The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2022 So Far
Which newcomers on the small screen have impressed reviewers the most during the first half of the year? In the gallery on this page, we rank the highest-scoring first-year TV shows (including limited series and specials) debuting between January 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022. Only shows with at least 7 reviews from professional critics are included.
Sure, the original is better. But many critics still praised HBO Max's fictionalized (and controversial) take on the same true-crime story depicted in Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's 2004 docuseries. The new miniseries stars Colin Firth as crime novelist Michael Peterson, whose wife Kathleen (played here by Toni Collette) died at the family's home after tumbling down a flight of stairs. Was she murdered by Michael, or was it, as he maintains, an accident? There have been multiple trials (and now multiple miniseries) over the past two decades in an attempt to reach a conclusive answer to that slippery question. Either way, the new adaptation from writer/director Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn, boasts a terrific cast that also includes Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sophie Turner, Dane DeHaan, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jim Rash, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
“A beautifully done miniseries, and revelatory, too, as it expands the North Carolina case into something more philosophically provocative than its sensationalistic origins might have suggested.” —Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe