The Handbook’s Favourite TV Shows Of 2022
With only a few weeks left until Christmas, it’s safe to say that 2022 has been quite a year for TV, with some fantastic shows both old and new producing endlessly binge-able episodes. There’s a lot to dive into if you’re looking to catch up on some of the year’s biggest and best shows over Christmas and New Year, and though we can’t include every great piece of TV from 2022 in this list, we’ve tried to gather a few of the ones we feel are worth the price of admission. Scroll on for our thoughts on the best tv series in 2022.
Inventing Anna
One of the biggest hits of the first few months of the year, Inventing Anna set a trend for the rest of the year and became one of the most successful shows on Netflix. Created by one of the biggest talents in TV, Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton), Anna focuses on the real-life exploitations of Anna Delvey, or her real name Anna Sorokin, who managed to con and scam her way into New York’s elite by making up a life as a German heiress and taking “fake it till you make it” quite literally. The performances are what make the show really worth watching, with Julia Garner, already an Emmy winner for Ozark, producing a very entertaining lead performance.
Watch Inventing Anna on Netflix
Better Call Saul
Almost 15 years after Breaking Bad debuted on TV and practically invented the idea of binge-watching, the universe it spawned came to an end (for now) with the final season of Better Call Saul, the show that began life as a spin-off and became as essential as its predecessor. Though it had always been slower and more pensive than the Walter White saga, Better Call Saul accelerated into a real thrill ride in its last few episodes, with lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) having embraced his Saul Goodman persona and his now-wife Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) seemingly as committed as him to a life of breaking the law. With some of the best acting and writing around and plenty of callbacks to Breaking Bad, the end of Better Call Saul is easily one of the year’s highlights.
Watch Better Call Saul on Netflix
House of the Dragon
While Better Call Saul came to an end, another big spin-off show began this year: House of the Dragon is the much-anticipated follow-up to Game of Thrones and is set 200 years beforehand. It managed to click into place and get off the ground running despite the pressure of being the next GOT, and tells the story of how House Targaryen began to fall. Much like GOT, the show stars a cast of decent and devious-natured characters, with the main highlights being King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). The show is set to run for several more seasons yet, but for now, season 1 is just waiting to sink into if you’ve not already joined the millions who’ve journeyed back to Westeros.
Watch House of the Dragon on NowTV
Industry
If you thought the world of investment banking was boring, think again: Industry is a show that shows just how chaotic and vicious it can be. Season 2 was released a few months ago and features plenty of betrayal and drama at the fictional Pierpoint investment bank. There’s a lot of rapidly fired-off dialogue heavy with business jargon, but that doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the breakneck lives of Harper (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and the rest dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic, drugs, alcoholism, and other problems – like the furthering of their careers that began in season 1. There’s more character development and prodding of social themes in season 2, and it remains a lot of fun.
Watch Industry on HBO
The Bear
The Bear came seemingly out of nowhere to become one of 2022’s most critically raved-about shows. It’s not a spin-off, nor does it have any huge names, but it’s easily one of the best-written, directed, and acted TV series of the past few years. Focusing on a small family Italian sandwich shop in Chicago, The Bear stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, an award-winning chef who’s used to the world of fine dining and culinary innovation, who returns to the city following the death of his older brother to take charge of the failing family restaurant. It’s a show about how the day-to-day grind of running a small business can feel pointless and exhausting to the point of breaking, but can, with the right people, ultimately lead to something more.
Watch The Bear on Disney+
The White Lotus
The success of the first season of The White Lotus guaranteed that there’d be more, and HBO followed it up earlier this year with another dive into the business and dysfunctions of the White Lotus resort chain. The six episodes that make up this year’s instalment are set in Sicily, rather than the first season’s Hawaii, and the only main cast member to return is Jennifer Coolidge, reprising her role as Tanya McQuoid. New characters this time around include Ethan (Will Sharpe) and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza), along with Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Cameron (Theo James), as well as the Di Grasso family, who’ve come to discover their Sicilian heritage and roots, consisting of Bert (F Murray Abraham), Dom (Michael Imperioli) and Albie (Adam DiMarco), and its’ these characters that make the show so worth your time.
Watch The White Lotus on NowTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R3LWM_Vt70
For more on entertainment, read our December films guide.
The Tinder Swindler
Out of all the true crime documentaries this year released on streaming, Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler was perhaps the biggest. It was released back in February, around the same time as Inventing Anna, when everyone seemed to be going crazy for scammers. It tells a pretty simple story of how a conman named Simon Leviev used Tinder to connect with various victims, presenting himself as the son of a diamond mogul, and then manipulating them with lavish gifts and taking them on private jets, persuading them to hand him money that he would never repay. Part of why the Tindler Swindler is so watchable is the lengths and depths that Leviev went to keep up his scam, as well as being able to hear from his victims. And, clocking in at just under 2 hours, it’s an easy watch.