AARP’s 10 Favorite TV Shows of 2023

The Diplomat

This fun political thriller shows some of the DNA of creator Debora Cahn’s previous shows The West Wing and Homeland. Keri Russell, who blew us away on The Americans, does it again as America’s new ambassador to the U.K., dispatched by our crusty president (Michael McKean, 76, of Better Call Saul and Laverne & Shirley fame). Russell is accompanied by her husband (brilliant Rufus Sewell, 56), a former ambassador who deals with her new fame by undermining her — their arguments have a spark that sometimes recalls Moonlighting. For all the screwball comedy, it’s also rooted in savvy knowledge of the real political universe. Where to watch The Diplomat

Frank W Ockenfels III/FX

Fargo

After a so-so fourth season, the TV series that riffs on the Coen brothers’ classic film Fargo’s droll murder mystery template got great again in this, the fifth season. You’ll love the similar yet completely distinct TV version. Jennifer Jason Leigh, 61, plays a billionaire who resents her daughter-in-law Dot (Juno Temple), a mild-mannered Minnesota homemaker who turns out to have a dark past involving Roy (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, 52), a funny but scary sheriff who likes the Bible, despises pesky human laws and is a public menace. Where to watch Fargo

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Ricky Middlesworth/ABC

The Golden Bachelor

It’s the biggest, most unexpected hit of the year and the greatest reality dating show in history — plus the only one with a Beverly Hills billboard featuring AARP’s headline about its star (“He’s Hot. He’s Sexy. He’s 72”). Besides the show’s addictive human drama, it refutes ageism and reminds everyone that people 50-plus are still in the game. “We made history together!” says bachelor Gerry Turner. “We’ve realized that at our age we’re not invisible.” His date, Susan, told AARP, “I want people out there who feel like they’re old and they’re never going to find anybody to stop feeling that way. Get up and get out! Just start living again — because our life is not over at 60, or 66.” Her rival, and now friend, Sandra added, “You can find love after 80. I mean, what’s the limit? The limit is within yourself.” Where to watch The Golden Bachelor

Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu

Only Murders in the Building

What could make the jaunty hit murder mystery starring Steve Martin, 78, Martin Short, 73, and Selena Gomez as amateur sleuths investigating mayhem at their fancy Manhattan apartment building any better? The third season added actors Paul Rudd, 54, and Meryl Streep, 74, who plays a dotty actress down on her luck trying to leap back into the Broadway spotlight in Short’s character’s play, Death Rattle. Streep has never been better on TV, and the whole cast is up to her standard. Where to watch Only Murders in the Building

Peacock

Poker Face

If you liked Rian Johnson’s film Knives Out and sandpaper-voiced Natasha Lyonne’s Groundhog Day-like Netflix show Russian Doll, you should try Johnson’s high-IQ mystery series on Peacock. Poker Face follows a magnetic drifter (Lyonne) with a gift for detecting when anyone lies. While on the lam, the former casino worker stumbles upon crimes in each town she lands in; she’s also on the hunt for her bestie’s killer. As on Peter Falk’s Columbo, we see the crime, then the gumshoe cracks the case. Lyonne is a sleuth as irresistible as Angela Lansbury. Where to watch Poker Face

Shane Brown/FX

Reservation Dogs

Is there a more exhilaratingly original show on TV? In three increasingly brilliant seasons, we watched a group of teenagers desperate to escape their Oklahoma reservation grow into wisdom, with a lot of help from the hilarious yet wise ghost of a warrior who died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It’s good for more than laughs — one devastating episode stars the ghost of a victim of the boarding schools that oppressed and murdered Indigenous people to erase their culture. This illuminating show made us all feel like part of one tribe. Where to watch Reservation Dogs

Claudette Barius/HBO

Succession

In the fourth and final season of TV’s most cynically realistic hit, Succession, the children of thundering potty-mouthed patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox, 77) are betrayed, and in turn energetically betray each other in ingeniously devious ways. It’s fantastically well written, and the acidulous comedy is rooted in heartrending drama. This is the rare show that lives up to its overwhelming hype. Where to watch Succession

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