5 Stars - My Favorite TV Shows

I only have twelve shows on this list. It takes a lot be a 5 Star show.

1 The Last Kingdom

This show is based on Bernard Cornwell’s series of thirteen books, The Saxon Tales (since renamed by him to be The Last Kingdom books, after the show popularized that name). In the story (both the show and the books), Uhtred son of Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) takes a circuitous path to become the rightful ruler of Bebbanburg (pronounced Bebbanborough, now Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland), along the way both conquering and uniting the Danes who have invaded England, and alternately supporting and fighting the man who became Alfred the Great, the first king to unite (mostly) all of England. Uhtred’s opening quote in the show is “Destiny is All”; in the books, that is written in Old English as “wyrd bid ful araed”: Fate is inexorable. Usually it shows up when something does not go Uhtred’s way, and he uses it to mean that he will accept what happens. It does not mean that all will work out well.

Bernard Cornwell did not meet his birth father until late in his life; upon meeting that man, Outhred, Cornwell found his family tree going back to the 6th century and learned that his family had been Saxons in Bebbanburg. He decided to write about the hundred-plus year history of the conflicts in England. The historical story, like Cornwell’s other great works (including the Richard Sharpe series about the Napoleonic wars) is true, although some of the characters, particularly Uhtred, were inserted by Cornwell so he could have one main protagonist working with the true historical figures from Denmark, Wessex (West Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), Mercia, Wales, and Scotland. (Cornwell does the same thing with the Sharpe books, which also became a BBC series; all the historical battles and characters are true, except the fictional Richard Sharpe is inserted into those critical events, often taking the role of someone else.)

The first five seasons of The Last Kingdom each cover two novels from The Saxon Tales, bringing us from the first book through the tenth. The final three books were wrapped into a concluding feature-length film, Seven Kings Must Die. Uhtred is betrayed by his uncle, who then claims Bebbanburg and sells Uhtred to the Danes, where Uhtred is raised lovingly and happily, but he eventually finds himself helping Alfred (not yet Alfred the Great, currently the ruler of only Wessex) overthrow the Danes, because Uhtred wants to take back Bebbanburg. Over subsequent seasons, Uhtred fights the Danes in Northumbria; Wessex and Mercia unite, while a particularly evil nobleman works to overthrow Alfred; Uhtred fights and defeats Ragnar (yes, that Ragnar, from the mostly excellent Vikings show on the History Channel); Uhtred develops relationships with Brida, Thyra, and Gisela, and eventually becomes lover and ally to Lady Aethelflaed (Alfred’s daughter), but she is forced to disavow him and announce that she will bear no heirs, in order to be accepted as Queen of Mercia, thereby putting her people ahead of her commitment to Uhtred.

Uhtred has (at least) two children and becomes close allies with Father Beocca and Finan, and also helps raise Alfred’s son and heir, despite fierce opposition from Alfred’s devout and spiteful wife, who places faith in her grotesquely-misunderstood god above loyalty to the king and his heirs (trusting that prayer will protect and heal them, and ignoring sound advice and help when it is most needed). The total series covers about ninety years and multiple rulers, so liberties are taken with Uhtred’s age.

Why is this number one on my list? It is incredibly exciting and complex, and most of the cast is astounding. Uhtred and his allies are captured several times, eventually fight and escape; he keeps uniting various English and Danish groups against either other Danes or the corrupt alderman’s army; he is granted status by Alfred, then has it taken away by Alfred’s wife, restored, taken away again by various nobles opposed to Alfred; he has this incredibly heartwarming then ultimately heartwrenching relationship with Lady Aethelflaed; his dream of reclaiming Bebbanburgh is always in the distant background, until finally late in the series it is not, and he rallies his friends to take it back. There might be a slow episode in some seasons, out of eight or ten episodes per season; that’s a pretty fantastic run of conflict, defeat, triumph, union, and family alliances. It’s also a great way to learn about the true history of England, from King Alfred, his wife and children, to the Danish invasions, treaties, and ultimately the peaceful division of lands within England. (This changed a century later when William the Conqueror invaded from Normandy and claimed England. Modern rulers are descended from William, not from Alfred, but this happens after The Last Kingdom. The term Anglo-Saxon is the result of Alfred’s rise, because England before Alfred was settled by Saxons (Germans), and he became the first Anglo-Saxon ruler by using the term Angles to describe the union of the English and Saxons.)

