There are a lot of anthology series on tv these days. Not so much the old style anthology shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits where each episode is a standalone story. The new anthology model is a new story each season with usually 10 or more episodes per season. I like this approach because the story has room to breathe but each season has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The biggest problem with most US broadcast shows is that they do not know when to quit and they drag out the show many seasons past its prime. We call the moment when a tv show reaches peak ridiculousness “jumping the shark” (after the moment when the Fonz jumped over a literal shark on Happy Days). 

It doesn’t have to be that way. If you present a new story each year, it’s like watching a brand new show every year within the structure of whatever the hook is – detective series, horror series, celebrity scandal series, etc. Ryan Murphy is really into this format. He has created several anthology shows, including American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Feud, and Monster.

American Horror Story (2011-)

Take for example American Horror Story. Each season of the show presents a new horror scenario: Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, etc. 12 seasons so far with brand new stories each year but with many of the same actors like a repertory company. The regular players on AHS include Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Billie Lourd. I only made it all the way through season 1, Murder House, but I watched a couple of episodes of Asylum and Hotel. I may revisit the show some day. Because each season is a whole new story, you can watch the seasons in any order. Streaming on Prime and Hulu.

Fargo (2014-)

Fargo was inspired by the Coen Brothers movie of the same name. Each season takes place in and around Minnesota and has the same black comedy vibe as the movie. I started watching season 1 back when it originally aired but I got distracted and never finished it. I recently binged my way through the most recent season (season 5) starring Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery, Dave Foley, Sam Spruell, David Rysdahl, and Lamorne Morris. Unlike AHS, each season of Fargo has a whole new cast. The showrunner is the brilliant Noah Hawley. Streaming on Hulu.

True Detective (2014-)

HBO’s True Detective has been more scattershot. The first season with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey was excellent but the second season with Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams was not well regarded. I never watched it so I have no personal opinion. There was a 4 year gap between season 2 and season 3 and a 5 year gap between season 3 and season 4. I watched seasons 1, 3 (with Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff) and 4 (with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis). They were all good. Streaming on Max.

The Haunting (2018-2020)

I don’t really consider this an anthology series, I think of it more as two entirely separate shows. But they were both created and directed by Mike Flanagan for Netflix so you could argue. He also made several other horror themed shows for Netflix that do not have ‘haunting’ in the title (Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher). Anyway, the two ‘hauntings’ are The Haunting of Hill House, based on the Shirley Jackson novel and The Haunting of Bly Manor, based on Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw. I love everything Mike Flanagan does so these are both recommended. He is another filmmaker/showrunner who tends to work with the same actors over and over. His stable includes Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Zach Gilford, Michael Trucco, Samantha Sloyan. Streaming on Netflix.

The Sinner (2017-2021)

The last show I am including in this roundup is arguably not an anthology show since it features the same main character in every season, but different mysteries. The Sinner stars Bill Pullman as a detective who investigates crimes where we know at the outset who committed them but not why. It’s a whydunnit, if you will. The first season stars Jessica Biel as a housewife who stabs a stranger to death for no apparent reason. The second season is about a young boy who poisons a couple. Carrie Coon plays the boy’s mother. I bailed on the third season, which stars Matt Bomer as the killer. I just watched episode 1 of the fourth and final season of The Sinner. Harry is retired now and on vacation in an idyllic seaside town when he witnesses a young woman jumping off a cliff. Streaming on Netflix.

There are other anthology shows I have not sampled, like:

• American Crime Story — FX series dramatizes a different true crime story every season. Season 1 is about OJ Simpson, season 2 is about the Gianni Versace murder, season 3 is about the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
• Feud — Famous celebrity feuds. Season 1 is about Joan Crawford vs. Bette Davis, season 2 is about Truman Capote vs. ‘the Swans’, a group of New York socialites.
• Genius — National Geographic biographical series about geniuses: season 1 — Albert Einstein (old version: Geoffrey Rush, young version: Johnny Flynn); season 2 — Pablo Picasso (Antonio Banderas); season 3 — Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo); season 4 — Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre, respectively).
• Monster — Biographical true crime series. Season 1 is about Jeffrey Dahmer, season 2 (which debuts on September 19, 2024) is about the Menendez brothers.
• The White Lotus — HBO series about a luxury resort hotel. Each season takes place at a different resort: season 1 — Maui, season 2 — Sicily.