We’re kicking off our Best of 2024 coverage by diving into the best performances in TV shows from the past year.

In the past, we’ve separated two awards for the Top 5 Best Lead and Supporting Performances in TV series, but we’re changing some things with our awards, as you’ll see in the coming weeks ahead. Starting with this one, we’ve not separated into lead and supporting and are instead devoting one list to simply what the best performances in the past year on TV are, from laughs to straight drama. Whether it’s an animated series, mini-series, or a continuation of a character we’ve begun to love a year prior, it’s another great year for TV fans.

Here are our picks for the Best 25 TV Performances in 2024.

25.) Brian Jordan Alvarez (English Teacher)

As the titular English Teacher, show creator Brian Jordan Alvarez is a delight to watch as Evan struggles with his students, the helicopter parents, the bureaucracy of an American high school and his own personal relationships. His exasperation at what some of his students or even his co-workers say always elicits at least a chuckle.

— Ashley Hobley

24.) Hailee Steinfeld (Arcane)

Hailee Steinfeld seems to be like a duck to water with her voice acting performances as she does a great job helping to bring Vi to life. With a lot of trauma and conflict for Vi to deal with, Steinfield has lot to do and she does it all wonderfully.

— Ashley Hobley

23.) Colman Domingo (The Madness)

In The Madness, Colman Domingo somehow manages to keep it mostly together as a man caught in a web and struggling to find a way out. And in a series full of deep holes and tangles upon tangles of conspiracy theories being stacked upon one another, it’s his performance that keeps it all and the viewers sane. As weird and will as the story may get, he’s still just the normal man at the centre of all of it.

— Dylan Blight

22.) Amandla Stenberg (The Acolyte)

Making our list with a performance for not one, but two twin sisters in, Osha and Mae, Stenberg was able to give us such difference, subtle and not, between the sisters raised in different ways from a young age. How her characters change and are able to grow throughout The Acolyte made for one of, wait, two of the most interesting characters on TV this year.

— Dylan Blight

21.) Walton Goggins (Fallout)

Walton Goggins may just be on this list because he managed to pull of that look, but he honestly gives a really fantastic performance in a genre of show that has often been derided. Able to kick ass with the best in the Fallout universe, it’s also in the flashbacks to the before times that we see the tragedy of his character.

— Ashley Hobley

20.) Ella Purnell (Arcane)

Jinx is really put through the ringer this season, starting as a wanted figure, befriending a little girl named Isha, finding a mutated version of her father figure only to lose it all, being on the cusp of ending it all only to a heroic entrance when she’s needed most. All of those arcs and character moments would be for naught without Ella Purnell‘s stellar voice performance. Whether its quips or cries, she brought Jinx to life and made her an already beloved character even more so.

— Ashley Hobley

19.) Charlie Vickers (The Rings of Power)

With it now in the open that the one-time Halbrand is in fact Sauron, The Dark Lord and Future Lord of the Rings, the question that quickly comes to mind: how is he going to make all this characters do what he wants? Well, by being a master manipulator and the original gaslighter is how. The way he manipulates Celebrimbor and the elves to do his bidding is impressive as is the eventual reveal of his intentions to them. I’m very keen to see Charlie Vickers play Sauron now that he is closer to his goals.

— Ashley Hobley

18.) Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown)

Just like his character, Jimmy O. Yang got an opportunity to be more than a supporting character in this meta, action-comedy which he took this opportunity with both hands. Every bit the leading man, he is fantastic as Willis Wu, a background character in a police procedural who becomes much more, despite the world literally at times being against him. Delivering the expected laughs and displaying his dramatic chops, a real showcase performance for Jimmy O. Yang,

— Ashley Hobley

17.) Jessica Williams (Shrinking)

Jessica Williams just has incredible chemistry with seemingly anyone. It doesn’t matter who in the amazing Shrinking cast she is paired with, there is incredible electricity in those scenes, especially with her season 2 romantic interest Derrick #2 played by Damon Wayans Jr. (More of them in Season 3 please). So, so funny but also doing great dramatic work as Gaby deals with her family issues. So, so good.

— Ashley Hobley

16.) Eddie Redmayne (The Day of The Jackal)

Award-winning Eddie Redmayne took to our TVs this year to star as ‘The Jackal’ in a new adaptation of the Frederick Forsyth book. Unlike previous films and the book itself, this series gives us a lot more to like about The Jackal and dives into his backstory, plus a partner and child all to come home to. This enabled Redmayne to give us more than just a stone-hard and stellar professional killer — although he achieves that as well.

— Dylan Blight

15.) Ted Danson (A Man on the Inside)

Ted Danson is truly remarkable as Charles Nieuwendyk, a recent widower who answers an ad to go undercover in a nursing home for a private investigator. Danson is equally great at the moments of bumbling naivety, as he tries to be a detective and solve the case, as he is in the moments of sadness and heart as he still deals with losing his wife who suffered from dementia. Another example of why Ted Danson has had a long and storied career.

