What are the best series of 2024 (so far)?

Nobody Wants This: a modern rom-com, starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell

Inspired by the real life of the creator of the series, Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism out of love for her husband, Nobody Wants This stages the complicated, yet beautiful relationship between an agnostic podcaster and a hot rabbi. With its hilarious, daring dialogue, its reflections on differences in love, its endearing supporting characters and the chemistry between its two lead actors (Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars and Adam Brody from The O.C.), the Netflix show is the best rom-com of the year. (VS)

Nobody Wants This (2024), created by Erin Foster, starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell, available on Netflix.

Under the Bridge: a 1990s true crime story, starring Riley Keough, which ranks among the best series of 2024

Until now, Under the Bridge referred to the brillant song made by the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Now it is also a great true crime series inspired by a tragedy involving a group of teenage girls in the 1990s. Led by two excellent actresses – Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough – this Hulu/Disney+ production follows a clique of disturbed young girls who committed an awful crime against another teenager, who they considered as an outcast. With its sublime soundtrack – including the Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth, The Notorious B.I.G., Cat Power and Nirvana – and the dreamlike, Twin Peaks-style landscapes of a small town located in North-West Canada, Under the Bridge is one of the excellent surprises of this summer. (VS)

Under the Bridge (2024), created by Samir Mehta and Liz Tigelaar, starring Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough, available on Hulu/Disney+.

Presumed Innocent: an effective thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal

American writer Scott Turow’s novel Presumed Innocent (1987) had already been successfully adapted in 1990, starring Harrison Ford and Brian Dennehy. But this new mini-series version, starring the brilliant Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga, seduces us for its unbearable suspense and its precise, direct acting. Produced by Apple TV+, the show unveils the investigation and trial following the murder of the mistress of an angry and elusive prosecutor. And nobody could ever know for sure who the killer might be. (VS)

Presumed Innocent (2024), created by David E. Kelley, available on Apple TV+.

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld: a fashion gem by Disney+

While 2024 was the year of fashion series, especially regarding the destinies of Christian Dior and Cristóbal Balenciaga, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is the most inspiring one. Broadcast on Disney+, this epic production revisits with brio and passion the complex love story that united the immense fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and his flayed lover Jacques de Bascher. A popular, ambitious and flamboyant show that features great acting performances, starting with the nuanced rendition of the excellent Daniel Brühl, who embodies the Kaiser of fashion. (VS)

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld (2024), created by Isaure Pisani-Ferry, Jennifer Have and Raphaëlle Bacqué, available on Disney+.

Ripley: a dark Netflix series, starring Andrew Scott

While summer goes with cloudless blue skies, crystal-clear oceans and surfers, you need to catch up as soon as possible on one of the best Netflix series of 2024 if you’ve missed it last summer. Ripley is a dark and fascinating show that offers a new vision of the manipulative character imagined by novelist Patricia Highsmith, which has already been pictured on screen in Purple Noon, starring Alain Delon at the height of his sex appeal. This new highly graphic production will put a spell on you thanks to the haunting performance of Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) and will make you want to fly to Atrani, an insanely telegenic Italian village. (VS)

Ripley (2024) by Steven Zaillian, available on Netflix.

Une amie dévouée: one of Laure Calamy’s most powerful roles

The November 2015 Paris attacks have already been the topic of several dramas, such as November (2022) and Paris Memories (2022), but the series Une amie dévouée (A Devoted Friend) is nothing like the others. Broadcast on the streaming platform Max on October 11th, 2024, it features actress Laura Calamy as a solitary woman with a passion for music and myths. Driven by her quest for love and immoderate need for collective experiences, she joins a charity that helps the survivors of the attacks by inventing a life for herself and a friendship with one of the victims. Laure Calamy keeps exploring the dark sides of the human psyche in a production reminiscent of the horrific Joker and of Agnès Varda’s social films. The added bonus? A stunning soundtrack that ranges from Billy Idol to Frustration or Bryan’s Magic Tears. (VS)

Une amie dévouée (2024) by Jean-Baptiste Delafon and Fanny Burdino, available on Max on 11 October 2024.

