2014 · 4 Seasons · Starz · Adventure / Drama
Black Sails is a slow-building masterpiece that transforms a Treasure Island prequel into one of the most intellectually ambitious and emotionally devastating dramas of the 2010s, hiding a profound meditation on civilization and rebellion inside a pirate show.
2017 · 2 Seasons · Starz · Sci-Fi, Thriller
Counterpart is a masterclass in parallel universe storytelling and dual performance, with J.K. Simmons delivering two completely distinct versions of the same man in a Cold War spy thriller set across diverging realities.
2009 · 3 Seasons · Starz · Comedy
Party Down is one of the sharpest comedies about failure ever made. Set inside a Los Angeles catering company staffed by aspiring actors, writers, and comedians who haven't made it yet and probably won't, the show found a tone that was both ruthlessly funny and quietly heartbreaking. The original two seasons from 2009-2010 are essentially perfect half-hour comedy, with an ensemble that includes Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Ken Marino, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, and Jane Lynch. The 2023 revival third season proved the concept still worked while also demonstrating why some shows are best remembered at their peak. Across all three seasons, Party Down's central joke never gets old: these people are serving appetizers at someone else's party, and every episode reminds them of the distance between where they are and where they thought they'd be.
2022 · 2 Seasons · Starz · Comedy Drama
Minx is a sharp, funny, and surprisingly touching comedy about feminism, pornography, and the compromises required to change the world from within the system. Ophelia Lovibond and Jake Johnson have terrific chemistry, and the show captures 1970s Los Angeles with a colorful authenticity that goes beyond nostalgia. Its cancellation after being bounced between networks is a shame, because the show was only getting better at balancing its comedy with genuine substance.
2016 · 3 Seasons · Starz · Drama / Thriller
The Girlfriend Experience is a cold, stylish anthology series that explores transactional relationships and the blurring of personal and professional identity across three distinct seasons. The first season is a striking piece of psychological portraiture, the second offers ambitious parallel narratives, and the third pivots into speculative territory. It's a show that prioritizes mood and aesthetic control over warmth, which makes it compelling for some viewers and alienating for others.
2024 · 1 Season · Starz · Drama
Julianne Moore is deliciously ruthless as a Jacobean mother weaponizing her son's beauty to seize political power, in a show that's stylish, provocative, and occasionally uneven in its balance between historical drama and modern sensibility.
2022 · 1 Season · Starz · Political Drama
Gaslit takes one of America's most well-trodden political scandals and finds a notably fresh angle by centering it on Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, whose early warnings about Nixon's corruption were dismissed as the ravings of an unstable woman. Julia Roberts and Sean Penn both deliver commanding performances in heavy prosthetics, and the show's best moments capture the human wreckage behind the headlines. An uneven middle stretch and an overloaded ensemble keep it from greatness, but the Martha Mitchell story alone makes it worthwhile.
2022 · 1 Season · Starz · Historical Drama
Becoming Elizabeth covers a rarely dramatized chapter of Tudor history, focusing on the teenage Princess Elizabeth navigating the dangerous political world after Henry VIII's death. Alicia von Rittberg delivers a strong lead performance, and the show's refusal to fast-forward to Elizabeth's triumphant reign gives it a different texture from most Tudor dramas. Slow pacing and the weight of its sprawling cast work against it, and its cancellation after one season means the story ends mid-chapter. But for Tudor enthusiasts willing to invest, there are real rewards here.
2021 · 3 Seasons · Starz · Crime Drama
A sprawling crime drama about the Flenory brothers' drug empire that captures the excess and danger of Detroit's drug trade with more style than substance, anchored by strong performances despite uneven writing.
2014 · 6 Seasons · Starz · Crime Drama
Power delivers a slick, bingeable crime saga driven by Omari Hardwick's magnetic lead performance, even when the writing leans more on spectacle than substance.
2017 · 3 Seasons · Starz · Fantasy / Drama
American Gods starts as one of the most visually striking shows on television and gradually collapses under the weight of behind-the-scenes turmoil, leaving a brilliant first season stranded by diminishing returns.