The 20 Best New TV Shows of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 27, 2022

In the gallery on this page are the highest-scoring first-year TV series (including limited series) debuting in the United States between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. 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 23, 2022, and any programs with fewer than 7 reviews are excluded. One-off TV specials and made-for TV movies are also excluded (though the best of these is revealed at the end of the gallery, along with a list of the year's highest-scoring returning shows).

10 of 23 photo by Apple

85 Prehistoric Planet (Apple TV+)

(#11) What if the BBC filmed one of its Planet Earth nature miniseries in the Mesozoic Era, complete with David Attenborough narration? The result would be something like this five-part Apple examination of Earth's wildlife during the age of dinosaurs. Because no camera crew was actually around to film during the prehistoric era, very expensive CGI is used to depict creatures great and small, and the result is surprisingly realistic. And dinosaurs, of course, are a bit of an Attenborough family specialty; David's brother Richard was also known to work with the beasts.

“Prehistoric Planet is a stunning feat of CGI. The dinosaurs look as real as any animal you see in a wildlife documentary. ... Channel your inner six-year-old and enjoy.” —Anita Singh, The Telegraph

Watch it on Apple TV+ (5 episodes)

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