The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2016

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 29, 2016

Below are the highest-scoring first-year TV series debuting in the United States between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. 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.)

20 of 21 photo by Courtesy of Netflix

76 Stranger Things: Season 1

The year's biggest watercooler show was this summer Netflix series from brothers Matt and Ross Duffer. An homage to classic horror films of the 1980s (and the work of Steven Spielberg in particular), this pitch perfect period supernatural thriller centers on the mysterious disappearance of a 12-year-old boy and the equally mysterious arrival of a young girl who seemingly has telekinetic powers. Winona Ryder, Matthew Modine, and David Harbour are the bigger names in the cast—and all are excellent—but it is the film's younger cast members (including breakout star Millie Bobby Brown) who steal the show. The soundtrack is a winner, too.

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