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AARP’s Favorite Network Shows of 2024 (So Far)
Our top TV picks include ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘Elsbeth,’ ‘Will Trent’ and ‘Blue Bloods’
AARP (Jose Perez/Getty Images; Courtesy FX/Everett Collection; Jeff Weddell/Getty Images; Disney/Getty Images; Philippe Bosse/Getty Images; Darko Sikman/Getty Images)
We’ve been blessed with scores of delightful moments on our TV screens. From the swordplay of samurai warriors in FX’s Shōgun to teacher Janine Teagues battling bureaucracy in Philadelphia’s school district on Abbott Elementary, we’ve compiled our 10 favorite shows on broadcast and basic cable so far this year.
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Lisa Ann Walter, Quinta Brunson, Chris Perfetti and Sheryl Lee Ralph in "Abbott Elementary."
Disney/Getty Images
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Creator-star Quinta Brunson mixed things up in the strike-delayed third season, pulling her delightfully earnest character Janine Teagues out of the classroom for a job in the Philadelphia school district where she encountered bureaucratic challenges (led by Keegan-Michael Key, 53, as a by-the-book superintendent) as daunting as any she faced with the hilariously self-absorbed principal Ava Coleman, played by Janelle James. The Emmy-winning show continued to milk laughs from hot-button topics such as chatbot-generated communication, outdated drug policies and whether school namesakes are still worthy of being honored.
Where to watch Abbott Elementary
Donnie Wahlberg and Jake Weber in "Blue Bloods."
Jose Perez/Getty Images
Blue Bloods (CBS)
The venerable Tom Selleck, 79, has been the patriarch of the NYPD and the sprawling Reagan clan of veteran cops for 14 seasons, and it’s easy to see why this police procedural has remained a fan favorite. The final season, divided into two parts, has been full of riveting action and intrigue. Costar Bridget Moynahan directed an eventful episode in which her character, a prosecutor who’s the daughter of Selleck’s Frank Reagan, is shot at by a man she sent to jail. (The final eight episodes will air this fall.)
Carrie Preston and Carra Patterson in "Elsbeth."
Elizabeth Fisher/Getty Images
Elsbeth (CBS)
We’ve been fans of Carrie Preston’s oddball attorney Elsbeth Tascioni since she turned up as a recurring character on The Good Wife (and later The Good Fight). The 57-year-old actress finally has a show of her own, in which the wonderfully daffy Elsbeth is assigned to observe NYPD operations (and investigate a possibly crooked captain played by Wendell Pierce, 60). That means turning up at crime scenes straight from tourist sites (even wearing a foam Statue of Liberty crown), then using her acute Columbo-like observational skills to crack cases involving guest stars including Blair Underwood, 59, Linda Lavin, 86, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. This has quickly become our new favorite crime show.
Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky and Rose McIver in "Ghosts."
Philippe Bosse/Getty Images
Ghosts (CBS)
Who’d have thought that poltergeists could be such fun? This series, in its third season, continues to find new and surprising ways to explore its otherworldly premise — an old country estate haunted by ghosts from multiple eras (such as a Viking named Thorfinn, a Native American named Sasappis and Baroness Hetty Woodstone). These specters can only be seen by Samantha, a modern-day woman who inherited the place and turned it into a bed-and-breakfast. The new season wrapped with the wedding of two Revolutionary War–era ghosts, catered by Samantha’s very-much-alive chef hubby.
Will Yun Lee, Freddie Highmore and Hill Harper in "The Good Doctor."
Jeff Weddell/Getty Images
The Good Doctor (ABC)
Over the course of seven seasons, the medical drama The Good Doctor has flown mostly under the radar — but it has remained a smart and compassionate look at a young surgeon (Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy) whose autism provides unique benefits and challenges in his professional and personal life. This year’s final season is a testament to its unblinking approach — and provided a showcase for Highmore’s talents in portraying the routine-craving Murphy’s adjustment to life as the father of a newborn son.
Where to watch The Good Doctor
John Hollingworth and Toby Jones in "Mr Bates vs The Post Office."
Shutterstock
Mr Bates vs The Post Office (PBS)
This intense, fact-based miniseries, a standout entry from Masterpiece, detailed a real U.K. scandal that still generates headlines: Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), 57, gives a dogged, compelling performance as one of more than 900 postmasters who were falsely accused — and convicted — of theft and fraud due to a newly installed computer system that produced erroneous tallies of daily receipts. Over four riveting episodes, we watch as a small band of lowly folks challenge a Kafkaesque bureaucracy — and win.
Where to watch Mr Bates vs. the Post Office
Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada in "Shōgun."
Courtesy FX/Everett Collection
Shōgun (FX)
James Clavell’s historical novel Shōgun inspired an acclaimed 1980 miniseries that pushed the envelope in depicting sex and violence. FX’s gripping, lavishly produced new version takes its cues from Game of Thrones, depicting five rival warlords in 17th-century Japan as they jockey to become shōgun. Newcomer Cosmo Jarvis stars as a British navigator on a trading ship (previously played by Richard Chamberlain), but the standouts are two actors of Japanese descent: Hiroyuki Sanada, 63, as crafty warlord Toranaga, and Anna Sawai as the show’s most complex character: a trusted translator for Toranaga who warms to Jarvis’ Anglican outsider despite her devout Catholic upbringing.
Justin Hartley in "Tracker."
Darko Sikman/Getty Images
Tracker (CBS)
This fast-paced new series stars Justin Hartley from This Is Us as a “rewardist” who uses his survival skills to track missing persons on retainer for the reward money. Hartley is a buff hunk with superior detective skills (and the know-how to use tannin-filled tea leaves on bullet wounds in a pinch). He’s backed by an intriguingly nuanced (and more sedentary) support crew (including a married couple, played by Abby McEnany, 56, and Robin Weigert, 54) who chase down leads on their computers.
Hamza Haq in "Transplant."
Courtesy NBC
Transplant (NBC)
Transplant is a departure from the traditional medical drama in a lot of ways, and not just because the show is an import from Canada. The main character is Syrian refugee Bashir Hamed (played by Hamza Haq), whom we meet working in a Toronto restaurant. Soon, he’s redoing his medical residency at a hospital under the gruff-but-kindhearted tutelage of John Hannah, 62. The fourth and final season goes deeper in exploring trauma as Hamed copes with the painful loss of a fellow resident and his chief love interest.
Iantha Richardson, Jake Mclaughlin, Ramón Rodríguez, Erika Christensen, and Sonja Sohn in "Will Trent."
Courtesy ABC
Will Trent (ABC)
We’ve become accustomed to police procedurals centered on hyper-observant detectives who see things nobody else can — but Ramón Rodríguez adds emotional depth to Georgia investigator Will Trent (the hero of multiple books by bestseller Karin Slaughter, 53). He’s a survivor of foster care who wears three-piece suits, always carries a handkerchief and looks after a Chihuahua named Betty, with whom he shares a fear of abandonment. Rodríguez generates real sparks with Erika Christensen as a childhood pal who’s become his on-again-off-again love interest.
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