2 Karen Pirie

This show was a complete surprise. Karen Pirie is a young detective sergeant unexpectedly promoted and assigned an old cold case. Her fellow detectives are surprised that a woman has been brought into this role, and some of them think it’s a “diversity” hire. She herself is not sure, but hopes it’s because her new boss thinks she deserves it. It turns out that her supervisors don’t expect her to succeed and brought her in counting on her to bungle the case. As she pursues it, her boss’s boss looks for ways to stop her. But she’s Karen Pirie, and she won’t be stopped. Old evidence is uncovered and her supervisors tell her to stop. Their actions make her more suspicious and more determined (though she still doesn’t suspect the actual perpetrator); the families involved in the original case don’t trust her, because they believe the original cops covered it up; and when they finally provide her with relevant testimony, everything blows up. She is ordered off the case. And just like Kiera Knightly in Official Secrets, she says nope, my job is to do what’s right. The final reveal, and the threat against her life, and her decision to arrest the murderer, shocks everyone. He doesn’t think she has the authority to arrest him. She doesn’t care, because she has a gun and handcuffs and a badge. It’s an incredible moment, and a mesmerizing season.

I hope the second season will live up to the first, but that’s a lot to ask; it might drop down this list.

3 Justified, Justified: City Primeval

For years, Justified was at the top of my list. Then The Last Kingdom came out, and by the second season, it was clear that it would be my new top show. Then Karen Pirie was released two years ago, and Justified dropped down one more spot. It’s as long-running as The Last Kingdom, and like that show, each season covers a complete story (or two); it’s not episodic, and the show builds throughout each season. But where The Last Kingdom is set in a bigger world and each season has a lot of battles, Justified focuses on one Deputy U.S. Marshal (Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, in by far his best and most complex performance, despite other great work in Deadwood and Daisy Jones and the Six) and one investigation per season. (Note that Deputy U.S. Marshal is not an assistant “deputy” role; it is a very senior Marshal, with significant authority, reporting to the chief marshal in each of 94 districts.) There is an occasional battle, plenty of bad guys, and Givens carries and occasionally uses his gun, but it’s a cerebral show, more about Givens’ off-the-books investigations, his family, and his on-again off-again relationship with the recurring criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, who is more complex and unpredictable here than in his other great works).

Raylan is often at risk, and occasionally captured. Sometimes Boyd helps him out, sometimes he’s part of the problem. Raylan often does not have the full support of his superiors in the U.S. Marshals Service because he’s a bit of a trigger-happy renegade, more inclined to cause trouble than to follow the rules. But in key moments, when Raylan’s behavior has gotten him deep into life-threatening situations, his Chief shows up and begrudgingly both helps him and recognizes his service. It is in many ways a slow-burn of a show, but impossible to pause.

4 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

There have been many Star Trek shows over the years, from the good ones (The Next Generation and The Original Series) to the decent ones (Voyager, Deep Space Nine, maybe Discovery, maybe Prodigy) to the struggling ones (Enterprise, Picard, Lower Decks). The best one is Strange New Worlds, which has released two ten-episode seasons so far. The seasons are exactly the right length to avoid any wandering episodes or extraneous filler. There have been two episodes so far that are not perfect and compelling throughout, and quite a few episodes that individually are worth sustained applause, tears, and rewatching. It’s as if someone looked back at the history of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet and decided to focus on specific moments that changed its history.

