The 25 Best TV Shows Of 2017 So Far

“The Handmaid’s Tale”
In the world of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” resistance isn’t futile — it’s a tool for survival. The series adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic novel had our attention given the involvement of the always outstanding Elisabeth Moss, but even we weren’t prepared for her towering work on this staggeringly well-written show. Few if any series at the moment navigate the dynamics of gender, sex, power, and class with as much sophistication. And while it’s set in a dystopian future where women’s rights and agency have been crushed, the writing rings with ominous resonance in the current political climate. There’s a welcome complexity to all the characters, with even the show’s ostensible villains working through the consequences of their own compromises, which makes it a show about the thousand little cuts that can kill; the dangerous road we go down when we’re not looking; the fight that’s waged when our backs are up against the wall. First seasons rarely get as close to perfect as this — it’s just a shame about those thuddingly on-the-nose needle drops, let’s hope they disappear in season 2.

“Chewing Gum”
We’ve already extolled the brash pleasures of Michaela Coel‘s UK import, (especially here on our feature in the Rise of UK TV Comedy), both seasons of which are currently available to watch on Netflix. But we’re happy to do so again: “Chewing Gum” is simply one of the most singular comedies to come along in ages, and it heralds the arrival of a talent in Coel that will likely prove unignorable in the years to come. The show derives its screen-shattering individuality and personality from its blazing writer/creator/star and is impressive in just how dangerously far it is willing to go, both in no-holds-barred outrageousness (season 2 sees Coel’s Tracy in a variety of even more humiliating situations than season 1) but also in terms of the character’s absolutely heart-bared sincerity and vulnerability. Sex-obsessed Tracey (Coel) lives on a council estate in London and is trying valiantly to stretch her wings in the tiny confines of her proscribed working class life among religious family members and her would-be-poet crush Connor (Robert Lonsdale), but it’s her exuberance ebullience and straight-to-camera asides that make “Chewing Gum” such an indiosyncratic, clever and progressive exercise in identification and empathy.

“The Americans”
Frustratingly, after years of critics shouting about it as the best drama on TV, “The Americans” finally seemed to line up with the zeitgeist: a new interest in all things Russian, and overdue Emmy recognition last summer, finally suggested that the show could be about to get a big boost, only for it to mildly drop the ball with the weakest, least driven of the five seasons of the show to date. But “The Americans” slightly off its game nevertheless remains one of the best dramas on TV, albeit one that tests the patience of even its biggest fans from time to time. Our theory is that showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg were expecting to get one more season, and when they were renewed for two, it led to a season that’s felt a little filler-y in places, without the clear focus of the biological warfare or Afghanistan storylines in years gone by. But it’s still gorgeously performed, directed and written, and capable of real emotional devastation — the conclusion of “Darkroom,” for example, as our Soviet heroes see how they’re perceived outside, is one of the most potent things we’ve seen on TV all year.

“Guerrilla”
John Ridley’s miniseries “Guerrilla” deserved better. In the aftermath of a controversy about its alleged erasure of black women in the period of history it told (a point worth raising, but not one that overshadowed its many great qualities), the show got some brutally low ratings when it aired on Showtime, and has gathered virtually no buzz since. And that’s a shame: while it’s probably not an all-timer, it was a beautifully executed, consistently engaging show not quite like anything else on this year. Produced by Idris Elba (who also gave a subtly-against-type supporting performance), it looks at 1970s Britain through a group of radical black and Asian activists who find themselves declared enemies of the state. It was a little slow to get going, sure, but it built into a powerful, rousing and gripping drama that never outstayed its welcome, and got absolutely terrific work out of its expansive cast (Elba, Babou Ceesay, Frieda Pinto, Rory Kinnear, Daniel Mays, Nathaniel Martello-White, Zawe Ashton, Wunmi Mosaku). Fans of “Carlos” and “Munich” will have a good time with it.

“Silicon Valley”
No longer HBO’s bright new thing, the fourth season of Mike Judge’s “Silicon Valley” was something of a transitory one, particularly as it moved towards the exit of fan-favorite Erlich (T.J. Miller, leaving the show due to clearly thorny relations with colleagues, but in a way that across this season has felt pleasingly organic). On the surface, the tech-world comedy hasn’t been doing anything especially new this year — the talented but self-destructive Pied Piper crew continue to brush against success, but manage to take two steps back for any one they take forward. But Judge and co. have subtly remixed things in pleasing ways: sending Richard (Thomas Middleditch) off the deep end with his plans for a ‘new internet,’ turning nemesis Gavin Belson (Matt Ross) into a semi-ally, introducing a new, cheery antagonist in Haley Joel Osment’s VR charlatan. It’s maintained, arguably better than ever, the thing that’s always set the show apart: that it’s plotted as cleverly as the best of dramas, while also being consistently, laugh-out-loud hilarious.

So if there’s even the remotest chance that you’re feeling smug and totally on top of your TV game, the above list is only the tip of the quality-TV iceberg. Some other shows we’ve enjoyed hugely include Netflix doc series “Five Came Back” about five towering Hollywood directors and their experiences during WWII; “The Good Place,” which we talked up a lot last year but finished up its season technically in 2017; bouncily enjoyable new kid on the block “Sneaky Pete“; low-on-budget, high-on-ideas sci-fi “The Expanse“; melancholic black comedy “Baskets“; unabashedly silly yet soulful comedy “Detroiters“; season 2 of undervalued offbeat buddy crime serial “Hap & Leonard“; racially-charged cop drama “Shots Fired“; legal reality show mockumentary “Trial & Error“; Season 3 of John Ridley‘s punchy, intelligent anthology series “American Crime“; the unapologetically daft, “Police Squad“-esque “Angie Tribeca”; “Review” which only had 3 episodes this time out, so just felt too slight for inclusion; animated spy caper show “Archer”; loopily sincere, cancelled-too-soon Wachowskis sci-fi show “Sense8“; British icebound mystery-turned-horror “Fortitude“; Tina Fey-produced sitcom “Great News“; and the ever-wonderful “Veep” which is managing to stay the course despite the whole “reality is outdoing satire” thing right now.

We were a little less hot on phenomenon “13 Reasons Why” than everyone else, and same goes for “Feud: Bette and Joan.” We haven’t really gelled with this season of “Doctor Who” either, while season 3 of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” also felt like a step down from the show’s previous heights. And then there are the other shows that even we haven’t got to yet, on account of the government’s refusal to put more than 24 hours in a day, but high up on our must-catch-up-with list are the latest seasons of “Orange is the New Black,” “House of Cards” and the currently-airing “Queen Sugar,” plus we’re looking forward to checking out “GLOW” and “The Mist” both of which drop this week. Oh, and one of us, who has asked to remain anonymous, is a huge “Riverdale” fan but none of the rest of us trust you, Kevin.

Tell us what you’re watching and loving in the comments below.