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Need something new to watch? We got you covered.
The year has crossed the halfway mark, and already we're drowning in fantastic television. The content carousel never stops turning, so it's up to you to grab what you want as it makes its rounds. The first half of 2022 has offered up a dazzling number of series for premium watching. Ozark made its big Netflix return, Amazon has offered us a beautiful look into the lives of three young adults on the autism spectrum, and ABC (yes, A-B-C, the network) has turned out the best comedy of the year. Apple TV+ also muscled its way into the streaming game with two of the year's biggest hits, Pachinko and Severance, each bound to take home Emmy gold. If this all serves as any indication for the second half of the year, it's not going to be a matter of whether or not there's any good television, but whether you have the time to watch it all.
To stay ahead of things, we've chosen a handful of series that you should get in your queue. It's best to make the most of your summer and start watching now, because the year is only getting more stacked. Coming down the pike, we still have a Lord of the Rings spinoff, a confirmed third season of Ted Lasso, and a new Game of Thrones prequel. Clearly there's no time to waste. Here are the 20 series we at Esquire are most excited about—so far—in 2022.
1. The Bear
Who would’ve thought that one of the most stress-inducing shows ever made would become one of 2022’s breakout hits? The Bear, FX’s nervy restaurant world dramedy, has a way of defying expectations. This the story of Carmy, a James Beard Award-winning chef who comes home to Chicago to salvage the family sandwich shop after the suicide of his brother. Raw and frenetic, it's a gripping tale of family, trauma, and addiction that's not to be missed.
2. Never Have I Ever
Season Three of Mindy Kaling’s winsome coming-of-age comedy finds dorky Devi in an unexpected position of power: finally, she’s dating the popular jock of her dreams. But like many teenagers before her, she’ll have to learn that reality doesn’t always live up to our fantasies. Three seasons in, Never Have I Ever remains a delightful confection of romantic drama, but it’s Devi’s home life that keeps us coming back for more. Grief over the loss of Devi’s father still dogs the Vishwakumars, as does intergenerational conflict about marriage, family, and heritage. Trust us and tune in: you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll want the wisdom of Devi’s mother embroidered on a pillow (“you’re never too much and you’re always enough”).
3. What We Do in the Shadows
Everyone’s favorite Staten Island vampires are back and better than ever in the gut-busting fourth season of FX’s supernatural mockumentary. After the Season Three finale scattered everyone to the winds, Season Four reassembles the characters around three hare-brained schemes: Nadja’s quest to open a vampire nightclub (blood sprinklers!), Laszlo’s journey as a harried parent to baby Colin Robinson, and Nandor’s determination to find his thirty-eighth wife. It’s all as bold and bawdy as ever, with the characters stretching in surprising new directions.
4. The Rings of Power
Whether it’s good television or bad television, Rings of Power was always bound to be one of the biggest small screen events of the year. Luckily, after an advance screening, Esquire can heartily confirm: this is good television. Great television, even. This behemoth prequel to Lord of the Rings turns back the clock thousands of years to the Second Age, a time of wealth, war, discovery, and so much more. Lavishly made by a team that clearly reveres Tolkien, Rings of Power is enthralling, visually spectacular, and appropriately mythic. Have fun getting lost in Middle-earth.
5. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Paramount+'s recent explosion of Star Trek programming has provided some hits and misses, but in Strange New Worlds, we have the best Trek outing in decades. This back-to-basics return to the episodic storytelling of The Original Series is set during the captaincy of Christopher Pike, who preceded Captain Kirk aboard the Enterprise. If you're not a Trekkie, have no fear: there's no learning curve here, and there's a lot to love for any science fiction fan. Uplifting, exhilarating, and gloriously retro, Strange New Worlds is a character-driven series where each episode pairs a top notch sociocultural story with some good, clean, spacefaring fun.
Source: Esquire
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