The Best TV Shows to Watch in 2022

The Lord of the Rings (2022) is aiming to be, possibly, the most expensive show in history (once the cost of purchasing the rights and further marketing have been factored in). But from the beginning the show was mired in trouble, from an early rash of writer and actor firings and the exit of Tom Shippey, the world-renowned Tolkien scholar whose initial presence gave the Bezos-corp productions some degree of credibility. It turns out that Amazon can't throw enough money at the project to undo the damage of not caring about the source material (to say nothing of repeatedly firing the writers, the actors, and the one man who brought some credibility to the whole venture).

The Tolkien estate, thankfully, keeps a tight rope on what is allowed in a TV series… but perhaps not tight enough. According to the Tolkien estate, this new show cannot touch on anything from the Third Age (keeping the Peter Jackson films completely unrelated). But, the series can add a vast swath of new characters and storylines, as long as they maintain the over-arching storyline as set down in Tolkien’s expanded work. As we've seen, these new characters frequently come with really stupid haircuts.

I was leery to begin with, and my concerns have all, unfortunately, been vindicated. But what else can we expect from a mega-corp like Amazon? They're basically the antagonist straight out of a Cyberpunk story.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) follows the Jedi master’s adventures after surviving Order 66 and retreating to Tatooine to watch over Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker’s son. According to the original writer for the concept, the series would contain elements of the works that originally inspired Lucas, such as Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Samurai history and culture, and Buddhism. The show plods a bit and falls into some pretty lame traps when it comes to the writing, offering yet another blow to the heavily corporatized Star Wars saga. Regardless, it's still wonderful to see Ewan McGregor back in the roll for at least these six episodes (with the hope that we get a second season down the road), and Moses Ingram is an absolutely brilliant antagonist.

Coming November 30th

Willow (2022) is the exciting sequel series to the original 1988 film of the same name, one of the unsung greats of the fantasy genre. We don’t have a ton of details about the story in this sequel series yet, but we do know that it will concentrate on a princess who assembles a party of adventurers to join her on her quest to rescue her twin brother.

Since it’s still got Warwick Davis involved, I’m there for it one-hundred percent.

Reservation Dogs (2021) is an Indigenous American teen comedy-drama created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi. It’s a massive deal for Indigenous representation, with the majority of the writers, producers, cast, and crew all hailing from indigenous communities.

The series follows a group of Indigenous teens living in rural Oklahoma who wrestle with their desire to move to California, the funds needed for such a venture, and the problems of life and crime that surround them.

It premiered in 2021 and was quickly given the go-ahead for a second season, which also received critical acclaim and boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes!

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2022/2023) still doesn’t have a release date, nor any meaningful information from the production as of this writing, but we can infer from the production timeline that the release will either be very late 2022 or sometime in 2023. This is a giant project, and Netflix has, unfortunately, shown that it can end up flailing a bit with adaptations of beloved work.

The series' original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were both on board as Executive Producers in the beginning, but left due to a "negative and unsupporting" environment created by the studio. Jeremy Zuckerman, the original composer, also left.

The casting, at least, seems on-point, and we can keep our fingers crossed that this will be something special. But, it’s hard to see how a live-action version could bring anything new to what is easily the best animated series ever produced.

Station Eleven (2021–2022), about life on Earth 20 years after a flu pandemic kills most of the population, is precisely what we all want to watch while a flu pandemic kills a non-trivial portion of the population. What saves this is the original source material by Emily St. John Mandel, which, despite its post-apocalyptic setting, strives to explore a far more real and important element of human experience than other stories of its ilk.

Combined with a great cast and some solid screenwriting, this show offers a post-apocalyptic experience that might actually help us process what we’re going through, rather than feed off our collective trauma for capitalism’s sake.

The miniseries started at the end of 2021 and finished up in January 2022.

Limitless (2022) takes Chris Hemsworth on the journey of a lifetime as he and an international team of coaches and health experts explore different ways to live better for longer: regenerating damage, maximizing strength, building resilience, shocking the body, supercharging memory and confronting mortality.

