The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2022 So Far

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 1, 2022

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.

6 of 21 photo by Ian Routledge/Two Brothers Pictures

81 #15: The Tourist: Season 1

A co-production between HBO Max, the BBC, and Australia's Stan, this six-episode limited series from writer-producers Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, Fleabag) stars Jamie Dornan as a British man who finds himself being hunted across Australia's outback—while having no memory of who he is or why he is being pursued. Damon Herriman, Danielle Macdonald, and Shalom Brune-Franklin also star. Critics on both sides of the pond praised Tourist's surprising sense of humor and unpredictable storyline.

“An unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat mystery that startles you with laugh-out-loud moments of ridiculousness, The Tourist is The Bourne Identity meets Priscilla Queen of the Desert with elements of Monty Python – an unusual thriller in which Dornan shines.” —Lauren Morris, Radio Times

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