For the last quarter century, premium cable has slowly but surely chipped away at audience shares once dominated by the Big Four networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. While some of this is due to cable’s not needing to adhere to the censorship rules levied on TV (profanity, nudity, graphic violence), production values for most cable productions rival those of feature films.
‘Slow Horses’ (2022– )
With three seasons in the rearview mirror and two more on the way, this dramatic spy thriller is based on a book series by Mick Herron. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, a cantankerous, irascible, and hygiene-challenged sort in charge of running Slough House, a lowly division of MI5 where less-than-stellar agents are sent after botching assignments.
‘Ted Lasso’ (2020–2023?)
Tweaking the principal plot line from the baseball feature “Major League,” the titular character in “Ted Lasso” (Jason Sudeikis) is hired by Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), a recent widow and new owner of a British football team. The twist: Ted is an American college football coach who knows absolutely nothing about soccer, and Rebecca chose him so that her team would fail for the sole purpose of exacting revenge on her deceased louse of a husband.
This might sound like the premise for a demented black comedy, but in execution it is the exact opposite. Keenly recognizing that attitude and demeanor are equally as important as knowledge of any particular sport, Mr. Sudeikis and his three co-producers suggest that Ted, or anyone like him, can succeed because optimism, perseverance, and encouragement can make up for a lack of the finer points of any endeavor or activity.
The question mark in the above subhead is included because, although the series officially ended its planned three-year run in 2023, the show’s beyond-dedicated fan base is pushing hard for the studio and the producers to deliver at least one more season.
‘The Bear’ (2022– )
At various points resembling portions of “Chef,” “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and two Bradley Cooper vehicles (“Burnt” and “Kitchen Confidential”), “The Bear” is an unexpected, offbeat gem.
In the wake of a jarring death in his family, renowned high-end chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) returns to his hometown of Chicago to oversee the daily operations of what he considers to be a low-prestige sandwich shop.
‘Poker Face’ (2023– )
A throwback in every sense of the word, the dramatic comedy crime procedural “Poker Face” revisits the long dormant, oddly coined format “howcatchem.”
Also known as the “inverted detective story,” which is a literary or dramatic mystery in which we know right away who the perpetrator is, then go with the detective to solve the crime.
The detective here is Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a former casino cocktail waitress, who finds herself on the run for reasons best explained in the first episode.
The show was created by Rian Johnson, the mastermind writer-director of the brilliant “Looper” and the “Knives Out” franchise. In the first “Knives Out,” the lead character (Ana de Armas) vomited if she purposefully or accidentally told a lie. Mr. Johnson does something akin to this with Charlie.
In every instance, Charlie knows when she’s being lied to; it’s something that, in theory, makes her a perfect unintentional detective. The big twist: Charlie doesn’t have the hard-bitten, take-no-prisoners mentality generally associated with TV detectives.
‘Primo’ (2023– )
Projecting knowing humor instead of the acid-tinged variety that often ruins cable sitcoms, “Primo” is one of the rare current shows that is full-out family-friendly.
Created by author Shea Serrano, “Primo” centers on Mexican-American, Texan teenager Rafa (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), his single mom Drea (Christina Vidal), and her five very different, highly opinionated brothers.
The show is impressive on a number of levels. Six adult characters supporting a single teen lead is unorthodox in today’s TV climate. Each episode covers typical teen issues—decisions on college, sometimes complicated (opposite sex) romance, and peer pressure—devoid of any kind of judgmental virtual signaling.
Best of all, “Primo” often highlights ethnic issues associated with Mexican-American households and does so without being boastful, preachy, or exclusionary.
