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.

9 of 23 photo by Shane Brown/FX

83 Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)

(#12) You won't find too many critic top 10 lists this year without an entry for this one-of-a-kind FX production that arrived in August to rave reviews (and quickly picked up a second-season renewal). Its title may wink at a certain Tarantino film but shares a slacker sensibility with the work of Richard Linklater (in the mind of The Playlist's Andrew Bundy) or FX's own Atlanta (says Variety's Daniel D'Addario). One thing it most assuredly is: the second show in 2021 (following Peacock's Rutherford Falls) to be largely made by and starring Indigenous people. Co-created by Seminole Nation filmmaker Sterlin Harjo and director Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadow), Dogs is set on a reservation in Oklahoma where four teenaged friends attempt to save (and steal) enough money to move to California. Their low-key adventures range from the surreal to the deeply moving.

“Harjo and Waititi take their time painting the picture. They introduce outsiders (who stereotype residents) and give us a strong sense of what it’s like on the inside. ... “Reservation Dogs” is the comedy you never expected but may just need. It’s powerful dive into a world that’s oh-so deep.” —Bruce Miller, Sioux City Journal

Watch it on Hulu (8 episodes)

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