THE BEST TELEVISION SHOWS OF 2022

I’m predominantly a film reviewer, so I didn’t get to watch a lot of very high-profile, critically acclaimed television content in 2022. For the passionate advocates out there of shows like Slow Horses, Pachinko, Loot, Moon Knight, Tokyo Vice and Irma Vep, my apologies; I just couldn’t get to these well received properties. And I did indulge in many hours of sport, especially the brilliant coverage of Major League Baseball on ESPN and the World Cup football on SBS. But I’m pretty chuffed with what did make my twenty best…

10. UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN Created by Dustin Lance Black; Stars Andrew Garfield, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Gil Birmingham, Sam Worthington.
From its framework as a based-on-fact police procedural emerges a gripping study in faith vs duty, with a terrific Andrew Garfield playing the devout LDS detective who must face ugly truths about his fundamentalist community and its role in a double murder.
Must-See TV Moment: The faithful family feast, during which the insidious patriarchal structure is slyly revealed to Brenda and the life she is bound by love to live dawns on her.
7 episodes of FX from April 28.

9. WEDNESDAY Created by Albert Gough and Miles Millar; Stars Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan.
With Tim Burton overseeing the dark quirkiness and Jenna Ortega rolling the dice on ‘It-Girl’ stardom in the lead role, all indicators suggested this reworking of Wednesday Addams lore into a school-for-ghouls clique drama/smalltown supernatural mystery ought to succeed. But its status as both a legit pop-culture force and critical darling must have surprised even Netflix. For Your Emmy Consideration - the disembodied Victor Dorobantu, as the scene-stealing Thing.
Must-See TV Moment: Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps.
8 episodes on Netflix from November 22.

8. PEACEMAKER Created by James Gunn; Stars John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma)
James Gunn brings the ensemble joys of his Guardians of the Galaxy films while also exploiting the freedom afforded by HBO Max’s more adult-skewing audience to exercise his gift for sharp, foul dialogue and gross-out gore effects. The spirit of Super, his 2010 caped crusader satire, lives on in this often disgusting, very sweary but hugely entertaining sci-fi/comedy romp.
Must-See TV Moment: You know the best way to defy that horrible ‘Skip Intro’ impulse? Choreograph your cast dancing to Icelandic glam metal band Wig Wam’s 2010 album track, "Do Ya Wanna Taste It."
9 episodes on HBO Max from January 13.

7. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING Season 2 Created by John Hoffman and Steve Martin; Stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Cara Delevigne.
Selena Gomez emerged as Season 2’s MVP; her soulful presence, sweet-and-sour demeanour and comedic skill opposite two funnyman icons 40 years her senior made Only Murders in The Building the perfect comfort viewing deep dive. The Martins were sublimely funny, especially Short, each relishing their own finely nuanced character growth.   
Must-See TV Moment: Mabel’s coming out, to which Oliver observes, “You’re lucky. You know, back in the ’70s, I had to hide the fact that I had a lesbian lover.”
10 episodes on Hulu from June 28.

6. STRANGER THINGS Season 4 Created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer; Stars Millie Bobbie Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Winona Ryder.
The sure hand that The Duffer Brothers have exhibited in expanding the Stranger Things universe ought to be studied in film schools. The fantasy realm in which Eleven and her friends find themselves is a vast hellscape ruled by the best TV villain of the year, yet the ties that bind them are stronger than ever. The nightmare reality of Stranger Things and the emotional umbrella under which all the characters survive remain both achingly real.
Must-See TV Moment: The visceral gut-punch that was episode 4, ‘Dear Billy’, culminating in the best needle drop of the year - Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill.
9 episodes on Netflix from May 27.

5. THE LAST MOVIE STARS Created by Ethan Hawke; Featuring Ethan Hawke, Laura Linney, Mark Rufalo, Zoe Kazan.
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward remain amongst Hollywood’s most iconic stars and beloved married couples. The truth behind their home lives, careers and personal demons are explored by Ethan Hawke, working from unpublished transcripts and utilising a who’s-who of American acting talent to bring yesteryear’s stars alive.
Must-See TV Moment: Vincent D’Onofrio’s demonstration of method acting, with the big man tapping a memory and turning on the tears before our very eyes.
6 episodes on HBO Max from July 21.

4. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Created by Ryan J. Condal and George R.R. Martin; Stars Milly Alcock, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke.
Full disclosure - I’ve never seen a single episode of Game of Thrones. So for this highly-touted prequel series to not only pique my interest but blocking my calendar to see the latest installment astonishes no one more than me. Martin’s narrative, in the hands of a remarkable cast and imagined into fire-breathing medieval life, is gripping viewing, both as a study in familial power struggles and as a series of personal arcs rife with existential consequences.
Must-See TV Moment: Vaemond starts mouthing off about the illegitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children and is silenced by Daemon’s blade.
10 episodes on HBO Max from August 21.

3. BAD SISTERS Created by Brett Baer, Dave Finkel and Sharon Horgan; Stars Sharon Horgan, Claes Bang, Eve Hewson, Sarah Greene.
Side-scrolling into past-and-present timelines and staying abreast of the intermingled sexual, professional and personal turmoils of a monstrous misogynist, two desperate insurance investigators and five would-be murderesses sounds like the latest high-pitched telenovela melodrama. Instead, it’s the best written black comedy/thriller of 2022. With Catastrophe, This Way Up and now Bad Sisters on her resume, all the television money should be thrown at Sharon Horgan.
Must-See TV Moment: Jean-Paul unleashes the darkest of his monstrous instincts, revealing to Grace untold truths about Eva’s past.
10 episodes on AppleTV+ from August 19.

2. THE AUSTRALIAN WARS Created by Rachel Perkins; Features Rachel Perkins, Marcia Langton, Henry Reynolds, Nicholas Clements.
Rachel Perkins takes small but mighty steps in rectifying the false history that white Australia has preached for 200 years with her incendiary documentary series. Upon arrival, British colonists undertook military-style campaigns to eradicate the Aboriginal people and seize the land. With Indigenous elders, historians and descendants by her side, Perkins sets about rewriting our history in the words and emotions of First Nations people.
Must-See TV Moment: Glenda Chalker and her granddaughter Kiahni, descendants of those killed at The Appin Massacre, visit the National Museum of Australia, where the remains of more than 400 Indigenous people are kept.
3 episodes on SBS from September 21

1. ANDOR Created by Tony Gilroy; Stars Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Adria Arjona.
Star Wars fans were mostly happy with The Mandalorian, less so The Book of Boba Fett, but neither really got anyone outside of the fan clans excited. Then Andor, the third Disney+ live-action Star Wars narrative, lands and suddenly, critics are sensing something special has finally clawed its way out of the Lucasfilm/Fox/Disney mash-up. With Oscar nominee Tony Gilroy guiding the character-driven story arcs with the assuredness needed to pull off the major themes at play, Andor defied fan-service pitfalls and emerged as television’s bravest, most confident creative vision.   
Must-See TV Moment: With the Pre-Mor forces closing in on them, Luthen hard-sells a new life for Cassian as a mercenary with a small rebel cell on Aldhani. “Don’t you want to fight these bastards for real?”
12 episodes on Disney+ from September 21

NEXT BEST TEN: 
THE DROPOUT; SEVERANCE; WELCOME TO WREXHAM ; FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE ; FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL; PAM & TOMMY; GASLIT; HIGH GROUND; THE WHITE LOTUS Season 2

THE WORST TELEVISION OF 2022
THE PENTAVERATE Created by Mike Myers; Stars Mike Myers, Lydia West, Debi Mazar, Jeremy Irons.
Seeing how far the great Mike Myers has fallen from one of comedy’s favourite sons is heartbreaking, but no nostalgia for his finer years can fuel any goodwill towards this grotesquely unfunny Netflix vanity project. He first broached the apparently hilarious notion of a group of five powerful men who dictate world events in So I Married an Axe Murderer in 1993; with 30 years to bring out the funny in the story, we all expected better. 
6 Episodes on Netflix from May 21.