When 2024 kicked off, we were hoping for a big year in television. After historic Hollywood strikes in 2023 significantly delayed production on a number of projects, some of the industry's most rarefied actors, writers, and directors were finally back to work. Twelve months later, we've found a lot to celebrate. Although the era of "peak TV" might be over, there were still plenty of projects that capture our attention and took over our screens, from the historical reimagining of some of fashion's most illustrious figures in Apple TV+'s The New Look to the updated millennial rom-com Nobody Wants This. Beloved adaptations like Netflix's One Day and FX's Shōgun have reintroduced their source material to a new generation of streamers. And, of course, some of our favorite shows—including The Bear, House of the Dragon, and Feud—at last returned to our queues.
Ahead, we've rounded up the 25 shows that helped define 2024.
1
Expats
Nicole Kidman returns, this time in a long-awaited limited series created by The Farewell’s Lulu Wang, filmed in Hong Kong at the height of COVID-19 restrictions. The series is based on 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, following three expats in the city and how their lives (and secrets) all intertwine.
2
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
Ryan Murphy’s Feud anthology returned for its second season, this time with a dramatized reimagining of the high-society women who were scorned after their friend Truman Capote published scathing stories about their secrets and intimate lives. Based on 2021’s nonfiction account Capote’s Women, by Laurence Leamer, this was easily one of the juiciest and most glamorous television releases of the year. The cast alone blew our wigs off: Tom Hollander as Capote himself, and the titular swans played by Naomi Watts, Chloë Sevigny, Diane Lane, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald.
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3
Genius: MLK/X
The Genius anthology series came back with a season focused on the relationship and parallels between Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre) over the course of the civil rights movement. The cast includes Weruche Opia as Coretta Scott King and Jayme Lawson as Betty Shabazz.
4
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Technically, a short-lived 1996 CBS series is the original source material here, but you more likely remember the 2005 spy film starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. A reboot has been gestating at Prime Video, and at long last, after some changes (Phoebe Waller-Bridge was originally set to costar), Donald Glover and Maya Erskine appeared as the titular couple, with an impressive supporting cast including Sarah Paulson, Michaela Coel, Parker Posey, and Alexander Skarsgård, in what was one of the more explosive releases this year.
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5
One Day
If you're like us and you miss Normal People, consider watching this British limited series based on the popular 2009 novel of the same name. (There was also a film adaptation in 2011.) This love story spans two decades and stars This Is Going to Hurt breakout star Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) as star-crossed lovers.
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The New Look
This English-language biopic follows a few key fashion designers during and after the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, primarily focusing on Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) and Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn), with guest stars like Glenn Close. The series has already been greenlit for a second season.
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7
Nobody Wants This
Everyone say thank you to Netflix for reviving the Adam Brody-saince. In this charming series created by Erin and Sara Foster, Kristen Bell is a quasi-feminist podcaster and Brody is a sexy, single rabbi. And their chemistry? It's simply off the charts. Try not to blush while getting through the standout first season.
8
Shogun
Based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell and previously adapted into a 1980 Emmy-winning miniseries, this fictional historical drama was one of the highest-budget releases of the year. It chronicles the clash of cultural and political forces in 16th-century Japan and made history at this year's Emmy Awards.
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9
Mary & George
This British historical drama is the true story of Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham (Julianne Moore), who molded her son George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine), the 1st Duke of Buckingham, to seduce King James VI of Scotland and I of England (Tony Curran). It is exactly as it sounds: very gay and very juicy.
10
Palm Royale
Palm Royale follows underdog Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig), a woman determined to break into Palm Beach high society in 1969. This period-comedy miniseries was created by Abe Sylvia (Dead to Me), adapting the 2018 novel Mr. & Mrs. American Pie, by Juliet McDaniel. The impressive cast includes Carol Burnett, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Leslie Bibb, Kaia Gerber, and Laura Dern.
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11
3 Body Problem
Like Dune and Foundation, 3 Body Problem is based on a sprawling series of science-fiction novels. Chinese author Liu Cixin’s story features multiple timelines and alien civilizations. The Netflix adaptation by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, with Alexander Woo, focuses on the future reverberations of actions taken by an astrophysicist in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ’70s.
12
Ripley
In 1960s New York, Tom Ripley (Fleabag’s Andrew Scott) is hired by a wealthy man to convince his son to return home from Italy, only to uncover murder and deceit. The show is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley and also starred Dakota Fanning. We also declared it the year's most stylish mini-series.
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13
Baby Reindeer
Baby Reindeer emerged as the dark horse of prestige television in 2024. The limited series, based off of Richard Gadd’s one-man play of the same name, follows the life of a struggling comedian and bartender after a female patron begins to stalk him. The show depicts events that are loosely based off of Gadd's real-life experiences, but it's also ultimately a piece of fiction that contends with the messy boundaries of human nature.
14
The Sympathizer
Based on the 2015 Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, this historical black comedy miniseries produced by A24 follows the Captain (Hoa Xuande), a double agent spying on his fellow soldiers in the South Vietnamese army for the Northern Vietnamese. The cast also includes Sandra Oh and Robert Downey Jr., who plays multiple roles.
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15
Under the Bridge
The dramatization of true crime continued apace in 2024. Under the Bridge is adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by late Canadian writer Rebecca Godfrey. It investigates the murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997 on Vancouver Island and the moral panic it caused in Canadian culture. Riley Keough plays Godfrey, alongside Archie Panjabi and Lily Gladstone.
16
Presumed Innocent
No one masters the art of a television drama quite like writer and producer David E. Kelley. Based on the 1990 legal thriller starring Harrison Ford and the 1987 novel by Scott Turow the film was adapted from, Presumed Innocent follows Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, a Chicago-based prosecutor, father, and husband accused of murdering his lover and former colleague, Carolyn Polhemus (portrayed by Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve). The series is an exploration of lust, ambition, and the facades that fuel a case that captures the city’s attention and threatens the stability of the Sabich family.
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17
Interview With the Vampire
Based on Anne Rice's iconic novel of the same name, the AMC series depicts 145-year-old vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) as he recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). The show categorically sets itself apart from the 1976 book and the subsequent 1994 film adaptation, while still maintaining the same elements of gothic horror and romanticism that made the original story so beloved to begin with.
18
Star Wars: The Acolyte
Andor set the bar high for Star Wars, but The Acolyte may have reached it. Creator Leslye Headland brings her Russian Doll experience to this spin-off, which takes place 100 years before 1999’s Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The impressive cast includes Amandla Stenberg as a padawan, or apprentice Jedi; Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae as a Jedi master; and Dafne Keen as a young Jedi.
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19
House of the Dragon
We're heading back to Westeros with the action-packed return of House of the Dragon. While the first season largely focused on the events that preceded and eventually led to the Targaryen civil war, the second season depicts the war's bloody beginnings. Throughout the eight episodes, Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke deliver extraordinary performances as Rhaenyra and Alicent, former best friends who now find themselves standing on opposite edges of the ideological battleground.
20
The Bear
In season three, The Bear introduces a whole new set of high-stakes challenges as Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) attempt to transform the former Chicago sandwich joint into a restaurant worthy of a Michelin star. As the expectations for the restaurant continue to grow, the kitchen and staff struggle to find their footing.