TV Talk: Best scripted TV of 2023

With the hangover of the writers’ and actors’ strikes impacting broadcast networks through at least mid-January, it’s a good time to take stock of 2023 TV and an opportunity to catch up on some great series you might have missed.

One caveat: These shows represent my favorites, the shows that were the best of my viewing pack. But even in a post-peak TV, strike-rattled year, there’s still too much TV for any one person to see it all.

1.“Succession” (HBO): The dark comedy went out in fine form, dispatching characters with shocking nonchalance and rupturing an already broken family even further. (Streaming on Max)

2.“Fargo” (FX): Tonally closer to the show’s first and second seasons with a greater emphasis on dark comedy, the new season of writer Noah Hawley’s franchise offers an on-point satire of contemporary politics in small-town settings. (10 p.m. Tuesday on FX; next day on Hulu.)

3.“The Last of Us” (HBO): The video game adaptation became a smash hit by focusing more on human connection and less on zombie gore. (Streaming on Max)

4.“American Born Chinese” (Disney+): Based on a graphic novel of the same name, this all-family series offered the perfect blend of action, character drama and comedy in its exploration of modern American culture paired with Chinese myth. (Streaming on Disney+)

5.“The Gilded Age” (HBO): Despite the low stakes (who will win the opera house war?), writers Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield make this 1883-set drama an engrossing treat thanks largely to performances by stars Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski and a roster of Broadway veterans. (Streaming on Max)

6.“Schmigadoon” (Apple TV+): A second season of musical theater parody that reached its peak with an “Annie”/“Sweeney Todd” mashup. (Streaming on Apple TV+)

7.“Swarm” (Prime Video): Pop star fan with a traumatic upbringing (Dominique Fishback) goes to deadly extremes to show her devotion. (Streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video)

8.“The Bear” (Hulu): Lots to love in season two of “The Bear” as viewers learned more about each of the characters, including in that amazing, guest star-filled, flashback sixth episode. (Streaming on Hulu)

9.“Fellow Travelers” (Showtime): Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey steamed up screens in this unapologetic, doomed gay romance that spanned multiple decades. (Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime)

10.“Star Trek: Picard”/“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”: After its first two lackluster seasons, “Picard” finally gave fans what they wanted: A worthy reunion and send-off for “The Next Generation” crew while “Strange New Worlds” continued to deepen its characters and their relationships even as it embarked on the first-ever “Trek” musical episode, a toe-tapping treat. (Streaming on Paramount+)

Honorable mentions: “A Small Light” (Nat Geo), “Abbott Elementary” (ABC), “Average Joe” (BET+), “Based on a True Story” (Peacock), “Beef” (Netflix), “Dark Winds” (AMC), “Everyone Else Burns” (The CW), “For All Mankind” (Apple TV+), “Ghosts” (CBS), “Gen V” (Prime Video), “Hijack” (Apple TV+), “Justified: City Primeval” (FX), “Little Bird” (PBS), “Mrs. Davis” (Peacock), “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu), “The Other Two” (Max), “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (Netflix), “Painkiller” (Netflix), “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” (Disney+), “Poker Face” (Peacock”), “Shrinking” (Apple TV+), “The Walking Dead: Darryl Dixon” (AMC), “Yellowjackets” (Showtime).

New WTAE ‘Chronicle’

For its latest episode of “Chronicle” (8 p.m. Dec. 19), Channel 4’s Mike Clark and Kelly Sasso explore a “Slice of the ‘Burgh,” the ongoing debates over the best pizza restaurants in Western Pennsylvania.

‘Opry’ to re-air

For Western Pennsylvania viewers disappointed that WPXI-TV pre-empted NBC’s “Christmas at the Opry” for a Steelers game last week, “Opry” streams on Peacock and will air again at 9 p.m. Dec. 20 on NBC stations and will have its premiere on Channel 11 at that time.

Mary Berry special

Former “Great British Bake-Off” judge Mary Berry has a new PBS special debuting next week. “Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas” (9-10 p.m. Dec, 18, WQED-TV) finds the baker preparing her favorite holiday dishes, many inspired by her own family’s roots in Scotland.

Kept/canceled

Netflix renewed “Blue Eye Samurai” for a second season and will bring back “Love is Blind” for a sixth season on Feb. 14.

Starz’s “Hightown” will end with its third season, premiering at 9 p.m. Jan. 26.

Channel surfing

The 2023 “Doctor Who” Christmas special will premiere on Disney+ at 12:55 p.m. Dec. 25. … Nischelle Turner and Kevin Frazier will host “The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” (9-11 p.m. Dec. 15, CBS) where Shemar Moore will present former “All My Children” star Susan Lucci with a Lifetime Achievement Honor. … Netflix took a step towards greater data transparency by releasing its first biannual report on Netfilx subscriber viewing habits for January to June of this year, covering 18,000 titles and almost 100 billion hours viewed. … Premium cable network Showtime will officially be renamed Paramount+ with Showtime on Jan. 8 and will begin to carry Paramount+ programming including the second season of “Halo” (premiering Feb. 8) and filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Mayor of Kingstown.” … The combined Hulu and Disney+ app will launch in March with the first 19 seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy” available for streaming (past seasons of the show will also remain on Netflix). … Max can now be subscribed to via YouTube’s Primetime Channels. … Next week PBS’s “Frontline” explores “Netanyahu, America the Road to War in Gaza” (10-11:30 p.m. Dec. 19, WQED-TV).