The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2019

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 29, 2019

Above are the highest-scoring first-year TV series debuting in the United States between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. 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, are ranked in a separate list.)

1 of 21 photo by Anne Marie Fox/HBO

89 A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)

Metacritic's Best New TV Show of 2019.

(#1) Produced by Insecure's Issa Rae and created by Robin Thede (former head writer of The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore and host of her own BET series The Rundown), HBO's new female-fronted sketch series stars Thede, Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, and Quinta Brunson, who are joined by guests including Patti LaBelle, Lena Waithe, Angela Bassett, Khandi Alexander, Gina Torres, Yvonne Orji, Yvette Nicole Brown, Larry Wilmore, and Jermaine Fowler. A Black Lady Sketch Show topped a strong year for new sketch shows in general, with Tim Robinson's I Think You Should Leave (which didn't have enough reviews to qualify for this list, but is landing on numerous top 10 lists) and its fellow Netflix series Astronomy Club also earning raves from critics.

“It never settles for just okay. Every sketch starts on one level, then keeps building on it until you have no idea how hilariously far from Earth it’s going to go. ... This is TV’s best new sketch-comedy series, out of the gate, since Key and Peele.” —Jen Chaney, Vulture

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