Although… Has it been a year since I cancelled Netflix? Not really sure.
Been a while, though. Long enough that I’m completely behind on recent seasons of Stranger Things, The Crown, Ginny and Georgia, Sex Education, Derry Girls… And I have yet to see the Glass Onion movie, or the Shania Twain documentary.
The plan at the time was to cancel it for a few months and try out another service, then cancel that one and try another, then maybe back to Netflix, and so on. Only it didn’t quite work at that way. Shortly after cancelling Netflix, I got a several months free offer for Apple TV, which I then kept afterwards (as it was quite cheap at the time). Soon after that, I got a similar free offer for Disney+. That was so many new TV options at once (along with Prime and Crave and even cable), that I did not end up circling back to Netflix.
Hence a completely Netflix-free list of TV shows I particularly enjoyed in 2023.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Crave)
- Drops of God (Apple)
- Fleishman Is In Trouble (Disney)
- The White Lotus (Crave)
- Sort of (CBC)
- Schmigadoon / Schmicago (Apple)
- Poker Face (City TV)
- Shrinking (Apple)
- Only Murders in the Building (Disney)
- I Have Nothing (Crave)
With honourable mentions Jack Ryan (Prime), Our Flag Means Death (Crave), Platonic (Apple), Extraordinary (Disney), Good Omens (Prime), and Upload (Prime).
Crave
That Jean and I should be such fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (1) is a curious thing, given that neither of us are particularly ardent Star Trek fans, and that this series is a prequel to the original Star Trek TV series, and chock-ful of references to it… All of which go right over our heads.
But I think it’s just that good.
The characters are a delight. The stories are peppy and fun. It’s experimental—this season they did a musical, an animated series crossover, a “Spock becomes human” farce. Also, it is nice to drop into a future world full of optimism and possibility, even as this seems increasingly unlikely in our actual world.
The White Lotus (4) was something completely different—cynical, taking place squarely in our time and on our planet, with characters that were fascinating but far from delightful. Yet we just couldn’t look away from the twists and turns in the relationships between these rich people on vacation (this time in Sicily) and a few locals.
I Have Nothing (10) was not a Jean show, but I could not resist this documentary series about comedienne Carolyn Taylor following up on her “years in the making” compulsion to choreograph a pair figure skating routine to the song “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston. Despite Carolyn not being a figure skater. Or a choreographer. Or having rights to the song.
If you’re a figure skating fan at all, it’s just an amazing journey.
As for Our Flag Means Death, or the “gay pirate show”, that was just a bit of fun, wasn’t it?
(I didn’t get around to watching Succession or The Last of Us.)
Apple TV
We’ve been telling everyone of late about Drops of God (2), a six-part Apple TV series that we really got into. Part of the fun, somehow, is that it’s a trilingual series—English, French, Japanese—with different people understanding different languages sometimes part of the plot. The story is set in motion by the death of a man who has an incredibly valuable wine collection, and has made his fortune writing an incredibly influential wine guide. In his will, he insists that his estranged daughter and his apprentice compete in a series of challenges to determine which of them will inherit his estate.
Schmigadoon / Schmicago (6); both seasons of which I watched this year, were not Jean’s cup of tea, but I just devoured this series about a couple who mysteriously find themselves trapped in a world of musicals. It was funny, and kind of sweet, and a very neat salute to musicals.
Shrinking (8) was touted as being in the spirit of Ted Lasso. I think that’s fair, in terms of it being a tragi-comedy with characters whom you grow to like more over time. Jason Segel stars as a therapist who’s struggling to help his patients while mourning the death of his wife. Harrison Ford is great as his mentor at the clinic, as is Jessica Williams as another therapist working there. Krista Miller plays his neighbour who is helping with his daughter.
And comedy Platonic, about two college friends, played by Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne, who start hanging out again some years when they’re at very different points in their lives, was also pretty good.
(I’ve heard good things about Slow Horses and For All Mankind but haven’t gotten around to watching those yet. We’re currently enjoying Silo.)
Disney+
Fleishman Is in Trouble (3) I already wrote about once this year, so I won’t go on about it again. But I still recommend it. And I have since read the novel, which it follows quite closely.
Only Murders in the Building (9) features Selena Gomez as artist Mabel, Martin Short as Broadway producer Oliver, and Steve Martin as actor Charles, three amateur sleuths who live in the same building and produce a podcast about murders that seem to keep happening there. And writing that, it all sounds kind of ridiculous. But I don’t know, it somehow works, and the show is very popular! Star power might have something to do with it.
Extraordinary, a British series about a world in which people have some sort of superpower—the nature of which only becomes evident when they get older—was also great fun. Main character Jen has not discovered her superpower yet, and that drives the plot forward.
(I did not get a chance to watch The Bear nor Reservation Dogs before my free access ended.)
Networks
CBC’s Sort of (5) came to a conclusion this year. This lovely series centres on Sabi, a gender fluid, nonbinary Canadian of Pakistani descent, whose parents (especially their father) has troubles coming to terms with their identity. It’s not a trauma story, though. The series is mostly comedic, albeit with some heavy moments. Through various jobs, lovers, events, and friends they’ve encountered over the three seasons, Sabi has learned and grown, as have those around them. I feel as though I have, too, by watching this.
Poker Face (7) I’ve also written about this year already, but can now just add that we enjoyed it to the end. It’s an episodic, murder-of-the-week kind of a show, so you don’t have to watch all of it in order. But you might want to!
Prime
Prime is a series of honourary mentions.
We did quickly devour the last season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. The show is what it is, but it does a good job of it!
The latest season of the innovative Upload was honestly somewhat hard to follow, as it had been so long since season 2. (And sure we could rewatch the previous seasons, but that’s starting to seem like work.) But still pretty enjoyable among the confusion.
Good Omens 2, we also liked, but it could not quite live up to our expectations after the long break from the amazing first Good Omens. Though I could fathom rewatching both seasons of this at some point. And I do hope there’s a third.
(I also got into The Summer I Turned Pretty but cannot particularly recommend it, as the whole switching romantic relationships between two brothers was just kind of ookey. Girl, what are you doing?)
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