The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 28, 2021

Above are the highest-scoring first-year TV series (including limited series) debuting in the United States between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Shows are ranked by Metascore (an average of grades from top professional critics on a 0-100 scale) prior to rounding based on scores as of December 24, 2021, and any programs with fewer than 7 reviews are excluded. One-off TV specials and made-for TV movies are ranked separately at the end of the gallery.

12 of 23 photo by Robert Viglasky/Jed Bessell/AMC+

84 Too Close (AMC+/ITV)

(#9) This British production is an adaptation of the 2019 novel of the same name written by Clara Salaman (as Natalie Daniels). The psychological thriller stars Emily Watson as a forensic psychiatrist who is given the task of assessing whether or not a woman named Connie (Denise Gough) is mentally fit to stand trial for the murder of two children. Connie insists she has no memory of the incident, but is she faking it? Their cat-and-mouse game unfolds over the course of three taut episodes that were praised by critics for the writing, directing, and performances of the two leads.

“Too Close feels like the most woman-centred, woman-driven mainstream production we’ve yet seen. That’s a bonus. Too Close is a fantastically compelling, brilliantly scripted whydunnit that is unquantifiably better than it needs to be.” —Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

Watch it on AMC+ (3 episodes)

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