--- description: From 'Pantheon' to 'The Serpent Queen' to 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' title: The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in September 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfac41b5c4b9e9f75/698a35f0cabb1d1df8e50b40/reboot_101_md_03608rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in September 2022  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Sep 29, 2022 12:00 PM CUT  Reboot RebootMichael Desmond—Hulu  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Sep 29, 2022 12:00 PM CUT September was supposed to be all about [_The Rings of Power_](https://time.com/6205837/the-rings-of-power-amazon-most-expensive/ "undefined"). After years of anticipation and controversy, Amazon’s beautiful, record-breakingly expensive _Lord of the Rings_ series finally debut just before Labor Day… and it turned out to be [neither terrible nor great](https://time.com/6209353/rings-of-power-review/ "undefined"). While the company reported that [25 million subscribers](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/lotr-rings-of-power-day-1-record-viewing-amazon-1235211790/ "undefined") around the globe tuned in to the two-episode premiere on its very first day, a lack of subsequent data and the relatively scant chatter about the show on social media suggest that it’s already fading from the forefront of the cultural conversation. Thankfully, as we wait for _Rings_ to find its footing (or not), there’s plenty of superior TV to enjoy. From a cerebral sci-fi cartoon to an irreverent period drama to a crucial Ken Burns docuseries, here are my favorite new shows of September 2022\. For more recommendations, check out my [midyear top 10 list](https://time.com/6176099/best-tv-shows-2022-so-far/ "undefined"). ## _Pantheon_ (AMC+) Eternal life [through technology](https://time.com/66536/terasem-trascendence-religion-technology/ "undefined"). That is the promise of uploaded intelligence (UI), also known as mind uploading, a phenomenon—one that remains, for now, within the realm of [science fiction](https://time.com/3731977/science-fiction-future-wrong/ "undefined")—in which an entire human brain is emulated via computer. The catch: a UI is a disembodied intelligence, without a flesh-and-blood presence in the physical world. Even if it is a “real person” (and that’s a big _if_) living on as a program, that person can’t snuggle in bed with a lover or kiss their children goodnight. So does their existence actually constitute human life? Of all the many big questions that power _Pantheon_, a gripping, cerebral, remarkably high-concept animated sci-fi series, this is both the richest and the most difficult to answer. And it arises out of a situation so mundane, it borders on trite. When we meet 14-year-old Maddie Kim (voiced by Katie Chang), she’s constantly at odds with her mother, Ellen ([Rosemarie DeWitt](https://time.com/author/rosemarie-dewitt/ "undefined")), and is getting mercilessly cyberbullied by the mean girls at her high school. “Most of the girls in my class completely missed the moment when the world began to end, too wrapped up in their own drama, obsessed with their own lives,” Maddie recounts in an intriguing voiceover that opens the series. “Or trying to ruin mine.” **\[**[**Read the full review**](https://time.com/6210082/pantheon-amc-plus-review/ "undefined")**.\]** ## _Reboot_ (Hulu) You’ve never seen _Step Right Up_, but trust me, you already know it well. It’s a Y2K-era family sitcom about a couple co-parenting the wife’s young son with her ex—who also lives with them. It’s [_Full House_](https://time.com/4235582/full-house-fathers/ "undefined") meets _Step by Step_, with a dash of [_Two and a Half Men_](https://time.com/3716503/review-two-and-a-half-men-finale/ "undefined") boorishness. There are zany antics, slapstick gags, and a laugh track. The characters are broad but lovable and eager to learn from one another. The fact that the show doesn’t exist hasn’t stopped it from being revived—in _Reboot_, a smart, perfectly cast Hulu comedy. Created by Steven Levitan, whose credits includes both family sitcoms (_Modern Family_) and TV shows about TV shows ([_The Larry Sanders Show_](https://time.com/collection-post/3103615/the-larry-sanders-show/ "undefined")), _Reboot_ is meta to the max. It opens with 30-something indie filmmaker Hannah ([Rachel Bloom](https://time.com/4185470/crazy-ex-girlfriend-rachel-bloom-spanx-diversity-cw/ "undefined")) pitching executives from, yes, Hulu on a _Step Right Up_ sequel starring original cast members played by [Judy Greer](https://time.com/4021893/natasha-lyonne-judy-greer-addicted-to-fresno/ "undefined") and [Keegan-Michael Key](https://time.com/5498918/keegan-michael-key/ "undefined"). The suits are incredulous. What, they ask, could possibly interest an edgy, young auteur about reheating 20-year-old schmaltz? “You know how, in the old sitcom, the characters always did the right thing?” she explains. “They don’t do the right thing anymore.” **\[**[**Read the full essay**](https://time.com/6214822/reboot-hulu-nostalgia-family-sitcom/ "undefined") **on** **_Reboot_** **and TV’s obsession with reviving late 20th century family sitcoms.