The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2018

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 28, 2018

Above are the highest-scoring first-year TV series debuting in the United States between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. Shows are ranked by Metascore (an average of grades from top professional critics on a 0-100 scale) prior to rounding, and any programs with fewer than 7 reviews are excluded. (Note that limited series, as well as TV movies and specials, will be ranked in a separate list arriving this weekend.)

19 of 22 photo by Starz

75 #19: Vida

Loosely based on a Richard Villegas Jr. short story, this half-hour Starz drama follows two very different Mexican-American sisters (Mishel Prada, Melissa Barrera, heading an all-Latinx cast) in Los Angeles' Eastside after they learn a shocking truth about their mother.

“Vida accomplishes a lot in only six episodes, more than some shows that loiter and linger for 13-plus hour-long installments. It establishes a strong sense of place and self--the dialogue frequently hopscotches between Spanish and English without ever feeling the need to translate--while provocatively poking at the hornet’s nest of feelings stirred up by home, grief, cultural identity, and the fear that as a society we are purging and rehabbing away the things that should be considered precious.” —Jen Chaney, Vulture

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