Loud And Clear Reviews’ list of 10+ best TV shows of 2024 includes popular series, hidden gems, and great releases from this year that are all available to stream right now.
What were the best TV shows of 2024? The Loud And Clear Reviews team has put together a list of 10+ fantastic series that impressed us this year! In the list below, in alphabetical order, you’ll find a great mix of highly anticipated, popular releases and lesser known gems that all came out in the year 2024. They are all available to stream right now, and you’ll find links to our reviews underneath each title. Take a look at the titles below and don’t forget to take a look at our list of 30 best movies of 2024!
1. Apples Never Fall
Showrunner: Melanie Marnich
Full Review: Apples Never Fall Review
Where to watch: Peacock
Apples Never Fall seemed to fly under the radar when it was first released back in March 2024. It’s one of the best hidden gems of the year, with a star-studded cast and every episode ending with a cliffhanger bigger than the last. Annette Bening takes the lead as Joy Delaney, a strong, well-loved family oriented woman. When she goes missing, her family, daughters Amy (Alison Brie) and Brooke (Essie Randles), sons Troy (Jake Lacey) and Logan (Conor Merrigan Turner) and husband Stan (Sam Neill) must uncover the truth behind her disappearance.
It doesn’t take much time for the Delaneys to realise their mother isn’t as straightforward as they once thought, as they dig up secrets that were right in front of their noses. The whole cast is brilliant, but Neill in particular gives a hefty performance as he begins his descent into madness upon realising his one true love isn’t as he’s always pictured her. Apples Never Fall may have had a hard time trying to compete for views among all the other great shows released this year, but it definitely is one to watch. If you love a mystery and family dramas, Apples Never Fall is for you. (Bethany Lola)
2. Arcane: Season 2
Showrunners: Christian Linke and Alex Yee
Full Review: Arcane Season 2 Review: Out with a Bang
Where to watch: Netflix
Following up an acclaimed season of television is never easy, but it becomes even more difficult when you know that your next batch of episodes will be your last. Season 2 of Netflix’s Arcane could have been a disaster and showrunners Christian Linke and Alex Yee somehow crafted something nearly as special as Season 1. Set in the League of Legends video game universe, Arcane Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of the attack made on Piltover by Jinx (Ella Purnell) and now her sister Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) must pick up the pieces as a war between Piltover and the unground city of Zaun seems to be on the horizon.
Once again, this series features some of the most stunning and unique animation that you are likely to ever see. Nowhere is this more evident than during Season 2’s epic action sequences. Purnell and Steinfeld are extraordinary as Jinx and Vi, giving performances that not only pack an emotional punch but also show just how much they have grown as actresses in the years between seasons. While the narrative is a little hasty in spots, the writers do right by the centers of this narrative in Jinx and Vi, and conclude their journeys in a beautiful way. Arcane goes out with a total bang and I highly recommend binging Season 1 and Season 2 if you have not already done so. (Branyan Towe)
3. Baby Reindeer
Showrunner: Richard Gadd
Full Review: Baby Reindeer: Shocking Yet True
Where to watch: Netflix
It all started with a cup of tea. A seemingly innocent gesture of kindness towards a stranger who seemed to need it most. No one could have ever dreamt of how far things would spiral from there. Or the cultural phenomenon that would ensue. Baby Reindeer was by far 2024’s most shocking, captivating and profound television series.
Baby Reindeer was created by Richard Gadd, who based the series on his real-life experience with a stalker of over four years. Gadd plays Donny, a Scottish bartender who moved to London with a dream of becoming a big-time standup comedian that has yet to come to fruition. He admits how discouraging it is to try and become someone people deem worthy of their time and attention. Then, one day, a melancholic woman comes into his bar, silently weeping to herself. Donny decides to offer her a cup of tea on the house in an attempt to lift her spirits. Upon the offer, the woman we would come to know as Martha (Jessica Gunning) picks up her head, and for the first time since he’s moved to London, someone finally sees Donny. However, what Donny believed was a thoughtful display of empathy and an innocent enough connection would ignite a years-long stalking saga that would infiltrate every aspect of his life.
While you may tune into Baby Reindeer for the wild plot, by the time you leave you will experience a cosmic shift within your spirit. It’s not simply a stalker story, but rather a touching meditation on empathy, forgiveness and our sometimes desperate search for connection in this world. Richard Gadd’s unflinching look at the darkest moments of his life is filled with a truly awe-inspiring optimism that I think people could use the most right now. (Hayley Croke)
4. Disclaimer
Writer and Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Full Review: Disclaimer: Masterclass in Slow-Burning Storytelling
Read Also: Interview with Leila George, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Louis Partridge
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
At the beginning of Disclaimer, the audience is immediately introduced to the dual timeline that characterises the show. On the one hand, we see the past timeline events unfold in a warmly tinted Venice, where Jonathan Brigstocke (Louis Partridge) is travelling during his gap year. On the other, we witness the present-day timeline, set twenty years later in London, where Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett) works as an award-winning documentarian and lives with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). But everything changes in Catherine’s life when she receives a package from a stranger threatening to uncover a secret from her past.