The Bear season 3: the record-breaking series starring Jeremy Allen White

The third season of The Bear extends the culinary journey of Carmy Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White, as he strives to modernise his family’s restaurant in Chicago. This new season delves even deeper into Carmy’s personal and professional challenges, highlighting the tensions within his own team. Relationships become more complex, especially with Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), her ambitious sous-chef, and Richie Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), his loyal cousin with a bad temper.

The Bear has established itself as a must-see show, which brilliantly explores the inner workings of a restaurant in the middle of a massive transformation. The series has once again distinguished itself in the run-up to the Emmy Awards – after winning six trophies last year, the series now accumulates 23 nominations… (AT)

The Bear (since 2022), created by Christopher Storer, available on Disney+.

Sugar: Colin Farrell as a LA private detective in the 1950s

Irish actor Colin Farrell plays an efficient, peaceful private detective in Sugar, a series created by screenwriter Mark Protosevich (Thor, I Am Legend). John Sugar sets out to find the granddaughter of a Hollywood star producer and plunges us into the atmosphere of the 1950s film noir, with a host of cult scenes interwoven into the narrative, like archive footage added here and there. A melancholy, old school masterpiece, a real marvel coupled with Colin Farrell’s impeccable performance. The latter will soon be embodying Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin, the psychopathic gangster and sworn enemy of Batman in Matt Reeves’ spin-off of the feature film. (AT)

Sugar (2024), created by Mark Protosevitch, available on Apple TV+.

Benedict Cumberbatch is a distraught alcoholic father in Eric

With the series Eric, Netflix propels us into the icky New York of the 1980s that encompasses all the political disappointment of the time… and of today – homophobia, racism, social inequalities caused by the hegemony of the capitalist system. Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch), a lonely alcoholic puppeteer, is distraught since his son has disappeared into thin air. Inspector Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) takes charge of the investigation as the desperate, grieving father starts to self-destruct. To keep his head above water, he confides in Eric, an imaginary oversized monster similar to a large Yeti cuddly toy that his son drew before his disappearance. Seen as a true ‘television gem’ for some or a ‘conventional, stereotypical drama’ for other viewers on the American platform, the six-episode mini-series is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of show. (AT)

Eric (2024), created by Abi Morgan, available on Netflix.

Baby Reindeer: discomfort and harassment on Netflix

A seven-part drama series based on the real-life experiences of Scottish writer Richard Gadd, who also wrote Outlander and Sex Education. Broadcast since April 11th on Netflix, the series follows the dark misadventures of Danny, a comedian and barman, who suddenly becomes the object of an unhealthy obsession after he offers a cup of tea to a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning) in a pub in Camden.

Martha soon begins to harass Danny… Adapted from an award-winning show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the series explores the themes of consent and toxic relationships in an original and disturbing way. Acclaimed by viewers and hailed by critics, Baby Reindeer has become one of the most-watched series on Netflix, thanks to its brilliant script and impeccable cast. (AT)

Baby Reindeer (2204), created by Richard Gadd, available on Netflix.

Culte: a polished sitcom about the beginnings of reality TV shows

On October 18th, Prime Video introduced the early days of reality TV shows to the new generations with the successful series Culte. The sitcom goes behind the scenes of the French reality TV show Loft Story (2001), featuring the visionary and pushy employees of the production company that launched the programme that hypnotised France at the time. Well-written, the series is worth a look for its didactic and nostalgic aspects, as well as for its exceptional cast, which includes actress Anaïde Rozam (LOL: qui rit, sort!), Sami Outalbali (Sex Education) and Marie Colomb, who embodies the legendary, big-hearted bombshell Loana with accuracy and emotion. (VS)

Culte (2024) by Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka, starring Marie Colomb, Anaïde Rozam, César Domboy, available on Prime Video.

Translation by Emma Naroumbo Armaing.