my top 10 tv shows of 2023

Two preliminary notes here before we jump in:

• The Uproxx staff is putting out our big group-curated Top 10 TV Shows of 2023 list this week, with top 10 lists submitted by a bunch of people and the scores all tallied up, but I figured it might be fun to share the individual list I submitted for that project as a teaser, so that’s what is happening here
• I’ve gotten a few really good emails since I started doing this newsletter and it makes me think a periodic mailbag could be fun, so if you ever have anything you want to send in — about movies and TV, or about sandwiches, or about life and/or wheelchair stuff, or almost literally anything else — please feel free to send a reply to the email that comes with this or any other future newsletter and if we get enough I’ll round them up every now and then

Okay, here we go. 

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10. Mrs. Davis

Just a blast. A fun and weird and sometimes deep show about nuns doing battle with an all-seeing and all-knowing form of AI. From Damon Lindelof, who is good at this sort of ambitious weirdo stuff. Gave me this screencap…

You know I’m ready, brother.

9. Jury Duty

A comedy unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Basically, a “real” dude gets dropped into an otherwise wholly concocted trial — kind of a Truman Show situation, but sillier — complete with James Marsden as an amped-up version of himself. A good time. I’m still not sure I buy the farce of it all but I also don’t think I’m going to let any of that get in the way of a very good time. 

8. Our Flag Means Death

Easily the best feel-good comedy about a crew of mostly gay pirates who occasionally blast each other’s limbs off. I wrote about this show a few weeks back. Everything I needed to say was in there. I have such a crush on the Pirate Queen.

Taika Waititi is good at television. We’ll come back to this.

7. Barry

The show gave us both NoHo Hank and the triumphant resurgence of Henry Winkler. It was a great show. Let’s all just agree to appreciate that. 

6. Poker Face

Good show.

5. Beef

Definitely the best use of Hoobastank by any show this year.

4. Succession

Pretty good show. Maybe you heard of it. I had a great time recapping it and suspect I will miss it a lot. 

3. The Bear

I don’t wanna get too far into this so I don’t step on another thing I’m hoping to write for my actual job before the end of the year, but I do not remember any character on television who went from “I hope someone hits him with a hammer” to “I would gladly give this man a kidney” faster than Richie from The Bear. 

2. The Righteous Gemstones

This quote from Walton Goggins as Baby Billy will stay with me for many years. 

Between this and every single thing Edi Patterson has done over the run of the series, we’ve been truly blessed to have it in our lives.

1. Reservation Dogs

Just a special, special television show. 

STUFF I TYPED

— my weekly Rundown column, with blurbs about Guy Fieri’s massive new Food Network deal, and the Hollywood bidding war over an Eagles jacket, and a string of Big Boy statue thefts across Kentucky

— I didn’t so much “type” this as I did “make” it but this GIF of two refs simultaneously ejecting Jayson Tatum on Friday night…

… could be a very good one to save and deploy in your group chats when someone gets out of line

STUFF I CLICKED ON

— my pal Josh Kurp interviewed the director of the iconic “THEY DO EXIST” M&Ms Christmas commercial and, buddy, if you don’t know who voiced the Yellow M&M in this sucker, you are in for a treat

— my coworker Mike Ryan spoke to the director of The Fugitive and came away with a ton of good stories

— I clicked on a link and ended up learning a lot about the American Pika, a furry little guy described as a “potato-sized rabbit relative,” which is… I mean, look at this dude

— here’s a cool interview with Paul Giamatti

— AUSTRALIAN KRISPY KREME HEIST

— I was watching Bosch the other day and Bosch was investigating how the Russian mob was squeezing a crooked American businessman who hired a goon to shoot a lawyer Bosch knows but then I saw Bosch walk out of a restaurant called HOUSE OF BREAKFAST…

… and I immediately paused the action to see if it was a real place and then I learned it was and read up on it and still haven’t finished the episode three days later

Okay, that’s all I got. Have a good week. Like, subscribe, send to your friends, etc.

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