The 15 Best TV Scenes Of 2024

2024 has been a surprising year for television. 2023 was plagued with simultaneous strikes by the Writer's Guild (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), pausing production of many film and television projects and delaying others. Back in 2008, the WGA strike produced some of the worst movies and TV shows of the decade, so there was a lot for TV audiences especially to be worried about heading into this year. As streaming services continued to dominate the industry, it's been harder than ever to keep up with what the hottest new shows are.

Fortunately, some shows have risen above the rest, from Hulu's "The Bear" to HBO's "Hacks." Franchises also thrived on TV, from the slums of Gotham in "The Penguin" to the soaring heights of "House of the Dragon." But among some of the year's biggest shows (as well as some of its most underrated offerings), these individual scenes stood out to both fans and critics as the best that the medium had to offer in 2024. 

"English Teacher" seemingly came out of nowhere, becoming one of the year's most memorable new comedies. Brian Jordan Alvarez stars as Evan, a high school English teacher navigating the struggles of connecting with the current generation. This dynamic is best on display in the third episode, "Kayla Syndrome," where Evan becomes confused with the inner politics of teenagers when a student named Kayla (Romy Mars) is caught in a battle for popularity with her best friend Chelsea (Ivy Wolk) over Kayla's "asymptomatic Tourette's" diagnosis. 

The scene in question is a ping-pong match of witty dialogue as Evan tries to wrap his head around the confusing rules of what you can and can't say in reference to Kayla's "condition." It's only when the class is dismissed that Evan learns from gym teacher Markie (Sean Patton) that "Kayla Syndrome" was invented by Kayla to take attention away from Chelsea, which Chelsea countered by drumming up support for her "best friend" to steal the spotlight back. The entire sequence is a masterclass in ironic line readings and perfect sitcom writing. 

Kristen Wiig is one of many "SNL" cast members who have done wildly different roles since leaving the show. Her post-"SNL" career has proven her to be a capable dramatic actress with "The Skeleton Twins" and "Welcome to Me," but few roles have perfectly fit Wiig like Maxine in Apple TV+'s "Palm Royale," centered on an enigmatic woman in late-'60s Florida willing to do whatever it takes to be accepted by the titular country club and its snobby members. 

The Season 1 finale, "Maxine Throws a Party," finds Wiig's character finally unraveling at the Beach Ball. After uncovering her husband's (Josh Lucas) affair with a fellow socialite (Kaia Gerber), Maxine goes through with a performance of "Is That All There Is?" As Maxine breaks down mid-song, she reveals not only her own secrets but spills the beans on the skeletons in everyone else's closets as well. Even Wiig's co-star, the legendary Carol Burnett, called the scene "one of the greatest pieces of acting I have ever seen in my life" in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Who are we to disagree with Carol Burnett?

Given the critical acclaim for "Atlanta," there was a lot of anticipation for the 2024 reboot of the film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which paired Donald Glover with "Obi-Wan Kenobi" star Maya Erskine as anonymous assassins posing as a married couple. The show examines relationship dynamics as these killers get to know each other and fall in love. In the sixth episode, "Couples Therapy," the two make frequent visits to a therapist (Sarah Paulson) to sort out their issues while avoiding going into detail about what they're really fighting about.

It all reaches a breaking point when, via flashback to a mission gone wrong, Jane discovers that John lied about having the same favorite book as her. Jane accuses John of being manipulative, while John lashes out at her for the same behavior. It escalates when Jane criticizes John for still talking to his mom against company rules, and he berates her for having no one in her life to care about except for him. Of course, it's all about the fireworks between Glover and Erskine on screen, even when they're at each other's throats. 

"Hacks" has been a sleeper hit for HBO, with the third and most recent season racking up Emmy wins at 2024's ceremony. It follows Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary Las Vegas comedienne who hires the self-centered Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) to be her head writer. The third season really feels like a climax for the duo's toxic-yet-loving relationship, as evidenced by the season finale, "Bulletproof." 

After learning she's being demoted from head writer to staff on Deborah's new late-night show, Ava confronts her boss, who defends the decision as being made to satisfy network executives, which Ava calls B.S. on. Einbinder's performance in this scene is astounding, while Smart plays the heartbreak of losing Ava beautifully. In an interview with TVLine, Einbinder called Deborah's betrayal of Ava "a bridge too far ... Deborah has physically assaulted Ava, she's slapped her across the face, she's fired her..." Thankfully, however, Ava one-ups Deborah by the end of the season the good old-fashioned way: via blackmail.

The first episode of "Extraordinary," the British TV comedy about a world where (almost) everybody discovers superpowers when they turn 18, hits viewers hard in the feelings with the revelation that Jen's father (Máiréad Tyers) is deceased, and her phone calls with him are actually with her roommate Carrie (Sofia Oxenham), who can channel the dead. Both seasons of "Extraordinary" focus heavily on Jen's inability to move on, until she's finally forced to let her father go in order to finally develop her latent superpowers. 

