Michael Zavala's 2022 Must Watch List

It’s that time of year again! Michael Zavala has released his 2022 MUST WATCH list. Did your favorites make it? Find out below.

Animaniacs – Hulu

The Warner siblings live in the Warner Bros. Water Tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California. However, characters from the series had episodes in various places and periods of time. The Animaniacs characters interacted with famous people and creators of the past and present, as well as mythological characters and characters from contemporary pop culture and television.

Barry – HBO Max

Barry follows Barry Berkman, a discharged Marine from Cleveland, who works as a hitman. Lonely and dissatisfied with life, he travels to Los Angeles to kill a target and finds a new sense of purpose when he joins a class full of aspiring actors. Despite his efforts to leave behind his criminal history and become an actor himself, he struggles to escape his dark past.

Bel-Air – Peacock

The series follows Will Smith’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air.

Curb Your Enthusiasm – HBO Max

The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. Like the real-life David, the character is well known as the co-creator and main co-writer of the highly successful sitcom Seinfeld. Although Larry maintains an office, he is rarely shown working. The show’s plots often center around everyday interactions between Larry and his friends, acquaintances, and occasionally strangers. Conflicts in the show are frequently sparked by Larry’s social unorthodoxy, particularly his often tactless manner of speaking and his stubbornness.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy in the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series. It has a contemporary take on that series’ episodic storytelling and 1960s designs, and features the following narration from Mount during each episode’s opening credits (similar to the opening narrations in The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation).

Stranger Things – Netflix

Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy, but secretly does experiments into the paranormal and supernatural, including those that involve human test subjects. Inadvertently, they have created a portal to an alternate dimension, “the Upside Down”. The influence of the Upside Down starts to affect the unknowing residents of Hawkins in calamitous ways.

The Boys – Amazon Prime

The Boys is set in a universe where superpowered individuals are recognized as heroes by the general public and work for a powerful corporation known as Vought International, which markets and monetizes them. Outside of their heroic personas, most are arrogant, selfish, and corrupt. The series primarily focuses on two groups: the Seven, Vought’s premier superhero team, and the Boys, vigilantes looking to bring down Vought and its fake superheroes.

The Orville: New Horizons – Hulu

The Orville is set on the titular spacecraft: USS Orville (ECV-197), a mid-level exploratory vessel in the Planetary Union, a 25th-century interstellar alliance of Earth and many other planets. The show consists of adventures encountered by the ship’s crew, usually involving planet exploration and visits to various parts of the galaxy.

What We Do in the Shadows – Hulu/FX

Set primarily in Staten Island, New York City, New York, What We Do in the Shadows follows the lives of three traditional vampires, Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja; Colin Robinson, an energy vampire; and Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar. The series revolves around the vampires interacting with the modern world and other supernatural beings.