The 2020s have been quite the chaotic decade and, as 2024 comes to a close, we accept that we are only halfway through what feels like one long surreal season of reality TV. While life is doing a lot, thankfully TV continues to do the most in the best way. From Rick Grimes triumphant return to The Walking Dead universe to leaving Vault 33 with Lucy to explore a wild world with a hot ghoul who lacks a nose, television continued to give us nerds all the witchy drama, shocking moments, laughter, and downright excellent storytelling we need to get through the tough times. New offerings and returning shows brought our favorite comic books and novels to life in live-action and animation. So, without further delay, here are Nerdist‘s best TV shows of 2024.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (Streaming on AMC+)
This series starring Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne Grimes (Danai Gurira) was the ultimate payoff for The Walking Dead fandom, especially Richonne lovers. After years of wondering what happened to Rick, The Ones Who Live took us on a heartbreaking journey of a man who’d nearly given up on ever seeing his family again and the badass woman who was determined to find her man. Every aspect of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live was pitch-perfect, from its intense verbal sparring scenes between Richonne to their steamier moments.
Together, this pair got the happy ending they both so richly deserved after falling in love and fighting arduously in this apocalyptic world. Other shows try to duplicate this chemistry and adventure, but they simply cannot match the sheer power of Richonne. This is undoubtedly one of the best TV shows of 2024.
Once again, The Boys continues to prove why it is one of the greatest—and painfully relevant—TV shows right now. This Prime Video series kept doing what it always does best with tightly paced storytelling, nuanced characterization, expertly layered worldbuilding, lots of filthy language, and even filthier scenes. The exploration of Butcher and Homelander’s psyches, expansion and rapid changes of the Seven with new members like the very diabolical Sister Sage and “God Bless ‘Murica” Firecracker, and the ongoing trials of the Boys in this universe’s rapidly shifting and perilous sociopolitical climate is quite the spectacle to see. With only one season left and spinoffs on the horizon, The Boys is poised to etch its name into TV history as one of the best series of all-time.
Interview With The Vampire Season 2 (Streaming on AMC+)
The first season of Interview with the Vampire was hit and miss-for quite a few Anne Rice fans, including a couple of us at Nerdist. But season two, which covers the second half of Rice’s novel, easily surpassed season one. Taking the action away from New Orleans to post-WWII Europe, year two delves into Louis’ (Jacob Anderson) relationship with the ancient vampire Armand (Assad Zaman), while his undead daughter Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayles) tries to break away from their toxic love affair. New characters like Santiago and Madeleine became welcome additions to the show, providing new dramatic tension. And everything in the Parisian Théâtre des Vampires gave us juicy melodrama. Sam Reid’s Lestat, despite just being a figment of Louis’ imagination most of the season, also brought his sarcastic charm in spades. We can’t wait for season three.
Almost everyone thought X-Men ’97 was just going to be a fun nostalgia trip into the era of the Spice Girls and dial-up modems. And it was that, but also so much more. Picking up where X-Men: The Animated Series left off, X-Men ’97 explored parts of the rich Marvel Comics lore the original series didn’t get around to, but also found something new to say about the themes of racism and hatred that X-Men is famous for through harrowing events including a mutant genocide. We expected the show to be a good time, but the writing was truly next-level great. X-Men ’97 is not just one of Marvel Studios’ best offerings this year, but some of the best TV out there, period.
We are SO glad this show saw the light of day without falling victim to the trashing epidemic that has befallen far too many a WBD project. With the likes of Bruce Timm, Matt Reeves, and J.J. Abrams attached to produce a new animated Batman series, even you know who would have been dumb to junk it. Lucky for all involved, it’s great. Batman: Caped Crusader takes as many risks as a series based on am 85-year-old comic can. The action takes place in an idealized version of the 1940s, with Batman appearing in his original costume look. The villains are all redone riffs on the old favorites, with particular standouts like the Penguin and Harley Quinn causing as much controversy as applause. We really loved it and hope we get many more seasons. Gotta see what this version of the Riddler will look like!
Matt Reeves’ The Batman is a supreme live-action version of everything Gotham City. It was darn near perfect. And even based on that, we were not expecting much more than a “yeah, that was pretty good” from the HBO spinoff The Penguin. Boy were we wrong, and happy to be so! Even less a typical “superhero” story than the movie, the series delves into Oz Cobb’s history, pathos, and ruthlessness that somehow still endears the audience to him. Colin Farrell is of course astounding under heaps and gobs of makeup prosthetics, but the show also gave us a phenomenal depiction of Sofia Falcone in Cristin Milioti who ends up as much more the typical “Batman villain” than even the guy in the title. It’s a tough call, but this ranks #1 for a few Nerdist folks, especially our Senior Editor Kyle Anderson.
“Who’s been messing up everything?” Definitely not Agatha All Along. The Disney+ spinoff starring WandaVision’s annoying neighbor turned out to be one of the best MCU shows yet. A fantastic cast, sharp writing, a dedication to episodic storytelling that made every installment feel like an event, and some truly incredible production helped this show about witches as magical as them. It also managed to pull off some shocking deaths and big important twists without any of them feeling manipulative or unearned. Agatha All Along simply did everything well, and that included giving us an original song that was so good it worked in every possible musical genre. The Witches’ Road, whether the actual place or the song, was a place we wanted to visit every chance we got.