The finale of Season 2, "Well, Goodbye Forever," does just this as Jen and Carrie go to her childhood bedroom so she can say farewell to her dad permanently. The scene is incredibly touching, as a tearful Jen tells her father that she wishes he could see her with powers, but he reminds her he loves her the way she is. In typical dad fashion, the goodbye ends with a joke: "Knock, knock," he says. Jen replies, "Who's there?" Her father responds, "Toodle." You can see where it incites tears from there. 

One new show of 2024 that blew everyone away was "Fallout" on Amazon Prime Video, based on the iconic video game franchise of the same name. 200 years into a nuclear apocalypse where survivors have relocated to bunkers known as Vaults, Lucy (Ella Purnell) leaves the only home she's ever known to venture out into the wasteland and find her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan). Along the way, Lucy meets a mysterious, deformed gunslinger known as The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), and in the Season 1 finale, "The Beginning," Lucy's search for Hank results in more truth than she bargained for.

Lucy learns that the Vaults were designed by Hank's bosses as a way to entrap civilians for human experimentation. When Lucy's mother (Elle Vertes) discovered the conspiracy, she tried to escape with her children, but was deformed in a nuclear explosion set off by Hank. The scene in question sees Lucy alone with her mother when The Ghoul arrives, offering to protect her. Lucy accepts, but not before mercy-killing her mother's feral ghoul self and coldly saying "Okey dokey," with none of the pep she's shown previously for the entire series. 

For the most part, "Only Murders in the Building" is one of the funniest shows on TV right now, pairing Steve Martin and Martin Short with Selena Gomez and other comedy legends for four seasons of hilarious whodunits. However, the show's not afraid to get dark and dramatic when the titular murders call for it, which is exactly how it kicked off its fourth and most recent season. The first episode, "Once Upon a Time in the West," finds our trio gallivanting around Hollywood with a movie deal, unaware that Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), Charles' friend and stunt double, has been murdered. 

The killing is eventually discovered in a long sequence with little dialogue, mimicking the opening scene of the film referenced by the episode title. Nothing is more chilling than the horrified looks on Charles, Oliver, and Mabel's faces when they find Sazz's ashes in the Arconia's incinerator, next to her unscathed Bulgarian shoulder replacements — nothing, that is, except for the scene's haunting orchestral music, and a mysterious text from Sazz's phone threatening the trio.  

HBO's six-episode miniseries "The Regime" had quite a lot of mixed reviews, but one scene earned a spot on this list for a single reason: Kate Winslet. There aren't many projects that Winslet hasn't uplifted just by being in them, and "The Regime" is one of them. The show finds Winslet playing Elena Vernham, the chancellor of a fictional European authoritarian government who is growing increasingly paranoid due to public unrest. The first episode, "Victory Day," sets up the show's tone perfectly in a scene where Elena visits her father (Finbar Lynch), who happens to be very dead.

Arriving as his corpse is being prepared for public viewing, Elena brings him flowers, saying, "Here. These are dead. You're dead. Lots in common. Much to discuss." It's one of the funniest performances Winslet has ever given, but what makes this scene really stand out is how emotional it becomes as she argues with herself as if her father is still alive, with Elena still acting like a petulant daddy's girl. Even when acting opposite a corpse, Kate Winslet kills it. 

Leave it to Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie to create some of the most mind-boggling TV of the year. Showtime's "The Curse" mostly aired in late 2023, though its final two episodes premiered in January of 2024, starting the year off strong with some truly insane shenanigans. It's the finale in particular, "Green Queen," that feels like the most out-of-left-field episode, in which Whitney (Emma Stone) and Asher (Fielder) await the coming of their baby, only for Asher to wake up one morning the victim of a reversal of gravity, a situation so stressful that it causes Whitney's water to break. 

The remainder of the episode is, as Entertainment Weekly described it, "approximately 40 minutes of 'OMG WTF is happening' insanity," as Whitney tries to save Asher, first by trying to pull him down, then by trying to get him outside. It all feels like one massive fever dream, only Asher's already awake. The entire sequence is easily the craziest television of 2024, with as much levity (thanks to the perfectly self-centered Dougie, played by Safdie) as there is genuine terror at what is happening to Asher. 

The biggest worry fans had about Season 2 of "Arcane" was that it wouldn't live up to the first season. The animated Netflix show, based on the "League of Legends" video game series, follows sisters Violet "Vi" (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder "Jinx" (Ella Purnell) as they end up on opposite sides of a class struggle between the city of Piltover and its poverty-stricken underbelly, Zaun. Fortunately, Season 2 exceeded expectations, according to fans and critics, but one scene in particular tugged at their heartstrings in Episode 5, "Blisters and Bedrock."

