Letterkenny's faceless hockey goon, Shoresy, is the do-right Letterkenny hick Wayne's alter-ego — to a point. Played by the same actor and showrunner, Jared Keeso, Shoresy lived to bedevil his Letterkenny teammates Riley and Jonesy with his carnal knowledge of their moms while picking fights left and right. At the same time, he practiced nonstop until he vomited. Shoresy and Wayne's common thread is their work ethic. Shoresy wants to see his team succeed, but in the Stanley Cup of hockey flicks — Slap Shot fashion, the owner is a wealthy woman with other plans. Keeso cleverly kept Shoresy offside during the Letterkenny run (fans note that the series is back on Hulu on December 26 for season 11). Keeso's Shoresy is a walking contradiction, with the Canadian anthem reducing him to tears. At the same time, he navigates his Senior AAA league hockey team out of last place with many penalties and brutal chirping. Watch for former rival turned ally JJ Frankie JJ and "The Jims," a trio in the vein of Slap Shot's The Hanson Brothers.

"The Bear" (Hulu)

A family-owned Chicago sandwich shop brings prodigal chef son Jeremy Allen White (Carmy) back to take over after his brother's unexpected suicide. The grieving Carmy employs his high-level Escoffier training and militaristic kitchen discipline on his resistant greasy spoon lifer employees. The results lead to a most unexpected change of attitude and a stunning cliffhanger as Carmy realizes his brother may have something to tell him from the grave. Truly one of the best shows seen this year. Stay with it; the frenetic pace of the kitchen yields delicious breakthroughs and moments.

"Hacks" (HBO Max)

Odd couple Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) is now thoroughly entwined with Jean Smart's Deborah Vance. Generational gap and cultural sensibilities aside, this wiser older woman comic takes a smartass comedy writer under her wing to gin up her flailing career languishing in Vegas rooms. The two realize they are stronger together than apart, and their subtle hostility turns to a begrudging sense of solidarity and perhaps mentoring or friendship path. Few shows on TV nail the way women talk to each other, and this is one of them. It's a lesson in humility, personal growth, and learning not to let adversity knock you down for the count. Deborah may be on the waning end of what was her currency once: Her looks, a chance at being the mother of the year, and her white-hot comedy career, but her brawls in life have made her a fierce diva who lesser men cannot silence. Ava is along for the ride and taking notes.

"1923" (Paramount+)

Taylor Sheridan ("Yellowstone") and Paramount+ is an exceptional prequel with Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton and Helen Mirren as his wife, Cora. Montana ranchers make the rules and guard the lands as parallel police in many regards. However, the Duttons have fought hard to stake their claim. 1923 happens post-WWI, set pre-Great Depression and the temperance movement (Prohibition) time in America. This drama is four decades after the events of the previous prequel, 1883, the limited series that chronicled the Dutton family's arduous journey across the country. In 1923 Jacob Dutton (Ford), the older brother of James (Tim McGraw's character in 1883), and Jacob's Irish-born wife, Cora (Mirren), arrived in 1894 and raised James' sons, John (James Badge Dale) and now war-scarred wanderer and adventure seeker Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), as their sons. John's adult son, Jack (Darren Mann), is about to wed Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph). The backstories also include the sadistic Father Renaud and Sister Mary's horrible treatment of Teonna Rainwater based on historically accurate accounts of American Indian boarding schools that sprang up in Native territories. Sheridan grasps a cinematographer's vision and is deft at connecting emotionally to audiences, which is why his series do so well.

"Yellowstone" (Paramount)

The show is getting better each season, not an easy feat for most TV, as John Dutton (Kevin Costner) assumes the role of Governor of Montana, but not without tweaking a few political noses in the process. His wild child Beth sagely lays truth bombs on him. The ranching life needs a rethink as a business because the left and right coast rich folks buying up the lands wouldn't stand a chance if the Dutton way of life worked out financially these days. Well, things are changing on the ranch. The Bunkhouse Boys still ground the show in humor, and the Dutton children may be John's undoing. We won't know until it's over, thanks to Taylor Sheridan's grasp of epic stories and meaty characters people love to watch.

"Reservation Dogs" (FX on Hulu)

This coming-of-age Rez life quartet will capture your heart. Sterlin Harjo's dramedy about rural Oklahoma is a Trojan Horse for understanding how to manage grief, recognize it, honor it and move past it. This season was a tour de force for Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), whose visions help her process her cousin's suicide, as well as Cheese (Lane Factor), dancing on the edge of the law in his laconic way to the Rez lawman, Big (Zahn McClarnon) tripping out in the woods as he tries to help the parents of all these kids stay true to the old ways, honor the elders, and think about their future before it's too late for them. The show is brilliant at blending the older cast into the action, with standout characters Bucky (Wes Studi), "Spirit" (Dallas Goldtooth), Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer), and Big (McClarnon).

"George & Tammy" (Showtime)

The mini-series soars with Michael Shannon giving a riveting turn of a performance playing country music legend George Jones. Shannon imbues him with all warts: Jones' over-drinking, drugging, and erratic behaviors underscored by his cleverness, self-deprecating and wry sense of humor, and full-blooded passion, especially for Jessica Chastain's Tammy Wynette. She was another country legend, initially just a fan, and ultimately Jones's partner in a turbulent six-year marriage and still longer musical collaboration. Chastain and Shannon capture their professional and personal fire between these late stars whose real life was so off the rails someone had to make this.

"Tulsa King" (Paramount+)

Make room for the General. Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi is a breakout surprise in 2022. "Tulsa King" is as much a late-in-life reinvention study as it is a clashing of last century's and this century's norms. Aided by Martin Starr as Bodhi, Dwight's unwitting business partner, this show is many things: It is violent, genuinely funny, crushingly heartfelt, and layered in action that keeps you guessing if this NYC 'Cosa Nostra' has-been will kick Oklahoma's keester and make it there, or anywhere. The sense of regret and failure Stallone imbues Dwight with is a palpable believable energy. He's never been better. Taylor Sheridan ("Yellowstone") is driving the car, so the show is gorgeous, beautifully wrought, and well-cast.

And: "They Better Get Awards" Farewell to:

"Better Things" (FX)

Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), single mother, actor, and sometimes caretaker to her mother (Celia Imrie), had a great run. Raising girls in Los Angeles is hard, and aging in a town that values youth above all else hones a woman's mind in funny ways. Sam saw the absurd, embraced the changes, and fought to keep her family together and on loving terms despite all the external forces. Brilliant, funny, and gutting at times, written by women for all, but the series resonates for women profoundly if you have walked in similar shoes.

"Better Call Saul" (AMC, Netflix)

Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan's 'Saul' wrapped the long-running series in two parts this year. Saul went beyond events in Breaking Bad and starred Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, and Tony Dalton as "Lalo" with cameos with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Betsy Brandt. Together they delivered a conclusive end to the addictive story that played with ethics, heartbreak, loyalty, and deceit better than any of them.