of the cast, even in a dark role, but “Fallout” has plenty more going for it, and even with no working knowledge of what comes from the games we were grabbed by the story and the visuals.

Did you like Alan J. Pakula’s adaptation of “Presumed Innocent” from 1990? The one with Harrison Ford in the lead role? If so, how do you feel about David E. Kelley, the prolific TV creator behind the likes of “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice?” Would you like to see Kelley’s version of “Presumed Innocent” but with Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead? If yes, well, obviously you should check this out.

One day Vince Vaughn woke up and the film industry no longer had a vested interest in Vince Vaughn vehicles. Where could he go to do the Vince Vaughn thing? After years of being a movie star, the answer remains “television.” The lead character in “Bad Monkey” is the most “Vince Vaughn” character we have seen in years. Fortunately, the milieu of this story fits such a character, and we found the experience enjoyable, if a bit slim.

New comedies that are just pure comedies seem to largely be animated these days. Where are the sitcoms? Well, while “English Teacher” is not FX’s heir apparent to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” in terms of pure comedy, but it’s the best-received new comedy show of 2024. At least it isn’t a mockumentary. We’ve had our fill of those.

Speaking of “Always Sunny” as that show quietly is put out to pasture, Kaitlin Olson is getting a chance to do the “quirky lead of a procedural” thing, which is a role she’s well-suited for. Based on a French show, “High Potential” stars Olson as Morgan, a cleaning woman who is the single mom of three kids. However, she also possesses a high IQ and keen observational skills, leading to a consultant role with the LAPD. Yeah, we’ve seen these bones before, but it all comes down to the execution.

Bruce Campbell has a key role in a horror-comedy, so that should be enough to sell some people. “Hysteria!” is set in, and riffs off, the era of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. A couple teenagers in a small Michigan town are kidnapped, and one of them turns up dead. Satanists start to get the blame, and so one high school kid gets an idea: His band should rebrand as Satanic death metal. Complications ensue, shall we say.

Debuting in the wake of the big success of “Dune: Part Two,” at least “Prophecy” is not merely mining the same territory. It’s not just that it focuses much more on the Bene Gesserit, the “Dune” universe’s answer to witches. The story is set before the events of “Dune.” Like, 10,000 years before the events of “Dune.” That makes for a pretty-intense prequel.

Honestly? The less you know about “Interior Chinatown” before you watch it, the better. We saw a trailer for the Hulu show and were interested, and then we found out what the actual premise is. While we were still intrigued, it would have been cool going into the show without knowing the hook. So yeah, we’ll leave you with that. Check out “Interior Chinatown.”

“Star Wars: The Acolyte” proved polarizing and, ultimately, unsuccessful. While the quality of the show does not bear the whole responsibility for that, it just felt like more of the same, and perhaps a bit too self-serious. “Skeleton Crew” arrived as a zag at just the right time. It’s Jude Law in the middle of a “Goonies” type adventure with a bunch of kids. That’s fresh, if nothing else.

First, it’s wild that after Daniel Day-Lewis’ take on Abraham Lincoln, pop culture as a whole have just internalized how Lincoln talks. “Manhunt” jumps around in time to tell the story of the attempt to capture John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of the 16th U.S. President. While the bones of that story are well known, the execution in this limited series was quite good, bolstered by a strong cast.

You know, it’s a bit bleak, but also perhaps apropos that we end with, “Well, that limited series about Knuckles was more enjoyable than we expected.” That’s where TV is. We’re inundated with adaptations, reboots, and spinoffs to such a degree the fact that “Knuckles” had some cleverness to the premise rises above the fray. It’s a buddy comedy by way of an underdog sports story about bowling. It’s also just a continuation of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” universe based on a video game series. Is the state of TV complicated, or is it perhaps as simple as it ever has been?