For most children, television is akin to candy: There are no undesirable options. They will watch something that travels across the screen. Parental supervision of a child’s television viewing is comparable to parental supervision of a child’s food consumption. In light of the fact that television programmes are not allowed to list their nutritional content, the task of TV monitor is getting increasingly challenging.
In light of this, Kids Extra evaluated the season’s new offers as well as the old standbys, including programmes from the networks and cable channels, as well as series for preschoolers and preteens. We have separated the good programmes from the bad, or the broccoli from the Super Sugar Pellets.
10. Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (Netflix)
![Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye TrilogyTop 10 shows for kid viewers](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-35.jpg)
A million years ago in February, Kanye West may have appeared to be in a dire situation. Then a maelstrom of inexplicable antisemitism continued to rage. This compelling three-part documentary by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah concludes in 2020 and provides no instant clarity regarding the musician’s recent storms.
But Simmons was there at the start, and jeen-yuhs lingers in its subject’s salad days, a vintage digital camera throwing a remembrance glow over a young Kanye West’s entrance into the rap scene. His golden age is a yawning void, as Simmons hardly engaged with West from 2008 to 2016, but this absence provides Part 3 a jolt of electricity.
We abruptly transition from the dreamlike early highs to the cascading nightmares: mental health breaks, global trolling, and so many yes-man platoons nodding along with their boss’ erratic rants. Simmons switches off his camera when Ye becomes too extreme: Poor documentary ethics, but I can’t fault him. And I won’t soon forget jeen-yuhs’ vivid depiction of youthful turn-of-the-century optimism blending into our contemporary period of violent uncontrolled extremism.
9. The Bear (FX)
![The Bear](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-36-2.jpg)
An old-fashioned, filthy office comedy filmed with Safdie-worthy tension and a delectable culinary sheen. Jeremy Allen White became a sex icon in Generation Debt as Carmy, a chef struggling to keep his deceased brother’s restaurant afloat.
The Bear is an unconventional thriller due to creator Christopher Storer’s decision to film the kitchen as if it were a more stressful D-Day, and the ensemble is a stew of contrasting moods: Ayo Edebiri’s wound-up and wounded rookie, Liza Colón-Zayas’ no-bull line cook, and Lionel Boyce’s sweet-in-every-way pastry chef.
Consider me awestruck by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Girls’ former drug-addicted husband, who gives Richie a mesmerising swirl of street-smart futility and repressed sadness.
8. Below Deck: Sailing Yacht (Bravo)
![Below Deck: Sailing Yacht](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-37-2.jpg)
This year, six crewmembers aboard the Parsifal III either kissed Gary, kissed someone who later kissed Gary, or were Gary himself. Bravo’s crazy luxury-yacht brand has created the funniest love sexagon of 2022.
I am aware that the Below Deck phenomena has become oversaturated with five continuing series. But I cannot deny how much I adored the third season of the windiest spinoff. Chief Stew Daisy, Chief Engineer Colin, and irrepressible First Mate Gary are Peak Deck personalities: witty and competent in their respective positions. Captain Glenn is a level-headed and steady manager.
Chef Marcos prepared delicious meals despite suffering a severe head wound. We all learnt an important lesson regarding dragging anchors: They shouldn’t! Actually, one deckhand was named Barnaby, and one stewardess was named Scarlett.
The Deckverse’s mechanical allure is evidently welcome: Sea, sun, hot tub, and exquisite holiday imagery are all edited with real-time suspense, making every meal and beach picnic feel like Jack Bauer is defusing a bomb. Compare it to the most recent White Lotus and determine which is more heartbreaking. (At least some of the wealthy perish on White Lotus.)
7. This Fool (Hulu)
![This Fool](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-38-3-1.jpg)
Frankie Quiones as ex-convict Luis, the brazen heart and bewildered soul of this slyly intelligent, laugh-out-loud series, was my favourite comic performance of the year. Away for eight years, Luis appears unfrozen from a lengthier time period, with nostalgia for his ’90s gang-banging days and a penchant for referencing Austin Powers at the most inconvenient times.
He is the perfect odd-couple contrast for co-creator Chris Estrada’s Julio, who is the cousin of Luis and an outspoken progressive lovely man. They are both fools, living rent-free with Julio’s mother, and This Fool propels them into a universe of possibilities in South Los Angeles.
It’s a workplace comedy about a failing nonprofit organisation! No, it’s a story of a multigenerational Mexican-American family! No, it’s a grim rom-com in the vein of You’re the Worst about Julio’s ex-girlfriend (Michelle Ortiz, congenitally twisted) who won’t leave him alone! Quiones has a knack for macho one-liners, but he also makes Luis’ honest attempts at restitution charming.
6. Evil (Paramount+)
![Evil
Evil (Paramount+)](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-39-2-1.jpg)
Ben, played by Aasif Mandvi, spent season three befriending a cult leader, going viral as a TikTok debunker, and becoming somewhat melancholy due to the eyeball-in-the-toilet surrealism required for his work.
Co-creators Michelle and Robert King are revving every engine in this hellish procedural, increasing the scope of the wider serialised plot (demonic houses! Vatican espionage!) while running circles around the case-of-the-week structure.
