Euphoria S2, The Rehearsal S1, Barry S3, House of the Dragon S1, Hacks S2 & much more
EUPHORIA S2 | #1, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario
Variety’s Daniel D’Addario picked HBO’s 18LSDVN teen series Euphoria as his best TV series of 2022, saying, “Euphoria would be television’s most overconfidently made series, if it didn’t somehow, every time, find its way to sublimity.”
This year, Zendaya became the Emmys’ youngest ever two-time acting winner for her lead performance as teen addict Rue. Euphoria was joint second overall at the Emmys, behind The White Lotus S1, with additional wins for Outstanding Guest Actor (Colman Domingo), Picture Editing, Choreography, Cinematography and Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic).
HBO has already renewed Euphoria for a third season.
Binge Euphoria S1-2 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/f9yitlkr-euphoria
THE REHEARSAL S1 | #1, Indiewire’s Ben Travers
Indiewire’s Ben Travers named HBO’s The Rehearsal his best TV series of 2022, praising its “surprising twists, savvy construction, and deep, full-throated laughs.” Time Magazine’s Judy Berman placed it second on her Top 10.
The Rehearsal explores the lengths one man will go to to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life. With a construction crew, a legion of actors and seemingly unlimited resources, Nathan Fielder (2022 Emmy nominee How To With John Wilson) allows ordinary people to prepare for life’s biggest moments by “rehearsing” them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design. When a single misstep could shatter your entire world, why leave life to chance?
HBO has already renewed The Rehearsal for a second season.
Binge The Rehearsal S1 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/at5fqoxh-the-rehearsal
THE GIRL FROM PLAINVILLE | #2, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario
Variety’s Daniel D’Addario picked The Girl From Plainville as his best “ripped-from-the-news series” of 2022, and his second best TV series of the year overall.
Co-created by Emmy nominee Liz Hannah (The Dropout) and Patrick Macmanus (Dr. Death), The Girl From Plainville sees 2022 Emmy nominee Elle Fanning (The Great) play Michelle Carter, the teenager at the centre of the unprecedented “texting suicide case” following the death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, in 2014.
“Fanning’s work here deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Sydney Sweeney’s on Euphoria, as both actors push themselves into frightening emotional terrain in search of a rigorous honesty amidst chaos; Chloë Sevigny, too, playing Conrad’s bereaved mother, has rarely been sharper,” says D’Addario.
Binge The Girl From Plainville on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/cu44pyaf-the-girl-from-plainville
SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE S1 | #3, Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk and Jen Chaney
Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk and Jen Chaney both picked HBO’s Somebody Somewhere as their third best TV series of 2022.
As VanArendonk says, “Every year brings new examples in the storied genre of ‘comedian’s life transmuted into a biographically inspired TV comedy’… but Bridget Everett’s Somebody Somewhere is the best of them in 2022 — and among the best of them period.”
Somebody Somewhere centres on Sam (Everett), a 40-something woman grappling with loss and acceptance as she fields a mid-life crisis following her sister’s death. Sam returns to her hometown but struggles to fit into its mold, until she finds her saving grace in singing, and a community of outsiders who don’t fit in, and don’t give up.
As Chaney says, “Every episode will make you laugh and cry — often at the same time.”
HBO has already renewed Somebody Somewhere for a second season.
Binge Somebody Somewhere S1 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/914iw2d1-somebody-somewhere
WE OWN THIS CITY | #3, Entertainment Weekly’s Darren Franich
Entertainment Weekly’s Darren Franich ranked We Own This City as his third best TV series of 2022, saying, “‘Impressively hopeless’ is a weird way to describe a show I love, but this miniseries demands attention by refusing any easy (or even difficult) answers to the problems of our American age.”
Co-created by David Simon (The Wire – still “the greatest TV series of the 21st Century”, according to a 2021 BBC Culture Critics’ poll) and George Pelecanos (Simon’s co-creator on The Deuce), We Own This City chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard), the six-part series stars BAFTA-nominated Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country, Loki), Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) and Emmy nominee Josh Charles (The Good Wife), alongside a number of alumni from The Wire, including Jamie Hector, Darrell Britt-Gibson, and Domenick Lombardozzi.
Binge We Own This City on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/6w8i1552-we-own-this-city
BARRY S3 | #4, AVClub staff consensus
AVClub picked Barry as its fourth best TV series of 2022, saying, “Bill Hader, much like his eponymous hitman protagonist, never misses. At least that’s what it’s starting to feel like… Barry has firmly established itself as a modern classic. Upping the ante on the story of everyone’s favorite killer-turned-aspiring-actor and throwing plenty his way in a bigger and bolder season (Bike gangs! Panthers! Press junkets! Too many double-crossing MF-ers to count!), Barry’s 2022 return was well worth the wait.”
Season 3 of Barry won three Emmys from 14 nominations: Outstanding Stunt Coordination, Picture Editing, and Sound Editing. Spare a thought for co-creator Hader, who lost all five of the Emmy categories he was nominated for: Outstanding Comedy, Leading Actor, Directing, Writing and Guest Actor (for his cameo on Curb Your Enthusiasm S11).
