The Best TV Shows Of 2022
Monster hunters, summer adventures, and slasher homages… there’s a lot to love about the TV shows that came out this year. As the year comes to a close, Pop Culture Planet is sharing the Best Of 2022.
Abbott Elementary Season 2 (ABC)
Abbott Elementary put creator, writer, and actor Quinta Brunson on the map as the queen of the sitcoms. The mockumentary-style show follows the teachers and staff of an underfunded elementary school.
Now back for its second season, the Emmy-winning series explores clever plots like the students going wild during a sugar rush on Halloween and continues the “will they, won’t they” subplot between teachers Janine and Gregory (Tyler James Williams). The season features guest appearances from Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty, Leslie Odom Jr, Vince Staples, and Andrew Iguodala.
Season 2 returns January 4, 2023.
Chucky Season 2 (Syfy)
While Chucky season 1 set up Charles Lee Ray’s origins, season 2 picks up six months later as Chucky (Brad Dourif) continues his sinister plot at a Catholic school. Together Jake (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind) must face even more Chucky’s, while Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) reunites with her beloved twins Glen and Glenda (Lachlan Watson) while trying to keep Nica (Fiona Dourif) hostage.
It’s incredible that even after 34 years, Don Mancini continues to think of fresh and creative ideas and kills for this iconic franchise. This season they even managed to double down on their meta elements to take the humor to the next level.
Claim To Fame (ABC)
In ABC’s Claim To Fame, twelve contestants with famous relatives move into a house together and work to figure out which celebrities the other contestants are related to while keeping their own celebrity relationship a secret. Hosted by celebrity siblings Kevin and Frankie Jonas, contestants related to Zendaya, Whoopi Goldberg, and more fight to win $100,000.
It’s a ton of fun to play along trying to figure out who is related to who. There are some more obvious answers and some that will stump you throughout the season.
First Kill (Netflix)
You never forget your first…
Based on the short story by V.E. Schwab from the Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite anthology, First Kill follows the tricky act of falling in love for teens Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Calliope (Imani Lewis): One's a vampire, the other's a monster hunter, and both are ready to make their first kill.
With vibes of Romeo and Juliet meets Disney’s Zombies meets Killing Eve, First Kill is a bit campy and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The show also explores a unique lore of Legacy vampires who are born vampires, not made, that they take all the way back to the Garden of Eden. While First Kill wasn’t perfect, it was a ton of fun and the world building could’ve been taken to another level as they continued explore the lore they’ve set up, including more monsters and a possible cat and mouse hunt between Calliope and Juliette. Unfortunately the show was cancelled before it could get a second season.
FBOY Island Season 2 (HBO Max)
Hosted by Nikki Glaser, FBOY Island follows three women trying to work out which of their 24 suitors are ‘nice guys’ and which are self-proclaimed ‘fboys.’
The series is both self-aware and over-the-top in its humor and drama, while promoting sisterhood between the women searching for love. They look out for each other and are steps ahead of the men on multiple levels. Anything can happen on this show, as it breaks the typical reality competition mold. The second season has a particularly shocking twist in the finale that will give viewers whiplash.
Hilarious and chaotic, it is disappointing to see HBO Max cancel this show.
Ghosts Season 2 (CBS, Paramount+)
Led by Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ghosts follows a couple who inherit a beautiful country mansion that they plan to turn into a bed and breakfast. But when Sam has a near death experience she develops the ability to see and hear the ghosts in the house.
In season 2, Sam and Jay continue to find themselves in wacky situations in their haunted B&B, while diving deeper into the ghosts’ backstories. With an addicting humor and stellar ensemble cast, Ghosts is a must watch.
Gordita Chronicles (HBO Max)
After leaving the Dominican Republic to start a new life in Miami, Gordita Chronicles tells the refreshingly funny and authentic story of the Castelli family working to fit into and reimagine the American Dream.
Olivia Goncalves delivers a break out performance as the bold and aspirational Cucu Castelli. While she is the center of the story, each family member gets their own entertaining individual storylines that allow them to grow and support each other. Savannah Nicole Ruiz, who plays Cucu’s sister Emilia, goes on a particularly profound journey of self-discovery, navigating fake friends to find her true passion. The series, full of heart and humor, is narrated from the future looking back at 1985, similar to shows like Everybody Hates Chris or Fresh Off The Boat.
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Like Degrassi, Heartbreak High is not afraid to go there. The new Netflix series is a reboot/continuation of the 1994 Australian series of the same name, which in turn is a spin-off of the 1993 Australian feature film The Heartbreak Kid. Led by Ayesha Madon, James Majoos, Chloe Hayden, Asher Yasbincek, Thomas Weatherall, Will McDonald, and Joshua Heuston, Heartbreak High delivers a fresh look at Hartley High and its community 20 years after the original series. While the show navigates love, sex, and heartbreak, you also have this overarching mystery of what fractured the connection between two best friends.
From the representation to the writing to the fashion and the way they center queer characters and characters of color, Heartbreak High is a can’t miss show. In just eight episodes, Netflix delivers a high stakes and high energy series with well-rounded characters that you won’t be able to help but fall in love with. Authentic, edgy, and genuinely diverse, Heartbreak High is the show young people deserve in 2022.
Heartstopper (Netflix)
Based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman comes Heartstopper, an eight chapter story of life, love, and everything in between. The new Netflix series follows gentle Charlie (Joe Locke) and rugby-loving Nick (Kit Connor) who meet at school where their unlikely friendship blossoms into an unexpected romance.
The story focuses on staying sweet and heartwarming, keeping any trauma or drama to a minimum. White, straight people get to have these types of stories all the time, and it’s so powerful to be able to see this light, fun, and fluffy story about LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color that can impact so many young people who now have a chance to see themselves represented in a positive light. I've never seen a story like this one that is just so genuine and optimistic and celebrating of LGBTQ+ characters and their love stories.
When it comes down to it, Heartstopper is extremely loyal to the source material, with this first season spanning the first two volumes of the graphic novel. Fans will feel like they literally took each panel and brought it to life on screen in the best way possible. The show has already been picked up for two more seasons, allowing us to dive into the next chapters as these characters head to Paris together. Paris squad, assemble!
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 3 (Disney+)
What time is it? SUMMERTIME!
The Wildcats head to Camp Shallow Lake in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3 for the best summer ever. The season rocked the status quo with a bigger focus on Gina (Sofia Wylie) and E.J. (Matt Cornett), new revelations for our young leads, a competitive production of Frozen, and even more guest stars.
The show returns for a fourth season that will have the Wildcats unite with members of the original High School Musical movie franchise.
Love Is Blind Seasons 2 and 3 (Netflix)
Netflix delivered not just one, but two, new seasons of Love Is Blind this year. On the show, singles try to find a match and fall in love without ever seeing each other face-to-face, as emotional connection attempts to conquer physical attraction.
While the second season saw some matches that ultimately didn’t work out the third season explored one of the most toxic casts yet. The reality format remains addicting and really draws viewers in with its drama.
Never Have I Ever Season 3 (Netflix)
In season 3 of the coming-of-age comedy Never Have I Ever, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) continues to deal with the everyday pressures of high school and drama at home, while also navigating new romantic relationships. Now that she's finally dating her dream guy, everything is perfect, right? Maybe not.
Growth and life after high school are big themes of this season, as well as the continued steady drumbeat of Devi dealing with her father’s passing. We see her connection with her mother (Poorna Jagannathan) grow stronger and she realizes that your dreams and goals can change. Your identity doesn’t need to be tied to nabbing the hottest guy in school. Every character in the series shows immense growth.
Everything that Devi has gone through has led to her having a stronger arc in this season where we see her and her friends grow and mature in a satisfying way.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max)
HBO Max brings Pretty Little Liars back for a third spin-off in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. The story kicks off with a flashback to a horrific Y2K New Years party where a group of friends see a student commit suicide. Twenty two years later, we follow their daughters — pregnant teen Imogen (Bailee Madison), aspiring filmmaker Tabby (Chandler Kinney), prima ballerina Faran (Zaria), techie Mouse (Malia Pyles), and rebellious Noa (Maia Reficco) — as they come together to take down their bully fittingly named Karen (Mallory Bechtel). But maybe Karen wasn’t really behind the creepy things happening to them, as a masked person only known as A goes after them seeking justice for their mother’s original sins.
Original Sin does a great job of capturing the essence of what made Pretty Little Liars so addicting, while paying homage to classic slashers. The choice in our core five actresses for the series is also really strong. We have a truly diverse group of young women coming together from different walks of life with very unique secrets, while also connecting back to a big secret from their mother’s past. It’s thrilling to see this story told through the lens of women of color taking their power back in the horror genre. The show has even been picked up for a second season that teases a summer horror story.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (Disney+)
Marvel brings the Hulk’s cousin Jennifer Walters into the superhero fold with She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. The comedy series balances Jennifer’s complicated life as a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered Hulk.
