TV Time: Three Worthwhile 2023 Shows to Watch Right Now
It’s TV time, everyone! There was once a time when television played second fiddle to movies in terms of both public interest and quality – but that day has long since passed! I’m not quite so sure we’re still in the new “Golden Age of Television,” but with the “Streaming Wars” definitely raging on (with seemingly no end in sight), there’s no shortage of shows to watch.
A little over a year ago, I wrote a similarly titled post rating three 2022 shows worth checking out. Well, I think we’re now due for a 2023-style update. The following three programs are about as different as you can be from one another, but depending on your TV-watching tastes, one of them just might be the next bingeworthy show you’re looking for.
Succession (Season 4)
HBO, 10 Episodes
There always needs to be an “it” show – the one that everyone’s talking about. Examples of this brand of popular program include Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Squid Game. Sometimes a show pops up and is immediately the “it” show, but other times a series becomes increasingly popular and discussed over its run, and I think that’s what happened with Succession – which is the most talked about show so far this year.
Watching this past season of Succession felt a bit like watching a train wreck where you couldn’t look away. I’m not sure I’ve cringed more during any season of anything than I cringed during this final season of Succession.
Succession is a mostly good show – it’s definitely prestige TV, but I’d argue that it’s actually overrated a little considering the rave response it’s garnered. The show’s acting is fantastic, but at times episodes feel almost like you’re watching a well-acted play as opposed to a TV show. I think that’s a little bit of a weakness, as episodes feel sometimes like an acting showcase of just how talented the cast is as opposed to a super engaging story. I do think episodes improved as the season went along, though at times the fact that the show doesn’t have a single likeable character to root for still made it a tough watch for me.
I thought the ending of the show (which I won’t spoil here), was fine and suited the story, but didn’t amaze me, and I don’t think it’ll end up ultimately being particularly memorable. There are times in a story where it seems like there are two potential outcomes to what’s going on: Outcome A and Outcome B. That’s definitely the case with Succession. In a really well-done and thought out story, the story will actually end up going in a third direction viewers didn’t expect (but that still makes complete sense) and it’ll create a fantastic conclusion. That doesn’t happen here, and we just get a well-done version of one of the outcomes we all expected.
It might sound like I’m down on Succession, but I still think that overall it’s a show worth watching, for the acting alone. The show will likely win a boatload of awards, and if the third show I feature in this post didn’t exist, I would say that was deservedly so. Succession is quality TV if you’ve got the stomach for it.
Grade: 7/10
Poker Face
Peacock, 10 Episodes
It would probably be hard to find a show more different from Succession than Peacock’s 10-episode mystery-thriller show, Poker Face. Poker Face adopts a mystery-of-the-week format, with our incredibly likeable protagonist, Charlie Cale, played wonderfully by Natasha Lyonne, solving cases as she travels across the country.
The hook of the show is that Charlie has the ability to tell whenever anyone’s lying. There’s no supernatural element to this – it’s simply something she can detect whenever someone speaks to her. It makes Charlie special, but it’s not presented in a manner like she has superpowers or something like that. I really like how her ability was handled (but not overused) by the show’s writers.
While the cases Charlie cracks often involve murder, the show has a more lighthearted tone. The series was created by Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed the Knives Out movies, and if you enjoy those, you’ll probably like this similarly toned show.
My biggest issue with Poker Face is that episode quality isn’t consistent. Some episodes, like the show’s premier, as well as Episodes 9 and 10, are top-notch, “A” TV. Other episodes, however, just aren’t quite as good. The show’s never bad, but it definitely ventures into “fine” territory at times. Episodes where there are actual stakes for Charlie, herself, and it’s not just her solving a case are definitely stronger. Overall though, Poker Face is still a fun watch.
Grade: 7.5/10
A Small Light
National Geographic, 10 Episodes
A Small Light tells the true story of Miep Gies, a woman who played a major role hiding the Frank Family during the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam. I think that most Americans have heard the story of Anne Frank, or have at the very least heard about Anne Frank’s diary. This show presents a unique, more mature, and more complete perspective of what was going on during the time Anne was writing her diary by showing things from Miep’s perspective.
The show covers several years in Miep’s life, with a large focus of the series spent on the time she was helping hide Jews in the annex of Otto Frank’s business, where she worked as a secretary.
Quality-wise, A Small Light is the best TV show I’ve seen in recent memory. It’s definitely not always (or usually) an easy watch, but it does feel like a supremely important watch, and I do believe that it’s something everyone should see. I’d argue that there are more emotional moments in a single episode of this show than there are in entire seasons of most programs.
Every aspect of A Small Light deserves an “A+,” though I think that the performances from lead Bel Powley, who plays Miep, and of Live Schreiber, as Otto Frank, are so excellent they deserve an extra mention here. This is a worthwhile show that I can’t recommend enough.
Grade: 10/10