It’s been quite a while since I’ve come across a show like FX’s The Bear, a drama starring Jeremy Allen White as a hotshot chef who comes back home to Chicago to manage the kitchen of his dead brother’s sandwich shop — and about which people almost universally rave is among the best TV that 2023 has to offer. Everywhere I turn, people are asking whether I’ve watched this fantastic series, Season 1 of which so completely bowled over so many viewers that many of them were holding their breath for the debut of the sophomore season in recent days. Steeling themselves for the inevitable slump … which this show, among the highest-rated of the year so far, has successfully avoided.
In our separate review of Season 2 of The Bear, my colleague Jacob Siegal describes the new season as so good it actually manages to outdo its fantastic inaugural season. Moreover, you don’t have to take his word for it.
The Bear (available to stream on Hulu) is in rare company when it comes to the highest-rated shows as scored by Rotten Tomatoes. There aren’t that many, including The Bear, that have perfect or near-perfect scores on the review aggregation site for each and every one of their seasons. Below, we’ve included a bit about each of these shows, starting with FX’s latest gem.
Five of the highest-rated shows available to watch right now
The Bear: From the official FX description, “Season two of FX’s The Bear, the critically acclaimed original series, follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot.
“As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.”
Fleabag: Starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who can currently be seen on the big screen as Helena Shaw in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) as a woman with a very dry wit who’s known only as Fleabag, this is a dramedy about a woman navigating the pitfalls of love and the daily encumbrances of life in London, while also coping with tragedy and grief.
Counterpart: This next title on our list of some of the highest-rated shows available to watch right now is one of the trippiest, coolest, and weirdest sci-fi shows I think I’ve ever seen. Not to mention the fact that it has a plot that’s convoluted as hell, which probably ended up working against it (in terms of the show not making it beyond two seasons). Nevertheless, its perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores remain, and here’s what the show is about:
J.K. Simmons plays a low-level bureaucrat at a UN spy agency who accidentally stumbles across a gateway to a parallel world — one in which he has an identical counterpart who’s also much deadlier than he is. Overall, Counterpart offers a fascinating rabbit hole of a sci-fi spy series to get lost in.
Hacks: From the official description of this multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy series starring Jean Smart: “Deborah Vance has blazed a trail through the male-dominated comedy scene for decades, hustling her way into a prime Las Vegas residency while simultaneously cultivating a successful brand of luxury items and endorsements. But after the casino owner threatens to pull back on her nights in favor of younger acts, Deborah’s manager Jimmy pitches another one of his clients, recently outcast television writer Ava, to help freshen up her set.
“A brutally honest and unpredictably hilarious half-hour series, Hacks explores the dark mentorship that forms between the legendary comedian and her entitled new writing partner.”
Feel Good: This semi-autobiographical Netflix release from Mae Martin and Joe Hampson stars Martin as a version of themself, and Charlotte Ritchie as George, Mae’s girlfriend. According to the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus summary of the second season, Feel Good‘s second season “is at once sharp and soft, a bittersweet examination of love and life that will leave viewers wanting more from Mae Martin ASAP.”
