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.)

10 of 21 photo by Jennifer Clasen/HBO

82 Los Espookys (HBO)

(#10) This under-the-radar HBO comedy is one of 2019's freshest and quirkiest new shows—and just happens to be in Spanish. Fred Armisen co-created the series and produces, though he is just a recurring guest star on screen; the main cast consists of Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, Cassandra Ciangherotti and Bernardo Velasco, who play a group of friends who turn a love of the horror genre into an unusual ongoing business in a stranger, alternate version of Mexico City. Think of it as a colorful counterpart to FX's What We Do in the Shadows (which we'll get to in a moment); if you are watching the latter but not Los Espookys, you are doing yourself a disservice.

“The jokes are fast-paced and tinged with absurdity; at its best, Los Espookys can feel like a half-hour telenovela assembled in the 30 Rock writers’ room.” —Kristen Baldwin, Entertainment Weekly

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