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.

5 of 23 photo by Playground Television

82 All Creatures Great and Small (PBS/Channel 5)

(#16) A difficult year turns out to be the perfect time to revive a cozy, feel-good drama. The beloved books by James Herriot about his life as a country veterinary surgeon in England's Yorkshire Dales in the mid-20th century were previously adapted to the small screen by the BBC in the 1970s and '80s. This well-reviewed second adaptation, a co-production between PBS's Masterpiece and Britain's Channel 5, stars Nicolas Ralph, Samuel West, and Callum Woodhouse, and also features the late Diana Rigg in one of her final roles. A second season debuts on PBS on January 9, 2022.

“All Creatures Great and Small is not a series that requires much from you, but gives plenty in return. It’s not fluff—there are real emotions here, and an underlying sense of changing times as modernity creeps in to the practices of the rural counties. ... It is a wonderful treat and a balm for the soul.” —Allison Keene, Paste

Watch it on PBS (7 episodes)

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