Honestly, half the people tuning in were there just because Hemsworth rarely wears a shirt in the series, but it's absolutely worthwhile for the content as well.

In Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022), we got our first major dive into the mythos of the Cyberpunk world. While Cyberpunk 2077 may not have emerged to the biggest applause (bugs, cut content, and rushed development colluded in making the game a bit of an initial letdown), but the universe behind the game is an absolute winner. Mike Pondsmith's epic cyberpunk tale is a total winner, and the anime based on that world does a fair job of capturing both the brutality and the passion behind the setting.

The series fails in two ways: it feeds into its anime roots too deeply, and it's ultimately extremely depressing. The cyberpunk story would work a lot better as a stereotypical series without the melodramatic edge (ha). And yet, it does what it set out to do very well, netting itself a huge following immediately upon release.

House of the Dragon (2022) is based on George R. R. Martin's 2018 novel Fire & Blood and tells the story of the Targaryen dynasty some 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones obviously revitalized interest in the fantasy genre as something mainstream audiences would fall head over heels for, but with the rather halfhearted flop at the end of the original series, any series following it was certain to be hard-pressed to do well. Dragon has followed reasonably, netting a good response from die-hard fans and casual viewers, but it certainly doesn't have the raw cultural appeal of the original.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) is taking Star Trek back to its roots, concentrating on the ten years of adventure undertaken by the Enterprise crew before Kirk arrived. Given the widespread success of the new Star Trek series, it’s likely that Strange New Worlds will continue to pull a high viewership. The franchise is Paramount’s most precious resource, after all, so it’s likely that they’re going to mine it for everything they can.

Personally, I don’t like the other new Trek series very much. Despite great casting choices, the writing consistently veers toward the “grim-dark” style so popular these days, and I kinda hate that. And let’s not even start into the terribleness that is Lower Decks. But I remained optimistic that Strange New Worlds series would start to feel a little more like Roddenberry’s vision. My hope, for once, paid off.

Strange New Worlds isn't as well-written as Deep Space Nine, or as philosophically interesting as The Next Generation, but it does finally return us to some of the core concepts of Trek and does away with a lot of the crappy grimdark, and at least a little of the crummy melodrama. The acting is solid, the cast is rad, and it's a really worthwhile option for fans of Trek.

Andor (2022) takes us back to the character Cassian Andor five years before the events of the film Rougue One. The Rebellion against the Empire is taking shape in this show, and Cassian goes from looser to bruiser as he figures out what's worth fighting for. We get twelve episodes to explore the Star Wars universe’s grittier side, and since Rogue One was one of the most popular films, the series tries to follow in its steps.

Mainly, what we get is... boredom. Cassian wanders around for the first twenty minutes of the show, being generally miserable and terrible, without a hint of plot in sight. But, eh... at least there are cool Star-Warsy vibes?

Vampire Academy (2022) is set in a world of privilege and glamour, where the friendship between two young women transcends their different classes. They prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society, one as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage ‘Strigoi’ who threaten to tear their society apart. But can they remain friends when their society is trying to tear them apart, and when infighting between the elites threatens to ruin them all?

This is based on a best-selling book series and actually is pretty fun. It suffers from some of the pitfalls of other modern shows, but ultimately manages to own its roots and turn a unique tale out for the audience.

The Old Man (2022) follows a retired intelligence officer content to live off the grid until he’s targeted for assassination and finds himself drawn back into the world he left behind.

Look, I’m there for anything Bridges is in, to be honest, and who doesn’t love a good spy thriller?

Invasion (2021) failed to wow critics, but managed to garner enough interest that a second season was cleared by Apple! With the first ten episodes taking a super slow-burn approach to the alien invasion, it will be interesting to see if season to can capitalize on that set-up and give viewers something to remember. Of course, no matter what, Sam Neill is sure to be wonderful.

