We here at Streamed & Screened watched a lot of shows on broadcast, cable and streaming services in 2023 and there were a lot of great programs including "Succession," "Beef," "The Bear," "Fargo" and "The Last of Us."

But which show was the best? Co-hosts Bruce Miller and Terry Lipshetz had a lot of crossovers but ultimately put two different shows on top. Give a listen and find out which shows ranked in the top 10 for each and why!

Bruce Miller's Top 10 TV shows from 2023

1. "Beef"
2. "Jury Duty"
3. "The Bear"
4. "Fargo"
5. "John Mulaney: Baby J"
6. "Fellow Travelers"
7. "Reservation Dogs"
8. "The Last of Us"
9. "What We do in the Shadows"
10. "Succession"

Terry Lipshetz's Top 10 TV shows from 2023

1. "Succession"
2. "Fargo"
3. "The Last of Us"
4. "The Bear"
5. "The Crown"
6. "Shrinking"
7. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"
8. "Ted Lasso"
9. "Dave"
10. Tied/honorable mentions: "A Small Light," "Barry," "Silo," "The Great."

• Honorable mention for being Star Wars: "The Mandalorian," "The Bad Batch" and "Ahsoka."
• Honorable mention for not being a terrible spinoff despite getting canceled: "How I Met Your Father"
• Honorable mention for not being a terrible reboot: "Night Court"

Contact us!

We want to hear from you! Email questions to podcasts@lee.net and we'll answer your question on a future episode!

About the show

Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, a longtime entertainment reporter who is now the editor of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa and Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer for Lee Enterprises based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Terry Lipshetz: Welcome, everyone, to another episode of Streamed & Screened, an entertainment podcast about movies and TV from Lee Enterprises. I'm Terry Lipshetz, managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee and co-host of the program with Bruce Miller, editor of the Sioux City Journal and a longtime entertainment reporter, and like me, a dedicated, professional couch potato.

Bruce Miller: Oh, the TV is never off in my house. It's always on. It's my family. I'm always watching something. When you started with the pandemic, that's all we had, and then it's just kind of leached over to the rest of our lives. And so now TV is the thing, right?

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah. I think back, too, to even the pandemic. Not that I needed another reason to get back into watching more TV, because none of us really need that, but it was a good opportunity to explore a lot of shows because everything got shut down. So it's like, what are you going to do? You can only take so many walks around the block and that kind of thing. So it got me a little bit back into watching some shows, exploring some streaming services that I hadn't really discovered before now, even though, as we talked about in the last episode, with movies, I don't have a lot of time to get to the movie theater. I can always squeeze in one or two episodes of a sitcom, of a drama on Netflix, on Hulu, each and every night. I've seen a lot of what you would probably call premium, top notch television shows from the past year. So I came up with the top ten list. I know you have a top ten list.

Bruce Miller: This was going to be a year where nothing was going to happen because we had strikes and didn't think there was going to be even a fall TV season. I think at the end of the year, we got a few really barn burners. We can still look at 2023 as a great TV year, and 2024, it's even going to be better.

Terry Lipshetz: Yes.

Bruce Miller: Okay.

Terry Lipshetz: Absolutely.

Bruce Miller: So what's in your number ten spot?

Terry Lipshetz: My number ten spot are a series of kind of, like, honorable mentions because I got down, there's like three shows, four shows, which were absolutely at the top of my list. But as I went a little further down, it got a little bit more difficult. So I gave an honorable mention for night court for just not being a terrible reboot. It was an enjoyable reboot. It's not the greatest show out there, but if you're somebody who's, let's say, a gen Xer or a bit older who grew up on night court, it's a fun watch. Go check it out. I was a little disappointed to see this one actually get canceled. Not a great show, but it was one where my wife and I could watch it. It wasn't spectacular, but it was one where we could throw it on and for half an hour be entertained. And that was the reboot for how I met your father. It's definitely not to the level of the original, but that original show, how I met your mother, those characters, they're all roughly my age, so I was always able to identify with them. So I gave how I met your father a chance. We watched it for the two seasons. It was fine. It wasn't spectacular, but it was fine. And then I'm going to give an honorable mention to all the mediocre Star wars shows that I watched this year. Mandalorian, season three, the Bad Batch, season two. Ahsoka. These were not great shows. They were okay. They disappointed me, a lot, in a lot of different ways. But I think about Star wars. Like pizza. No matter how bad Star wars might.

