The best TV shows of 2024—so far, anyway—span an exciting array of genres and networks: a good old-fashioned network sitcom; a deliciously devious streaming reality hit; a sweeping, cinematic epic about real(ish) people, with no dragons or magic in sight. Six months in, we’re surveying our favorites, from the best new shows to the best of reality TV—to one particularly gripping YouTube video. (That counts, right?)

Find our picks below, and the best movies of 2024 just around the corner.

Ripley

A lot of us have gotten really tired of antiheroes—but this take on Patricia Highsmith’s novel is simply undeniable. Steven Zaillian’s elegant and subtle adaptation of the tale of a talented con man is as cool, complex, and calculating as Tom Ripley himself. And the biggest draw, of course, aside from a wealth of gorgeous Italian locations and finely honed supporting performances, is stellar work from star Andrew Scott that deservedly landed him in the awards conversation. His Ripley is yearning, angry, and sad, full of dozens of other roiling emotions that lurk in the depths of his strangely shaped soul. You can’t take your eyes off him, nor would you want to, because despite the smile he pastes on at the appropriate times—spoiler alert, we suppose?—you cannot trust this guy. —Maureen Ryan

The Jinx Part Two

Remember when true-crime documentaries felt more like active investigations than bloated rehashes? Nine years after Andrew Jarecki’s Peabody- and Emmy-winning The Jinx sent shivers down viewers’ spines, the filmmaker returns to the subject of late millionaire Robert Durst to pick up where the finale left off. Across six new episodes, Jarecki cooperates with John Lewin, the Los Angeles deputy district attorney who ultimately cracked Durst’s defense, to infiltrate the inner circle that enabled the convicted killer to escape justice all those years. —Julie Miller

Fantasmas

Because of the ways art and capitalism intersect, Julio Torres has worked within many large institutions that we wouldn’t have previously assumed were capable of whimsy. And similarly, Fantasmas—Torres’s first series as a solo creator—defies categorization. In addition to creating the show, Torres also wrote and directed all six episodes of its first season and stars as Julio, a kind of human sprite who drifts through a deliberately artificial New York, straining against the pressures to compromise his artistic vision. Julio also resists his friends’ and agents’ entreaties to sign up for a Proof of Existence card, even if it means he won’t be able to secure residence in a luxury apartment presented by General Mills. Periodically, Julio’s adventures are interrupted by extended looks into other people’s lives, from a health insurance company’s most sadistic customer service rep (Alexa Demie) to the Juilliard-trained actor playing a theme park superhero (Kate Berlant). Thanks to Paul Dano, Sunita Mani, and River Ramirez’s sketch in the series premiere, you may never look at ALF the same way again. Torres is a singular voice in comedy; savor Fantasmas while you can, because HBO may never make a show this weird again. —Tara Ariano

“The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel”

We’re not entirely sure this counts as TV, but you can watch it on a TV, so we’re including it. Jenny Nicholson’s four-hour dissection of what went wrong at Disney World’s recently shuttered Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel—a fantastically expensive, two-night “immersive experience”—is the beloved YouTuber at her best. She is, as ever, a sharp critic of the cultural objects she loves, particularly Star Wars and theme parks. Nicholson is a fan, but one who’s keenly aware of how shareholder-focused corporations like Disney often undermine their legacies by cutting corners and ratcheting up prices. Funny, detailed, and a little sad, Nicholson’s video shrewdly identifies and then elegantly describes a rot at the heart of the entertainment industry, a pervasive cynicism that is increasingly alienating even the most devoted of customers. —Richard Lawso

Abbott Elementary

This warm comedy has been consistently excellent since it began, and has the Emmys to prove it. But a third season can be a critical moment for any show that’s already cranked out a lot of episodes. Will the writers run out of ideas? Will the cast start phoning it in? Neither of those things is happening on Abbott, where Janine’s new job has been the source of fresh dilemmas (she can’t complain so much about the pencil pushers at school district headquarters if she’s now one of them). On top of that, the Abbott creative team, led by Quinta Brunson (who also plays Janine), now knows the strengths of its ensemble so well that the spotlight moments each actor gets work like gangbusters. Few things on the small screen are as much fun as a well-crafted network sitcom reveling in the groove it’s settled into. —MR

Expats

This stunning limited series from filmmaker Lulu Wang (The Farewell) is only six episodes long, but it takes its languorous time. Based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel The Expatriates and adapted by an all-female writers room, Expats braids together the tales of three American women—Margaret (Nicole Kidman), Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), and Hilary (Sarayu Blue)—connected by a traumatic event. “I want to know about the people who cause the tragedies—people like me” says Mercy, a 20-something adrift in the city. “Are they ever forgiven? Do they ever move on?” Expats is moody and cinematic, steeped in grief and cultural dislocation. In this waning golden age of challenging streaming television, it takes surprising narrative risks, including a gorgeous, movie-length episode that pans out beyond Margaret and Hilary to follow the Filipino servants who keep their luxurious lives running smoothly. —Joy Press