HBO has already renewed Barry for a fourth and final season.
Binge Barry S1-3 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/1kqppt2q-barry
HACKS S2 | #4, Variety’s Caroline Framke
Variety’s Caroline Framke named Hacks S2 her fourth best TV series of 2022, hailing it as “a season that I was surprised to like even better than the first.” She wrote that the first season’s strengths remained – like “Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder’s chemistry, the absurdity of Hollywood, the toxic dreamland that is Las Vegas” – but S2 added new joys, like “the nuances of bringing a stand-up set on the road, the terrible adrenaline rush of risking failure, Carl Clemons-Hopkins’ ability to unravel in equally terrible and hysterical ways…”
In 2022, Smart took home the Emmy for Outstanding Actress In A Comedy for the second year running for her performance as legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance. Hacks S2 also won Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actress (Laurie Metcalfe from The Big Bang Theory and Lady Bird) and Contemporary Costumes from its 17 nominations, which included Best Comedy.
HBO Max has already renewed Hacks for a third season.
Binge Hacks S1-2 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/e3rwk3dl-hacks
INDUSTRY S2 | #4, Complex staff consensus
Complex named Industry S2 the fourth best TV series of 2022, praising “an all-killer, no-filler batch of episodes that expanded the world of the show in fascinatingly complex ways,” as well as “one of the most excitingly talented groups of young performers in recent memory” and the way the 18LSDN HBO series is “kinetically shot and brilliantly written.”
Created by former bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, Industry follows new bankers Harper (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and Robert (Harry Lawtey) as they forge their identities within the sex- and drug-fuelled pressure cooker environment of Pierpoint & Co’s London office.
In Season 2, they can no longer hide behind their graduate status. The market is ripping and Pierpoint’s back-to-work-or-else mandate has the post-COVID trading floor more charged up and paranoid than ever. New US management will be gasoline on the flames – an injection of cross-Atlantic energy that lights a fire under each and every employee.
HBO has already renewed Industry for a third season.
Binge Industry S1-2 on Showmax:
https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/kj9456uk-industry
PEACEMAKER S1 | #4, Polygon staff consensus
Polygon named Peacemaker their fourth best series of 2022, praising the way James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) showed the superhero “in all his human glory: flawed, intense, wounded, caring, an impeccable dancer, bisexual, Vigilante’s best friend…”
John Cena reprises his The Suicide Squad role as Peacemaker, fighting for peace at any cost – no matter how many people he has to kill to get it.
Among other accolades, Peacemaker was nominated for an Emmy for its stunt coordination, while Cena was up for Best Comedic Performance at the 2022 MTV Movie + TV Awards for the role.
HBO Max has already renewed Peacemaker for a second season. As Polygon says, “Here’s to many more eagle hugs.”
Binge Peacemaker S1 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/cnrxd8fz-peacemaker
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S1 | #5, Polygon staff consensus
Polygon named House of The Dragon their fifth best TV series of 2022. As they say, “There’s any number of metrics by which you can measure House of the Dragon’s success: In the fantasy show showdown with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it reigned supreme as a more thoughtfully plotted prequel; it pulled in a record number of viewers for HBO; it got people excited about blonde people in Game of Thrones again, in 2022. These are not nothing! Fortunately these all matter less than the best part of the show: It’s just plain good. At its most basic form, House of the Dragon is great TV, grounding every twist of the knife in nuanced, thoughtful characters.”
Based on parts of George R. R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, House of The Dragon traces the war for succession within House Targaryen at the height of its power, 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen.
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen is portrayed at different ages by breakout stars Emma D’Arcy and Milly Alcock, while Teen Choice nominee Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One, Sound of Metal, Slow Horses) and Emily Carey (Casualty, 12-year-old Diana in Wonder Woman) play Alicent Hightower. The ensemble cast also includes BAFTA winner Paddy Considine (The Outsider), Emmy nominee Matt Smith (The Crown, Doctor Who), BAFTA nominee Rhys Ifans (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Notting Hill), BAFTA Scotland winner Bill Paterson (Fleabag), and Graham McTavish (Dwalin in The Hobbit trilogy).
House of The Dragon has already been renewed for a second season.
Binge House of the Dragon on Showmax from 15 December 2022: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/hfapvja2-house-of-the-dragon
THE VOW PART TWO | #6, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario
Variety’s Daniel D’Addario picked The Vow Part Two as his sixth best series of 2022, saying, “This continuation of the documentary series about the NXIVM cult, one that branded and starved women, is a potent and elegantly constructed investigation of culpability, harm, and what it means to atone.”
Five years after Keith Raniere’s arrest in Mexico, amid rumours of a secret sex sorority within his self-help company NXIVM, The Vow Part Two follows the legal and emotional journeys of the group’s founders, supporters, and defectors as new evidence and stunning revelations come to light, while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys engage in a trial in the national spotlight.