The episodic format is a return to what made the original Star Trek so compelling, without the drawn-out arcs of the other series. Each episode is important and dramatic, and usually someone overcomes significant odds to do “the right thing”. You can feel the Federation being created and improved in each episode. Christopher Pike is played by Anson Mount, and (initially) he has no idea that he is going to die or be disabled years later, as covered in the two-part The Menagerie from The Original Series. Then there is a dramatic episode where Pike finds out what his future is, and can easily take steps to avoid that future; but as he learns more, he sees what the consequences will be, and he accepts its fate. (We don’t know if his fate is years or seasons away, or imminent.) Pike has a long-distance relationship with Captain Batel, who is also his closest ally. Cadet Uhura is introduced to the show for the first time. First Officer Una Chin-Riley has an important and powerful role, but also an unexpected past—she is a a genetically modified Illyrian—that eventually brings her before a tribunal for trail, where Batel prosecutes her; Pike has taken leave to find an Illyrian defense attorney, and with subtle assistance from Batel, they offer the tribunal an acceptable path to acquittal. (It is one of the most dramatic, personal, and joyous moments of the series.) The Gorn race from The Original Series appears, and turns out to be far more powerful than anyone realized, probably the most dangerous threat the Federation faces. Security Chief La’an Noonien-Singh repeatedly plays a major role, including using her experience as the only survivor of a Gorn attack to protect and redirect the Enterprise crew. Spock and Nurse Chapel have a complicated relationship, intertwined with his engagement to T’Pring. Chief Medical Officer M’Benga is in the background, but turns out to have a significant role, even a fighting one, in several episodes. A young James Kirk and a young Montgomery Scott appear.

There are numerous little touches, including those mentioned above, that pay attention to The Original Series and reward its fans, but each episode also stands alone; those homages are incidental to the story. Strange New Worlds is not just a better version of Star Trek; it’s a massive tribute to Starfleet’s history, its evolution, and the characters who built and reformed it. We’re left with such appreciation for everything that went into making Starfleet and the United Federation that we see in all the later Star Trek series.

5 Shetland

For seven seasons, this show was excellent: nothing superficial about it, at least three almost-overlapping plots each season, Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) as a relentless detective who ruffles a lot of feathers by chasing down old leads and secrets, with Tosh McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell) as his detective sergeant. Every season is complex, and while the ending is usually a success, it’s always mixed. I thought it ended after seven seasons, then the new one came back last year and it left me a touch conflicted. On the one hand, Tosh is finally fully in command of her new role as (acting) Detective Inspector, and she does everything right: she doesn’t back down, turns up old secrets, follows every lead, expects the same from her team, and is in every way the amazing lead detective we always hoped she would become. On the other hand, an old London detective, Ruth Calder, who grew up in Shetland and left years ago, comes back to town for just a couple of days, and never leaves. It seems likely that Ruth Calder is now the lead detective going forward, even though Tosh did everything right this season, honoring all the work that Jimmy Perez had done to bring her to this point. The season is still complex and compelling, but it should all be Tosh’s.

6 His Dark Materials

This show has episodes that don’t seem to make sense, tangents that you don’t understand as you’re watching them, incredible evil, conflicted main characters, plots that range from church corruption to fanciful technology to angels (!) and witches (!) and armored bears (!), heroes who die, and a young heroine who doesn’t understand how she got caught up in all this corruption. Oh, and there are also many dimensions, with hidden and dangerous portals between them. And yet all of that makes sense as you watch it, ultimately culminating in a classic confrontation between the church that has always called Eve “evil” and the originator of sin, and the long-oppressed people who have united, and come to realize that Eve was not evil: Eve was the originator of free will, not sin, and the church across all the dimensions is trying to destroy her influence, to suppress women and free thought, to rule without mercy. I’ve read the books, but watching the show would turn anyone into a feminist and free thinker. It’s a remarkable and powerful show; you lose track of who was bad and who died, because you’re so solidly on the side of the champions.

7 The Newsroom

This show sort of crept under the radar in 2013, perhaps being too political and airing on HBO Max. Jeff Daniels won his first Emmy for his role in this show. (He won his second for Godless in 2018. He’s amazing in both shows.) Aaron Sorkin did with Newsroom what he failed to accomplish with The West Wing: he told a great political story in only 25 episodes and three short seasons, rather than the 154 episodes of West Wing. (West Wing is still a great show; it’s just too long.) Newsroom makes its point(s), gets to the point, and delivers the results without wandering or digressing.

