Our Favorite TV Articles of 2023

In taking over the TV section from Editor Emeritus Allison Keene in July of this year, I had one specific goal: keep Paste‘s TV section as kick-ass as it’s always been. And truly, that wasn’t a difficult task. Our TV freelancers are incredibly talented, ambitious, and smart, and have continually decided to share those brilliant ideas and takes with this section—for which I couldn’t be more grateful. In the midst of industry shake-ups and mountains of uncertainty throughout the year, each writer that has graced our TV section put in incredible work and thought while weathering the storm, and delivered powerful and passionate TV writing in the wake of undeniably difficult times.

But even through it all, Paste‘s TV section thrived in the weird, wonderful, moving, and fun writing that has become synonymous with this section. Featuring everything from lists about which Gen V character you should trust with your drink at a college party to endless features about the underrated gems on TV (like through our new column, ICYMI) to reviews that sway between fair, raving, and downright brutal, Paste TV has spent the year celebrating the series that have made it to our screens during this tumultuous time—so we figured it was time to do some celebrating of our own.

Instead of trying to pick my own favorites in an already-crowded pool of incredible writing, I asked our writers to pick their favorite thing they wrote for Paste TV this year—whether it be a review, an interview, a feature, a list, or anything in between. Listed below are some of the best TV articles of 2023, if we do say so ourselves:

• In 2023, we kicked off a number of incredible columns, one of which being Tara Bennett‘s TOON IN, which highlights a medium that often gets forgotten in the shuffle (or, just written off as “kid stuff”). And outside of the incredible interviews already within the column, she also spoke to the legendary Genndy Tartakovsky about the state of the animation industry.
• Besides TOON IN, Paste was also honored to run Kenneth Lowe‘s monthly That’s All, Folks! column, which celebrated the best purposeful TV finales in the history of the medium. Starting with M*A*S*H* and ending with The Good Place, this series looked back fondly (and not so fondly) on the shows that got it right.
• Still speaking of columns, for TV Rewind, Lauren Thoman paid tribute to Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass ahead of The Fall of the House of Usher‘s premiere, diving deep into the catharsis provided by the moving and personal emotional truths reflected in the series.
• And in our It Still Stings column, Trent Moore took a look back on ESPN’s Playmakers, a series just as interesting off screen as it was on. Mixing intriguing sports lore with scripted TV history, the troubled life of this NFL-targeted series is almost unbelievable.
• Review writing is a delicate art, especially when the show is… not great. Michael Savio’s take on American Horror Story: Delicate humorously skewered the series, all while getting in a few jabs at Kim K (the only person who truly understood the assignment).
• Kaitlin Thomas revisited Justified in her review of sequel series Justified: City Primeval, looking back on the legacy of the original series while examining what Justified in 2023 can and should look like.
• Besides reviews and columns, Paste also thrives in mid-season and finale coverage, like Gillian Bennett’s first Paste piece on The Marvelous Mrs Maisel‘s legacy: an ode to creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, her bad, funny ladies, and the end of an era on TV as the series bowed out.  
• During Riverdale‘s final season Jay Snow passionately called the series out for its mistreatment of Tabitha Tate, a character that was once integral but got sidelined in the shuffle of the series’ ’50s plot.
• Before we said goodbye to Ted Lasso earlier this year, Akos Peterbencze wrote a tribute to the series’ portrayal of metal health, and how his own experience was mirrored on screen though the examinations of anxiety, depression, and therapy.
• And even though Grey’s Anatomy is still on the air, it’s currently living its own reboot in real time. Amy Amatangelo wrote on the show’s legacy, how Grey’s can continue to thrive without Grey, and how there was no better series to ambitiously breathe new life into itself 20 seasons later.
• After the dust settled in the wake of the Succession finale, Rory Doherty wrote on the full-circle nature of the series’ end, and how no one could truly outlive Logan Roy.
• Prime Video’s Good Omens tested our faith in that heartbreaking Season 2 finale, but Lacy Baugher Milas assured us that even if we’re weeping now, there will be joy come Season 3. Have a little faith in the brilliance of Neil Gaiman, folks.
• 20 years later, Matt Mitchell wrote on the absurd, complicated, and beautiful legacy of One Tree Hill—heart-eating dogs and all.
• In the middle of the year, the industry got turned on its head during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, so Leila Jordan reported on exactly why residuals were at the very heart of those strikes, speaking to WGA member Michael Jamin about the effects of streaming and the future of profitability in screenwriting.
• Representation is essential on screen, and our writers always made sure to consider the impact of TV’s output, including Terry Terrones, who wrote on the Latinx Renaissance though Netflix’s Wednesday, Disney+’s Andor, and HBO’s The Last of Us. Traditionally being portrayed as caricatures with few exceptions, Hispanics were finally the heroes in 2023’s TV landscape.
• Reuben Baron wrote on the autistic representation in Boots Riley’s I’m a Virgo, highlighting how even if the series never made it officially canon (and rather left it up to interpretation), her character still acts as an important pillar in TV’s slow movement towards great autistic representation.
• For the 10-year anniversary of Steven Universe, David Opie wrote on the importance of the series’ wholesome queer representation, and how it paved the way for current favorites like Heartstopper.
• 2023 was the year of many crossover themes in our entertainment landscape, but none more prominent than our favorite shows, movies, and books just letting the con happen. Whitney Friedlander wrote on the similarities between You, Saltburn, Succession, and even George Santos, and how the overarching themes reflect an exhausted society.
• In an era of reboots, cinematic universes, and interconnectivity, Elijah Gonzalez wrote on the brilliance of Disney+’s animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions, and how the shorts are a breath of fresh air in their removal from the larger, overplayed Skywalker Saga.
• And among those reboots, cinematic universes, and drastic changes to the TV landscape, Kathryn Porter pondered the most important question of all: does anyone really enjoy short seasons of TV? The 22-episode seasons and long-running shows of yesteryear are a thing of the past, and our current series are suffering because of the streaming squeeze.
• Finally, my own favorite essay from 2023 was my part-eulogy, part-autopsy on the death of the teen drama, a genre that I deeply love, but has completely changed over the past five years as streaming has shuttered the cable pillars that allowed teen soaps to thrive.

Anna Govert is the TV Editor of Paste Magazine. For any and all thoughts about TV, film, and her unshakable love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you can follow her @annagovert.

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV.