2022 TV Scholar Awards

My totally biased recognitions for outstanding shows and performances in 2022.

The desire to catch up is a most uncomfortable feeling. Our lives changed dramatically in 2022, the year of re-entry if you will, and what remnants of togetherness I felt I had from pandemic solitude slowly fell away, and suddenly life returned to the need to catch up: on sleep, on paycheques, on household tasks, on self-care, but most of all, on television. 2022 yielded massive amounts of new episodes, and many beloved series are only now coming back after a whole pandemic off our screens.

I’m still trying to catch up, of course, and sometimes I lay awake at night and wish a celebrity/rich person would just pay my rent for a year (that would be $21,600, if you’re reading!) so that I could turn my focus completely toward this medium that I love and blitz through the rest of my seemingly never-ending list.

2022 cemented something else for me too—despite working an unrelated day job, running my Instagram, writing this newsletter, and freelancing, television continues to feel like a blessing and site of constant discovery rather than a chore. Television is the one thing in my life that feels joyful to catch up on, rather than existentially painful like other aspects of being on this planet. Being able to watch television in community—with you, fellow readers, is simply what keeps me going.

A foreword to the lists below: I do not claim to watch every show. There are some popular universes I don’t engage in, for reasons related mostly to time. So I apologize in advance to the fans of Better Call Saul, Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, Barry, and other shows that I some day hope to binge with fervour to finally understand its fans. Otherwise, I would say the below is a near-exhaustive list of the delicious foam the top of my watching list between December 1, 2021 and December 1, 2022.

The list originally had justifications for each win by pointing out why they were deserving. Sadly I am facing the constraints of email length and cut those pieces to allow the wins to speak on their own—but just know that for some categories, I felt since the Emmys had already been awarded, I could lean toward other shows/performances and give them a little moment of my own. I hope you emerge inspired to watch a new show, happy watching.

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📺 TV Scholar Queer Representation Award

A League of their Own (Prime Video)
Heartstopper (Netflix)
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
Reboot (Hulu)
P-Valley (Starz)
Sort Of (CBC/HBO Max)
Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Young Royals (Netflix)

***Winner: A League of their Own (Prime Video)

📺 Best Ensemble in a Drama, Comedy, or Limited Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
Hacks (HBO Max)
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Prime Video)
My Brilliant Friend (HBO)
Pachinko (Apple TV+)
P-Valley (Starz)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)

***Winner: Yellowjackets (Showtime)

📺 Best Drama

Andor (Disney+)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
My Brilliant Friend (HBO)
Ozark (Netflix)
Pachinko (Apple TV+)
P-Valley (Starz)
Severance (Apple TV+)
This Is Going to Hurt (BBC/AMC+)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)

***Winner: My Brilliant Friend (HBO)

📺 Best Lead Performance in a Drama

Ben Wishaw, This Is Going to Hurt (BBC/AMC)
Christine Baranski, The Good Fight (Paramount+)
Jacob Anderson, Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
Laura Linney, Ozark (Netflix)
Lauren Ambrose, Servant (Apple TV+)
Margherita Mazzucco, My Brilliant Friend (HBO)
Marisa Abela, Industry (HBO)
Nicco Annan, P-Valley (Starz)
Olivia Cooke, House of the Dragon (HBO)
Zendaya, Euphoria (HBO)

***Winner: Laura Linney, Ozark (Netflix)

📺 Best Supporting Performance in a Drama

Ambika Mod, This Is Going to Hurt (BBC/AMC)
Andrea Martin, Evil (Paramount+)
Bailey Bass, Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
Britt Lower, Severance (Apple TV+)
Julia Garner, Ozark (Netflix)
Lesley Manville, The Crown (Netflix)
Paddy Considine, House of the Dragon (HBO)
Patricia Arquette, Severance (Apple TV+)
Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria (HBO)
Youn Yuh-jung, Pachinko (Apple TV+)

***Winner: Youn Yuh-jung, Pachinko (Apple TV+)

📺 Best Guest Performance in a Drama

Amy Sedaris, The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)
David Cronenberg, Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+)
Fiona Shaw, Andor (Disney+)
Harriet D. Foy, P-Valley (Starz)
Loretta Devine, P-Valley (Starz)
Nika King, Euphoria (HBO)
Rekha Sharma, Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Tom Pelphrey, Ozark (Netflix)

***Winner: Harriet D. Foy, P-Valley (Starz)

📺 Best Comedy

Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Bear (FX)
Better Things (FX)
The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Life & Beth (Hulu)
Ramy (FX)
Reservation Dogs (FX)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
Sort Of (CBC/HBO Max)

***Winner: Abbott Elementary (ABC)

📺 Best Lead Performance in a Comedy

Amy Schumer, Life & Beth (Hulu)
Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO Max)
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear (FX)
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
Maya Erskine, Pen15 (Hulu)
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll (Netflix)
Pamela Adlon, Better Things (FX)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
William Jackson Harper, Love Life (HBO Max)

***Winner: Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

📺 Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear (FX)
Cobie Smulders, High School (Freevee)
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks (HBO Max)
Hiam Abbass, Ramy (Hulu)
Jessica Williams, Love Life (HBO Max)
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Prime Video)
Molly Shannon, I Love That For You (Showtime)
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Tisha Campbell, Uncoupled (Netflix)
Zazie Beetz, Atlanta (FX)

***Winner: Hiam Abbass, Ramy (Hulu)

📺 Best Guest Performance in a Comedy

Diedrich Bader, Better Things (FX)
Laura Benanti, Inside Amy Schumer (Paramount+)
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Prime Video)
Ming-Na Wen, Hacks (HBO Max)
Minnie Driver, Starstruck (HBO Max)
Sarita Choudhury, Ramy (Hulu)
Sharon Stone, The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
Wiz Khalifa, Dickinson (Apple TV+)

***Winner: Diedrich Bader, Better Things (FX)

📺 Best Limited Series

Borgen: Power & Glory (Netflix)
The Dropout (Hulu)
Five Days at Memorial (Apple TV+)
Irma Vep (HBO)
The Staircase (HBO Max)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Under the Banner of Heaven (Hulu)
The White Lotus (HBO)

***Winner: Station Eleven (HBO Max)

📺 Best Lead Performance in a Limited series

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout (Hulu)
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven (Hulu)
Cherry Jones, Five Days at Memorial (Apple TV+)
Elle Fanning, The Girl from Plainville (Hulu)
Himesh Patel, Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Julia Roberts, Gaslit (Starz)
Mackenzie Davis, Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus (HBO)
Sidse Babett Knudsen, Borgen: Power & Glory (Netflix)
Toni Colette, The Staircase (HBO Max)

***Winner: Toni Colette, The Staircase (HBO Max)

📺 Best Supporting Performance in a Limited Series

Anna Chlumsky, Inventing Anna (Netflix)
Betty Gilpin, Gaslit (Starz)
Chloe Sevigny, The Girl from Plainville (Hulu)
Danielle Deadwyler, Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Juliette Binoche, The Staircase (HBO Max)
Kathryn Hahn, The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV+)
Kellita Smith, From Scratch (Netflix)
Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus (HBO)
Naveen Andrews, The Dropout (Hulu)

***Winner: Danielle Deadwyler, Station Eleven (HBO Max)

📺 Best in Costume Design

A League of Their Own (Prime Video)
Andor (Disney+)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Gilded Age (HBO)
House of the Dragon (HBO)
Julia (HBO Max)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video)
Pachinko (Apple TV+)
Raised by Wolves (HBO Max)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Ziwe (Showtime)

***Winner: The Gilded Age (HBO)

📺 Best Original Score

Andor (Nicholas Britell) (Disney+)
Euphoria (Labrinth)(HBO)
Life & Beth (Ray Angry, Timo Elliston) (Hulu)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Bear McCreary) (Prime Video)
My Brilliant Friend (Max Richter) (HBO)
Pachinko (Nico Muhly) (Apple TV+)
Severance (Theodore Shapiro) (Apple TV+)
Station Eleven (Dan Romer) (HBO Max)
Starstruck (Matthew Simpson) (HBO Max)
Stranger Things (Kylie Dixon, Michael Stein) (Netflix)
Yellowjackets (Craig Wedren, Anna Waronker) (Showtime)

***Winner: Andor (Disney+)

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Total count by U.S. network/streamer:

HBO (19) + HBO Max (24): 43
Apple TV+: 18
Netflix: 16
Hulu: 14
Starz: 8
Prime Video: 7
Showtime: 7
AMC: 6
Disney+: 5
Paramount+: 5
ABC: 4
Freevee: 1