The Best TV Shows of December 2024
Those poor December television programs: left out in the cold as outlets run their “Best of the Year” lists earlier in the month, leaving them accolade-less. Here at Paste, the cutoff date for our own Best TV of 2024 wrap-up was November 30th, meaning anything that came out after didn’t qualify for our year end voting. However, as it turns out, these lists going up didn’t magically stop new TV shows from coming out, and this December offered quite a few small screen gifts that deserve to be celebrated as much as their pre-winter brethren. To close out 2024, we had excellent animation, a seemingly impossible adaptation, unexpected genre mash-ups, and more. Without further ado, here are the best TV shows that came out this December.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
We are living in a golden age of adaptation. From Shogun and 3 Body Problem to the Dune and The Sandman onscreen universes, stories previously thought too complex, daunting, or even downright weird for mainstream audiences are suddenly everywhere on streaming services and in local multiplexes, racking up critical acclaim, box office dollars, and hefty viewership figures left and right. That same spirit animates Netflix’s sprawling adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s Nobel Prize-winning novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. A sixteen-episode limited series whose first half arrives this month, it not only recreates the lush atmosphere and shifting narrative threads of the novel but also its bone-deep sense of place and history. The fictional village of Macondo may not have ever truly existed, but it comes alive onscreen here, as feisty and full of contradictions as any of the characters who inhabit it. (And, not for nothing, but this show is also full of some of the most stunning visuals you’ll see this year.)
Like the book it is based on, One Hundred Years of Solitude doesn’t always make it easy for those seeking to plumb its depths. The sprawling cast of characters who often have variations of the same name, the lengthy episode runtimes, and the occasionally non-linear timeline that jumps between not only past and present but reality and…something else entirely—they can all feel challenging for audiences who are perhaps unused to having to work quite so hard to watch television. (Like most foreign language properties, this is also a show that is best watched in its original language with subtitles.) But the result is a journey that’s well worth taking, and one that will likely stay with you long after the final credits roll. —Lacey Baugher Milas
Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld
Growing up is hard, and doubly so when you’re burdened with supernatural powers that accidentally burnt down half of your hometown, as you’re accosted by demons who desire said abilities for themselves. Such is the plight of Jentry, the protagonist of the aptly named animated series Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, a lovingly crafted coming-of-age story that features relatable turns despite its boatloads of otherworldly happenings inspired by Chinese mythology. We follow Jentry as she’s forced to get a handle on abilities she’s repressed her entire life, all so she can avoid having her soul stolen by Mr. Cheng, a powerful mogui.
While this story may hit familiar high school drama beats, like childhood friend love triangles and the difficulties of being a teen, it does so with such flair, charm, and deft execution that it doesn’t feel like a repeat. At the center of it all is how well the show conveys Jentry’s specific circumstances: her questions about her deceased parents, the alienation that results from both her powers and also being a Chinese-American growing up in Texas, and her increased responsibility that comes with getting older. By the end, the story goes to some surprisingly challenging places thanks to its cast of complex, flawed characters. And it also helps that this is one of the most visually confident shows of the year, featuring anime-inspired aesthetics and chic character designs that make the action and comedy pop. Many of the best coming-of-age stories convey the broad strokes of adolescence while wrapping them in well-considered specifics, and Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld does just that. —Elijah Gonzalez
Black Doves
At first glance, Netflix’s high-profile new espionage thriller Black Doves feels like a show most of us have seen before. To be fair, we probably have, to one degree or another. There’s a mysterious covert group that deals in dangerous international secrets, a spy trying to hide a double life from their family, an assassin wondering whether it’s time to call it quits, and an agent who can no longer quite decide which aspects of themselves are fiction or reality. The streamer is clearly aware of this, if only because all of the associated marketing materials surrounding this show have leaned into that same all-too-familiar imagery: colorful explosions, a sudden hail of bullets, creative hand-to-hand combat, often with a quippy one-liner thrown in here and there for good measure. But while Netflix seems to (Inexplicably!) want potential viewers to believe that Black Doves is a traditional revenge thriller with a dash of geopolitics thrown on top, I’m here to tell you that couldn’t be further from the truth, in the absolute best way possible. Yes, those familiar spy thriller elements are key parts of the show. But much like fellow Netflix series The Diplomat before it, Black Doves is utterly delightful precisely for all the ways it manages to shake up the tried-and-true formula so many recent dramas like it have embraced. —Lacey Baugher Milas
Creature Commandos
You’d be forgiven if you’re a little sick of the Suicide Squad, the misanthropic “superhero” outfit that’s somehow been rebooted several times over the last few years alone; they’ve received several films, a poorly received videogame, a TV spin-off, and even an anime. But while Creature Commandos is yet another take on this material, this work of adult animation differentiates itself through its sense of style and, most unexpectedly, its pathos.
After the practice of using villains as expendable Suicide Squad operatives is banned by Congress, Amanda Waller finds a workaround: put together a team that isn’t considered legally “human” and thus not subject to the law. It’s from this motley crew of creatures that this story finds its mojo, diving into the affecting backstories of each squad member as they’re forced to do Uncle Sam’s dirty work. James Gunn’s fingerprints are all over this one, and while his sense of humor can be a little grating at times, there are equally as many sincere turns here that give this violent, crass journey some much-needed heart. They may look like monsters on the outside, but there’s more to this group than appearances suggest. —Elijah Gonzalez
Squid Game
Squid Game was an overnight sensation that no one saw coming, but in retrospect, its massive popularity makes perfect sense: of course a story about economic inequality and fiscal exploitation would do gangbusters because, however heightened, it spoke to deeply felt frustrations that resonated with viewers worldwide. More than three years later, showrunner and director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game is finally back with a second season that’s just as barbed and justifiably angry as the first. But while this follow-up maintains its sharp political commentary and adds some compelling new lines of thought, its poorer pacing, unsatisfying cliffhanger ending, and occasional overfamiliarity hold it back from its predecessor. The series is still visceral and often engaging, but it’s not as tightly written, falling into commonplace TV woes as it struggles to get to the point. Thankfully, though, there’s still enough here thematically to largely make up for these shortcomings.
It continues to expose the evils of a system that treats human beings like trash, depicting systemic cruelty while leaving room for unexpected moments of humanity and solidarity. And beyond these familiar ideas, this latest season has a timely focus on how capitalism overlaps with flawed democratic processes. While this latest run of Squid Game would have been better served if it was cut down and combined with the upcoming third and final season, the series is still full of incisive commentary and fleeting moments of camaraderie.—Elijah Gonzalez
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
It’s a popular refrain that Star Wars is all about its weird little guys, from Jawas all the way up to Babu Frik. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the latest Disney+ series set in a galaxy far, far away, takes that to heart and introduces the weirdest little guys imaginable: children.
Skeleton Crew—or, as it’s been called by almost everybody since it was first announced, “Goonies Star Wars”—focuses on four kids from an orderly, well-heeled planet who accidentally hyperspace jump into a galactic adventure involving pirates, fake Jedi, and the kind of weird little guys you actually expect from Star Wars, like an alien who’s part owl, part cat, and entirely voiced by Alia Shawkat. Along the way they hang out with a charming rogue (is there any other kind?) played by Jude Law, and—oh yeah—discover a mystery that changes everything they thought they knew about their upbringing. Creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford have a very clear vision here—a wonder-filled, ‘80s-influenced kids’ adventure set in the Star Wars universe—and their undistracted pursuit of it results in a show that, based on the three episodes (out of eight total) that were provided to critics, can be both rousing and by-the-numbers in equal measure.—Garrett Martin
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