Tatiana Maslany absolutely shines in the meta super comedy. With a fire soundtrack, hilarious characters, and epic cameos galore… this is exactly the kind of goofy, self-awareness that I enjoy in my comic book adaptations.
Stranger Things 4 (Netflix)
The new two volume fourth season of Stranger Things finds the Hawkins crew divided into four separate, but connecting stories, that unveils the ultimate big bad of the series: Vecna. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is on a journey to the past to find her power again with the crew in California trying to save her, the Hawkins gang is working on solving a supernatural murder mystery, while Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) try to save Hopper (David Harbour) from a harsh Russian prison. The season dives deeper into our characters and introduces us to new ones, going heavy on the horror elements.
We got some incredible performances throughout the season, especially from Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, Joseph Quinn, and Jamie Campbell Bower. The new villain Vecna has deep roots that connect back to the very beginning of the series and a captivating backstory that will truly shock viewers. Unfortunately, they ruined some of the momentum by keeping the cast so separate and dividing the season into two parts, while also continuing to introduce new characters just to be killed off. This resulted in some very predictable plot points in the final two episodes.
The Mole
Netflix brings back the early 2000s reality series The Mole. The series follows contestants working together to add money to a pot that only one of them will win, meanwhile one contestant has been secretly designated “the Mole” by producers and tasked with sabotaging the group.
From physical challenges to sabotaging mind games, The Mole is an addicting and successful reboot of the original series for a new audience.
The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 2 (HBO Max)
Our favorite roommates return to Essex College in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2… but for how long? Fresh, funny, and full of chemistry, the show goes beyond the stereotypes of these four women and explores them all on a deeper level. Will Bela transfer, will Whitney get over Kimberly’s betrayal, and will Leighton stay true to herself? Despite the ups and downs, you really believe in the power of their friendship.
The Sex Lives of College Girls has been picked up for a third season on HBO Max.
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Prime Video)
Based on the books by Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty follows Belly Conklin and her family as they head to the Fishers’ beach house in Cousins. Every summer is the same… until she turns sixteen. It’s a summer of first love, first heartbreak, and growing up. The show really makes you fall in love with Cousins Beach and makes the whole town feel like a character in itself where magical summer adventures can happen at any time.
Jenny Han is not only the author of the books, but took on showrunning for the first time with the adaptation of The Summer I Turned Pretty. In adapting the story to the screen, she wasn’t afraid to deviate from her own source material. I love that she was able to update the storylines in a way that both feels more streamlined, but also really feel like they make sense for the characters. Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah, and Steven are all flawed and learning and coming into their own as people and the young cast of Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, and Sean Kaufman bring them to life vibrantly and authentically.
The Summer I Turned Pretty returns for season 2 in 2023.
The Ultimatum
Nick and Vanessa Lachey are back with a new social experiment on Netflix with The Ultimatum. The reality show features couples on the verge of getting married or splitting forever when confronted with an ultimatum. They spend three weeks living with new partners chosen from the rest of the group. Who will they end up with in the long run?
The Ultimatum is messy and stress-inducing as the cast find themselves torn between their former partners and new romantic interests.
The Ultimatum is currently airing a France-based season on Netflix.
Wednesday (Netflix)
Jenna Ortega explores a Wednesday Addams as we’ve never seen her before in Netflix’s Wednesday as our titular character heads off to her parents’ alma mater Nevermore Academy. There, the teen detective attempts to master her psychic powers, stop a monstrous killing spree in town, and solve a supernatural mystery that affected her family 25 years ago.
From Scream to Wednesday, Ortega continues to prove herself to be one of the best actresses of this generation. Unfortunately casting for Morticia and Gomez falls flat. The show can feel cliche and overstuffed at times and would’ve benefitted from more diverse and inclusive casting choices. While the Addams’ Latino identity is put at the forefront, most of the characters around them, including possible romantic interests for Wednesday, are whitewashed. While Wednesday and Tim Burton seem like a perfect fit creatively, Burton’s presence is weak outside of the design for the mysterious creature she is trying to stop.
All in all, Wednesday is jauntily macabre and twisted, with a mystery that you’ll have fun trying to piece together along with the characters. With the perfect amount of spooky and kooky, Jenna Ortega was born to play Wednesday Addams.
Have you checked out these shows? What were some of your favorites of 2022? Get more recommendations, here.
