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The 10 Best TV Needle Drops of 2024
From righteous intensity to bittersweet nostalgia to unabashed horniness, these songs gave the scenes they soundtracked that little something extra.
We’re as happy to argue for hours about the merits of oft-maligned Christmas songs as the next group of highly opinionated culture writers; I personally will think very hard about engaging in fisticuffs to defend the honor of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” However, as we stare down whatever 2025 is going to be, it’s time to set aside our pettiest differences to participate in one of the best traditions December has to offer: celebrating TV’s best needle drops of 2024. The vivacious Provisional IRA volunteers Dolours and Marian Price are learning how to be cool under pressure while crossing the border in a car full of explosives, while also lovingly ridiculing their more experienced friend and bomb-transport tutor Joe Lynskey over his inability to distinguish Kristofferson from, say, Gordon Lightfoot. As the group of prospective buyers from Saudi Arabia file into the room to complete the introduction Eric has brokered, and Zack De La Rocha sing-screams “I warm my hands upon the flames of the flag / To recall the downfall and the businesses that burnt us all”, the mood among the other executive committee members shifts from “Phew, we did it!” to “Oh, no, what have we done?” Fist-pumping, head-banging Schadenfreude, baby!
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