As the show goes on, the various stories start coming together to reveal the mystery that Catherine is so desperately trying to hide. But not everything is always as it seems and Cuarón’s series keeps surprising us episode by episode, leaving the audience unsure of what actually happened until the very end of the show. With its showstopping performances – Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline especially stand out – paired with a very well-paced and tense storyline, Disclaimer is easily one of the best and most exciting TV shows of the year. With such beautiful cinematography and impressive directing, it is a shame to only see this on a small television or laptop screen, for those in the audience who did not get to watch it on the big screen at the Venice Film Festival where it had its world premiere. (Clotilde Chinnici)
5. Fallout
Showrunners: Geneva Robertson-Dworet & Graham Wagner
Full Review: Fallout (Prime Series) Review: Surprisingly Good
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Take this with a grain of salt from someone who’s dedicated hundreds of hours to playing the various video games, but Fallout deserves its spot as one of the year’s best TV shows simply by pulling off the impossible. The first season of Prime Video’s genre-bending adaptation depicts a world just barely hanging on after the nuclear apocalypse, and showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner make the show accessible to newcomers and die-hard fans of the source material alike.
The show follows a trio of survivors with varying degrees of familiarity with the new American wasteland. There’s Lucy (Ella Purnell), the plucky vault-dweller who has to venture outside for the first time in her life in order to save her father. There’s the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a man who has lived through both the pre- and post-apocalypse thanks to some acute radiation poisoning but now lives as a hired gun. And there’s Maximus (Aaron Moten), a trainee in the Brotherhood of Steel, who often has to wrestle with his own moral code and the code of the Brotherhood.
Fallout succeeds because it deftly weaves the game’s twisted sense of humor with its specific brand of anti-capitalist messaging, without being a simple fan-service vehicle. Who controls America when no control remains? Is it the raiders, lawless gangs who value nothing but their individuality? Is it the Brotherhood of Steel, who undoubtedly have the best technology but twisted morals? Or is it the corporations which have prepared for humanity’s downfall? There are no easy answers, but at least Fallout manages to be a hell of a ride along the way. (Ben Sears)
6. From: Season 3
Showrunner: John Griffin
Where to Watch: MGM+
Never before has a tv show opened with a season so full of loose ends only to weave them together into a beautiful little bow in the season finale. If you’re a fan of thriller and horror TV and aren’t watching From, you’re totally missing out on a doozy of a psychological puzzle.
From is an MGM+ original series focusing on a mysterious, nightmarish small town accessible from various points across the United States that traps unwitting travelers. But that’s not everything. All roads lead right back to town, which is relatively safe by day but turns into a creepy, manipulative fight for survival by night. The second the sun goes down, creatures emerge from the forest hungry to tear alive any resident caught outdoors, or anyone who allows them indoors. These creatures look human, dress human, even talk and act human, walking around with eerily oversized smiles that hide the tips of jagged, sharp teeth. Trapped residents experience strange phenomena in their search for a way to escape as they unravel the town’s hidden secrets and battle the brutal psychological impact of their situation.
This series is thrilling and, at times, is frightening to watch. It poses numerous unanswered questions around the town’s history and its ability to ensnare people, as well as the creatures’ origins and the idea that the people trapped there are somehow “from” this town, that they are somehow connected to its dark history through reincarnation or similar themes. Seasons 1 through 3 carry a likable cast, spectacularly led by Harold Perrineau, with Season 4 expected to debut in 2026 on MGM+. (Keeley Brooks)
7. Mr & Mrs Smith
Showrunners: Donald Glover & Francesca Sloane
Full Review: Mr. & Mrs. Smith Review: Surprisingly Thoughtful Reboot
Where to Watch: Prime Video
As with any year, the shows that left most of an impression in 2024 aren’t always the ones that we expect; sometimes, projects that weren’t even on our radar at the beginning of the year end up being some of the most memorable. That was exactly the case with Mr & Mrs Smith, a show that didn’t seem particularly new or innovative on paper but ended up being an incredibly charming, subversive thriller with more twists and turns than a country road. Marketed as a simple reboot of the 2005 film of the same name, Mr & Mrs Smith is actually a much sharper, better written project that displayed exactly how to do episodic storytelling right.