Bruce Miller: Be, it's still good.

Terry Lipshetz: It's still good. It's like pizza. Like pizza. How bad does pizza have to be for you not to want to keep eating it? Right? It would have to be just truly atrocious. So they're fine. They're not spectacular. They're fine. And then there was a handful of other shows that I watched this year, which I'll throw in there, that these are legitimately. I've seen them pop up on some other folk’s top ten lists, but they didn't quite hit it for me in some way or the other. I thought a small light on National Geographic. It was a really nice miniseries. Not top ten for me, but it was a really good look at the story of Anne Frank. And it brought you in a little bit deeper.

Bruce Miller: Sure. From a different perspective.

Terry Lipshetz: Absolutely. Barry. I've loved Barry since the beginning, but I really thought that season one to season two was a little bit of a downturn. Two to three and then three to four, it was okay. I didn't love the ending to it. I couldn't put it in my top ten silo on Apple TV. Plus, it started out slow. It got much better as it went along. My wife and I really liked watching it, so that one was fine. And then the great on Hulu the first season was just raucous and crazy. I thought this last season, it was fine. It took a turn. I don't want to give it away for anyone that maybe missed it or still is. Catching up on programming. one of the main characters won't be back for any future seasons, let's just say that. But they did an okay job with it. It's still one that I like, and, it's a good show and we're definitely going to keep watching it. The first show that I actually gave a number ranking to at number nine is Dave on Hulu and FxX. I guess it is. And that show, man, it's like eating candy for me. I mean, it's crazy. It's a little bit weird, but it's a funny show.

Bruce Miller: My favorite episode had Brad Pitt on it. This.

Terry Lipshetz: Yes. Yep. Yep.

Bruce Miller: I thought that was so brilliant, and he did such a great job with that. But if you haven't discovered Dave, it is an acquired taste. It is not something that everybody will go, well, what is  you know, we'd be like the parents on the show. It's so out there, but it's about a rapper and what he has to do to try and make the career go. Dave is a good choice. I don't have it on my list. But you're up to nine.

Terry Lipshetz: I'm up to nine, yeah.

Bruce Miller: I had succession at number ten, and I bet you have it higher because you like that.

Terry Lipshetz: I love it. Yeah.

Bruce Miller: Okay. I think they got a little too tied up in their own world so that they had nowhere else to go, and so it's great. But it didn't get up higher than ten at nine. I have what we do in the shadows because I think that is my only time to really laugh out loud and make fun of something that's just outrageous. Most of these shows are labeled comedies, but they're just half hour dramas is what it amounts to. But this is one that I can just laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. And if I had the vampires living next door, I would invite them over.

Terry Lipshetz: I do want to see this one because it takes place on island. Right?

Bruce Miller: Right.

Terry Lipshetz: It is my homeland one runs for office.

Bruce Miller: I mean, you have a lot of things that you could relate, too. So that's my number nine now. Up to eight.

Terry Lipshetz: Eight? Yes.

Bruce Miller: What do you have for eight?

Terry Lipshetz: I had Ted Lasso final season.

Bruce Miller: You know, there were a lot of those. Mrs. Maisel would be another one I'd put on.

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah, yeah.

Bruce Miller: I have a couple of other ones that are on there that quit. And how do you include them? Because it's their last year. Should you just ignore them because they're done? Or do you say, this is my final hat tip?

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah. For me, it was a little bit of a tip of a cap. I mean, I don't think it was as strong as the previous seasons, but I also felt that it's. Again, sometimes when you get something that's not as good, you look down on it, but then when you put it in perspective, it's still better than a lot of the other things out there. It's just not as good.

Bruce Miller: I have at eight, the last of us, and I bet you have that higher.

Terry Lipshetz: I do, yes. It is on my list, but it is higher than eight.