Season two was officially green lit, but pandemic delays may have conspired to slow things down. Speculation online has it released in October of 2022, but it seems likely that we'll have to wait a little longer.

How I Met Your Father (2022) is, I’m going to be real with you, the How I Met Your Mother sequel that we probably didn’t need. Hilary Duff deserved better. I think the biggest problem, here, is setting a show like this in a weird alternate world where the pandemic just… doesn’t exist. I can understand it for shows that started before Covid-19, but for a new show, especially one so grounded in current culture… well, it’s odd.

If you were a huge fan of the original... nope, don't watch this. Save yourself the pain.

The Legend of Vox Machina (2022) is set in Matthew Mercer’s fictional world of Exandria, and is a mix of new story content and adaptations of content from the first Critical Role campaign.

This is a pretty massive deal, as Critical Role has managed to elevate RPG tabletop gaming to a whole new level. It’s exciting to see all that great storytelling and world building come to the screen like this, and even more awesome that all these professional voice actors get to go all-out for their new animated character portrayals. This one has a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes!

Moon Knight (2022) brings Marc Spector to the MCU. Spector, a former U.S. Marine with dissociative identity disorder, becomes a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu.

One of the more gritty and violent Marvel characters, with similarities to the Deadpool franchise, it’s nice to see Issac in the role to lend it some extra weight and gravitas. I’m glad to see that this isn't TV-MA because we frankly don’t need more Deadpool nonsense, but there’s potential here to really explore the darker side of the MCU which I know a lot of fans have been clamoring for (personally, I say bring me ten more seasons of Hawkeye).

Bel-Air (2022) is the dramatic re-imagining of the classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Like the sitcom, the drama follows “Will Smith” (a fictionalized version of the actor Will Smith, in this case played by Jabari Banks), a street-smart teenager born and raised in West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy uncle and aunt in their Bel-Air mansion.

My first impression on hearing about this remake was “why?” quickly followed by “cash grab.” But there's more to the series than that. While it's got grim and dour vibes up the wazoo, the series is clearly trying to touch on some very serious real-world issues in a potent manner. Season one may not have lived up to everything the show wants to do, but it has potential for something greater if the writers can figure out how to infuse the series with a bit more heart.

Peacemaker (2022) charges to the front as the first DC Extended Universe (DCEU) television series, spinning off from the 2021 film The Suicide Squad. So far, the DC universe has been spectacularly lackluster compare to Marvel’s venture, though Doom Patrol remains one of the better superhero TV series to come around.

Personally, I don’t think we need another hyper-violent superhero black comedy, but I’ve been outvoted. Fans of The Suicide Squad and Marvel’s Deadpool will no-doubt love this one. While the great HBO purge of 2022 freaked a lot of people out, people involved with Peacemaker were quick to point out that their show was remaining on the service. In fact, the series was such a hit that it got officially greenlit for a second season.

Pam & Tommy (2022) is a biographical drama miniseries based on the release of a sex tape created by Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and actress Pamela Anderson. A bit of a horrible note, here, because Pamela Anderson didn't give her permission to the actors or producers to have this show made. It's pretty awful that they went ahead with it anyway, though with Seth Rogen involved, I can't say I'm too surprised that something terrible was happening somewhere.

Reacher (2022) is a TV series adaptation of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books, beginning with Killing Floor. Reacher is a former United States Army Military Police Corps major who now spends his days trekking the United States in search of odd jobs, jobs that occasionally lead him into the path of criminals and conspiracies… which he then solves through judicious punching.

There was a version of this made as a film a while back with Tom Cruise starring. Since Tom is a tiny, tiny man, this version definitely fits the vision of Jack Reacher far better. I binged this series in, like, a day.

Premiering October 25th, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022) has a huge cast, as befits an anthology series, and that combined del Toro’s street-cred as a unique and powerful filmmaker is sure to inspire interest. There will be eight individual tales intended to “challenge our traditional notions of horror.” We know from del Toro’s book of the same name a little bit more about how he thinks about horror and his narrative creations, and seeing that name applied to a series is really exciting.

