Halfway through 2024, we’ve already been treated to a rich banquet of TV—from the surprise success of to the virality of the out-of-nowhere Here’s our running list of the year’s best shows, and a sneak peek at the series we’re most excited about for the summer and fall. You’ll find dramas and procedurals, sci-fi galore, and enough historical epics to keep you occupied. The bounty on offer suggests that a post-SAG-and-writers’-strike TV slowdown has not yet descended.
So much to watch! on AMC+ (January) Some of us are prepared to travel wherever Clive Owen takes us, which in the case of the AMC+ crime series happens to be the south of France. These six episodes came to us from the writer-director-producer Scott Frank ( ) and tell the story of the iconic hardboiled detective Sam Spade (of Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel ) in retirement in Bozouls, where, , a group of nuns is murdered. Owen is dashing with a cigarette and suit, and the twisty plot pulls in Cold War, religious doings, and espionage.
Satisfying, grown-up entertainment. —Taylor Antrim on Apple TV+ (January) If you’re a soft target for British crime procedurals and have fond memories of the Scottish actor Peter Capaldi dominating Armando Ianucci’s classic political series , Apple TV+’s is just the thing. In this eight-episode London-based series, Capaldi and Cush Jumbo go toe to toe as warring detectives—veteran and rookie—re-litigating a high-profile murder case.
—TA on Max (January) Set.