Bruce Miller: Okay. At seven, I have Reservation Dogs because I love that I lived that. I know that. And I think they ended it really well. I thought they left us all hopeful that these kids are going to turn out all right. So that was my number. Seven. What was your seven?

Terry Lipshetz: Seven. It's similar in theme to the Ted lasso, and that is Mrs. Maisel. Again, it was not the greatest season, but I like the way they approached it by doing the flashbacks and flash forwards. I thought it did a pretty good job at wrapping up the series. I was a little disappointed at times, know, not enough Tony Shalub and that kind of thing. But it's a show that strikes a chord for me personally, growing up out east of Jewish heritage and that kind of thing. So, for me, it's still one of the best shows out there. Absolutely.

Bruce Miller: Okay. What is your number? Six.

Terry Lipshetz: We're up to six. So this one is not on your list. And I think I mentioned it to you previously, and it was either one you hadn't really seen or just didn't get into, but Shrinking on Apple TV, plus Jason Segal and Harrison Ford. I thought this was. It's got a few nominations for, I guess, Golden Globes. Right. There's a few out there. I thought it was witty. I thought it was just, it was one of those where I can kind of. I know I'm going to get a good episode no matter what I watch from it. And it's 30 minutes of just, like, having fun.

Bruce Miller: I will give it fun. I will give it a chance. I saw the first episode and I thought, this isn't me. I don't care.

Terry Lipshetz: Right. But you know what, though? I think maybe it's also, we're at different points of our lives also. Right.

Bruce Miller: I'm more Harrison Ford.

Terry Lipshetz: Right. You are more Harrison Ford. Yeah. And I am a little bit more Jason Segal. Yes.

Bruce Miller: Right.

Terry Lipshetz: Exactly.

Bruce Miller: So what did you have at that point, number six? I have Fellow Travelers. This was a limited series. About two men in the beyond who are closeted and they don't dare come out that they are in a relationship, or they have a relationship, because it was the height of the McCarthy era, and they were putting everything. And so how did their lives turn out? Where did one go? Where did the other go? And I find it very fascinating. Matt Bomer, who was, in white collar and a number of other things, it's one of his best things he's ever. He's. He seems like just a pretty boy, to be honest with you. You could see where he was feeling the strain of this. Jonathan Bailey, who, by the way, is going to be Piero in the musical version of Wicked, when that becomes a movie next year, he's the other guy. And you see how these lives kind of diverged, and then what it's like for them when they come back together many years later and coulda, shoulda, woulda kind of thing like that. I thought it was fascinating because you got to see a bit of history, but you saw it through a different lens. So that's my number six. Number five. What did you have there?

Terry Lipshetz: So five is one, which, again, it's not on your list. And it's the type of show where I think the people that love it, love it, and the people that are less in love with it aren't going to put it on their list. And that's The Crown on Netflix final season. I think the series as a whole has had some ups and downs, but just like the crown. Right. Feels like it always takes me a season to get used to the cast change, because they do two seasons and then they age them. And then two seasons, and then they age them. So I thought last season, it was a little bit difficult getting used to the new Charles, the new Diana. But I really am liking what I've seen so far. I have not caught the second wave of episodes. So we watched, within just a couple of days of them dropping the first wave that came out, and now the second wave is out. So, I don't want to give anything away, but it starts with Diana. We know what happens to Diana, so just spoiler alert there. I know the second half of the season gets a little bit more into Prince William and know his relationship with Kate. I'm looking forward to it. I don't know. I guess it's possible that the show could go up a notch, go down a notch. But that's why I figured five is safe. It's kind of middle of the road.