Interview with the Vampire (2022) took the social media network Tumblr by storm due to all the crazy gay vampire sex that this series debuted right out of the gate. While not exactly true to the original work, the series clearly has its finger on them... ahem... pulse of what the audience wants these days.

She-Hulk (2022) had me excited from the beginning because Tatiana Maslany is an incredible actress, and because I wanted to see some more comedy enter the MCU amid all these darker and grittier releases. There are so many Marvel characters to tap for the MCU, but She-Hulk makes perfect sense for Phase IV.

There were some well-documented issues with the production, namely that the showrunners decreased the size of She-Hulk's muscles because they apparently didn't fit some sort of strange body ideal someone had. But Maslany is still awesome, there are a ton of fun cameo appearances, and while the writing isn't especially earth-shattering, it's not bad either.

Suspicion (2022) is the English-language remake of Israeli thriller False Flag. It follows the disrupted lives of five people who have been identified by the London police as under suspicion for the abduction of American media mogul Katherine Newman's son. Looked dark, twisted, and drama-y and... is exactly that. Uma Thurman doesn't play much of a role in the series, oddly enough, and the writing is only so-so. It's worthwhile if you've got nothing better to do and you love spy thrillers.

Reframed: The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (2022) takes a stab at exploring the life and work of Marilyn Monroe from a better perspective than is usually provided, nixing the male-centered peephole in favor of an all-female perspective.

Marilyn has long been a favorite figure of mine, specifically because she was both extremely intelligent and passionate in the achievement of her goals. This series did a great job portraying her life from a slightly different angle, and makes a better watch for people interested in the real woman than any of the Hollywood exploitation films that have been released about her.

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2022) resurrects one of the most-loved horror comedy franchises of all time by going back to the story’s roots. The animated series is set in the 1920s in Shanghai, and tells the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing meets the mogwai Gizmo.

We already know we’re getting two seasons, with the first season of ten episodes did get delayed because HBO is being stupid, but we know that the full ten episodes will be out in 2023. The first episode premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 13, 2022.

Cobra Kai (2018) is definitely my favorite show on television right now. Not only were the original films a huge part of my childhood, but this series does such an amazing job of bringing the essence of the original to the modern age. Too many “reboots” fail to pay homage to the spirit and soul of the original work (see: literally all of the depressing Star Trek reboots), so it’s been exceptionally wonderful to see a series do so well.

Cobra Kai, season 5 was cleared for renewal before season 4 even debuted, and landed another ringer with an action-packed season that went really far in clearing up a lot of the big plot threads. I think Season 5 of Cobra Kai offered a definite high watermark, and it's hard to see where season 6 will go. But that doesn't mean I don't want it. There are few shows being created these days that actually excite me, and Cobra Kai is one. My personal hope is that next season, Hillary Swank comes back to her The Next Karate Kid role as a major, season-long player. That would allow everything Cobra Kai has done so-far to round out perfectly.

Halo (2022) has been a long time coming. Honestly, I’m not sure there has ever been a more anticipated TV series in all of history so, uh, it's not surprising that the series flopped so badly that nobody even noticed it was here.

Halo tells the story of a future in which humanity has colonized part of the galaxy. While a corporatic government crushes the life out of the outermost colony worlds, an alien invasion of human space is undertaken by the fanatical Covenant, who believe that ancient alien technology is key to their religious ascension. The Spartan program of super-soldiers, originally developed to kill the freedom fighters on the outer colonies, is the only chance humanity has to avoid total annihilation.

I’d been excited to see where the writers would take the story because there is so much material to cover. From novels by authors like Tobias Buckell, to a prior live-action web series, to the content of the video games themselves, there is a huge science fiction landscape to explore. What they gave us was Master Chief having sex, over-the-top gore, lame low-budget cinematography that I have literally seen done better by amateur fan-film creators, and a totally uninspired plot. Whoops.