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.)

5 of 21 photo by Craig Blankenhorn

87 Ramy (Hulu)

(#5) The Ramy in the title of this Hulu original series is stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef (you may have seen him on Colbert or Mr. Robot), here playing something like himself: a young Egyptian-American man trying to figure out how to fit in as a Muslim and a millennial in New Jersey. The series comes from some of the team behind The Carmichael Show (including Jerrod Carmichael, who serves as a producer), and, like that gone-too-soon show, is popular with critics, who admire the show's fresh viewpoint. A second season will stream in 2020.

“Ramy is essential viewing, a family TV show about a family that TV’s never fully shown, until now.” —Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly

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