"Between the streaming bubble that created a nonstop barrage of content, Hollywood labor strikes, and the twilight years of the so-called "Golden Age of Television," many critics would argue that TV is at a decisive crossroads. On one hand, it seems like truly massive hits that can keep audiences around the world talking for days have become fewer and further between. On the other hand, there may never have been a more diverse and adventurous array of great television on offer.
What they all have in common is that they're all entirely, unmistakably of 2023 — in themes tackled, in ideas juggled, in the scrappy indie-cinema sensibility that has proliferated across American television in recent years. In the interest of spreading the wealth, the list is limited to one episode per show — but virtually every show here could just as well have landed several more installments on it."
-LEO NOBORU LIMA and BRIAN BOONE
