The Owl House Deserves a Spot on Your 2022 TV Best List

Editors' Picks: TV Guide already ranked the Best Shows of 2022, but as the year comes to a close, individual editors share their personal favorites for your enjoyment — and to argue about over the internet. Happy New Year, and happy watching!

I laughed and cringed through The White Lotus. I binged The Bear and immediately wanted to start over. The Rehearsal made me wheeze, and Pachinko made me weep. But if I'm being completely honest, the best shows I saw in 2022 were the ones I watched with my kids.

Being animated or family-friendly tends to keep some of TV's finest offerings from getting the recognition and attention they deserve (cough cough, Steven Universe). So maybe I'll lose some professional cred by admitting that I enjoyed a cartoon about witches more than any of the fancy prestige dramas that made our official best-of-the-year ranking. But I'm not afraid to say it: The Owl House is my pick for the best show of 2022.

The Owl House

Rating: TV-Y7-FV (fantasy violence)

The first of three 44-minute specials in The Owl House's unconventional third season aired in October to widespread acclaim. "Thanks to Them" was surprising and funny while also grappling with weighty themes of trust, trauma, and grief. The episode accomplished more story and character development in 44 minutes than some shows do in entire seasons. It's all a bit bittersweet, given The Owl House is ending prematurely after a Disney executive decided that it "didn't fit the brand," according to creator Dana Terrace.

Maybe it doesn't, but that's a good thing.

The Peabody Award-winning cartoon is quirky and clever, supernatural and strange, and yes, even a little scary. It is set in the Demon Realm, after all. But don't let the Slitherbeasts and Basilisks of the Boiling Isles chase you away. Beneath its spooky aesthetic, The Owl House packs plenty of laughs and a lot of heart.

Our heroine is Luz Noceda, a brave and stubbornly cheerful teen who finds herself in the Demon Realm after stumbling through a portal in the woods. Luz sets out on a quest to become a witch, with the help of Eda, a dissident witch wanted for opposing the rule of a tyrannical emperor, and King, an adorable dog-like creature who also claims to be the king of demons. Along the way, Luz enrolls in the Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, befriends a bunch of charming misfits, and faces off against a host of powerful foes and the strongest demons and witches in the Emperor's Coven. It's an always funny, often moving story about resistance and resilience, about forgiveness, about the family you choose.

2022 was a stellar year across the board for TV and streaming, and many of the year's best shows happen to be series you can watch with your kids, depending on their age. Here are the rest of my picks, in alphabetical order.

Amphibia

Rating: TV-Y7-FV (fantasy violence)

Amphibia is The Owl House's swampy little sister. While The Owl House follows 15-year-old Luz Noceda after she's magically transported to a land of demons and witches, Amphibia follows 13-year-old Anne Boonchuy, who is magically transported to a marshy kingdom of frogs, toads, newts, and olms. (The casts and creative teams behind both shows even did a table read for a non-canon crossover episode at Comic-Con last year.) Amphibia is both an offbeat comedy and an epic fantasy, served with a dash of danger — just like Hop Pop's Swamp Mold Pot Pie.

Andor

Rating: TV-14

Like most '80s kids, I grew up on Star Wars, with a Princess Leia Halloween costume, a crush on Han Solo, and many childhood Saturdays devoted to marathoning the original trilogy on VHS. Since then, Lucasfilm has churned out the prequels, the sequels, the standalone stories, the animated series, and the Disney+ shows — enough Star Wars pastiche that all but the most stalwart of fans have given up on keeping up. Apologies to Baby Yoda, but Andor is the first new Star Wars title that's every bit as smart, exciting, and inspiring as the original. It's an impeccably written, nail-biting thriller, an anti-fascist anthem that feels both timely and timeless.

Bluey

Rating: TV-Y

I've written before about how Blueydeserves to be recognized as the masterpiece it is, and so have a lot of other journalists and critics and mommy bloggers. In fact, over the past year, the Australian cartoon has received an overwhelming amount of media attention, to the point that maybe you're sick of hearing about Bluey, and you might even be tempted to join the "Bluey is overrated and these obsessed parents need to get a life" camp. That would be understandable. But it would be wrong. The show is undoubtedly more popular than it's ever been, but it's also as good as it's ever been, with new installments like "Mini Bluey," in which Bingo and Bluey switch places, revealing some of their best and worst traits; "Granny Mobile," a sassy faceoff between Muffin and a crotchety neighbor (spoiler: Muffin wins); and "Fairytale," an '80s-set bedtime story detailing Chilli and Bandit's childhood meet cute, at least according to Bandit. Bluey's magical blend of the poignant, funny, relatable, and aspirational makes it one of the best shows out there for little kids, and yes, for their parents, too.

Heartstopper

Rating: TV-14

Heartstopper is an adaptation of Alice Oseman's webcomic and graphic novel of the same name, but you don't need to have read the comic to fall in love with this year's sweetest romance, set in an all-boys school in England. Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), an artistic and musically talented teen, develops an unlikely friendship with Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), a kind athlete who invites Charlie to join the rugby team. Heartstopper unfolds slowly and gently, with each glance, each shared laugh, and each brush of the fingers given the time and weight they deserve in a story of first love. It perfectly captures both the butterflies of a new crush and the warm assurance of feeling known and cherished. It's no wonder the show won five Children's & Family Emmy Awards.

Ms. Marvel

Rating: TV-PG

Ms. Marvel is one of the most underrated installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a comic book show that feels like it was actually written for kids like its heroine instead of for adult men in their 30s and 40s. The series follows Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a drily funny Muslim teen from Jersey City who idolizes the Avengers and chafes at her Pakistani American family's strict rules. She discovers a family heirloom that lets her wield cosmic powers and decides to put her newfound abilities to good use protecting her community — only to find herself on a globe-trotting, time-bending adventure that reveals there's more to her family history, and her place in it, than she could have imagined.

Honorable Mentions

These shows also made my personal best list, but you'll want to save them for when the kids are in bed. 

Atlanta, Donald Glover's ambitious surrealist comedy with its provocative third season and pitch-perfect fourth season and series finale.

The Righteous Gemstones, an irreverent, underappreciated, laugh-out-loud comedy about unholy rollers.

Severance, an addictive sci-fi thriller that deserves every one of its spots on TV Guide's rankings of the Best Shows, Best Episodes, and Best Performances of 2022.

She-Hulk, starring the incomparable Tatiana Maslany in a cheeky, lighthearted take on the Marvel superhero.

Check out TV Guide's official ranking of the Best Shows of 2022, as well as the Best Episodes and Best Performances.