By Elazar Abrahams
Way back in January, we went out on a limb to predict what our favorite television series of the year would be and listed the five most anticipated TV shows of 2024. Well, twelve months later, how did our picks pan out? To be honest, most came and went with a whimper instead of a bang, and a couple of them were true letdowns. Let’s take a closer look at the list with 20/20 hindsight.
Elsbeth
A new entry into the world of The Good Wife was one of the only things that could get me to watch network television this past year. Elsbeth didn’t pack the same punch that the uber-political The Good Fight had, but it wasn’t supposed to. Despite both shows being spinoffs of the same original series, Elsbeth is decidedly lighter, but still has that wonderfully clever writing and wit that fans have come to love. If there ever was a side character that deserved her chance in the spotlight, it was Carrie Preston’s scatterbrained defense attorney Elsbeth Tascioni. After a first season that aired from February through May, the procedural is already in the middle of its second season; a turnaround time which is nearly unheard of these days in the age of streaming. Shoutout to CBS for giving the people what they want.
The Franchise
A swing and a miss. With a clever concept, talented cast, prestige network, and storied creator, HBO’s The Franchise should have been a sure thing. Unfortunately, the Hollywood backlot-set comedy was just alright, going for easy jabs lampooning the making of a modern superhero movie and not taking a smarter look at the subject matter. Funnily enough, Armando Iannucci’s previous show, Veep, had a big resurgence this year as reality began to bear striking similarities to the political sitcom. Rewatching episodes of that just underscored how disappointing this new series from Iannucci was.
Interior Chinatown
Perfectly decent in every which way, this adaptation of an award-winning novel was another TV show from this year that didn’t quite live up to the anticipation we had set for it. Interior Chinatown had good lead performances, clever enough satire, and played with the very format of television itself. However, none of that was enough to set the miniseries ablaze, which sort of came and went when Hulu premiered it in the middle of November.
The Jinx: Part Two
To be honest, I still have not watched The Jinx: Part Two, so I can’t fairly comment on it. That said, the gusto of the original Jinx docu-series came from the way in which it dominated cultural conversation for weeks on end. Nine years later, the follow up flew under the radar of even the most loyal true crime fanatics. In that sense, the show is a flop. Still, critics wrote positively about the miniseries, so I will attempt to eventually watch this in the future.
The Penguin
Expanding on the gritty world of 2022’s The Batman, The Penguin was the rare event that captured the hearts of both comic book nerds and prestige TV fans alike. Essentially a Gotham-set version of The Sopranos, these eight episodes enthralled all who enjoy a well told and well shot crime saga. In a year with a lot of franchise slop on TV (*cough* The Acolyte *cough*), Penguin took the crown. Hype satisfied.
TV and City 