The show follows two spies who don’t know each other’s names, referring to each other only as Mr Smith and Mrs Smith, assigned to live together undercover as a married couple and complete secret assignments. But what’s really special about this show is how each episode has a totally distinct story, with a new assignment and fresh tasks for these characters, but everything is all linked in an overarching narrative that ties the whole series together in a neat bow. It features two incredible performances from Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, who are hugely likable despite their characters’ flaws, and some of the most hilarious writing of the year to go alongside their charming personalities. (Jack Walters)
8. The Penguin
Director: Craig Zobel
Full Review: The Penguin Series Review: Grungy Character Study
Where to Watch: Max (US) / Sky Atlantic & NOW (UK)
One of 2024’s most gripping series, The Penguin puts Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot front and center, offering a darkly hilarious and brutal descent into Gotham’s criminal underworld. Picking up shortly after The Batman (2022), this Max original chronicles Oz’s relentless, and often chaotic rise to power. Farrell, almost unrecognizable under transformative prosthetics, delivers a performance that is both chilling and weirdly endearing, as he balances savage ambition with the awkward vulnerability of a man desperate for respect.
The show doesn’t just ride on Farrell’s charisma, though, it’s a masterclass in tension-building. From the shocking assassination of Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong, of TÁR) to Oz’s shaky alliances with Gotham’s other shady players, the series keeps you guessing who’s going to backstab whom next. Highlights include Sofia Falcone’s (Cristin Milioti) descent into madness, a twisted cat-and-mouse game with the Maroni family, and a plotline involving a drug named “Bliss” that’s as addictive for viewers as it is for Gotham’s underworld.
With gritty visuals, sharp writing, and an atmosphere dripping in noir, The Penguin feels like The Sopranos had a messy love child with Batman: The Animated Series. It’s a violent, grimy, and unrelentingly entertaining tale of power plays, betrayal, and the family ties that bind or strangle. This is a Gotham we’ve never seen before, and it’s unforgettable. (Roberto Tyler Ortiz)
9. Presumed Innocent
Showrunner: David E. Kelley
Full Review: Presumed Innocent Series Review: Throwback Thriller
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds himself in the middle of a crime case as the prime suspect in the murder of his colleague and lover Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve). Amidst a series of scandals and hurtful secrets that jeopardize his marriage, making Rusty look guilty of the crime, he must prove his innocence while fighting to keep his family together.
Given my taste in film and TV, and adoration for the fantasy genre, I expected to come out of 2024 claiming the new season of either HBO’s House of the Dragon or Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as my favorite TV show of the year. Instead, David E. Kelley’s Presumed Innocent has that title. Through clever writing, exceptional direction, and mesmerizing performances, the series is one of those thrilling whodunnit tales that you can’t put down. By diving into the erotic affair between Rusty and Carolyn – exploring sex and power dynamics in the workplace – and peeling off the layers of Barbara (Ruth Negga) and Rusty’s flawed relationship, Presumed Innocent forces us to reflect on the lies we hide from our loved ones in an attempt to protect them, while not acknowledging the effect our actions can have on the lives of others.
It’s an exquisite legal drama powered by sharp dialogue and an incredible cast, which help the series find its separate identity from the 1990 film adaptation of Scott Turow’s novel. Gyllenhaal walks the line between likable and despicable, Negga provides a lot of the emotional turmoil, Bill Camp adds gravitas and comedy to such a heavy subject, and Peter Sarsgaard plays an antagonist who is in the right side of history yet his ambition and hatred of Rusty gets in the way of the end goal. (Edgar Ortega)
10. Ripley
Director: Steven Zaillian
Full Review: Ripley: Netflix Series Renews Source Material
Where to Watch: Netflix
Once in a while, a show comes along that you quite simply can’t take your eyes off of. Thanks to Andrew Scott’s performance, gorgeous visuals, incredible attention to detail, and gripping, addictive storytelling, Ripley is precisely that kind of show.
Just like in the Tom Ripley novels, we follow the titular grifter, whom a a wealthy magnate mistakes for a friend of his son’s, Richard Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), who has been on holiday in Italy for quite some time. The businessman hires our protagonist to go to Atrani, Naples and get “Dickie” to return to New York, which is exactly what Tom does, even if he’s not who his employer thinks he is. Even more surprisingly, Dickie welcomes Tom like an old friend, inviting him to stay with him and his girlfriend Marge (Dakota Fanning), who isn’t quite as taken with Tom as her boyfriend is. And so our tale begins, with the audience knowing more about Tom’s identity than any of the characters in the show; yet, even for us, it’s hard to understand who exactly this charming, “perfectly vague” man really is.
