Pop Five: Our 5 Favorite Things From 2024

The Friday High 5: With special guest Sheila Moeschen!

These may or may not make the cut. Images: FX, HBO Max, Prime Video

Welcome to this very special edition of the Friday High 5! Instead of sharing my favorite things from the past week, we’re casting a much bigger net to snare the choice morsels we digested in 2024. And by we, I mean myself and my friend

Sheila Moeschen

, the author, photographer, and pop culture aficionado at the newsletter Stay Curious.

Sheila: I was very excited when Eric reached out to ask me if I wanted to play along with a 2024 Pop Five Picks (or a name that he picked, which is less dopey. I am no Peggy Olsen). I think it was a tremendous year for pop media/entertainment across the board. It was hard to narrow things down to a stand-out, top five. Sure, I know that’s part of the point, but, look. I’m a Gen Xer. I come from the era of BIG DIVORCE. I’m more comfortable going with the psychological warfare of playing favorites while cursorily acknowledging “oh, you’re here too, I guess.”

Eric, was there one area of pop culture that you think was especially strong in 2024?

Eric says: TV, 100%. People have been talking about Peak TV for years, but 2024 offered a true embarrassment of riches. There are so many amazing shows and just not enough time to see them all. It’s a real problem. I’m not going to make a sweeping statement about the waning influence of cinema amid TV’s continual rise, but anecdotally I usually choose TV over movies. Which is why a film from 2023 made my 2024 list.

Sheila’s answer: For me it was television. It wasn’t that there was an avalanche of engaging shows, but more like a slow burn of just the right kind of meaty programming doled out in such a way where I really looked forward to watching from week to week or, in the case of The Bear, trying not to hoover it up too quickly. There was a lot to love. And quite a few shows took some big swings.

Honorable Mentions

Putting this together was a bit awkward because I’m in the midst of several things I’m seriously enjoying, but I don’t yet know how they’ll play out. So I’m tucking them into this category. That way my taste can’t be called into question if they fumble at a point I haven’t yet reached, but I also get partial credit for acknowledging their excellence.

Also, narrowing down to five is really hard!

Eric’s Honorable Mentions:

• The Bear: I finally dove into this show in 2024, watching all 3 seasons in the span of a couple of months. It’s a brilliant piece of storytelling and some of the best drama I’ve seen. It’s also one of the most frustrating shows I’ve ever seen. The show’s greatest strength—how very real it feels—is ultimately what bumped it out of my top 5. Turns out I need just a little catharsis in my storytelling, cousin.

• Fallout: I seriously loved this show when it aired, but that was so long ago it’s become a victim of memory. Was it as good as I remember? My sense is it’s not a top 5 thing. But it deserves mention for gifting us Boyd Crowder as a wasteland ghoul.

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: This game is the Indiana Jones sequel we always wanted but never got. It actually kind of an anti-game, in that it’s a bit slow and methodical. You can punch Nazis to your heart’s content, but the game is about exploration and solving puzzles. It evokes the 80s era of Indiana Jones, in that Harrison Ford looks 40 and there’s no aliens, time travel, or heroes swinging with monkeys. It’s pretty compelling.

• Skeleton Crew: I’ve still only watched the first episode, which I loved dearly. Skeleton Crew ended up a casualty of the Christmas season, and also my quest to watch almost every Christmas movie available. This is one of my first priorities for the new year.

• Shogun: Was on my radar from the jump, but I kept putting it off for unknown reasons. I’ve binged the first 5 episodes and will complete season 1 in a matter of days, but not soon enough for this list. What I thought was going to be The Last Samurai: The Show is actually a deep exploration of cultural divides and a love story, told against a backdrop of Game of Thrones-esque machinations. There’s only occasional samuraing. It’s riveting.

• Star Wars: Outlaws: I got this for Christmas and I’ve already put 8 hours into it. Loving my second life as a scoundrel on the come-up, and that the game is built around duplicitousness being a career path. The gameplay is a bit clunky at times, but the plusses far outweigh the few negatives.

Sheila—do you have anything that didn’t quite make the cut, either because you didn’t finish it or maybe it was nudged aside for something below?

She’s Honorable Mentions:

I also totally enjoyed Fallout (ready for season 2, please AND Walton Goggins White Lotus season 3 !!! stay tuned…); thought True Detective: Night Country redefined the horror TV genre and, also, more Jodie Foster in EVERYTHING, please!; Shogun ended up capturing my heart for its elegantly wrought power plays in the story of a world that I would not necessarily gravitate towards; and Shrinking season 2 finished very strong. Give Jessica Williams her own damn show already! Yes to The Bear’s most recent season, which I want to rewatch, but on its first pass I still think this is some of the best television made in this decade. Finally, a couple of last, quick nods: The Greatest Night in Pop documentary about the making of “We Are the World” global phenomenon–this is a must watch for any respectable Gen X-er. I had that damn cast poster on my wall until I graduated high school I think. And Yacht Rock: A Documentary. Just watch, learn, listen, and then make your sweet-ass, super group yacht jam playlist to help you take the edge off of 2025.

