10 TV Shows That Are Somehow Getting Better
Against all odds, these shows are all improving.
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00:00Making a TV show sounds like a lot of hard work.
00:03You have to think of plots, design sets, find all the props, and control a gaggle of unruly actors.
00:08Do you know how hard that is? It's honestly easier to count grains of sand one by one. Less stressful, too.
00:13While some shows start off with all the promise in the world, the real-life commitments needed to make it happen often get in the way over time.
00:21Stories fizzle out, actors and writers leave, people lose interest. It's a tale as old as TV time.
00:27Not in the case of these ten offerings, however, which are somehow going from strength to strength.
00:33Whether they've had a recent renaissance or have been improving season on season for a while now, each of them deserves a big shiny medal for their stamina.
00:42In a world where so few shows survive the test of time, these lot aced it with flying colours and time to spare.
00:49Will they continue their forward momentum in years to come? We certainly hope so, otherwise they'll have to give those medals back. They don't come cheap, you know.
00:56So, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with ten TV shows that are somehow getting better.
01:0110. Tulsa King
01:03If you ask a hundred people how old Sylvester Stallone is, the answers could range anywhere from 52 to 235.
01:11The 76-year-old Stallone has done it all in the world of acting, except starring in a scripted TV show.
01:17That changed with the release of Tulsa King, in which Sly plays a mob boss who attempts to turn the sleepy city of Tulsa into a criminal's paradise.
01:26The show dropped its first episode on Paramount Plus on the 13th of November.
01:30Many were worried that Stallone's years of starring in direct-to-video action movies would have tainted his star power, but he actually carries the entire show.
01:38He's received praise for his on-screen charisma and fish-out-of-water humour as a man who has spent the last 25 years incarcerated.
01:46The show has been well-received by fans and critics alike, with a second season already in the pipeline.
01:51Few would have expected it, but Stallone still has what it takes to play a convincing leading man.
01:56It's been a joy to watch him week-to-week in Tulsa King, and long may his time at the top continue.
02:019. The Good Doctor
02:03Season 5 of medical drama The Good Doctor ended in pretty spectacular fashion when the wedding of two of the characters was hijacked by a mad gunman.
02:12You're supposed to say, I object, not go on a murderous rampage.
02:15Hasn't this guy seen Shrek?
02:16Anyway, that was a pretty dramatic point to leave things, so it's natural that the show's ongoing sixth season picked up right where that action left off.
02:24After a rollercoaster of an opening episode, the gunman is arrested and all the characters are safe.
02:29However, one of them ended up paralysed from the waist down, severely changing the course of the entire show.
02:35Whilst The Good Doctor doesn't reinvent the wheel, Season 6 has proved that it's still got plenty of melodrama left in its tank.
02:42Hospitals are a natural setting for drama, with life and death decided there on a daily basis.
02:47The show has done well to maximise this potential without ever letting it grow stale.
02:51With more drama than ever before, The Good Doctor doesn't need to go under the knife and is far from needing life support.
02:57Sorry for the medical puns, but it was a golden opportunity.
03:018. The English
03:02Whilst you can watch all episodes of The English on Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer, it is still being shown weekly on BBC Two.
03:10So, it counts.
03:11Starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, The English is a revisionist history drama about a woman who travels to the American West in 1890 to seek revenge for the murder of her son.
03:21Whilst Lady Cornelia Locke is there, she meets Sergeant Eli Whipp, a Native American who is seeking to reclaim the land owed to him by the White Man.
03:30The two form a bond and even discover that they have things in common.
03:34The action unfolds over a beautiful Western background, which was probably afforded by Amazon's involvement in the show.
03:40They set the standards pretty high with The Rings of Power.
03:42As well as being visually stunning, Blunt and Spencer do a great job with their characters.
03:47As the episodes unfold and we learn more about them, it's impossible not to become attached to the pair and root for them in their respective fights for justice.
03:54None of this binging nonsense, alright? Watch it weekly like the rest of us.
03:587. The Winchesters
04:00As a prequel to the Tumblr-ific show Supernatural, The Winchesters had a lot to live up to.
04:06Set in the 1970s, the show follows the exploits of John Winchester and Mary Campbell, the parents of Supernatural protagonists Sam and Dean.
04:14It not only serves as an origin story for their careers as hunters, but also as a love story, showing how the pair fell for each other and eventually started a family.
04:23The Winchesters is a lot of fun.
04:25It might not stray a million miles from the Supernatural formula, but that's far from a bad thing.
04:30That show wrapped up in 2020 and there's been a Jensen and Jared-sized hole in our lives ever since.
04:35The Winchesters has overcome its significant hurdle and has won over a large portion of Supernatural diehards.
04:41What's next for the show is still up in the air, but if it runs for even half the time of its predecessor, that's a huge win.
04:486. The Sex Lives of College Girls
04:51Sounding like a video you have to walk through a special curtain in order to buy, The Sex Lives of College Girls is a coming-of-age drama with a special focus on the deed.
04:59It trails four college students, all female if you hadn't already worked that out, as they traverse school, society, and yes, sex, with a variety of hilarious and heartwarming outcomes.
05:10On paper, it sounds pretty trashy, just another excuse to put attractive young women in sexual scenes on TV, but it runs much deeper than that.
05:17It deals with racism, as one girl comes from a predominantly white background.
