The 23 best new TV shows of 2023

On the first day of 2023, “Paul T. Goldman” debuted on Peacock, and even now wrapping one’s head around Jason Woliner’s six-part series is a puzzler. It’s a true crime documentary, but also a satire of true crime, but also a weird, meta series that breaks the rules of documentaries with intention. The story focuses on Paul Finkelman, who stars as Paul T. Goldman in the reenactments within the show, and that kind of tells you everything, but also nothing.

Much as it was not required to have read George R.R. Martin’s books to get into “Game of Thrones” on HBO, you didn’t have to be a video game enthusiast to jump on the “Last of Us” train. Having Pedro Pascal in a lead role certainly helped. The post-apocalyptic story became the latest attention-grabbing HBO drama to remind us that, oh yeah, some TV is still appointment TV.

Maybe Natasha Lyonne isn’t actually playing Columbo, an idea that generated fodder on the internet, but she did get a chance to bring her distinct style to the case-of-the-week procedural. Lyonne plays a woman on the run who has a knack for knowing who is lying, and an itch to do what’s right across the country. She’s a distinct performer, but we think she was great, as she was in “Russian Doll.”

Do you like the idea of a comedic version of Indiana Jones? Then check out “Digman!” Andy Samberg co-created the show, in which he also voices the lead, and the premise is that it takes place in a world where archaeologists are celebrities. Comedy Central’s original programming has certainly taken a hit in the era of cord cutting, but occasionally there is something there worth checking out.

What if “The Joe Schmo Show” had critical acclaim? “Jury Duty” did not seem likely to make a splash. It’s your classic hoax reality show, wherein one person thinks they are in a real situation but everybody else is an actor. However, “Jury Duty” managed to earn an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, and James Mardsen (yes, the famous actor) got an Emmy nomination for playing a version of himself.

In many ways, the most recent Muppets TV show sticks to the form. It’s puppet-forward, family friendly, and packed with celebrity cameos. However, “The Muppets Mayhem” has sharper writing and funnier content than much of the recent output for the brand. Plus, being built around The Electric Mayhem, there’s an excuse for plenty of songs.

The film “Kong: Skull Island” introduced the idea of the world of the island that gave us King Kong. It was a period piece, as is “Skull Island,” the Netflix show spinning off from it. Set in the ‘90s, it’s notably animated in a style that borrows from the aesthetics of anime. That’s pretty on the mark for a show with the premise of “Skull Island.”

“Twisted Metal” was a favorite of many PlayStation enthusiasts back in the day. You could drive around in an ice cream truck and blow stuff up! The sandbox of that game became the backdrop for a TV show that fit the ethos of the video games. That is to say, it’s vulgar, it’s violent, and it features a killer clown named Sweet Tooth.

Back to the world of the Godzilla and Kong films of modern times. Set in the MonsterVerse, the film focuses on the organization of Monarch as it deals with monsters spanning decades. Speaking of spanning decades, the hook of “Legacy of Monsters” is that Wyatt Russell plays a younger version of the same character played by Kurt Russell, his real-life father.

Years later, Edgar Wright’s cult film “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” got a sequel. Not a movie, though, but an anime-styled series on Netflix. Wright returned, but notably so did the actors from the film, who lent their voices to the show.

Yes, “Night Court” was a sitcom back in the day, but the 2023 reboot was essentially a new show. John Larroquette did return as Dan Fielding, the role that won him Emmy after Emmy, but otherwise it’s basically a new sitcom set in the same world, including Melissa Rauch starring as the daughter of Judge Harry Stone from the original show. While the old-school tone of the sitcom is maybe a bit out of step with modern times, it’s a solid comedy, and a chance to see Larroquette in action.

Look, it’s an animated show called “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.” It’s based upon a Marvel comic. The show gave Disney Channel audiences a superhero show for them, an animated one at that. It looks cool, and again, the title is awesome.

Joel McHale has bounced around quite a bit since the end of “Community,” but it seems like his new sitcom will stick. “Animal Control” is about, well, an animal control department. McHale doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of his comedic persona, but that isn’t necessary for a network sitcom. The show has been renewed for a second season, keeping the animal-related humor going.

Amazon Prime has a history of producing original drama series with impressive leads that kind of fly under the radar. Meanwhile, everybody is Bosch-ing it up over at “Bosch.” “The Consultant” stars Christoph Waltz, a two-time Oscar winner, and he got plenty of praise for his performance in this darkly-comedic thriller, unsurprisingly.

“The Diplomat” is straightforward, a classic potboiler political thriller. However, by dint of being on Netflix, it’s able to be more risqué than shows of this ilk on network television. Keri Russell stars in the lead role. Now, maybe the show isn’t as dense and rich as “The Americans,” but it’s designed to be breezier, and Russell still got an Emmy nomination.

Yeah, “Jeopardy! Masters” is effectively just “Jeopardy!,” but it is a new show. Ken Jennings, now a host and retired from active competition, saw some of the best “Jeopardy!” players of all-time competing in a tournament. The primetime special lasted for 10 episodes and really satisfied the diehard “Jeopardy!” fans looking to see the best of the best in action.

Disney+’s action-focused output is largely built upon the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “American Born Chinese” steps outside that paradigm. While neither of them is the star, the show does notably feature two recent Oscar winners in Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh. Isn’t that alone worth checking out?

There was previously a “Goosebumps” show, but that was episodic and mostly just rehashing of the stories from the R.L. Stine books. The new Disney+ show does things differently. It’s an ongoing family-friendly horror show that tells an overarching story that involves many elements of the books. Yes, Slappy the Dummy is prominently involved.

Mel Brooks naming his film “History of the World, Part I” was a joke, but that joke paid off decades later. Instead of making another movie, Brooks helped helm a limited series on Hulu that serves as a sequel. This allowed Brooks and crew to flesh out the comedic set pieces across history. Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, and Ike Barinholtz served as the recurring main cast, but with plenty of notable cameos, naturally.

You likely know at least something about Watergate, and perhaps have even heard of the “Plumbers,” who did some dirty work to try and ensure the re-election of Richard Nixon. HBO’s limited series focused on two of these Plumbers, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy. While the tone of the show was a bit inconsistent — it’s satirical and dramatic simultaneously — the peaks make up for the valleys, and Justin Theroux was entertaining as Liddy.

The dramatization of true crime stories has become commonplace, but sometimes the cache draws attention, even to a sordid story of small-town murder. David E. Kelley wrote and directed “Love & Death,” which had the benefit of a cast led by Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons, two excellent actors.

“City Primeval” is sort of a sequel series to “Justified,” but also definitely a standalone series. If you haven’t seen the original FX show, you could still enjoy “City Primeval,” based on a different Elmore Leonard book that doesn’t involve Raylan Givens. Timothy Olyphant as Raylan was infused into the Detroit-set story. It’s a taut thriller, and it was great to see Olyphant as Marshall Givens once again.

If you just want action from your “Star Wars” series, go with “Ahsoka.” It starts a little slow, Sabine Wren has a lot of Poochie vibes early on, but then it took off with gusto. If you watched, say, “Andor,” and found yourself thinking, “Just fight each other with lightsabers,” then you should be satisfied.