What a year! Something changed in 2023. With all the streaming channels, after catch-up time following the pandemic, and despite a year of Hollywood strikes, TV viewers saw the best year of television we’ve seen this century. More great new TV series, more great seasons of ongoing shows, and really good reboots. More variety of genre features to dive into, and more worthy of being called out for their greatness. Today we’re continuing our annual year-end round-up with the Best TV of 2023. If you missed it, check out our list of the best Kick-Ass Heroines of 2023 here. We watch a lot of television, and probably love a good series even more than a great movie. We preview and review hundreds of series, but outside big franchise content you want to know about, we try to only review what we like, what we actually recommend–the best genre content we’re watching. The theory? If we like it, we think you may like it. No other annual awards focus on all the best genres like borg. The best shows have a compelling story, great characters, tremendous action, a sharp use of humor, and all kinds of well-executed genre elements that satisfy and leave viewers feeling inspired. It’s even better if we see richly detailed sets and costumes. And the very best series somehow get canceled at the end of their first season because network execs will never figure out what we genre fans love. We watched thousands of hours of TV this year, and no other series match the compelling writing, performances–and fun–of the series that follow. Note: Eligible series had at least one episode first premiering in calendar year 2023.
Without further ado, here’s the Best TV of 2023:
Best TV Series, Best TV Action Series, Best Superhero Series, Best Western Series, Best Production Design, Best TV Makeup, Best Costumes – Warrior (HBO Max). Simply one of the greatest TV series ever made. Three seasons in and it still dazzled with its layered storytelling and the best mix of genres. Action, historical fiction, Western, seemingly super-powered heroes and villains, all from one of the world’s all-time greatest martial artists and visionaries, Bruce Lee. A triumph in the greatest year of TV this century. Runners-up for Best TV Series: Tulsa King (Paramount+) a surprising story, imaginative characters and great acting led the way for Stallone & Co.; Bosch: Legacy (Amazon Freevee) action and suspense ramped up after eight seasons; and Mrs. Davis (Peacock) an audacious, wild ride. Runner-up for Best TV Action Series – FUBAR (Netflix) as cinematic a series as we may ever get to see.
Best Sci-Fi TV Series, Best Reboot, Runner-up for Best TV Writing – Quantum Leap (NBC). No TV series this year approached the level of science and science fiction as Quantum Leap. Fans of the original story were rewarded this year with not one but two seasons of reboot and sequel content, all surprisingly worthy of the original. Yes, Sam Beckett may be gone, but his legacy is thriving. Actor Raymond Lee’s Dr. Ben Song delivered a smart, good guy every week doing his best to “right what once went wrong” and he made his unique brand of time travel his own, complete with lots of science (based on the latest actual science) to explain what was happening. With a success like this after nearly 30 years since the original, this may be the best reboot yet. Runner-up for Best Sci-Fi TV Series: Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials (BBC/Disney+). The BBC and Disney partnered to deliver the best science fiction TV in the franchise since the Matt Smith/Karen Gillan era. Strong writing, cinema quality production, top cast. Honorable Mention for Best Sci-Fi TV Series: The Mandalorian (Disney+) and Strange New Worlds (Paramount+).
Best New TV Series, Runner-up for Best TV Series and Runner-up for Best Western Series – Tulsa King (Paramount+). Sylvester Stallone as an ex-con sent to Tulsa to make some mob money? And he does it taking over a legal CBD shop? This is the rare show that doesn’t work on paper but the cleverness of the scripts coupled with top actors was the recipe for pure gold. Sly and horses? A nice mix of Cop Land and Longmire into a “mob Western”–it doesn’t need to neatly fit in any genre. Runners-up for Best New TV Series – Mrs. Davis (Peacock) and The Irrational (NBC/Peacock).
Best Retro Fix, Best Fantasy TV Series, Best Visual Effects, Best Documentary Series – Muppets Mayhem (Disney+). Nothing else is like The Muppets. You’ll watch the entire series and have forgotten these are fabric creations with hands and strings and people behind them. That’s the magic of the show, and Muppets Mayhem is the best integration of the characters into a story since The Muppets Christmas Carol. Runner-up for Best Fantasy TV Series: Willow (Disney+). A faithful sequel containing one of the best fantasy episodes ever, with surprising story elements and gorgeous sets and scenery. An epic journey full of intrigue, fun, nostalgia, and stakes.
Best British TV Series, Best Mystery/Crime TV Series, Best TV Writing – Deadloch (Prime Video). Few series can be called unique, but this Australian masterpiece is one-of-a-kind. A mix of drama, humor, and bits of satire and parody, the writing was sharp and witty, and the mystery as engaging and compelling as any we’ve seen in recent years on television. Runner-up for Best Mystery/Crime Series and Best Writing – Bosch: Legacy; Runners-up for Best British TV Series, Best Mystery/Crime Series, and Best TV Writing: Annika (Netflix), Payback (BritBox).
Best Horror/Thriller TV Series, Best Supernatural Series, Best Coming-of-Age TV Series – Alice in Borderland (Netflix). It really didn’t have any worthy competition this year, returning viewers to the scary world adapted from the manga series. Slowly it picked off our favorites as much as we didn’t want it to happen, unveiling the secret behind the show’s mystery, which also landed as a satisfying ending. A surprise renewal means anything can happen when we meet these characters again.
Best Comedy TV Series, Best Ensemble Cast – Ghosts (CBS). The remake of the British series didn’t lose any ground in its second season with its humor and clever conceit, so dependent on layered, gut-bustingly funny storytelling and TV’s best acting talent. Happily it has no signs of stopping anytime soon. Close Runner-up: Night Court (NBC/Peacock). Honorable mention for Best Comedy Series: Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+) and Only Murders in the Building (Hulu).