05:21There are gay characters, characters of colour, characters in relationships with older partners.
05:26It's got variety, this show, and not in the Kama Sutra kind of way.
05:29The second season, currently streaming on HBO Max, continues this upward trend.
05:34It's conscious without ever being preachy, and the wide range of characters ensures that each episode is a joy to sit through.
05:41So there you go, don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge a TV show based on its title.
05:46Unless it's Naked and Afraid. That one's pretty literal.
05:495. Yellowstone
05:51Proving that westerns aren't just the black and white racist films your grandad likes, Yellowstone puts a modern spin on the classic Wild West formula.
05:59Starring Kevin, dancers with Wolves Kostner, and a whole bunch of other famous faces, Yellowstone chronicles the lives of the Dutton family, and the events that go down on their enormous cattle ranch.
06:09Throw in a Native American settlement, greedy land developers, and a wagonload of family drama, and you got yourself a mighty fine TV show there, partner.
06:17Currently, in its fifth season, long-term viewers of the show have really gotten to grips with its colourful cast of characters.
06:23There's Kostner's John Dutton III, the rancher equivalent of Brian Cox from Succession.
06:28There's Jamie Dutton, who sets a bad precedent for adopted children everywhere.
06:31And finally, there's Rip Wheeler, a man with a name so cowboy that he absolutely had to be in this show.
06:37Still going strong after so many seasons, you've got a fair bit of catching up to do if you want to immerse yourself in the world of Yellowstone, but trust us, it'll be worth it.
06:45Number 4, Chicago Fire
06:47On the surface, Chicago Fire looks just like any other weekly procedural drama.
06:52In some areas, it is, but there's more to this show than meets the eye.
06:56The first instalment in the One Chicago connected universe, this show about the men and women in the big red trucks first debuted back in 2012.
07:03We met the likes of Matthew Casey, Kelly Severide, and Gabby Dawson, and witnessed their personal and professional lives grow and change.
07:11Comedy, tragedy, long hosepipes, this show had it all.
07:1411 seasons and over 200 episodes later, the personnel of Firehouse 51 are still going strong.
07:21A few faces have come and gone, and the show has changed course plenty of times over the years, but it's still here.
07:26After a pretty rocky start, the show has gone from strength to strength.
07:30Viewers of the first season derided it for its cliches, but over time, it has built up a solid fanbase through long-term storytelling and the stellar work of its cast.
07:39In a world where linear TV has gone down the toilet, Chicago Fire's most recent season actually outperformed its first in terms of viewers.
07:47Guess you could say it's hot right now.
07:49I'm so sorry.
07:503. The White Lotus
07:53Anthology series are always a risk.
07:55When each new season of a show is set in a new location with new characters, it can create a short-term viewing habit in our audience.
08:02Why should they get invested if they know their favourite faces are going to disappear at the end of the season?
08:07Why should they give a hoot about any of what's going on?
08:09Because if they don't, they might miss out on a great show like The White Lotus.
08:14The White Lotus takes place over a week at a luxury holiday resort owned by the company of the same name.
08:20However, rather than spas and charcuterie boards, the guests and staff usually have to deal with secrets and murder.
08:25The first season was set in Hawaii and opens with one person dead.
08:29The second season, which is currently showing on HBO, is set in Sicily and opens with a bunch of people dead.
08:35The show managed to ramp up the tension and intrigue from the word go with their new season, which has been an absolute joy to watch.
08:42It's already been renewed for a third instalment.
08:44Imagine how many people are going to die in that one.
08:462. Rick and Morty
08:48Do you even need us to explain to you what Rick and Morty is at this point?
08:52Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon's unhinged adult cartoon about the antics of a mad scientist and his grandkid are the stuff of pop culture legend these days,
09:00perhaps as much for its various controversies as anything else.
09:04However, in spite of having a fanbase more toxic than a nuclear dumping ground, the show continues to impress, and its current season might be its best yet.
09:12Season 6 of Rick and Morty premiered on the 4th of September on Adult Swim.
09:17The episode involves a lot of context from past episodes, so you're going to need to look up the synopsis yourself.
09:23Therein lies the beauty of Rick and Morty.
09:25It's a silly, crude cartoon that pays attention to its own continuity.
09:29This allows it to build meaningful character relationships around the various pickle jokes.
09:33A fundamentally well-written show, as well as being extremely funny, Rick and Morty is one of the best shows currently on TV in this or any other dimension.
09:421. The Simpsons
09:44Let's get this out of the way nice and early. The Simpsons should have been cancelled years ago.
09:48Whilst the debate rages on as to when the golden age of the show actually ended,
09:52season 8, 10 and 15 are all bandied around, it is almost unanimously agreed that the show has now not been good for way longer than it ever was.
10:00This is a real shame, as those early years of the show still hold as some of the finest television ever made.
10:05However, don't count Homer and family out just yet, as they've seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years.
10:11Season 33 was viewed by some as a return to form, and season 34, which has been ongoing since the 25th of September 2022, has continued that upswing.
10:20Let's be clear, we are not saying that this current season of The Simpsons is better than its classic era.
10:25That will likely never happen, as times have changed way too much.
10:28However, we are saying that this is some of the best Simpsons content in years, which is something worth celebrating.
10:35And that concludes our list. If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below,
10:39and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
10:43Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
10:49I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.