Mercado & Manning’s Summer TV guide to 2022’s best drama and movies

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Mediaweek’s weekly TV podcast Mercado & Manning has ended 2022 with a special two-episode guide to the best and worst TV from 2022.

Was 2022 the best year ever for television drama? Quite possibly judging by the long list of shows the Mediaweek duo Andrew Mercado and James Manning have listed below.

Start catching up on some of these shows you might have missed before the 2023 mountain of TV shows start to drop.

Listen to the Mediaweek TV podcast Mercado & Manning on the LiSTNR app, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform.

Listen to the podcast for why you should watch (or avoid) the TV on these lists.

Andrew Mercado Best and Worst 2022

BEST STREAMING MOVIES

Here Out West (ABC)
6 Festivals (Paramount+)
Coda (Apple TV+)
Nude Tuesday (Stan)
Fire Island (Disney+)
Darklands (Stan)

WORST MOVIES

Blonde (Netflix)
Poker Face (Stan)

BEST AUSSIE SERIES

Going back to school with Heartbreak High (Netflix) and More Than This (Paramount+)
Mystery Road: Origin (ABC)
Significant Others (ABC)
The Twelve (Foxtel/Binge)
True Colours (NITV)
Latecomers (SBS On Demand)
I’m Fine You’re Fine (SBS On Demand)
Colin From Accounts (Foxtel)
Summer Love (ABC)
A Beginner’s Guide to Grief (SBS)

WORST AUSSIE SERIES
Small town murder mysteries in Troppo (ABC) and Savage River (ABC)

BEST DOCOS

The Last Movie Stars (Foxtel/Binge)
The Australian Wars (SBS)
We Need To Talk About Cosby (Paramount+)
The Andy Warhol Diaries (Netflix)
The Janes (Foxtel/Binge)

WORST TV DOCOS
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (Netflix)
Secrets of Playboy (Foxtel/Binge)
The Menzies Movies (Foxtel/Binge)

BEST TV DRAMAS

The Offer (Paramount+) – best from US
This Is England (Foxtel/Binge) – best from UK
Gaslit (Stan)
Julia (Binge/Foxtel)
Tom and Pammy (Disney+)
Welcome to Chippendales (Disney+)
Anne: One Mother’s Story (Foxtel/Binge)
The Gilded Age (Paramount+)
The Crown S5 (Netflix)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Angelyne (Stan)
Julia (Foxtel/Binge)
A Very British Scandal (Amazon Prime)
Somebody Somewhere (Foxtel/Binge)
Five Days At Memorial (Apple TV+)
The Bear (Disney+)
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix)
Shantaram (Apple TV+)

BEST COMEDIES
Reboot (Disney+)
Minx (Stan)
Our Flag Means Death (Foxtel/Binge)
Loot (Apple TV+)
The Kids In The Hall (Amazon Prime)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

WORST SHOWS
And Just Like That (Foxtel/Binge)
Byron Baes (Netflix)
Joe vs Carole (Stan)
The First Lady (Paramount+)
The Thing About Pam (Nine)
Hard Cell (Netflix)
Pilot Showcase (10Play) – but Courtney’s Closet was great
The Real Love Boat (10)
Blockbuster (Netflix)

James Manning Best & Worst 2022

TV SERIES

The Crown (S5 Netflix)
Welcome to Chippendales (Disney+)
Inside Man (Netflix)
Black Bird (Apple TV+)
Candy (Disney+)
Sherwood (ABC/Foxtel/Binge)
Suspect (SBS On Demand)
The Game (From 2014, shown recently on ABC)
Mystery Road: Origin (ABC)
The Tourist (Stan)
Anne (Foxtel/Binge)
Gentleman Jack (Foxtel/Binge) Second and final series.
Anatomy of a Scandal (Netflix)
The Responder (SBS ON Demand)
Conversations with Friends (Prime Video)
Marriage (iview)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
Shandaram (Apple TV+)
The Bear (Disney+)
Chloe (Prime Video)
Everything I Know About Love (Stan)
True Colours (SBS On Demand)
Gaslit (Stan)
Pistol (Disney+)
Five Days At Memorial (Apple TV+)
Julia (Binge/Foxtel)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES
The Last Movie Stars (Foxtel/Binge)
The Australian Wars (SBS)

SERIES I COULDN’T FINISH
House of the Dragon (Foxtel/Binge)
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix)

LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2023

Stonehouse (Real life married couple Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes play the disgraced UK politician John Stonehouse and his wife Barbara)
Litvinenko (Despite the bad reviews looking forward to an over-the-top performance from David Tennant)
Happy Valley S3 (Foxtel/Binge) (Waited six years for the final season three of this excellent drama series with Sarah Lancashire and James Norton, not forgetting Siobhán Finneran and a great supporting cast)