Extraordinary

Wouldn’t it be awesome if almost everybody had a superpower? The UK import Extraordinary is laugh-out-loud funny—and subtly wise—as it explores a range of unexpected answers to that question. Jen (the fantastic Máiréad Tyers) and her 20-something mates live in a nonaspirational flat and work unfulfilling jobs. The powers most people they know have aren’t that impressive; one woman stuck looking like a preteen forever seems more cursed than blessed. This comedy, however, has a superpower of its own: not only making viewers chuckle at its world-building, which embraces both the silly and the subversive, but also effortlessly having the audience fall in love with its confused, conflicted, deeply relatable characters. Even Jizzlord. Especially Jizzlord! —MR

Girls5eva

In their third season—and the first on their new streaming home, Netflix—the early ’00s pop girls turned sincere middle-aged pop women find out how hard it is to tour without any kind of music-industry apparatus behind them. They’re relying on Gloria (Paula Pell) to finance their accommodations at Marriott Divorced Dad Suitelets; pacifying the sensibilities of a conservative Texas state politician (John Early), who also happen to be a third-generation music-venue mogul; and confronting their own legacy when they’re hired to play the birthday party of a trophy wife (Catherine Cohen), who may have been inspired by their song to find her own “Sweet’N Low Daddy.” An impetuous premiere decision by Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) creates outlandish yet plausible stakes for the season, as does the ticking clock of Dawn’s (Sara Bareilles) pregnancy. And while the season is two episodes shorter than its first two were on Peacock, that just means you get all the jokes in 75% of the time. Particularly in the post–Other Two era, Girls5eva remains one of the sharpest satires of the music industry, past and present. And most importantly, the songs still slap. —TA

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

It wasn’t immediately obvious that they could pull this off. A televisual reimagining of the 2005 spy caper movie, with the roles of professionally glamorous Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filled by purveyors of eccentrically edgy comedy Donald Glover and Maya Erskine—how would that even work? (Especially after Glover’s original costar, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, pulled out?) It’s a testament to the duo’s skill and charm that they make Mr. & Mrs. Smith both lightly watchable and screwball witty—an espionage rom-com. The set-up is that two fledgling spies agree to work for a mysterious entity known as Hihi, which has them posing as married couple John and Jane Smith. They pull off high-risk missions, trailing and sometimes murdering strangers for reasons unknown to them. The show dangles cameos from the likes of Parker Posey, John Turturro, Alexander Skarsgard, and Michaela Coel in front of us, but Glover and Erskine remain the main act, their characters’ fake intimacy growing realer—and thornier—by the episode. —JP

One Day

You don’t need to have read the David Nicholls novel this limited series is based on, or to have seen the 2011 movie version, to enjoy One Day. In fact, it’s much better if you haven’t, so you can fully immerse yourself in this British rom-drama’s whirl of emotions. Dexter (The White Lotus’s Leo Woodall) and Emma (Ambika Mod, who made a splash in This Is Going to Hurt) meet in the spring of 1988, on the day of their college graduation. He’s a careless rich kid; she’s an awkward theater nerd. They don’t seem to have anything in common, but their failed one-night stand launches them into a deep, messy friendship that is occasionally ruptured by unrequited romantic longing. Each of the 14 short episodes drops in on the couple on the same day every year as they muddle through adulthood, struggling with careers and loss and love affairs with other people. Dex and Emma’s own relationship is often excruciating, in both funny-cringe and sad-cringe ways. One Day is propulsive and visceral—and the stars’ luminous chemistry is a thing to behold. —JP

Shōgun

Based on James Clavell’s (dauntingly enormous) novel, Shōgun revolves around John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), the first Englishman to set foot in Japan, in an era when trade between Japan and Portugal is robust enough for missionaries to have converted many nobles to Catholicism and taught them the Portuguese language. Blackthorne soon becomes entangled with Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a member of the Council of Regents, and with his vassal Mariko (Anna Sawai); through them, Blackthorne develops a deeper understanding and respect of Japanese culture, as all three figure out how they may be of use to each other in Toranaga’s march toward war against his fellow regents. Few shows in our era execute this sort of epic sweep, stunning landscapes, sumptuous costumes, thrilling action scenes, and genuinely affecting human emotion if they don’t also involve pointy-eared elf warriors and dragon mothers. I didn’t think anyone was making TV like this about real people anymore, and I’m ecstatic to be proven wrong. —TA

The Traitors and The Traitors UK

It’s my contention that the UK (and original) version of this whodunnit reality show is the superior one. I prefer the mellower stylings of its host, Claudia Winkleman (possessor of the best bangs on TV), and it’s more fun that everyone on the show is a civilian, rather than a C-tier celebrity of some kind. The second season, which is twisty and terrific, just dropped on Peacock and I implore you to watch. But I also will lay my Anglophilia aside and concede that season two of the US edition, hosted by a plenty winning Alan Cumming, delivered its own merry punch. Just when the season seemed headed for obvious and boring results—mostly due to cast members’ poor gameplay—some last-minute scrambling livened things up in thrilling fashion. The Traitors is an ingenious format that seems destined for a long life, and for good reason: It’s the most exhilarating (if silly) competition show since Survivor. —RL