Looking for a new TV show? Here are the 5 best shows to watch and why
There’s something comforting about TV shows. They’re a staple of primetime television, always there when you want to watch them. Available in seemingly always-on episodes to enjoy, there’s a huge variety to choose from, from Law & Order to Blue Bloods.
While all eyes are on streaming in 2024, networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox are still introducing exciting new shows, each with their own unique twist. The good news is that for those who have cut the cord, all of these new shows are also available on partner streaming services. Five shows introduced in the past few years, several recently introduced, stand out as the best for those looking for quality TV.
High Potential, based on the 2021 French series HPI, has been well received since its premiere in mid-September 2024. The crime drama stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan, a single mother who works as a night cleaner at a police station to support her three children. But she also has an incredible IQ of 160, a phenomenal memory, and a way of thinking and seeing things in a very clever way. When she accidentally finds evidence of a crime while cleaning, she can’t help herself and changes the police board to point out her findings. This gets her into trouble until Selena (Judy Reyes), the head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, recognizes Morgan’s potential and offers her a consulting job.
Morgan’s gifts often cause problems in her life and relationships. This also affects her new job, as Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), the detective she is assigned to work with, is constantly frustrated by her company. But he eventually warms up to her when he realizes that she actually brings value and helps them solve cases. He tries his best to ignore her blatant disregard for legal etiquette, her rebellious fashion sense, and the constant trouble she causes along the way. High Potential has all the elements that fans love in a procedural: a quirky protagonist with a unique personality and skills, lots of conflict, and cases that get weirder and weirder with each episode. There’s also a long backstory, as is often the case with shows like this. Morgan’s first husband, Roman, went missing years ago, and she has a hunch that not only did he abandon his family, but that something terrible happened to him. She enlists Selena’s help in the investigation as part of her job deal, and as Selena digs deeper, she begins to find evidence to support Morgan’s theory.
High Potential continues to get better with each episode, earning a 92% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 82% audience score. From its strong cast to its strong female lead and its portrayal of the challenges faced by single mothers, the show is one of the most exciting new shows on network television.
It seems like every possible plot twist has been accounted for by the network’s procedurals and has been done time and time again. But in a sea of remakes, sequels, and spin-offs, Found manages to carve out a niche for itself in the genre. The story centers on Gaby Mosley (Shanola Hampton), a survivor of a long-running kidnapping when she was a teenager. She has used her experience to dedicate her life to helping others, forming a team of other oddballs, each with their own special skills, to investigate missing persons cases that law enforcement doesn’t have the resources to solve. But she has a secret. Nine months before the start of the series, Gaby tracked down her kidnapper, a high school professor named Hugh “Sir” Evans (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), and imprisoned him in a custom-built cell in her basement. She interacts with him daily and uses him to help analyze her cases and understand the minds of potential criminals. However, no one knows this, and the intensity that is put into each episode as Gaby tries to keep this illegal secret is palpable. If the truth is exposed, it will be the end of her.