Mysteries linger. Kristen (Katja Herbers) loses her egg due to fertility bureaucracy; or is this a Rosemary’s Baby-style plot? David (Mike Colter), a newly ordained priest, is seduced by an evil Kristen lookalike, or is he grappling with his vow of chastity? In contrast to being exalted, evil’s terror is both pleasant and demented in equal measure. (Complete review)
5. Players (Paramount+)
![Players (Paramount+)](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-40-3.jpg)
This hilarious, touching, and tremendously thrilling mockumentary about a jerk wealthy gamer, an obsessed e-sports rookie, and the team they will either save or destroy is your next great discovery.
The producers of American Vandal go deeply into League of Legends, a global subculture I know nothing about. Such vibrant personalities demand no strategy guide. Misha Brooks portrays a notorious League icon in the twilight of his championship-less career, while Da’Jour Jones is a rising adolescent star.
Their conflict sheds light on two generations of extremely internet video game celebrities, from the YouTube-style pranks of the mid-2010s to the well-funded influencer brutes of today. In terms of sporting narratives, it resembles a combination of Bull Durham, The Natural, and Ken Burns’ Baseball, but with more tear-jerking speeches about lonely mystical cats.
4. Barry (HBO)
![Barry (HBO)](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-41.jpg)
In the third season of his hitman psychocomedy, Bill Hader appears shattered. Barry, an assassin for hire, is unshaven and deranged, accepting murder contracts while escaping bullets of retribution.
His visage appears to scream, simultaneously, Hug Me and Kill Me. Ironically, the entertainment surrounding him has never been purer, embracing ticking-clock suspense and was that a panther? violent insanity.
Sarah Goldberg and Henry Winkler’s explosive performances transformed ego-monster entertainment tropes (vain acting instructor, star-producer narcissist) into soul-corroding creatures. Who would have guessed that the loveliest star-crossed romance of 2022 would be between NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and Cristobal (Michael Irby), a Chechen thug and a Bolivian mob leader who wish to settle down in Santa Fe?
3. We Own This City (HBO)
![We Own This City (HBO)](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-42.jpg)
I find it odd to use the phrase “impressively hopeless” to characterise a show I adore, but this miniseries demands attention by refusing any easy (or even challenging) solutions to the challenges of our American age.
Jon Bernthal plays Wayne Jenkins, a real-life cop who was the pride of the Baltimore Police Department before his shocking demise. Wayne’s career of corruption reflects a full generation of Drug War overreach, which City chronicles over a huge ensemble of unscrupulous cops, devastated victims, and functionaries working for a dysfunctional system.
Co-creators George Pelecanos and David Simon tread this territory in The Wire, and City is both more and less traditional than that great (fictional) antecedent. A discussion regarding the Department of Justice includes interviews with victims of police violence and in-depth analyses of failed policies.
But City also packs an amazing amount of drama into six episodes, especially in its patient investigation of the career of decent investigator Sean Suiter (Jamie Hector) and the complete moral breakdown of the Gun Trace Task Force.
2. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal (Adult Swim)
![Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-43-1-1.jpg)
The present explosion in high-budget fantasy TV is a disaster for intellectual property management. Can we please torch this universe of awful remakes — no more cameos, no more hints for spin-offs, please no more goddamn meta — and let some unique minds create their own impossible paths? Helpful example: This frantically inventive, heart-explodingly poignant prehistoric survival tale.
The legendary animator Genndy Tartakovsky transformed the second season into a serialised journey through new realms of high adventure and low pulp. Vikings, avian duels, a city-ship that conquers all in its path, and some sort of devil: The caveman Spear (Aaron LaPlante) and his beloved steed Fang awaited delirious punishment. Primal is more than simply a riotous visual feast.
Tartakovsky embraces a Darwinian strain of ambiguity, which is rich with colourful atrocities of hurt people hurting other people. However, he also discovers instances of grace, demonstrating that even the most hideous worlds contain redeeming beauty. Yes, I am referring to those adorable newborn dinosaurs.
1. Better Call Saul (AMC)
![Better Call Saul (AMC)](https://jaybesttrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/images-44.jpg)
Forget billionaires, royals, superheroes, and supervillains; focus on real-life serial killers. The television drama: Even in the midst of unfathomable tragedy, it is humorous and epic in scope and detail.
Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) devoted half of their final season to the con of all scams, life-hacking poor, glorious Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) toward a reputation-damaging breakdown. A theft on a conference call was the pinnacle of co-creator Peter Gould’s fascination with low-key thrills! Then followed the repercussions.
Saul was flawless for five consecutive episodes, transitioning from a last confrontation with Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) to gracefully destined farewells for Breaking Bad veterans Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks).
Then, this famously slow story abruptly jumped between historical periods, combining the Bad old days with Omaha’s future in black and white. The conclusion put a speechy exclamation point on Saul Goodman’s moral degradation, but the key performances will always be my favourites.
Odenkirk has the opportunity to portray every aspect of corruption, including repressed conscience, joyous high-times arrogance, and hunted fear. Seehorn was an additional miracle, depicting the death (and subsequent reincarnation) of a guilty human soul.