Hot List 2022: A Look at Our Favorite Things on TV Right Now
Welcome to the 2022 Hot List, our 31 reasons our screens are sizzling right now, including the new NCIS boss, the return of Bridgerton, and our current favorite action series: Reacher!
Whether you’re into period dramas, complicated families, precious pups, or fashionable characters, TV is filled with choices for every taste right now.
In our Hot List roundup, we honor some of TV’s current top commodities that are available at the touch of a button. Scroll down to see our favorite reunions, a dynamic Bachelorette duo, and top pets among other great picks.
In Hot Water: Ozark’s Byrde Family
Are the casino-owning Byrdes out of cards to play? Last we saw drug cartel money launderers Wendy and Marty (Laura Linney and Jason Bateman, above), their deal with the FBI, allowing them to leave a life of crime behind, was jeopardized by former associate Ruth (Julia Garner), who set out to kill cartel head Javi (Alfonso Herrera) as revenge (it’s a long story). On Part 2 of the final season, “if Javi dies, [the Byrdes are] screwed because they’ve got no deal,” explains exec producer Chris Mundy. But an alive Javi, who doesn’t trust the Byrdes, is also a threat, he adds: “They’re going to have to make sure he doesn’t take them out.” Returns Friday, April 29, Netflix
(Credit: HBO)
Hot Dog: Pumpkin, The Gilded Age (HBO Max)
This four-legged escape artist has stolen our hearts. If it weren’t for Ada’s (Cynthia Nixon) runaway King Charles spaniel, niece Marian (Louisa Jacobson) would have never swooned for handsome nouveau riche son Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), who saved the pup from a carriage catastrophe.
Out of This World Hot: Resident Alien (Syfy)
We’re over the moon that the gifted Alan Tudyk has landed his perfect leading role in this sly dramedy as a quirky E.T. surrounded by equally offbeat humans.
Hot Couture: The Fashions of Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Lily Collins’ lovelorn marketing exec abroad may make terrible life choices, but with her Balmain mini-dresses and Louboutin bags, she knows how to work a lewk.
Hot Head Game: Severance (Apple TV+)
The mind-bending corporate satire starring Adam Scott imagines a world where a simple surgery can erase your work memories when you clock out. Sign. Us. Up. Or has that already happened?!
(Credit: CBS)
Hot Out of the Oven: Parker’s Pastry Passion, NCIS
The new(ish) NCIS boss’ assets: an extensive network of contacts, a sense of humor and collaboration and, he’s bragged, “I can find the best international pastry in any town.” Yes, the team can count on Alden Parker (Gary Cole, above) to sweeten up the Bullpen with Polish kolaczki, French brioche, and kleicha, the national cookie of Iraq. Initially, they found it hard to trust that first box of baked goodness. What was up with the cheery “Help Yourselves!” sign? Was this some sort of test? But once they realized no ulterior motive came with the Mexican conchas, they dug in. Now the D.C. crew, and we, just wait for the next delicious treat to arrive. Mondays, 9/8c, CBS
Hot Dates: Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey, The Bachelorette
Looks like we’re gonna need another florist! Florida flight instructor Recchia and Denver ICU nurse Windey may not have won Clayton Echard’s heart, but the two finalists who were dumped on The Bachelor walked away with even rosier prizes: co-lead spots on Season 19 of The Bachelorette. Double the dates, double the promises of “the most dramatic rose ceremony ever.” Premieres Monday, July 11, 8/7c, ABC
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Hot Topic: Better Call Saul
A truly great show can keep the conversation going even when it’s not on the air. And ever since this Breaking Bad prequel shocked us with its finale two years ago, we’ve been full of questions about the sixth and final season: Since crime boss Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) survived an assassination attempt, who will he target first? With crafty Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) embracing his unscrupulous alter ego, lawyer Saul Goodman, can his marriage survive? Will the end of Saul line up with the beginning of Bad? Answers are forthcoming, teases co-creator Peter Gould: “It’s going to take people by surprise.” Returns Monday, April 18, 9/8c, AMC
Hotly Anticipated
Call us greedy, but even with so many fantastic shows on, we’re eager for what’s coming. First up: Ewan McGregor reprises his Jedi Master role from the Star Wars prequel trilogy in Obi-Wan Kenobi (premieres Friday, May 27, Disney+). Season 4 of the sci-fi thriller Stranger Things (returns Friday, May 27, Netflix) features a haunted house tale and a supporting role from Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. On the superhero satire The Boys (returns Friday, June 3, Prime Video), Jensen Ackles joins as a Captain America–inspired antihero. Sadly, we have to wait a while for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (premieres Friday, September 2, Prime Video), in which the residents of Middle-earth face a reemerging evil.
Hot Reunions
• Past drama explodes as those “seven strangers” come back together decades later for The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans. One high point? The cast ogling their 2000 cover of TV Guide Magazine! (Paramount+ Wednesday, April 20)
•Star Trek: The Next Generation’s villainous Q (John de Lancie) and warm Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) joined valiant Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard. Paramount+
• While we await a possible Frasier reboot, feast on David Hyde Pierce and Bebe Neuwirth together in Julia. Pierce plays famed TV chef Julia Child’s (Sarah Lancashire) loving husband Paul; Neuwirth is her loyal friend Avis. HBO Max
