The television landscape grows bigger and broader with each passing year. While we don’t have figures for 2022 yet, a record 559 scripted shows rolled out in 2021, according to statista.com. If we assume that each series contains, oh, say, eight 45-minutes episodes per season on average, that’s 3,354 hours of TV. To watch it all, an enterprising TV viewer would need to set aside 64.5 hours a week. And remember, we’re just talking about scripted shows. If our theoretical viewer wanted to see a football game or The Masked Singer, you can forget going out to eat ever again. Or sleeping.
You’d assume that more content means more problems. And our television reviewers at Plugged In tabulated plenty of ’em, to be sure. But statistically, more shows would mean more of them would be good shows, too—right?
Well, yes and no. Even shows meant for preschoolers can contain red flags for Bible-believing families these days. And if you’re looking for a perfect, absolutely problem-free series to watch, you might be looking for a while.
That said, we still have seen some highlights for the small screen—shows that just might fit the bill for kids, teens and even adult viewers. Here are five television offerings that impressed Plugged In’s television reviewers (primarily Emily Clark, Kristin Smith, Kennedy Unthank and me). And in a sign of just how much the television landscape has changed, every single one comes from a streaming service.
(As always, be sure to read our full reviews before watching. And be warned that, more than anything else that Plugged In reviews, TV can change drastically from season to season, and even from episode to episode.)
Amber Brown
(Apple TV+. Rated: TV-G)
Starting middle school is tough. And Amber Brown, this show’s 11-year-old protagonist, tells us all about it. Apple TV+’s sweet take on Paula Danziger’s popular children’s books is heavy on heart but light on content. While Amber’s parents are divorced—a heartbreaking event in the tween’s life—both Mom and Dad clearly care for their little girl. Together, Amber’s friends and her own irrepressible spirit go a long way toward smoothing out life’s inevitable rough spots. The show doesn’t ignore the issues of early adolescence—bullies, first romances and fights with friends—but it tackles them with tact, sensitivity and humor. And that makes Amber all right in our book.
Going Home
(Pure Flix. Not Rated)
While Netflix and Disney+ are the 800-pound gorillas in the streaming game, Christian services are increasingly launching their own original content. Going Home, which you can find on Pure Flix is a medical drama with a Christian twist. The story focuses on Charley Copeland, a hospice nurse who helps, in the words of our reviewer Emily Clark, “transition from this life into the next.” Naturally, the show deals with difficult issues: death, grief and sometimes workplace conflict. But as its title suggests, Going Home never lets us forget that death, however difficult it might be in the moment, is not the end.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
(Disney+. Rated: TV-14)
Let me admit something up front: If we were selecting shows purely based on aesthetic quality, I would’ve pounded the table to put Andor on this list. But Andor—labeled by some as the first Star Wars show for adults—is also grim and rather problematic. At times our titular Empire-fighting hero, Cassian Andor, barely feels like a hero at all. That makes Obi-Wan Kenobi the clear choice here. The Jedi—working undercover on the planet of Tatooine when the show opens—is also wondering whether fighting the Empire is worth it. But circumstances push him back into the fray. He must save a young Princess Leia and bring her back home. And in so doing, he soon becomes the hero we all expect him to be. Anchored by a strong performance by Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan Kenobi might not be television’s only hope. But it is a stand-out show.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
(Prime Video. Rated: TV-14)
Long before Mount Doom gobbled up Sauron’s One Ring, he and the elf Celebrimbor had to make the thing. The Rings of Power begins to tell us that Second-Age story—when dwarves and elves were still on speaking terms, the beautiful island of Númenor was still above water and orcs were as rare as winning lottery tickets. While purists have taken issue with the liberties Amazon has taken with J.R.R. Tolkien’s original vision, The Rings of Power still feels true to the author’s spirit, and even manages to work alongside Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. And while this world is filled with mentions of lesser gods, the show still makes a nod or two to a greater, higher force for good. (Our own Kennedy Unthank unpacks a little more of the spirituality behind Middle Earth in his blog, “How the Númenóreans Imitate the Kingdom of Judah”.) Be warned, the show is violent—perhaps even more than Jackson’s movies. But its rewards are as sweet as Beorn’s honey cakes.
Spy x Family
(Hulu. Rated: TV-14)
Anime can be a mixed bag. Some very adult content can hide in the pen strokes of these stylized cartoons. But in Spy x Family, a Japanese import, the story’s focus is truly on the family. That’s a bit of a problem for Loid Forger, a skilled spy who marries a woman and then adopts a 6-year-old as part of his job. His wife and daughter don’t know he’s a secret agent, of course—but the two of them have their own secrets. And as the show goes on, those secrets take a back seat to the love that they begin to find for each other. This fake family becomes quite real.
There you have it—five standout shows that we’ve seen at Plugged In.
We’ll be watching plenty more TV in the year to come, of course—and we could sure use your help. With so many shows to review, it’s impossible to see everything. Do you have a show you’re curious about? A favorite series that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments section below. We’ll review it if we can. And who knows: You just might see it on our Top Television blog for 2023.
One Response
-Love that Spy x Family made your top picks! It’s been a favorite in our house and I watch it with my 9 year old (in the English dub, which cleans up a lot of the language that remains in the sub version). It’s so wholesome, funny, and cute and one of the only times my art-hating son has ever been inspired to draw (he’s already drawn Anya and Loid).