Andrew Scott is flawless as a character who’s clearly immoral but who also oozes charm, and whom we can’t help but be drawn to even when we see him at his worst. Storytelling and worldbuilding-wise, Ripley is also impressive: down to the tiniest of details, everything is there for a reason, and it comes alive in gorgeous black and white that will give you so much to take in in every shot, making everything feel authentic and even familiar. Scott, Fanning and Flynn shine but so do Maurizio Lombardi as a police inspector and Margherita Buy as Tom’s landlady. Ripley is the adaptation we didn’t know we needed, and one of the best shows of 2024.(Serena Seghedoni)
11. Shōgun
Showrunner: Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks
Full Review: Shōgun: Amazing Historical Mini-Series
Where to Watch: FX/Hulu (US) / Disney+ (UK)
Has there ever been a more breathtaking television show in both story and sight than Shōgun? I think not. FX’s hit historical drama about 1600s feudal Japan is based on Author James Clavell’s 1975 novel of the same name, which follows a real-life power struggle and depicts characters and events inspired by actual historical figures during that time.
The worlds of two ambitious men from very different environments collide when an English ship wrecks off the coast of Japan and a survivor washes ashore in a tiny fishing village. John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) is a risk-taking sailor full of humility who doesn’t take kindly to being pushed around, and Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a brilliant, shrewd, and extremely powerful and testing feudal lord at odds with his own political rivals. Blackthorne finds himself indebted to Toranaga and must serve as his English advisor. The Japanese culture begins to appeal to Blackthorne and transforms him into who will become the first English samurai, but not without dangerous obstacles along the way.
Not only is Shōgun a dynamically gripping narrative in which we uncover new facets of feudal Japan, but it’s also a gorgeously filmed series full of strongly inspirational female leads who ultimately run the show. The cinematography and color contrast combined with the use of negative space versus formed/shaped space are enough to prevent you from looking away, but add in the incredible use of sound and masterful swordplay (Hiroyuki Sanada is an outstanding martial artist, and Jarvis isn’t bad himself) amongst our invested plot, and, ladies and gents, we’ve got ourselves a megahit on all levels. Season 1 is currently streaming on Hulu, and Seasons 2 and 3 are coming down the pipeline. (Keeley Brooks)
12. Shrinking
Showrunners: Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel
Full Review: Shrinking Season 2: More Character Depth
Where to watch: Apple TV+
My favorite television genre tends to be prestige drama, but I have fallen in love with the kind-core dramedies from Bill Lawrence. I wrote a whole book about Ted Lasso, and this year, the second season of Shrinking was my go-to comfort watch. And by comfort, I mean the show that made me ugly cry at least once an episode.
Where the first season showed Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) finding his way back from the depths of depression after the death of his wife, the second season explains just how precarious healing can be if we’re unwilling to be vulnerable with others and are willing to forgive ourselves for the mistakes we make when we’re struggling. These themes are expertly explored throughout the season in various ways that allow them to hit hard without feeling overwrought.
This season showed us that Ted McGinley is a legitimate actor. It graced us with one of Harrison Ford’s best performances of his illustrious career. It reminded us how gorgeous and talented Wendie Malick is. And bringing in Brett Goldstein as a pivotal character in the story was a stroke of genius and added depth to this season, making Shrinking one of the best shows of the year. (Alise Chaffins)
13. Squid Game Season 2
Showrunner: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Full Review: Squid Game Season 2: Firing on All Cylinders
Where to Watch: Netflix
When Squid Game was released in 2021, it quickly became a global phenomenon. The series is now one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time, and for good reason. The narrative is meaningful and memorable to viewers, with relatable themes, high-stakes tension, complex characters, and a deep exploration of social commentary that resonates with the audience.
Viewers may already be familiar with the structure of the games and what to expect when Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) returns to the island during season 2. However, the series effectively introduces new concepts that keep viewers enthralled by the drama and features various unforeseen twists and surprises throughout the seven episodes.
There’s also a cast of new characters, with several notable standouts, each entirely distinct from those in season 1. Just when you think the events in the games can’t get any worse, a fresh set of activities and circumstances are introduced to the story, resulting in an even bolder and bloodier season than the first.
With fan favorites Gi-hun and Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) determined to take down the organization behind the games, while the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) does everything he can to disprove that humanity still exists among the players, there’s plenty of unpredictability ahead. Though we were left on somewhat of a cliffhanger at the end of episode 7, season 2 is one of the best television series this year and an exciting, wild ride. It’s a stellar follow-up to its predecessor and lays a solid foundation for season 3. (Emma Vine)
The Best TV Shows of 2024 – More Series to Check Out
Ark: The Animated Series, Dark Matter, The Decameron, Earthsounds, Eric, Families Like Ours, The Franchise, Heartstopper Season 3, Invincible Season 2, Iwájú, Knuckles, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, My Adventures With Superman Season 2, Omnivore, Only Murders In The Building Season 4, The Responder Season 2, Say Nothing, Silo Season 2, Slow Horses Season 4, Sweetpea, Ted, The Trunk, Those About to Die, Under the Bridge, X-Men ’97, Young Royals Season 3
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