It also takes an unorthodox approach: Jeff Daniels plays Will McAvoy, a moderate Republican, not a liberal, but when MacKenzie (Emily Mortimer, in a powerful performance) re-enters his life, she leads him to challenge both the owners of their cable news network and the Republican orthodoxy. On stage at a typical event, he is asked why America is the greatest country in the world. He thinks he sees MacKenzie in the audience telling him “It’s Not. But It Can Be.” He tries to duck the answer, but the moderator won’t let him. He finally lets his imagined view of MacKenzie take control, raising his voice and saying that we’re not one of the top countries in literacy, math, science, labor force, or exports, we’re low in life expectancy and near the bottom in infant mortality, and we only lead the world in three things: incarcerated prisoners, people who believe that angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined. The audience is silent; some are shocked. He goes on to say that we used to be the greatest country in the world: we stood up for what was right, fought for moral reasons, waged wars on poverty rather than poor people, cared about our neighbors, explored the universe, cured diseases, cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy, and didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election. He adds, “All of this happened because we were informed and led by great leaders. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.” It’s an incredible scene, perhaps the most powerful of the whole show—and it happens at the very beginning. It generates huge publicity, enough to get him in trouble at his job, but also to rally MacKenzie and their boss, who use Will’s dramatic and controversial speech to pivot the news network back to what it used to be: an organization dedicated to telling the truth.

The show goes on from there in a mostly episodic fashion, breaking some important true stories, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Koch brothers secret backing of the Citizens United case in the Supreme Court, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the death of Osama bin Laden, Anthony Weiner’s scandal, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the growing movement to disqualify Black voters. During all of this, MacKenzie also brings in Sloan Sabbitt (Olivia Munn), a brilliant economist who is suddenly given national prominence, and she absolutely nails it every time, expanding the scope of the network’s investigations and reporting. Will ends up talking about RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) on his show one night, saying the Tea Party calls him a RINO, then listing how they’re actually the pretenders. He lists what real conservatives and Republicans actually believe, then says the Tea Party believes in “loving America but hating Americans”; hating the government; refuse any compromises (what both parties have traditionally called “government”); attacks poor people; that America was founded on the Christian religion (despite what John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the First Amendment say); he quotes Jesus and shows how those teachings (heal the sick, feed the hungry, care for the weakest, pray in private) are the opposite of what the Tea Party and the new Republican leadership are preaching (control women’s bodies, demonize education, ignore facts, don’t compromise, fear of progress, xenophobia, hatred of the government). He says they can pretend to be Republicans, but they are really the American Taliban, and they cannot survive if all Americans are allowed to vote.

Given that this show aired in 2013, and that all the events it covers happened around that time period, it’s shocking that things have gotten worse, not better. But having Will McAvoy risk his career back then to stand up and say these things, while defending and explaining his conservative values, remains a dramatic point in “history”. It loses the thread a bit in season 2, and there’s an overly-long and traumatic thread about torture and abuse in Africa, but the basic point holds up: newsroom reporters choosing to do the right thing, cover true stories, stand up to oppression and threats, and continue doing their duty to the American people.

8 Doctor Who

It’s never quite clear to me if Doctor Who should be in my top five, or here. Much of the New Who series is superb, easily the equal of any show on this list, but there are more episodes, more seasons, more characters playing The Doctor, and it doesn’t always click. David Tennant’s seasons are superb, and his return for three episodes last year was, to use a British phrase, “smashing”; Matt Smith’s seasons are mostly superb; Peter Capaldi, while half of his seasons drone on or wander, has perhaps six of the best episodes ever, plus an extraordinary arc with Clara Oswald that equals Matt Smith’s Clara arc and his Amy Pond and Rory Williams story and the Donna Noble, Martha Jones, and Rose Tyler stories with David Tennant. (Okay, not the Rose Tyler stories; nothing equals the Rose Tyler stories, and nothing ever will.) River Song is fun, engaging, important, and tragic throughout all her seasons with Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi. Christopher Eccleston’s one season was excellent. Ncuti Gatwa’s new season is often fun and suspenseful, with an extraordinary companion in Ruby Sunday. The Jodie Whittaker seasons lost the thread, not because of her great acting, but the writing just fell flat too often.