In a flashback to Vander and Silco's early days of adventuring, Vander's bar is visited by Felicia, the future mother of Vi and Jinx, who reveals her pregnancy to the two. Given all the tragedy and change that's coming for these three characters, getting to see them pal around and express hope towards the future really broke a lot of fans' hearts. It's especially heart-tugging thanks to its placement in the episode — after Vi reunites with Vander, who has now become a werewolf, but still recognizes his surrogate daughter. 

It's been a tough few years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the studio dealt with its biggest financial failures on the big screen and lots of behind-the-scenes turmoil. It may have seemed misguided for Disney+ to release a spin-off of the completely unhinged "WandaVision" centered on Kathryn Hahn's wicked Agatha Harkness. However, "Agatha All Along" has seen glowing reviews, particularly for the first episode, "Seekest Thou the Road," which mostly takes on the style of a "Mare of Easttown" true-crime show with Agatha as its grizzled lead detective.

Unfortunately, Agatha's reunion with former lover Rio (Aubrey Plaza) causes her to realize that the spell placed on her at the end of "WandaVision" has been broken. In the first episode's climactic moment, Agatha strips herself of her television-inspired personas, including her exercise-ready '80s workout gear and even a monochrome gown from the '50s-inspired episodes of "WandaVision." It's a satisfying return for one of the biggest runaway hit characters the MCU has ever had, and you can tell that Hahn relished the idea of Agatha reawakening in her own house, fully nude and delirious. 

If you haven't been following Cristin Milioti's career since "How I Met Your Mother" ended, then frankly you've been missing out. The actress has been shining in more dramatic work like the "Black Mirror" episode "U.S.S. Callister," as well as films like "Palm Springs." However, her work in the first season of "The Batman" spin-off "The Penguin" on HBO is nothing short of immaculate. Milioti stars opposite Colin Farrell's unrecognizable Oswald Cobb as Sofia, the daughter of Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong), and her recent release from prison spells trouble for Oz's scheming.

It doesn't take long for "The Penguin" to dive deep into Sofia's character, setting her up to be a dangerous player in the world of Gotham. The series' fourth episode, "Cent'Anni," mainly follows Sofia's backstory before catching up to the present day, where Sofia gives a chilling speech accusing her family of throwing her under the bus: "I trusted you, I loved you, and yet not one of you tried to help me." She walks out of the family dinner with the last word, and as it turns out, her life, as Sofia subsequently kills everyone in the mansion with carbon monoxide poisoning. 

If you're like us, you haven't been able to get "Baby Reindeer" out of your head since you watched it. The Netflix miniseries stars comedian Richard Gadd, who created the show based on his own experiences with a stalker, played in the show by Jessica Gunning. It's impressive enough that Gadd is reliving a scary true story in "Baby Reindeer," but it's especially impressive in the sixth episode, when a stand-up competition finds Donny Dunn (Gadd) breaking down onstage, throwing away his props, and ranting for nine — yes, nine — minutes. 

Attempting to recap the contents of Donny's monologue would be nothing short of a disservice to not just Gadd's performance, but his lived experience as a survivor of sexual violence. It's best experienced after watching the entire series, even if it's not the most leisurely watch of 2024. All you need to know is that at this year's Emmy Awards, Gadd won both outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series and outstanding writing in a limited or anthology series. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

One of the biggest surprises on TV in 2024 was FX's "Shōgun," a historical drama based on a 1975 novel by James Clavell. It followed the capture of Englishman John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) by powerful Japanese daimyo Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), with their conflict mediated by Tornaga's translator Mariko (Anna Sawai). Although the show has already been renewed for two more seasons, the Season 1 finale, "A Dream of a Dream," feels like the completion of a major transformation for Blackthorne, as evidenced by this memorable scene.

Asking Toranaga to spare the village of Ajiro from his wrath, Blackthorne offers up his own life as a sacrifice: "I die, not village," he says. Toranaga rejects Blackthorne's offer, but that doesn't stop Blackthorne from attempting to commit seppuku anyway in protest of Toranaga's callousness. In a surprising move by Toranaga, he saves the Englishman from killing himself and commands him to build a fleet of ships. It's incredibly satisfying to see these season-long enemies not only come to understand what they need from each other, but understand each other without a translator. 

It wouldn't be right to end this list without saying goodbye to one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history. Since its first season in 1999, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has served as a continuation of the "nothingness" started by Larry David on "Seinfeld." For its finale in 2024, "No Lessons Learned," David opted to take things back to the notoriously controversial ending of "Seinfeld," where Jerry and his friends are sent to prison. 

"No Lessons Learned" owes a lot to the "Seinfeld" finale, as Larry faces numerous figures from his past who have come to testify against him in court. After a guilty verdict, Jerry Seinfeld visits Larry's cell with great news: he recognized a juror that broke sequestration, resulting in a convenient mistrial for Larry. As Jerry tells Larry, "You don't wanna end up like this. Nobody wants to see it, trust me." Seeing the two walk away together, acknowledging the ending they should have done 26 years earlier, feels like the end of a beautiful era of TV.