This was a great year for streaming shows. While there's been much frustration as many different streaming services sprang up from every corner of the internet and monolithic giants like Netflix lost programming to individual networks like Disney as they worked to consolidate their offerings, this just means that there is that many more options. For those of us who love home entertainment, 2022 was a great year. Here are some of my favorite shows that I'm sure you will love too.
Obviously, this list isn't just all the shows I enjoyed watching this year. Rather, it is the shows that I might have been aware of before but finally decided to give a chance. There is so much great content available right now and 2022 streaming trends will likely continue. This space is continuing to evolve so I'm sure that with just a few weeks level in the year, there will probably be something new that I will discover before we celebrate the start of a new year!
Let's start out with one of my absolute favorite IP's that I thought was dead to me forever ...
Obi-Wan Kenobi
This is the year that I finally started to forgive Disney for what they did to one of my favorite franchises. Candidly, I don't like the Disney Star Wars movies but I've always been a fan of the universe and it's host of dynamic characters pitting good against evil in dramatic scenes from space to fantastic planets. With a bit of trepidation I decided to give Obi-Wan Kenobi a chance and I'm hooked again. Between this and Andor, I feel like we're back in the Star Wars universe that I loved decades ago. If you are one of these people who wanted to see more stories from the characters that you grew up with ... well ... this is a great place to start.
Ted Lasso
Apple TV became one of my favorite streaming services this year. While apple has always been good at user experience designs and curating music for instance, as a service that was developing their own content I pretty much ignored them until this year.
That was clearly a mistake since they have a surprising number of excellent shows. One of my favorites is Ted Lasso because of just how easy it is to watch and smile as this ultimately likeable character makes the people around him better somehow - even if he does it in a way that at times seems like the antics of a bumbling fool.
For All Mankind
The second show that completely blew me away this year from Apple TV was For All Mankind. As a person who loves history, politics, and space, this was a refreshing show to watch since it didn't "weird". It was initially pretty true to life and then as the timelines continued to diverge it maintained that sense of realism and plausibility.
Ghosts - UK Version
The American version of Ghosts is one of my absolute favorite "silly shows" to watch. It's pure popcorn entertainment with the perfect mixture of slapstick antics and dumb jokes. As you would expect, the UK version is even better (assuming you enjoy British humor) and is available on HBO Max here in the United States.
Pam & Tommy
At this point, every man who grew up in the 80's and 90's thinks he knows the story of that infamous sex tape that changed the internet and pop culture forever. However, this show was more than just a sensational excuse to talk about the tape and was actually quite a good biopic. No matter how you feel about who was right or wrong or how accurate the mini-series was, HULU created a very enjoyable look back at one of the most influential bands of the 1908's and 1990's.
This Was A Great Year For Streaming Content!
It's been an incredible year for streaming content and I'm excited to see what new shows and movies come out in the next few weeks as we wrap up the year in style.
Whether you're a fan of sci-fi, comedy, history, or biopics, there's something for everyone on streaming services this year. So far, my favorite show has been Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I also really enjoyed For All Mankind and Ghosts. If you're looking for something new to watch, I highly recommend giving one of these shows a chance!
