Best TV Shows: Show Snob’s Weekly 10 (June 12, 2023)

Dave and White House Plumbers roll off Show Snob’s Weekly 10 with their finales last week. City On Fire had such a terrible episode this week it has completely dropped out of the top 10. But there were enough new shows to keep us going. We’ll have to see if the writer’s strike strangles new releases in the upcoming months.

Best TV shows to watch (Week of June 12, 2023)

1. Ghosts of Beirut

The CIA and the Mossad rally together in order to finally get to Imad. They do a nice job showing the triumph of the intelligence agencies at the same time showing the grief from Imad’s family and friends.

It does seem that if they were worried about collateral damage, a sniper would have done the trick a bit better than a car bomb. This was a very good show with just four episodes so a pretty easy binge.

2. High Desert (Apple TV+)

Matt Dillon’s character is now teaching martial arts which makes perfect sense. Peggy is losing artistic control of her play, but she stole a painting that could be worth quite a bit. Several different gangsters are now after her and the Guru (or Guru Bastard as he is known in Peggy’s phone).

The show is only 30 minutes, and it is the fastest-moving script on television. Don’t blink or you’ll miss a laugh or a key event.

3. Platonic (Apple TV+)

When Sylvia recommends that Will and Charlie hang out to get more comfortable with each other, things get boozy and unruly at a Dodgers game.

But the best part of the show is the term that everyone will be using for quite a while: secret skills. Find out the entire cast’s secret skills in this episode.

4. Silo (Apple TV+)

Judicial is the one watching everyone on all the cameras throughout the Silo. Juliette is getting closer to some truth about the Silo. There is, or was, some conspiracy to keep down or breed away anyone who is interested in the past or what happened before the Silo.

Juliette found the hard drive and things are really going to go sideways now. I am extremely interested to see how close they follow the reveals in the books.

5. The Rising (CW)

Going to your own autopsy is quite harrowing and Neve didn’t like it one bit. Nor did she like the fact that her boyfriend got pretty unruly with her on the night of her death.

But why can someone else see her, someone who barely knew her?

6. Never Have I Ever (Netflix)

Devi, Fabiola, Eleanor, and all the kids are back at Sherman Oaks High School for their senior year. Paxton is the loser who already flunked out of college and came back to help coach the high school swim team. I guess they had to keep him in the show somehow.

You don’t have to watch past seasons to like the current season. The show is repetitive and silly but ultimately funny, surprisingly raunchy at times, and solid sitcom fun. John McEnroe, the narrator, is probably still the best part as even he seems to be making fun of the show as he can’t believe how silly it is.

7. Cruel Summer (Freeform)

Season 2 is completely independent of Season 1 so you can start with Season 2 if you wish (though season 1 was pretty good). The style is the same in that each episode has three timelines associated with it. This season, the show takes place in July 1999, December 1999, and July 2000.

The story is about a smart girl whose family takes in a foreign exchange student. She starts out skeptical, but they soon become best friends. But then her mom gets cancer, her ex-boyfriend dies, and she has a falling out with her new best friend.

Cruel Summer is a good young adult show that goes in the guilty pleasure category.

8. It Is Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

The gang had a two-episode premiere that was mostly economic-based. The inflation episode is something all financially-minded people need to watch to understand if they are investing their money correctly. “If I give you $5 for your $10, you will come out ahead. That is how inflation works.”

In Season 16, they must be doing something right all this time.

9. The Clearing (Hulu)

Creepy is turning into weird this week as more of the ex-Kindred kids come to town and we see how messed up these kids are. Guy Pierce may be creepier than the Mother?

The new mystery seems to now be focused on what ultimately happened to Asha.

10. The Vortex (Netflix)

The Vortex ends pretty well, and like most European shows, is only six episodes. You’ll get some interesting twists (because they keep changing the past through the AR vortex), but ultimately this show is about original love and what you are willing to give up for it.

Great Shows That You Need to Know About That Did Not Make Show Snob’s Weekly 10

• Based on a True Story (Peacock). Starring Chirs Messina (Air) and Kaley Cuoco (Flight Attendant), this story is about a couple who identify a serial killer but instead of turning him in, they force him to make a podcast with them. This show will make you smile for 30 minutes an episode.
• The Days (Netflix). There was a time in 2011 when an earthquake followed by a tsunami knocked out most of the power in Japan and started a meltdown of one of the coastal nuclear reactors. The show is pretty well written but there just isn’t enough happening in this disaster drama to keep things rolling for eight episodes.
• Manifest (Netflix). As the final season goes on, Ben Stone continues to make stupid mistakes and Angelina continues to be the worst villain imaginable. I bet Cal will save everyone.
• City on Fire (Apple TV+). After six episodes of great writing, great characters, a good mystery, and great music, City on Fire turned into a dumpster fire in Episode 7. It was like a really bad episode of Murder She Wrote where the group confronts the bad guy, explains his plot to him, and how secretly they were figuring things out the whole time.

Charlie jumps from the 39th floor onto scaffolding with a bomb. What is going to happen when he lands successfully? Has he secretly been studying how to dismantle bombs? This show drops out of the top 10 after a disastrous week.

• Class of ’09 (Hulu). This show is pretty good, but just can’t seem to crossover to great. But it will keep your attention and is entertaining enough.
• FUBAR (Netflix). This isn’t wow. But it seems to be hanging in Netflix’s top 10 each week.
• The Other Two (Max). This season isn’t as good as the other seasons, but still better than most. We’ll see if they can throw in some more interesting episodes to end the season.
• Gotham Knights (CW). I just can’t stop tuning in to this show.

Wait and See

• The Crowded Room (Apple TV+). I feel like this show is headed straight for some sort of multi-personality play of some kind. Tom Holland (latest Spiderman) stars in this show where he is accused of a shooting incident in New York. Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) is investigating the shooting. The first shows this week have Tom Holland relating the history of events that led up to the shooting. The show is pretty decent, but it seems like we understand where it is headed too early.
• Fear the Walking Dead (FX). Maybe the Walking Dead is just dead at this point. I won’t give up yet, but you can.

Don’t Wait and Don’t See

• The Idol (Max). Like most people, I want this show to be better, and it may get there. But right now it is just cheesy, not sexy, not entertaining, and not interesting.