The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2017

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 27, 2017

Above are the highest-scoring first-year TV series debuting in the United States between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017. 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.)

3 of 22 photo by Adam Rose/Netflix

85 Dear White People (Netflix)

(#3) Justin Simien adapts his own 2014 movie of the same name about racial tensions at a mostly white Ivy League college. The Netflix dramedy series returns the film's Brandon Bell but finds Logan Browning (Powers) replacing Tessa Thompson as the lead.

“The entire cast is outstanding, and Simien’s script is masterful. On the one hand, he is dealing with very complicated identity issues with intelligence and directness. On another level, though, he’s writing exceptionally funny comedy, crackling with credible wit that often packs a not-so-secret weapon: thought-provoking points of view about how we deal with issues of race and identity. Or, in some cases, how we don’t deal with them.” —David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle

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