The best TV shows you missed in 2024

There are two kinds of great television shows: the kind that millions of people watch and talk about and the ones that never quite fit into the larger cultural conversation. In the case of the latter, it is not for lack of dignity. It’s just that not every great TV series finds its fandom.

So you’d be forgiven for missing one – if not all – of the best series that premiered last year. After all, with countless networks in different formats (broadcast, cable, streaming, and otherwise) all trying to get into the original content game, there is a lot of TV to sort through. Some worse than others; some of it a lot worse. Fortunately, we’ve done the heavy lifting and taken the guesswork out for you. Below are our picks for the best TV shows you might have missed in 2024.

After the Flood

What you think After the Flood is, you’re probably wrong—or at least missing a big part of the series’ appeal. In the wake of a flash flood that leaves a large part of the Yorkshire town of Waterside under water, police officer Jo Marshall (Peaky Blinders‘Sophie Rundle) is called to a garage, where the body of a man is found trapped in an elevator, presumably drowned. But when the authorities learn that the unidentified man was killed three days before the flood, Jo will do whatever it takes to put a name to the body in the morgue. When she makes the very poor decision to enter her DNA into an ancestry database, she learns that the man who was surely breathing 72 hours ago has presumably been dead for years. For Jo, who is just weeks away from giving birth, it’s a race to find the killer before motherhood arrives. And in doing so, she discovers that not everyone, even those closest to her, are who or what they say they are. Good news for those taking a look: After the Flood has already been renewed for a second season.

Criminal Record

Peter Capaldi plays against type as Daniel Hegarty, a veteran detective nearing the end of an impressive career whose legacy could be on the line. When an anonymous whistleblower delivers shocking information that calls into question the verdict in a high-profile, decades-long case Hegarty has been working on, he’d rather imagine he got it right the first time. What he didn’t count on was detective June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) who receives the same information and sets out to retrace Hegarty’s steps, which puts the two in an extreme situation. The always captivating Capaldi has found a wonderful sparring partner in Jumbo. A second season is already in the works.

Diarrhea from Detroit

Diarra Brickland (Diarra Kilpatrick) is a teacher coming out of a painful divorce who finally feels like she might be ready to get back into the dating scene, or at least have some fun on Tinder. What she didn’t expect to find was Chris (Shannon Wallace), a man with serious soulmate potential. When she stops hearing from him after a glorious night together, Diarra insists that he must be gone, because there’s no way he’s ghosting her…right? His closest friends are skeptical, but Diarra goes all out to find his man – and soon finds himself entangled with Detroit’s extremely dangerous criminal underworld. Did we mention it’s a comedy? Kilpatrick is a force of nature in this BET+ series, which he created and produces (with Kenya Barris).

Lost boys and do

We know that Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer isn’t the final word on quality. But it says something that Lost boys and do it has a perfect score of 100 percent (based only on half a dozen critics’ reviews, but still). After nearly a decade together, Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young) and Andy (Fra Fee) decide they’re ready to take the leap into parenthood. But as they officially begin the adoption process, Gabe – whose childhood was marked by the trauma of his mother’s death and a strained relationship with his homophobic father – worries that he may not be able, or worthy, to be a loving parent. . It’s a powerful and poignant reminder that the ties that bind us can also break us.

Manhunt

Even if you weren’t paying attention during your third grade history class, you probably know the basics of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth. Ma Manhunt it is not about service level history; rather the opposite. It reveals the lengths to which Lincoln’s close friend and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies) went to capture Booth. Series creator Monica Beletsky, who previously served as writer-producer Fargo, The Remains, Paternityand Friday Night Lightsshe is meticulous in her approach to getting the details right (which is sure to please any presidential history buff).

Maryland

Becca (Suranne Jones) and Rosaline (Eve Best) are once-close sisters who have grown up over the years, as time, space and circumstances have both changed. When his mother is suddenly found dead on the Isle of Man, they must come together – for a short time – to identify her body and transport it to Great Britain, where his father is waiting for him. While the two sisters are confused as to what their mother was doing on the island in the first place, they soon learn about the many buried chapters of their mother’s story that brought them to this place. . Jones (Mr. Jack) and the best (House of the Dragon) are never better than when it’s just the two of them, being lonely, for better or worse.

Mister Spade

Clive Owen joins the long list of formidable actors, from Humphrey Bogart to Tom Wilkinson, to inhabit the role of Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett’s famous private detective. In this case, Mister Spade takes place in the early 1960s, two decades after the events of The Maltese Falconand Spade made the decision to retire to the picturesque town of Bozouls in the South of France. But when a group of nuns are brutally murdered in a nearby convent, Spade will have to put on his detective hat once again to solve the crime.

My Lady Jane

With a slightly reminiscent tone The GreatGemma Burgess’ My Lady Jane reimagines the life of Lady Jane Gray (Emily Bader) through a slightly supernatural lens. Yes, in this version of 16th century England, modifiers abound – which only adds to the quirkiness. At his heart, however, My Lady Jane it’s about the love story between Jane and Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), whom Jane’s mother arranged for her to marry. Unfortunately, eight episodes are all we’ll get from this series, as Amazon announced its cancellation after just one fabulous season.

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh

I lost star Naveen Andrews puts his stellar comedic chops to good use in this humorous tale of the American dream gone wrong. When what looks like a stellar business opportunity presents itself, family patriarch Pradeep Mahesh (Andrews) moves his family from India to America, where culture shock is the least of his problems. By the time they meet the family, they have lived in Pittsburgh for two years, and they tell their story to a pair of federal agents (Pete Holmes and Romy Rosemont) from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, as i am too suspected of being able to burn down the house of their snob neighbors (Megan Hilty and Ethan Suplee). The most amazing part of all is that the story is partly based on the real life of the creator Vijal Patel.

Sugar

The small screen has been good for Colin Farrell this year, especially with the success of The Penguin. But five months before reprising his role as Oz Cobb, the Oscar-nominated actor went neo-noir for Sugar. In the stylish crime drama Farrell plays John Sugar, a private detective who is hired to investigate the disappearance of the niece of a major Hollywood producer while battling his own personal demons. If you’ve heard anything about the show, you probably know there’s a twist (more than one of them, actually). A second season has already been confirmed.

Renegade Nell

Sally Wainwright has never been known as a creator of ‘family’ fare – unless your kids think you’re gobbling it up. Happy Valley it’s an all-ages affair. But she is the creative force behind it Renegade Nell it makes sense once you watch even just the first episode. After being framed for murder, Nell Jackson (Louisa Harland) becomes one of England’s most feared street women. It’s all a bluff, of course, but Nell comes to understand that the best way to clear her name is to lean into the notoriety that surrounds her and have a little fun with it. Harland is a joy to watch (even when you know there’s no season 2 on the menu).