I haven’t watched a lot of TV/Movies in 2024. My attention span for movies has waned and the binge-ing capacity of mine for binge-able shows has reduced. These days, I’m on the lookout for 30-40 minute non-commitments shows. Something that’ll not make me want to binge but at the same time allow me to fallback when I have exhausted my other means of spending my free time. Nevetheless, these were my favourite TV shows in 2024.
Where I live, they released only 5 seasons of of this show from Season 6 - 10. The premise is a special unit within the NYPD solving cases involving sexual abuse. But I didn’t feel like I had to watch it from Season 1 to get the show. But this show is definitely on my all-time top 5. Mariska Hargitay’s acting is top-notch and her character was far more likeable that the Detective Stabler’s character. Stabler was a big hypocrite on the show, touting law & order for the rest of the world (except when it came to his family). In many of the episodes, he did give me the ick. But I think that shows that his character was played how it was supposed to be played. Many of the episodes did not have happy endings (which was a nice touch). And some episodes (like the one they leave it up to the audience to decide whether a suspect was adjudicated guilty or not guilty) was a bit frustrating but understandable. The subject matter of most of the episodes is abuse so binging this show (which I unfortunately did) can be quite distressing. But overall, if you’re into detective shows, this one has to definitely be on your watch list.
Psych is a show about a guy (who has failed in life) with great observational skills who solves cases for the police masquerading as a psychic with his childhood best friend who is a medical salesman. The premise is good but it gets tiring after a while. The entire psychic schtick was nice to see for an episode or two but after that, it sort of got tiring. But I continuted to watch the show for the observational skills portion of it, (which usually preceded the psychic schtick). I must admit, the psychic demonstrations were funny at times. Overall, a good show and non-committal and non-bingeable show which is why I placed it on my favourites list for this year.
Monk is a show about a former quirky police detective with severe OCD which is exacerbated when his wife is murdered. He is then laid off the police force. But because he is a brilliant detective, he is consulted often by the SFPD, but never reinstated into his earlier position as a detective. He is always accompanied by his full-time nurse Sharona, who is a very likeable character. Monk feels like a character lifted from the Agatha Christie universe. Specifically, I’m talking about Hercule Poirot. If you like Poirot, you’ll definitely like the character of Monk.