Yes, Agatha All Along was the surprise Marvel TV show hit that captured everyone’s attention this year. But the comic giant started out 2024’s TV slate strong with Echo, a compelling series about Maya Lopez, a Deaf hero, leg amputee, and former Tracksuit Mafia member with a major chip on her shoulder. Echo dove into the intricacies of her life story, from exploring her Choctaw heritage to her complex relationship with Wilson Fisk while offering up all the action one would expect from the MCU. Watching her journey towards unlocking the depth of her powers and building a bond with her ancestors and family was an incredibly heartfelt experience.
House of the Dragon’s second season might seem like an unlikely choice for a best tv series of 2024 list since George R.R. Martin himself wouldn’t include it on his own. But despite the split reaction to its sophomore outing the show still managed to deliver a lot of what makes Westeros so compelling. Nothing on TV can match the production quality found in the Realm, which looks as good as ever. No other show also features so many dragons, and those creatures of fire made their very large presence felt all year. That included when the show delivered an amazing battle of dragons going head-to-head high above the Seven Kingdoms. House of the Dragon season two wasn’t perfect, but it still gave us a reason to turn in every week.
A lot could have gone wrong in Fallout’s creation—the series had to balance a ton of (sometimes dissonant) tones together, it had to account for the player-choice-based conceit of the game, it had to mix in real history, fictional history, and rich annals of complex lore. And, of course, the Fallout series had to contend with the high expectations of the games’ ardent fanbase. A lesser series would have bowed under this tall order, but Fallout not only rose to the occasion but truly delivered.
From the corny but slightly sinister world of the vault dwellers to the hardened but hilarious domain of surface folk to the vicious but not totally devoid of feeling sphere of the Brotherhood of Steel, every note Fallout tried to strike, it hit perfectly. Its story felt tight, enhanced but not distracted by the many Easter eggs and intense world-building it aimed to deliver. The brilliant Ella Purnell is the perfect beating heart for Fallout. She truly captured Lucy’s good heart, rose-colored glasses, and slow, painful transformation into a person actually living in reality. Flanking Purnell, Aaron Moten and Walton Goggins also brought their A-game, creating a trio worth cheering for. In the end, regardless of which storyline an episode focused on, every episode of Fallout delivered something heartfelt, human, and resonant. And that, partners, is worth a big thumbs up from us.
Another adaptation series that scored big for us this year was Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Like with game adaptations, anime/cartoon adaptations that turn animation into live-action can be a tall order. How does one capture the spirit of something so fantastical and successfully turn it into more realistic fare? It’s a hard road to walk. It also doesn’t help that Avatar: The Last Airbender’s cartoon series is lauded as one of the best series to have ever been made. What could any kind of adaptation add to that?
In the end, the gift Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series gave to fans was simply more. More time with the characters we love, more space to develop scenes, more opportunities to complicate relationships, and more life to the show we hold dear. It understood the heart of Avatar: The Last Airbender and its story of friendship, survival, and love. But it also went deeper into its themes of war, rebellion, and redemption. New canon ideas presented in the series, such as Zuko’s men being the very troops he saved from death at great cost, are ones fans will no doubt carry into their hearts. For us, the series also did the impossible and enhanced the already incredible relationship between Zuko and his Uncle Iroh. Sometimes an adaptation is best not separated from its source material, but beautifully enhancing it.
The Rings of Power was one of our best shows of 2022 when it first premiered. So, we were very excited to see the series return for more in 2024. While season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power went to a darker place, undercurrents of that earnest hope still chimed through, creating a more tragic, but equally lovely season of TV. Season two of The Rings of Power was also characterized by some incredible performances, especially by Charlie Vickers as Sauron/Annatar and Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor. The words “award-worthy” are often tossed around, but the psychological dance between these two fellas really brought everything to another level.
In a different storyline, another complex dance won many hearts and minds this year, as Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, and Adar, newly played by Sam Hazeldine, battled against and succumbed to their differences and similarities in incredible scenes that could have honestly filled eight more episodes with ease. The Rings of Power season two also delivered a truly epic, episodes-long battle, a siege filled with dynamic character moments that could rival any cinematic offering on the big screen. The Rings of Power was one our best TV shows of the year and we can’t wait for season three.
The first season of Arcane was a lavishly animated adaptation of the mega-popular video game done with thoughtfulness, intensity, and maximalist flair. Its story of sisters, star-crossed lovers, and terrified citizens raging against the dying of the light in a city on the verge of civil war struck a resonant chord and shattered all conceptions of any so-called “video game curse.”
Three years later, Arcane’s second season proves it was worth the wait and reports of a massive $250 million budget. In an era where very few stories get to end on their own terms, Arcane’s second and final season does so in dazzling fashion with stellar performances from Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), Ella Purnell (Jinx), and Katie Leung (Caitlyn), as well as some of the most ambitious and visually stunning animated sequences of the year. It’s a case study in exactly what happens when you give passionate storytellers the runway, resources, and creative license necessary to translate a game about mighty warriors battling in a virtual arena into a heart-wrenching story of economic disparity, generational trauma, and the hollow pursuit of vengeance at any cost.