Our 5 Favorite Things

These don’t have to be released in 2024; that’s just when we first enjoyed them. They’re also sorted in reverse order, 5 to 1, because countdowns build tension.

To keep things interesting, we’ll alternate Sheila’s list and mine.

Eric’s #5: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

The blockbuster has become Hollywood’s primary vehicle for getting audiences into theaters. It’s also become a self-referential funhouse mirror of cinema. These movies are big and also dumb.

The superhero sub-genre lost itself within the multiverse. The Fast and the Furious franchise fully embraced satire. Even Keanu has gotten tired of John Wick. Tom Cruise stands alone, an icon from a long-gone era, stubbornly and yet heroically holding the line against inevitability.

Somehow Mission Impossible gets better with each iteration. It defies logic.

Dead Reckoning isn’t the best movie I saw in 2024. I’d give that to Dune: Part 2 or Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (another 2023 banger I watched last year). But Dead Reckoning was easily the most entertaining movie I saw in 2024. And these days, more often than not, I need my entertainment to actually be entertaining. Take that as an indictment on my character if you must, but times be hard yo. I need my escapism to do a Calgon and actually take me away. And whew boy, did Dead Reckoning ever do that.

I missed it in theaters in 2023 but won’t make the same mistake with Part Two.

She’s #5: 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrain, and Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool by James Kaplan

Look at me sliding a book in the list!

I’m fascinated by music culture in general, across genres and eras. I dip in and out of jazz pretty indiscriminately; I simply enjoy a lot of it for the sheer experience of everything going on sonically. 3 Shades knits together the story of how Davis’ legendary Kind of Blue recording came into the world. So it’s also the story of race and racism; the music industry in the jazz heyday of the 30s into the early-60s; art; creativity; city culture; and a kind of genius that came at an unbearably high cost for too many of these musicians.

Totally engrossing, beautifully written, and, for me, a whole new portal to a ton of new music.

Eric’s #4: When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan’s Last Comeback

I also have a book on my list! Aren’t we cultured?

This is the greatest sports book I have ever read.

When Nothing Else Matters is about the largely forgotten and ignored final act of Michael Jordan’s pro career, when he came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards. MJ was the team’s executive in charge of all basketball matters at the time. After less than a year of watching the team struggle, Jordan decided to pull a Thanos and take matters into his own hands, un-retiring for a second time.

Listen to the way Michael Leahy writes about Jordan’s doomed struggle to recapture the magic.

Afterward, most of the whispers were about Jordan, of something irretrievably lost. People understood that he would come back strong enough in time, that he would have many good games, probably even a few great nights. But some piece of him was no longer there, and it was not coming back. It is that way with magic: When it is gone, it is gone, and never does hard work bring it back, for work never accounted for the magic in the first place. It was just there. And at some point it is not—and Jordan could no more summon it now than he could have demanded it when it first touched him.

It’s a book about legacy, mortality, and hubris, that just happens to take place on a basketball court. There are a lot of clear analogies to the pursuit of excellence in any field, including writing.

She’s # 4: Mike Birbiglia

Mike Birbiglia is a comedian who was on my periphery for a while, but one night last winter his special, The New One, rolled into my Netflix rotation and I just thought “could be something.”

Friends, I am now an unashamed Birbigliac (™ pending).

Over the next several days during that same week I went on a Birbiglia spree for as much as I could find to stuff in my face: What I Should Have Said was Nothing; My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (watched twice); Thank God for Jokes; The New One (again because it was just so, so good!); The Old Man & the Pool; Good One: A Show About Jokes. His shows take the form of one long form humorous narrative woven from comedic digressions and shot through with intelligence and moments of really profound emotional depth. AND IT IS ALL SO VERY FUNNY!

It’s theatre meets stand-up meets Moth-like storytelling. It is the mark of a real master of the comedy craft—up there with Carlin, early Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Hannah Gadsby—that you not only come away from a show thinking about what you just experienced, but being able to quote or replay the material.

Birbiglia hosts a regular podcast, Working it Out, which is phenomenal. It’s a thoughtful and fun discussion on creativity and art making with all kinds of people in books, film, comedy, and more. I am also super excited to have scored tickets to see him live in his current show, The Good Life, when he comes to Massachusetts in February. There is a distinct possibility the evening will end with someone filing a restraining order.

Eric’s #3: Hacks

This spot was a toss-up between Hacks and The Bear. Both are worthy of any such list. In the end, I picked the show that brought me the most joy. Though, like The Bear, Hacks seems determined to kick me in the nuts every so often just to make sure I’m still breathing.

Hacks is a hilarious (and alternatively heartwarming and heartbreaking) show about a legendary Las Vegas comedian and her endearing yet twisted relationship with a Gen Z writer. It’s a smart show that tackles heady topics and is also gut-bustingly funny. The sort that makes you laugh tears.

Imagine Ted Lasso with better jokes and real-world stakes. That’s the kind of greatness we’re talking about here, people.

There are 3 seasons and each has been better than the last. Easily one of the best shows on TV.

She’s #3: Hacks

Stop me if you’ve heard this already!

