My 2023 in Pop Culture: Favourite TV Shows

As a Star Wars fan, I had long given up on anything genuinely good coming out of the franchise while under the Disney umbrella (they tried with The Last Jedi and we all know how that turned out). Imagine my amazement when Andor, a series about a little-thought-about character in Rogue One - the prequel to a prequel! - ended up being my favourite show of the year. It's about how Cassian Andor, a thief living on the industrial mining planet Ferrix, becomes involved in the rebellion against the Galactic Empire.

I loved Diego Luna's dreamy performance in Rogue One (he's very in the Han Solo mold), but in Andor he's given so much more to do, and his slow journey from world-weary thief to passionate rebel is wonderful to watch. There are at least a dozen supporting characters, all of whom have believable and complex motivations to take part in the rebellion or act as a tool of the Empire, portrayed by an outstanding array of actors including Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker, Fiona Shaw and Andy Serkis, and a bunch of talented new faces.

As well as being dramatically satisfying with multiple mini-arcs across the season (the three-episode arc of Andor's attempt to escape a prison planet being far and away my favourite), the show's portrayal of life under a fascist regime is chilling. If like me, you're a Hunger Games superfan, you should definitely take notice.

Nothing was more fun this year than watching the final season of Succession live. It gave me warm and fuzzy flashbacks to when Lost was airing: watching it by appointment with family, logging onto the internet straight after to read the recaps and power-rankings, dissecting every scene with friends.

There's no insight I can provide into the series that hasn't already been written. All I'll say is it was fucking good, and funny, and heartbreaking, and had one of the most dramatically satisfying endings I've ever seen.

On a similar prestige TV note, White Lotus and The Bear had excellent and much-discussed second seasons that I binged and loved. What episode could beat "Forks" for pure feel-good vibes? I'll never listen to Love Story the same way again.

In contrast to Succession, absolutely no one watched Smiley, a Spanish queer romantic comedy series on Netflix that has already been cancelled after just one season. I'm hoping to rectify that, because it's just gorgeous. A recommendation from my dear friend Sean, it's an opposite-attracts story which, like all good romcoms, begins with a wildly convoluted meet-cute that blossoms into a spiky romance. The two leads, Carlos Cuevas and Miki Esparbé, are insanely attractive and their chemistry is hotter than a slice of tomato in the middle of a toasted sandwich (oh god, I need to work on my simile game). Visually, it's stunning - the actions revolves around a Barcelona gay bar in the middle of Christmas season, and believe me when I say the cosy vibes are off the chain, all bright colours and warm festive lights. The writing is a bit wonky (alas, the queer woman get the worst of it with a dour break up storyline) but luckily the lead couple's dialogue sparkles off the page. Watch this show!

I rewatched the entirety of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend this year. Instigated by a mental-health relapse (if your friend starts binging this show or BoJack Horseman, just keep an eye on them, okay?) and I kept going because, fuck, this show is a fucking miracle. How did we get four seasons of an incredibly niche, filthy musical TV show populated by complete unknowns and with an at-times wildly unlikeable main character with borderline personality disorder? It wasn't the ratings, that's for sure. But CXG is undeniable and I think that's what kept it going. I won't say too much because one day I want to write what this show means to me and the impact it's had on my life. But it was reassuring to rewatch and realise its power hasn't dimmed in the years since it finished.

Also viewed: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, a fascinating anime which portrays an alternative version of my beloved Scott Pilgrim graphic novels (imagine Midnight Sun, but good). Seasons 4, 5, 6 & 7 of Seinfeld, which like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is so specific and weird in its sensibility, but incredibly relatable. Taskmaster UK and NZ were reliably amazing. And finally, Gregory in Abbott Elementary delivered the most romantic line on TV this year: "I take all your recommendations seriously. I wanna know why you like stuff." KISS HIM JANINE.

Next time: music!