Best Animated Series, Best Borg Series, Best TV Borg – Star Wars: Visions (Lola) (Lucasfilm/Disney+). They had us at Aardman, but it didn’t stop there, with new worlds and characters that could each make a worthy spin-off series. So many brilliant animation styles, we’re glad we didn’t need to pick the best from within this show. Of course the best TV borg goes to the fabulous artist and Sith character Lola, whose cybernetic arm didn’t impede her use of the Force to paint in the face of PTSD from her time as an apprentice to a Sith master. Honorable mention for Best Animated Series: Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+).
Best Limited Series, Best War Series – Transatlantic (Netflix). Despite being a modern take on love, loss, art, and intrigue from the perspective of Americans based in France during the early days of World War II, it is a standout series that blends genres in a refreshing, new way. Its challenge was balancing a light-hearted attitude with the atrocities the characters faced, as well as splicing fictional characters with real-life celebrities of the day, which it met with success.
Best TV Actress – Mimi Rogers (Bosch: Legacy). Rogers carefully created the year’s best leading woman role over nine years, taking her all the way to the bottom before building her into a character with secrets and skills the audience couldn’t have been ready for. This was her biggest season with her best work in her greatest, most memorable role. Runners-up: Betty Gilpin (Mrs. Davis), Roselyn Sanchez (Fantasy Island), Olivia Cheng (Warrior). Honorable mention: Nicola Walker (Annika), Kate Box (Deadloch), Madison Lintz (Bosch: Legacy).
Best TV Supporting Actress – Madeliene Sami (Deadloch). Rarely do actors really get the opportunity to lay it all out there. Sami’s disheveled, mouthiest, foulest cop you’ll ever meet merged in one season the best of Columbo, Jim Rockford, and Gene Hunt in a truly unique and brilliant mash-up of funny and drama. Runners-up: Fortune Feimster (FUBAR), Nina Oyama (Deadloch), Aya Asahina (Alice in Borderland). Honorable mention: Kiara Barnes (Fantasy Island), Jessica Matten (Dark Winds).
Best TV Actor – Sylvester Stallone (Tulsa King). This is a role where Stallone hung up the action hero parts and embraced his thespian skills from Cop Land. He brought his own brand of class and humor from Oscar. Stallone has been twice nominated for an acting Oscar for his Rocky Balboa, and once for his screenwriting. He hasn’t lost his serious actor side even in his late 70s. This was drama meets mob-Western, and Stallone brought the right charm and stepped up to make the show stunning and compelling. Runners-up: Raymond Lee (Quantum Leap), Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR), Andrew Koji (Warrior), Zahn McClarnon (Dark Winds). Honorable mention: John Larroquette (Night Court), Peter Mullan (Payback).
Best TV Supporting Actor – Hoon Lee (Warrior). Lee created a character so superb we didn’t know whether we should hate him or love him. Some great stories have that one supporting character who is the glue holding everything together. Here that was Wang Chao, master facilitator and manipulator for all factions and jack of all trades, as well as puppetmaster behind every act of revenge, but Lee showed us that getting dragged off to Georgia revealed how much of a survivor this guy could be. Runners-up: Devon Long (Ghosts), Jay Will (Tulsa King), Chris Diamantopoulos (Mrs. Davis). Honorable mention: Nijirô Murakami (Alice in Borderland), Jamie Sives (Annika), Steven Mackintosh (Payback).
Best TV Episodes – The Mandalorian, Episode 3.8, “The Return,” one of the best series finales ever; Strange New Worlds, Episode 2.7, “These Old Scientists,” bringing together the best of both worlds = more, please; Bosch: Legacy, Episode 2.10, “A Step Ahead,” a satisfying conclusion to a season of tumult for Mo, Mads, and Money; Quantum Leap, Episode 2.6, “Secret History,” Ben’s pursuit of Einstein’s lost formula and Hannah from his past was one of the series’ all-time satisfying chapters; Episode 1.3, The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time,” if only the entire series was this strong, a bottle episode reminiscent of the dramatic “Inner Light” performances of Star Trek: TNG; Willow, Episode 1.7, “Beyond the Shattered Sea,” an epic quest within a quest, with character growth, secrets uncovered, and stakes revealed; Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special, Episode 2, simply one of the long series’ best episodes.
Best TV Villain – Beep the Meep (Doctor Who). A classic alien pulled–incredibly–from decades of the oldest sci-fi TV franchise’s tie-in comics. Sure, adults could guess what the cute Grogu of Doctor Who was really up to, but you can bet the kids–the show’s established target audience–didn’t. Runner-up: Cal Morris (Payback). A surprise strong and creepy character and performance by Peter Mullan in a surprisingly good year-end release.
Best Cameo — Lance Reddick (Bosch: Legacy). Reddick, who died this year, had filmed a quick scene for the series finale as now-former mayor Irving, which couldn’t have been better timed to round out a great run and a fantastic career for the actor. For viewers it was a surprise, a bittersweet gut-punch, but a perfect send-off for the character and actor, and as well as springboard for the show’s future, as Chandler asks for his endorsement in her run at the office of District Attorney.
Best Genre Find from Previous Years Now Streaming: Station Eleven (HBO Max). One of the most welcome breaths of fresh air in a look at a post-apocalyptic Earth, brilliant science fiction storytelling, top performances, and an unforgettable message: storytelling, acting, art–in all their forms–are as important to living as any other component of life, whether social, political, economic, or scientific, as great as food, shelter, water, and air, especially when all are in jeopardy.
Come back tomorrow for more of borg‘s Best of 2023 as we reveal the Best Movies of 2023. If you missed our list of Best Kick-Ass Genre Heroines of 2023, be sure to check it out here.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