Directed by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Jehane Noujaim (The Square), The Vow Part Two features chilling testimony from the trial, exclusive phone interviews with Keith Raniere from prison and extensive access to co-founder Nancy Salzman, who wrestles with her role in the rise of NXIVM, her relationship with Raniere and her involvement in growing an organisation accused of fostering predatory behaviour and criminal activity. South African Mark Vicente, an outspoken former member, again features prominently this season.
Binge The Vow S1-2 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/hgqjn6vo-the-vow
THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES S2 | #7, TVGuide’s staff consensus
TVGuide listed The Righteous Gemstones as its seventh best TV series of 2022, praising the way the show “treats humour like an art form… mimicking the sincerity of a prestige drama by zeroing in on small details that give the series its richness…” and “always finds the beating heart amid the absurdity.”
Season 2 finds the mega-famous televangelist Gemstone family threatened by outsiders from both the past and present who wish to destroy their empire.
Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (The Expendables, The Dark Knight) joins the cast this season, while multi-award-winner Danny McBride (who also created, wrote and executive produces the show), Emmy winner John Goodman, Teen Choice Award winner Adam Devine, Edi Patterson, Skyler Gisondo, and Emmy nominee Walton Goggins all return to what Collider hails as “one of the greatest ensembles in comedic television.”
HBO Max has already renewed The Righteous Gemstones for a third season. Brothers and sisters, can we get a Hallelujah?
Binge The Righteous Gemstones S1-2 on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/sqx57jcz-the-righteous-gemstones
THE WHITE LOTUS S2 |#8, The Ringer’s Alison Herman and Miles Surrey
The Ringer’s Alison Herman and Miles Surrey listed Season 2 of The White Lotus as their eighth best series of 2022, praising “standout turns from Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Meghann Fahy, and more” as well as the change of scenery to Sicily and theme to sex.
Season 1 was the most awarded show at the 2022 Emmys, winning 10 awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Directing and Writing – and Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya, who returns in Season 2 opposite Teen Choice nominee Jon Gries as her husband Greg.
HBO has already renewed The White Lotus for a third installment.
Binge The White Lotus S1-2 on Showmax from 12 December 2022: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/u2h3ff0r-the-white-lotus
THIS IS GOING TO HURT S1 | #9, Vulture’s Jen Chaney
Vulture’s Jen Chaney named This Is Going To Hurt her ninth best TV series of 2022, saying, “There are roughly a million medical shows, but few are as unsparing, authentic, and urgent as this one.”
Emmy winner Ben Whishaw (Mary Poppins Returns, Q in the last three Bond films, and the voice of Paddington) stars as real-life NHS doctor Adam Kay, whose bestselling memoir of the same name was based on his diaries, scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, telling the unvarnished truth of life as a doctor working in obstetrics and gynaecology.
Time Magazine’s Judy Berman listed it as her fifth best TV series of 2022, praising its “biting humour” and Whishaw’s performance as “a brash, prickly young gay man with one foot out of the closet.”
Binge This Is Going To Hurt on Showmax: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/vjgu7411-this-is-going-to-hurt
YELLOWJACKETS | #10, AVClub staff consensus
AVClub picked Yellowjackets as their 10th best TV series of 2022, describing it as “a lesbian cannibal suspense story” and a “grisly blend of a teen show and survival drama.” As AVClub says, “Nothing will get you more hooked than wondering who the goddamn Antler Queen is. Now that’s how you build suspense.”
Nominated for seven Emmys, Yellowjackets did even better at the 2022 Critics Choice Super Awards, where it was named Best Horror and Melanie Lynsky won Best Actress: Horror. Lynsky also took home Best Actress: Drama at the 2022 Critics Choice Awards for her performance as Shauna, a now-adult survivor of a plane crash that stranded her wildly talented high school girls’ soccer team deep in the Canadian wilderness in 1996.
Showtime renewed Yellowjackets for a second season before the first had even concluded.
Binge Yellowjackets S1 here: https://www.showmax.com/eng/tvseries/jwcvinlt-yellowjackets
SPECIAL MENTIONS
MetaCritic is compiling all the main critic lists in one place here: https://www.metacritic.com/feature/tv-critics-pick-10-best-tv-shows-of-2022?ref=hp. Other critical darlings cracking Best of the Year lists there include Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That; feminist porn comedy Minx; Elena Ferrante adaptation My Brilliant Friend; the lesbian period romance Gentleman Jack S2; British true crime series Landscapers; strip club drama P-Valley S2; and The Offer, a dramatisation of the making of The Godfather. Everything mentioned above is only streaming on Showmax in Africa.
EVERYTHING ON SHOWMAX IN DECEMBER 2022
To see everything on Showmax in December 2022, including rugby documentary Rassie, from the creators of the award-winning Chasing The Sun; Steven Soderbergh’s techno-thriller Kimi, starring Zoë Kravitz; and the animated Julia Donaldson adaptation Superworm, helmed by South Africans Sarah Scrimgeour and Jac Hamman, click here.
