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.)

8 of 21 photo by Lifetime

83 Surviving R. Kelly (Lifetime)

(#8) Leaving Neverland wasn't the only 2019 show to investigate claims of abuse against a well-known pop star. This six-part Lifetime docuseries gave a voice to multiple women who claimed they were abused (mentally and physically) by R&B singer R. Kelly. And it appears to have been the rare television series to have a real-world impact: In the months following the airing, Kelly lost his record contract and faced new criminal charges of sexual abuse. Sadly, it's not a one-and-done miniseries. The aftermath of January's episodes will be chronicled in a second season debuting on January 2nd.

“An extremely effective piece of entertainment journalism--though it may be more accurate to think of it as an extremely effective piece of activist entertainment journalism. The series is comprehensively damning and powerfully disturbing--while also being riveting.” —Willa Paskin, Slate

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