In short, it is often a perfect show. But not always. Clara Oswald and Rose Tyler should be enthroned, along with David Tennant and Matt Smith.

9 Deadwood

Deadwood was a great show for three seasons, but then unexpectedly canceled. (This was before violence and rough language had become accepted on HBO, and some viewers might not have been prepared for its excesses.) It was a critical success and one of the best TV shows of all time, but ending on a cliffhanger held it back. The movie was finally released thirteen years later, and it does a great job of tying up the story. Though the film is set ten years after the show’s ending, it keeps most of the same character, shows what’s happened since, and finally has the resolution(s) we wanted all along.

10 1923

1923 is a fantastic vehicle for Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, but the other two plots, taking place in different locations, are even better. Cara and Jack Dutton (Ford and Mirren) are defending their ranch, and their position in town, against well-connected sheepherders who plan to take the Dutton’s land. Meanwhile, Spencer Dutton (Jack’s nephew, who was raised by Jack and Cara) is in Africa, a big-game hunter for hire, where he meets the upper class British noblewoman Alexandra, who is engaged to a member of the British royalty. There’s no way Alexandra or Spencer should fall for each other, but they do, and Spencer saves her from a violent lion attack. They are called home to the Dutton ranch, and get married on the ship home, but then the Earl of Sussex, Prince Arthur (the father of Alexandra’s fiance), engineers a conspiracy against Spencer and has him evicted from the ship. Alexandra is not permitted to leave the ship with him, but she promises to find him back in Montana. Back in the U.S., the government works with the Catholic church to capture and torture Native American children, intending to remove all signs of Native culture and essentially stop that culture from having new children. Two Natives fight back, and are now hunted down by the government, while a number of them are brutally murdered. 1923 has all the Native trauma and corruption of the Dark Winds show, but adds the engaging and terrifying plot of Spencer and Alexandra’s prohibited marriage and forced separation, while the Dutton ranch is losing its years-long position of primacy due to corruption.

11 Wednesday

Jenna Ortega is a blast to watch and cheer on as Wednesday Addams. Her family forces her to attend Nevermore Academy, where they went when they were young, because she has been kicked out of too many other schools for making trouble. Nevermore has many students with supernatural powers; Wednesday does not seem to be one of the more talented ones. But she is angry, and she knows how to investigate, and she keeps unearthing hidden secrets at the academy, and in town. The monster Hyde kills students and civilians, and Wednesday suspects the principal (who is in fact a shapeshifter, but not the Hyde). It takes episodes for the true villain(s) to slowly emerge, and the supernatural element becomes all-important, bringing long-deceased characters back to life. Wednesday’s dance scene is perhaps the most iconic part of the show (everyone is dressed in formal white attire, and she shows up in a short black lace dress and completely dominates the event), but it’s part of her ongoing attempt to unite the students, even those who despise her. She guesses wrong a couple of times, and her investigation has consequences, but she keeps trying, and her powers keep growing. When things are at their worst, she comes through. I’m not sure she ever smiles in the show; she glowers, stares, glares, and never stops antagonizing students and teachers or fighting to expose the true bad guys. This show has been renewed for another season, and if the second season is half as good as the first one, it will be a thrilling blast.

12 Strike Back

Strike Back no longer seems to be available to stream in the U.S., which is a shame, because for a few years, it was the equal of any action TV show: all the high marks of The Unit, Banshee, Six, SEAL Team, and Ray Donovan, but without any wandering sub-plots or family drama. It’s a British special forces team (Section 20) that gets sent into dangerous situations all over the globe, sometimes with covert support, and sometimes abandoned. Every use of technology, classified intelligence, subterfuge, and life-or-death battles is superb. Enough of the characters die that you don’t assume everyone will magically survive, and there’s enough political drama that you’re never sure if they will win, or be sacrificed.