The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2019 (So Far)

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 2, 2019

Which newcomers on the small screen have impressed reviewers the most during the first half of the year? Above, find the highest-scoring first-year TV shows (and miniseries) debuting between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2019. Only shows with at least 7 reviews from professional critics are included.

18 of 21 photo by Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix

86 #3: When They See Us: Season 1

Ava DuVernay writes, directs, and produces this four-part Netflix miniseries retelling the story of the "Central Park Five"—five black and Hispanic teens who were wrongly convicted of the violent rape of a white jogger in New York in the late 1980s and were eventually exonerated over a decade later after spending years in prison. Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, Niecy Nash, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Christopher Jackson, Blair Underwood, Jharrel Jerome, Famke Janssen, and Joshua Jackson star.

“Impassioned, worthy, and at times very moving. It is also regularly excruciating. A particularly pointed example of a new kind of Must-See TV, When They See Us appeals not to our pleasure centers but to our higher minds, our civic responsibility, our duty to watch for the greater good. It challenges TV’s mandate to be fun.” —Willa Paskin, Slate

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