Bruce Miller: I like the crown, initially, when they switch around a little too much, they do. it bothers me because some of those actors are not as good as others in these roles. And then you get a really good one and you think, well, hang on to him. Don't let him go. And so that bothers me. But it's a classier look at that than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be just trash that you'd find on lifetime, and it's not. It's a classy way of looking at everything. At number five, I had the standup comedy special, baby j from John Mulaney. And John Mulaney, I mean, I have always liked him. I always thought he's kind of a, ah, smart ass, to use a word. But I would laugh at him, and I thought he was funny. But this year, he really opened a vein and talked about his own life and his addictions and how it was to go to rehab. And it, wasn't like he wanted you to feel sorry for him. He was being very matter of fact about it. And I think being the most honest he's ever been about his own life. I loved it. I'll watch that again. It’s like Bo Burnham had, a special a couple of years ago that was my favorite of all TV shows, but baby j watched it. It's good. And again, I don't know if the kids can be around.

Terry Lipshetz: I'll have to check that one out. I wasn't even thinking of comedy specials, and I didn't catch that one, but I definitely will. So number four for me is one that you like too. You haven't mentioned it yet because it's a hair higher on your list, but it's The Bear.

Bruce Miller: Oh, good.

Terry Lipshetz: On Hulu. That's number four for me. I really struggled with this one because, like, it could be number one. Do I need a two or three? But I settled in on four, and I'll tell you why it stresses me out. That show, to me, a lot of shows, if I love it, I want to watch it and binge it, and I get angry if I can't. It's like, Fargo right now. I can't just go and watch every episode because they make you wait week to week. I needed that with the bear. I needed to watch an episode, and it is so intense and there's so much screaming and there's so much yelling that I would get to the end of the episode and be like, I need to watch something else, because it was literally one of the best things I had just seen on TV all year. But at the same time, I couldn't take any more of it. But I really liked with this season how they gave each character their own moment to shine. I thought it was sweet in a lot of ways. And then the other piece was that Christmas episode. Oh, my goodness.

Bruce Miller: Is that not the best piece of television? And Jamie Lee Curtis, she may have won an Oscar last year for everything, everywhere, all at once, but this is the performance of her life. When she plays that, I mean, you know that mother. You know that mother immediately. And how she just became another thorn, another problem for Carmen to deal with was, like, unbelievable. And you want, you know, we got to get this restaurant open. It's got to happen. Come on. And cousin Richie, how he switched. It was such a remarkable second season for a show. And you're right. It could be number one. It really could. I had a number one last year, and I thought, I can't do two years in a row with the same show. But it's that good. It's number three on my list. Number four on my list is probably your number three. And that's Fargo.

Terry Lipshetz: It's close. We're getting close.

Bruce Miller: Okay, Fargo, we can wait and we'll get to the next ones. Because you had what for three?

Terry Lipshetz: I had The Last of Us at number three, and that was all the way down for number you. Yeah, last of us. I needed a drama like that. Like a Sci-Fi type of drama. It's another one. We've gotten a few surprises from HBO the last few know, we had that one a few years ago, and they always drop these apocalyptic type of programs on you. So it's like, what are we going to expect? Is it going to be okay or isn't it? And I was really surprised with it. I know there is going to be a season two for it. And I'm really looking forward.

Bruce Miller: Not The Last of Us.

Terry Lipshetz: No, it isn't. It's almost the Last of Us, but not quite. So. Yeah, no, I really liked it. I thought it was very well done, considering an adaptation of a video game, but it wasn't like this gory spook fest. It was a lot of emotion and good character development, so I loved it. Three for me.

Bruce Miller: Okay, so then I had the bear at three. At two, I have Jury Duty, and I love Jury Duty. This is that Amazon preview, series where they pretend that everybody is actually doing Jury Duty, except one person thinks it's real. He has no idea that it's a reality show being punked. And James Marsden is one of the, jurors, and he plays this kind of heightened version of himself where he's just full of himself. And you would like that. I think they talk about Sonic in there. And wasn't, he in Sonic the hedgehog? I think he was.

Terry Lipshetz: He might have been, yeah.

Bruce Miller: This guy, Ronald, the real guy, says, yeah, that wasn't a very good movie. Was. You know, it's like, how does he react to this? Because this is being made up as they go along. But jury duty, if you haven't seen it, it's a great one. Now you have two. Probably have Fargo at two.