\]** ## _The Serpent Queen_ (Starz) There are more legendary female royals in European history than there are tabloid stories about the Sussexes, and Starz seems determined to make TV shows out of every single one. _The White Queen_. _The White Princess_. _The Spanish Princess_. _Becoming Elizabeth._ (An Eleanor of Aquitaine series is also in the works, as part of a planned franchise exploring “[extraordinary women in history](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/starz-developing-eleanor-of-aquitaine-drama-4093305/ "undefined").”) The standout, so far, is _The Serpent Queen_—an unconventional biography of Catherine de Medici, one of France’s most unconventional queens. Framed as a series of conversations between a middle-aged Catherine (the great Samantha Morton) and Rahima (Sennia Nanua), a servant girl she’s taken under her wing, the show traces the Italian-born Queen’s rise from a traumatic childhood in convents to one of the most powerful seats in the world, alongside her husband King Henry II. It’s no fairy tale; plain but clever, 14-year-old Catherine (played as a teenager by Liv Hill) must prove her utility to the French court in order to preserve her marriage to a boy (Alex Heath) who’s loyal to his older mistress, Diane de Poitiers (Ludivine Sagnier). Creator Justin Haythe seizes on the absurdity of court intrigue, splitting the difference between straight-faced, old-school costume drama and gleefully anachronistic romps like _The Great_ and _The Favourite_. It’s a delicate balance to strike, but Morton and Hill are both up to it, in a pair of excellent, poker-faced performances that set the tone for the entire cast. ## _The U.S. and the Holocaust_ (PBS) Ken Burns’ typically textbook-like but genuinely illuminating series revisits the familiar story of how the Third Reich’s exploitation of its own [Big Lie](https://time.com/6187273/jan-6-hearing-mail-voting-trump/ "undefined") led to the Holocaust. But its unique contribution is to trace the conspiracy theory’s connection to and power over the United States, where [Henry Ford had published screeds](https://www.history.com/news/henry-ford-antisemitism-worker-treatment "undefined") against the international Jewish community that helped inspire [_Mein Kampf_](https://time.com/4132451/adolf-hitler-mein-kampf/ "undefined")and a President as progressive as FDR, fearing a public backlash, repeatedly failed to offer asylum to European Jews fleeing Hitler. **\[**[**Read the full essay**](https://time.com/6216093/shadowland-us-and-the-holocaust/ "undefined") **on** **_The U.S. and the Holocaust_** **, Peacock’s** **_Shadowland_** **, and America’s contemporary conspiracy theorists.\]** ## _Wedding Season_ (Hulu) Back in 2019, Hulu tried to reboot Richard Curtis’ classic romantic comedy _Four Weddings and Funeral_ as a miniseries from creator Mindy Kaling. To say that it didn’t work out would be [putting it kindly](https://time.com/5632731/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-hulu-review/ "undefined"). Happily, the streamer has now redeemed itself with _Wedding Season_ (not to be confused with the recent Netflix original movie of the same name), a fun action rom-com that combines the young-adult nuptial whirlwind of _Four Weddings_ with the lovers-on-the-run thrills of _Bonnie and Clyde_. When we meet the fugitives in question, Stefan (Gavin Drea) and Katie (Rosa Salazar), he’s interrupting her wedding vows to pledge his undying affection. She shuts him down immediately: “I. Don’t. Want. You. In. My. Life.” Then security tackles him to the floor. Little does Stefan, a hopeless romantic, know that just hours later, Katie’s new husband and his whole family will be dead, she’ll be the prime suspect in their murder, and she’ll have drafted him to abet her escape. As he attempts to figure out whether she’s a psycho killer or, as she insists, just the patsy in an underworld assassination plot, the twisty narrative alternates between that high-intensity flight from the law and flashbacks to their courtship on the wedding-season circuit. Sometimes the mismatched genres can lead to real dissonance; _Wedding Season_ got a little darker than I’d hoped. But the show’s tight, propulsive episodes make it hard to stop watching. Salazar is, as always, a force of nature, and her chemistry with Drea sells even the loopiest moments. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6216865/best-tv-shows-september-2022/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6216865/best-tv-shows-september-2022/"},"headline":"The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in September 2022","datePublished":"2022-09-29T12:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:48:53.246Z","description":"From 'Pantheon' to 'The Serpent Queen' to 'The U.S. and the Holocaust'","url":"https://time.com/6216865/best-tv-shows-september-2022/","keywords":["Television","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfac41b5c4b9e9f75/698a35f0cabb1d1df8e50b40/reboot_101_md_03608rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfac41b5c4b9e9f75/698a35f0cabb1d1df8e50b40/reboot_101_md_03608rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Step Right Up","caption":"Step Right Up","creditText":"Michael Desmond—Hulu","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6216865/best-tv-shows-september-2022/","name":"The 5 Best New TV Shows Our Critic Watched in September 2022"}}]}] ```