Daniel Baas' Best Television of 2022

2022 was an exceptional year for television. There was no shortage of great shows to watch, only a shortage of time enough to watch all of them. Here are some of my favorites:

Honorable Mentions: House of the Dragon, Peacemaker, Murderville, What We Do in the Shadows Season 4, For All Mankind Season 4, Reservation Dogs Season 4

10. Winning Time (HBO)

Winning Time may stretch the truth, but this history of the Showtime Lakers is an incredibly fun show to watch. Winning Time is a buffet for everyone, from sports fans with its stunning basketball scenes, to movie fans with Adam McKay’s signature style making up the DNA of the show. It’s a creative look at one of the greatest collection basketball players ever and the people around that hallowed dynasty.

9. Outer Range, Season 1 (Amazon Prime)

Josh Brolin Sci Fi Western. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

Outer Range is weird, brooding, and definitely wants to be a little of everything (Yellowstone meets Twin Peaks has been thrown around a lot). But it gets right to the mystery and takes off from there. It’s a fun watch and another of 2022’s fun surprises.

8. The Old Man, Season 1 (FX)

The Old Man is a solid action thriller, pitting Jeff Bridges against John Lithgow. The show does a surprisingly good job of handling flashbacks and using actors that match their older counterparts well. If this were 2008, this show would have certainly been a mid-budget movie. But it is refreshing to have a full 7 hours to tell this story the right way.

7. The Rehearsal, Season 1 (HBO)

Nathan Fielder has always been an agent of chaos, and The Rehearsal continues that trend. What begins as a show that could be a “rehearsal-of-the-week” takes a completely different turn that ultimately challenges the audience in a complicated way. Fielder’s meta commentary is surprising, incisive, and unexpected. I still think about The Rehearsal all these months later, and I can’t decide if that is a good or bad thing. I can’t imagine where Fielder will go next.

6. Stranger Things, Season 4 (Netflix)

Stranger Things was back in full force this year. With four concurrent plotlines that mostly converged by the end of the two-part season, COVID restrictions on shooting certainly showed in how the season was constructed. But this blockbuster season of television showed that Netflix spared no expense to provide an action-packed penultimate season to one of the last monoculture shows left.

5. The English (BBC/Amazon Prime)

Emily Blunt in a western about revenge? Sign me up! The English might be one of Blunt’s best performances as a mother seeking to kill the man responsible for her son’s death. The show feels unlike any other western in the best way possible. Chaske Spencer also gives an incredible performance alongside Blunt, making The English yet another breakout hit from 2022.

4. Severance, Season 1 (Apple TV+)

Pure vibes, great acting, and a solid mystery box make Severance another one of the breakout hits of the year. The production design and cinematography alone set the show apart with a unique visual language. But the story, acting, and directing shine through to make a show that gives the audience just enough to make them want to keep coming back.

3. Andor, Season 1 (Disney+)

Andor is the Star Wars Story™ that everyone has been hoping for. After the disappointment of Rise of Skywalker and some of the more recent installments of live Star Wars TV offerings, Andor gets at the heart of how the galaxy-spanning conflict affects the common people, as well as the true horror of the Empire removed of Sith powers and superweapons.

With multiple movie-like arcs, the show is paced incredibly well, and shows off incredible acting from so many different actors. Despite knowing that (SPOILER) Andor dies at the end of Rogue One, the show ratchets up the tension and creates a true connection to new characters that doesn’t diminish the fact that we already know the eventual fate of the main character. If this is the future of Star Wars, then we are in good hands.

2. Better Call Saul, Season 6 (AMC)

What’s it like to watch perfect television? Enter the final season of Better Call Saul. Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, and the whole New Mexico team behind Saul and Breaking Bad know how to craft television, and the final season of Better Call Saul did not disappoint.

The final season is perfectly paced, with enough breathing room to create small moments for every character to shine. Nothing about the final season feels forced or rushed in a way that audiences may be more attuned to in the wake of the sloppy final season of Game of Thrones. Saul gives us the perfect coda to a character, and story, that has been in our lives for 13 years.

1. The Bear, Season 1 (FX)

The Bear became the breakout hit of 2022. A show that came out of nowhere, starring a collection of “oh yeah, that guy” actors, The Bear is a great example of tight storytelling, compelling characters, and a frenetic sense that anything could happen.

The show is confined, both in its story and its actual geography, mainly taking place in one location. This amplifies the tension that is ever-present, making for one of the most unique television viewing experiences I’ve ever had. Episode 7 is among one of the best episodes of television I have ever seen (other notable examples include Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias”, Twin Peaks: The Return’s “Part 8”, and Lost’s “The Constant”, among others). It was a joy to watch this show, and to see a program like this come out of nowhere and become such a sensation.