What's your favorite queer show of the year?
We’re halfway through 2023, and it’s time to take a look at the best queer TV of the year so far.
While some shows like The Bear and Succession are getting most of the accolades for Best TV Show of the Year so far, we’ve got some other favorites — and these ones focus on queer people.
Here are our picks for the best TV shows of 2023 (so far).
1. Abbott Elementary, Season 2
Now in its second season, Abbott Elementary reminds us how great network sitcoms used to be. With a large and hilarious cast and stories that touch our funnybone and our heart, Abbott Elementary continues to show that the networks can still stay in the TV game in the age of streaming.
2. Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers, a remake of the Cronenberg classic about twin doctors, put a lesbian spin on the tale by having Rachel Weisz play both roles of the Mantle twins – two brilliant gynecologists who share everything, including lovers. It’s one of the most bizarre, bloody, and brilliant shows you’ll ever see.
3. RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 15
Drag Race has plenty of great seasons, but still, this one stood out. With queens like eventual winner Sasha Colby, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, and the twins Sugar and Spice, this cast was stacked! Colby is one of our all-time favorite queens on the show, and is one of our favorite queens ever overall!
4. Queen Charlotte
We love this Bridgerton spinoff, and we love even more that it introduced the Bridgerton Universe’s first gay couple. The show, which follows a young Queen Charlotte, features a romance between Brimsley, the Queen’s secretary, and Reynolds, the King’s secretary, and we absolutely love to see it!
5. Schmigadoon!, Season 2
The first season of Schmigadoon! was a pure delight, spoofing classic musicals of the golden age. The second season was even better, moving onto musicals of the '60s and '70s, including Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Chicago, and Godspell. With a cast that includes Dove Cameron, Jane Krakowski, Titus Burgess, Cecily Strong, Ariana DeBose, Alan Cumming, and Kristen Chenoweth, Schmigadoon! always brings the talent.
6. The Last of Us
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey perfectly embody Joel and Ellie in the greatest video game adaptation of all time. Not only does the show perfectly explore the relationship between Joel and Ellie, but we also get to see a flashback to Ellie’s first kiss (with a girl) and a great standalone episode about two gay men falling in love in the apocalypse.
7. Somebody Somewhere, Season 2
Bridget Everett shows a side of America we don’t often get to see on TV in this terrific HBO series. Starring as Sam, a queer Kansas native who recently lost her sister, she’s joined by her gay coworker Joel and trans masc friend Fred in this look into average people’s lives.
8. Swiping America
While Swiping America is a reality show, it felt like a romcom to us! From the creators of We’re Here, this show follows four singles from NYC who go on a trip across America swiping through dating apps looking for love in different cities.
9. The Other Two, Season 3
While The Other Two’s final season was marred by allegations of misconduct by its showrunners, it was one of the funniest, and best, seasons of any sitcom in the last decade. This show knows how to perfectly skewer the entertainment industry and is so good at it, it actually predicted Disney would release a movie with a nonbinary blob less than a month before it actually happened.
10. Yellowjackets, Season 2
If you love women behaving badly, there’s no better show than Yellowjackets. Buoyed by a terrific cast of teens and adults playing the same roles, this show about a girls soccer team that had to survive in the wilderness and how that affects their adult lives has half a dozen of our favorite female characters on TV. This new season got even bloodier and more feral than the first.