— Ashley Hobley

14.) Hiroyuki Sanada (Shogun)

With this latest adaptation of the beloved novel Shogun aiming to be more authentic, the smartest decision made was casting Hiroyuki Sanada. His mere presence adds so much and he gives a fantastic performance. A man very much deserving of all the accolades coming his way.

— Ashley Hobley

13.) Dakota Fanning (Ripley)

The cast of Ripley has to be comfortable with the framing of the series, as plenty of close-ups and the black & white colour palette leave any nuances, good and bad, showing in full colour on the screen. But this is what Dakota Fanning worked with, delivering her best performance in years and what could be her new breakout performance to kickstart the next act of her career.

— Dylan Blight

12.) Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)

Gary Oldman, unsurprisingly, gives another wonderful turn as Jackson Lamb in season 4 of Slow Horses, the most consistently good show being made at the moment. While being every bit as rude, unkept and flatulent as the previous seasons, Lamb does shed a layer or two to show his loyalty, care and respect for his team in his own way. May Gary Oldman keep playing this character for as long as he desires.

— Ashley Hobley

11.) Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country)

The breakout star from Night Country is Kali Reis, who is the heart and viewer guide through the series. Reis can bring her boxing background to Evangeline Navarro. There’s a hard edge to his Trooper, but it’s her drive to do what’s right and help her community that makes her stand out this year.

— Dylan Blight

10.) Colin Farrell (The Penguin)

Colin Farrell disappears into the Penguin makeup, but unlike his performance in The Batman, which was fun, in The Penguin, Farrell can delve into the man behind the moniker. As the series continues and you see Oz Cobb go from someone you’re feeling bad for into a man you despise, Farrell achieves his task.

— Dylan Blight

9.) Emma D’Arcy (The House of the Dragon)

Another season of The House of the Dragon and another standout performance from Emma D’Arcy, who, this year, deals with not only the loss of one of her sons but also the abandonment of the man who supposedly loves her. What makes Season 2 stand out more than the first is that Emma D’Arcy truly gets to shine with an entire season of character work to play with.

— Dylan Blight

8.) Charles Edwards (The Rings of Power)

As the man who creates the rings in The Lord of the Rings, playing Celebrimbor is a huge task. And as we went into Season 2 of The Rings of Power, presuming we knew the direction the show would head, it was interesting to see how all the pieces came together for us, but not for Celebrimbor, in a performance that truly makes you feel sorry for the man and grabbed the screen whenever he was on it.

— Dylan Blight

7.) Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)

Season 3 may not have been as well received as the previous seasons, but there is no question that Jeremy Allen White is still fantastic as Carmy. Internally reeling from how things ended with Claire, Carmy is solely focused on achieving perfection in the restaurant, frustrating everyone and creating the drama we all crave. It wasn’t all antagonism for Carmy who has some lovely moments like his talk with Marcus about a chef’s legacy and his talk with Chef Terry at Ever’s funeral.

— Ashley Hobley

6.) Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer)

Jessica Gunning had the difficult task of bringing to life a woman that Richard Gadd has some very dark memories of—an obviously troubled woman who is stalking and obsessive in nature. And yet, it’s thanks to Gunning’s performance that we’re able to stay open to understanding and hope there’s a way to recovery, that there’s a chance for us all to come back from the deepest and darkest corners of our own obsessions.

— Dylan Blight

5.) Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)

Bringing his stage show to life, in which he’s playing a version of himself and having to play out some truly traumatic events from his own life, it would take a truly brave performance from anyone to pull off such a feat, and yet Gadd makes it look effortless here, in one of the year’s most sad and troubling performances.

— Dylan Blight

4.) Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country)

Saying Jodie Foster is a great actress isn’t news to anyone, but in 2024, she dove into a television series and gave one of her most engaging performances in years as a deeply troubled Sheriff with a lot of depth and a passion for wanting to find the truth.

— Dylan Blight

3.) Cristin Miloti (The Penguin)

The Penguin may be about the rise of Oz Cobb in Gotham City’s underground, but the biggest surprise was Cristin Miloti’s performance as Sofia Falcone, Carmine Falcone’s daughter. Miloti brought her enthralling and deep character to life with such gravitas.

— Dylan Blight

2.) Manny Jacinto (The Acolyte)

One of the most disappointing things in TV for 2024 was The Acolyte being cancelled after just one season. Still, at least we had Manny Jacinto’s Qimir for the short time we did. Delivering such a nuanced, fun, thrilling performance, one of the year’s best villains. If The Acolyte can’t come back, maybe he can be on another show.

— Dylan Blight

1.) Harrison Ford (Shrinking)

There is definitely a case to be made that Harrison Ford, now in his 80s, is doing some of the best work of his decorated career. He is the comedic equal of everyone in the stellar Shrinking cast, delivering hilarious zingers with the best of them, while also nailing the dramatic and difficult aspects of a proud man dealing with his Parkinson’s getting worse, who also needs to deliver some hard truths to those he loves. If he doesn’t win the Emmy this year, we riot!

— Ashley Hobley

Check out the rest of our Best of 2024 coverage over here now!