Season 3 of Hacks totally brought it and then some. The characters became even more dimensional, which is always a good sign that a show is going to deliver and not stall out or fall back on weak arcs. This season also raised the stakes for every individual character both in terms of their professional aspirations and personal growth.

It was the latter that made for some of the more brilliant and hilarious moments. As Deborah and Ava proved to themselves and one another—evolving is not without its costs and that’s also what made this season feel quite powerful and real. The last episode is a total “knives out” kind of situation between Deborah and Ava that I cannot WAIT to see play out. HURRY UP HACKS WRITERS!

Eric says: If you’re still not convinced, Sheila and I also recorded a Hacks podcast!

Eric’s #2: Baldur’s Gate 3

You may be wondering: Is this just a sneaky way for Eric to add D&D to his 2024 list, even though he’s been playing since 1980-something?

Outside of playing at a table with friends, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the truest representation of the D&D experience. It even has dong physics. They’ve thought of everything.

I haven’t finished the game because it’s super long. But I’ve put well over 100 hours into it; at this point, it doesn’t even matter how the game ends. Like real-life D&D, the game is about the journey, never the destination. And also the crazy, once-in-a-lifetime shenanigans that arise.

Outside of actual D&D, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most fun I had gaming in 2024.

She’s #2: Somebody Somewhere

I had eyeballed the ad for this on MAX a bunch. I felt like it was probably worth a watch, but honestly I didn’t know if I could subject my heart to, what I suspected, was its emotional kung-fu grip. But after my friend

Beth Lisogorsky

enthusiastically posted about the show, I said “Suit up heart! We are going IN!” I am so, so, SO glad I did.

Comedian/singer-actor Bridget Everett plays Sam, a woman in her mid-40s who moves back to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas to care for her dying sister, Holly, who has already passed when the first episode begins. It’s a show deeply moving, but totally unadorned by treacly sentiment. It’s “real Topeka people” (if you know Almost Famous, you know) finding one another to build family and muddle along together. And that’s one of the things that made Somebody Somewhere special and real: humaning isn’t easy. It’s very three steps forward, two steps back and that’s on really good days. But if you find your people and really let them in, everything gets better even when it’s still complete shit.

Eric’s #1: The Penguin

If you’ve been paying any attention the last few months, you probably could’ve guessed this show would end up here, at the top of my list. I’ve written about it twice, mentioned it numerous times in the High 5, and recorded 3 separate podcast episodes on it (the last of which will release next week).

This show, man.

The Penguin takes one of the silliest character concepts and turns him into a real human being. That in itself isn’t necessarily of note. What makes this show my favorite is how it plays with and subverts our expectations. We know Oswald Cobb is going to become the infamous Batman villain—that’s the entire point of the show. His moniker is the freaking title. But what we didn’t expect is to empathize with and even come to like this character, and then to have those feelings continually questioned. Even at the end, in the aftermath of tragedy and horror, I still like the guy. Hate what he does, like the character.

If that’s not strong writing, I don’t know what is.

The dark horse of the show is Sofia Falcone. And though the show is Oswald’s come-up, it makes room for her story to unfold alongside his. Her arc is just as fully-formed. She’s the closest thing the show has to a hero.

I don’t know where the show and these characters go from here, but even if this was a one-and-done deal, totally worth it.

If Colin Farrell doesn’t win an Emmy for his performance, we riot.

She’s #1: The Penguin

Given how dark, gritty, unsettling, and brutal this show turned out to be, it does feel weird to cheerfully declare it as a favorite among favorites. The show is a harrowing trip that tracks the ascension of Oz Cobb from mid-level thug to Gotham’s newest psychotic super villain, The Penguin. Smart. Complicated. Visually and thematically layered—this show kept me up at night making my brain twitch.

One of the things that I think set it apart from other equally as strong dramas was that in the character of Oz it did not give us the kind of anti-hero we’ve come to expect. Instead it kept us consistently off-balance; I know that Oz is irredeemable and yet, still, maybe, could there be just a possibility…maybe? I am a fool. I know! THIS IS WHY THE SHOW IS THAT GOOD!!

Let’s end with a question: What’s your pop culture outlook for 2025?

Eric says: This will sound incredibly self-serving given who’s saying it, but I think pop culture will be more important in 2025 than ever. A lot of people are going to be looking for hope, or even just escape, from the very real world. Even given the years-long run Peak TV has had, it still feels like we’re at the beginning. What’s truly wonderful is the many shapes that greatness takes—The Bear, Hacks, Fallout, The Penguin… all incredible shows, all very different in temperament and style.

I feel less enthusiastic about movies. There’s a handful I’m looking forward to, but it’s largely a wasteland of sequels, remakes, and reboots. Business as usual, but this business sucks.

She’s answer: I hope we see more solid storytelling, more investment in characters and narratives that have a fresh angle. I think we’ll see more nostalgia in play, if for no other reason than refuge from some of the predictable political and cultural mayhem. I also hope for some more solid representations in the sitcom arena. I found myself rewatching stuff like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Scrubs because I miss those single-camera types of shows. If a pop culture genie is listening to this wish: Please let us take a departure from the “show as documentary” format.

---

Your turn!

What were the best shows/movies/games/books you enjoyed in 2024? Share in the comments!