Terry Lipshetz: I have Fargo at two, yeah. I really love this season. And, I think when we did the Fargo episode a few episodes back, you had mentioned this is, like, the best Fargo since, what, the first. Right, right. And after the last season of Fargo, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to come back to Fargo because I was so disappointed with it this season. It's brilliant. I was telling my wife even the other day, because she's not into Fargo at all, she hated the movie. but I said, I got to show you a little bit of it with Juno Temple, because this is Keeley from Ted Lasso, and it is definitely not Keeley. It's totally different. But, I don't know how this season is going to end. I could see me bumping this up to number one if it maintains and even improves on where it is. I think I'm through the first five episodes.

Bruce Miller: Okay. I watched all of the episodes. I finished it out last night. I had two episodes left. I watched it. It could be number one. It really could be. The ending is so rewarding in many, Know, it’s odd to make this comparison, but this season of Fargo is a lot like Barbie, the movie, where it's a real, if you will, feminist pitch. And it's talking about things that really don't get talked about. Spousal abuse, come on. The political situation in our world, it's a lot of stuff that they unpack and they do it well. But the ending, you will feel a lot of emotion because of the way they wrap things up for certain people. And, it's remarkable. Remarkable. I will easily predict that this is going to be a strong contender for next year's Emmys. And I do think that John Hamm and Juno are largely responsible, and they will be considered best actor and actress for a limited TV movie. That was, that was your number two.

Terry Lipshetz: It was my number two. Number one was Succession. That is, to me, hands down, the best series on TV this year. I know some people don't think it was the best season of succession, and I would agree with it. It wasn't the best season of succession, but it was still the best show on TV for me. Pound for pound, it was still a show that left me wondering what was going to happen, the way character roles played out with who would end up on top. I did feel it was going to get a little predictable at a couple. You know, we had some know that didn't make it all the way from season one all the way to the last episode, and it was a surprise. It was a little bit jarring to watch. I just think it was the best show. It's the best show that HBO has really done in a long time. Granted, they also did the last of us, so two of my top three are from HBO, but in terms of dramas, and you look at things like, the sopranos first, season of Westworld, Deadwood, there's been a lot of really Game of Thrones, a lot of really good dramas the last 2025 years in the history of HBO, and this one is good.

Bruce Miller: Okay. And my number one Beef. Okay, did you watch Beef?

Terry Lipshetz: I did not. No.

Bruce Miller: Okay. This is one that an incident happens. What happens to the people, what goes on, what could have been. It’s from Korea, and it stars Stephen Yoon and Ali Wong, and they're both nominated for Emmys, so you've seen them before. But this is yet another one of those kind of things we're learning from Korean filmmakers is how they did parasite. That gives you kind of point of reference.

Terry Lipshetz: Okay.

Bruce Miller: It's one of those very self-contained series that you can go, okay, I get it. That was extremely remarkable, particularly in a year when, broadcasters were looking for other places to find new material. Okay. They found it there. And so that's why I thought, it's something different. It's something new. It's my number one. So there's our list. We had a lot of crossovers, and we don't live next door to each other.

Terry Lipshetz: No. And I think you and I, we certainly had some solid crossovers, maybe in different rankings, different spots, but, yeah, succession, Fargo, the bear, all really good shows. And I think we threw out some ideas for each other, too, to check out some other ones.

Bruce Miller: I'll be shrinking. Just know be shrinking.

Terry Lipshetz: We'll see what check it out. But we are, I guess, not to rub it in, we are at different stages in our life, I guess. So I could see where that one maybe just doesn't strike the same chord for you.

Bruce Miller: I've got to get to shrinking sooner than you would have to get to something else that I'm recommending to you.

Terry Lipshetz: it's the end of the year. It's the end of the season. I mean, check out this episode. Obviously you're listening to it right now, but if you didn't go back and check our previous episode on the top movies from 2023, have a great rest of the year.

Bruce Miller: If you look back, we have some interviews with some of those people from those various shows. I think if you do a deep dive into the podcast, you should be able to find some of those and you'll hear what we heard, when we talk to them.

Terry Lipshetz: Absolutely. All right, well, have a safe and wonderful rest of the year. Happy New Year. And we'll be back again in 2024 with another season of streamed and screen.