It's too early to make any definitive calls on what the best TV show to come out of 2024 is. But I will anyway – Industry, it's Industry. Nothing complemented Brat Summer like a return to our favourite horny little suits in finance. Though, despite all the comparisons, even season three hasn't managed to eclipse the racket Succession created last year. While shows that were thought to be an easy slam-dunk, like The Bear or the adaptation of Queenie, didn't manage to bring it home. But we have to count our blessings, and thankfully there were a few.
From Industry to One Day, the release cycle, while a little slow this year, did manage to produce some gems. And there's still more to come. We're looking forward to seeing if In Vogue: The 90s can deliver on all the hype. After all, everyone loves a fashion documentary. By what metric are we measuring the so-called best? Rotten Tomatoes score? Reviews? TikTok? Wrong. Pure feeling, baby!
Below, the best TV shows of 2024 so far.
One Day
It helps to pull a crowd when you've already got loyal fanbase. Netflix knew exactly what is was doing when it sought to adapt David Nicholls' 2009 bestseller and rehabilitate the story of Em and Dex from the shoddy version starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It's a classic will-they-won't-they storyline spanning two decades that's suited to the TV format. Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall sizzle side-by-side, making that gut punch of an ending all the more unbearable. Plus, the soundtrack is worth a deep dive, featuring The Kinks, Massive Attack, Cat Power, Cocteau Twins, The Magnetic Fields, Nick Drake and many more.
Mr. & Mrs Smith
You know the original. Sadly Donald Glover's remake does not star Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt or even the show's original leading lady Phoebe Waller-Bridge. But the TV show fares well without them. For one, it has Pen15 actor Maya Erskine who is a charming partner to Glover. The story line is a little different than you might remember too. Erskine and Glover play two strangers who willingly commit to a phoney marriage as part of a secret organisation. As they fumble and complete missions, they realise they're a compatible partnership which is a joy to witness as an audience, mostly because action aside, the pair are really very funny. It's a star-spangled production with cameos from Michaela Coel, Paul Dano, Parker Posey, Alexander Skarsgård and John Turturro.
We Are Lady Parts (Season 2)
When the first season of We Are Lady Parts dropped in 2021, it was trailed by an anxiety that the show – about an all-Muslim punk band – would be a shiny but surface swipe at diversity. This is not the case, instead it's a breath of fresh air. In short 20-minute episodes, creator Nida Manzoor had managed to pack in as much heart, complexity, joy and humour as one could hope. The long-awaited arrival of a second season of We Are Lady Parts proves that Manzoor has a recipe for success. After a summer of touring, Lady Parts is looking to record their first album. But first they need cash and a rival "Muslim band" is snapping at their heels. And so comes questions of selling out, authenticity, the individual versus the collective through the show's distinct intersectional feminist lens. Keep an eye out for an earnest country cameo from Malala Yousafzai. We could listen to Amina, Saira, Ayesha, Momtaz, and Bisma bicker all day.
Industry (Season 3)
How do you up the stakes of an already pressurised, pacy and promiscuous series? Throw in the diabolical addition of Kit Harington as Sir Henry Muck, a man of nauseating family wealth cosplaying as a CEO for a green-tech company. Harington adds another layer of privilege to this critical look at London's upper crust. For its third run, our favourite investment bankers (an oxymoron, I'm aware) enjoy more time away from the Pierpoint offices, luxuriating on superyachts, whispering in politician's ears and so on. As promised, season three is dialled up: think more cocaine, riskier moves and ignoring the red line. Marisa Abela's Yasmin must contend with her father's misconduct, Harper is still ruthless as ever and Robert is just clinging on. Meanwhile Eric and Rishi deliver on the comedy when their younger colleagues plunge into meltdown mode. Queue it up.
My Brilliant Friend (Season 4)
We are so back. Max Richter's score says so. HBO is drip-feeding us the final season of My Brilliant Friend, closing the door on Lila and Lena's decade-spanning friendship which has survived betrayals, marriage, divorce, fascism, scrutiny, children, and the changing landscape of Naples and Italy more broadly. Now we greet Elena and Lila in middle age, their dynamic more mercurial than ever. Expect a joint pregnancy, earthquake, the usual threats from the Solaras, success, more philandering on Nino's behalf and sudden grief. Gaia Girace and Margherita Mazzucco have stepped aside to make way for Irene Maiorino and Alba Rohrwacher from Perfect Strangers – another round of pitch perfect casting. If you're all caught up, why not dip into Netflix's take on Elena Ferrante's The Lying Life of Adults?
Ripley
Sure, there have been multiple adaptations of Patricia Highsmith's classic novel. We all know that Anthony Minghella's 1999 version is easily the cream of the crop. So when we heard that Netflix was churning out yet another reboot, we rolled our eyes. If it ain't broke etc. We take all that back though. Not just because Andrew Scott gives Tom Ripley the most unnerving turn yet, but because Steve Zaillan has managed to bring out all the sinister, psychological notes in the source material. As an audience you're left reeling at how a white, wealthy, good looking man can literally get away with murder if he's cunning enough.
Under the Bridge
Yes, Under the Bridge creator and co-writer Quinn Shephard is fully aware of how the true crime genre turns femicide into entertainment. It's why Shephard made distinct creative choices while producing the limited series based off of Rebecca Godfrey's book that follows the murder in 1997 of 14-year-old Reena Virk. Choices like writing a First Nations police officer into the story and casting Lily Gladstone and placing Godfrey in the story as Riley Keogh so as to provoke questions around media's culpability in reporting on cases like Virk's. While the horror of Virk's death is focused on, with fourth wall-breaking voiceovers by Vritika Gupta who stars as Virk, Shephard paints a portrait of the corrosive effect of loneliness on Virk and her teenaged killers.
Sunny
A July favourite of RUSSH designer Phoebe Holden, who said "because I adore Rashida Jones and Japan. This has both, and it’s very good." While on paper the main premise of Sunny is the kind of thing I'd never watch – robots, plane crashes, a tech-fused future – the final result is surprisingly enjoyable. We'll gladly watch Jones muddle through grief in Kyoto with the help of a homebot named Sunny for 10 episodes. Why not?
Slow Horses (Season 4)
Slow Horses is only gaining speed, with two more seasons ordered on top of the latest release. It's unsurprising when you tuck in. Gary Oldman's portrayal of a washed-up, alcoholic, brusque MI5 agent is too delicious to ignore. Throw in a cast of British heavyweights like Kristin Scott Thomas, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, and Sophie Okonedo along with Hugo Weaving and... chefs kiss.
Only Murders in the Building (Season 4)
Just when you think Only Murders in the Building is teetering a little too close to a corny spoof, bam! They kill off a minor but nonetheless charming character like Sazz Pataki and we're back at the Arconia assembling our suspects board and tuning our ears to Selena Gomez's specific pitch of monotone. The gang is back, and they're kookier than ever. Charles is rocked, his stunt double has been put through the incinerator and word on the street is he was the intended target. Oliver is doing long distance with Loretta and trying to coax Zach Galifianakis into being interested in him. Mabel, on the other hand, is torn about a proposed Hollywood film about the trio. It doesn't help that she's being shadowed by Eva Longoria, who has been cast to play the millennial as "Mah-bell" an older, alcoholic apparition. Anyway, what we all want to know is whodunit? My bet's on Eugene Levy.
Image: @mmyhala
