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).

15 of 23 photo by BritBox

87 The Responder (BritBox/BBC1)

(#6) A BritBox Original in the U.S., this BBC crime drama finds Martin Freeman giving one of the best performances of his career as a rapidly deteriorating Liverpool street cop who attempts to suppress his rage and depression while responding to various emergency calls (and then tries to work through his struggles with his therapist, played by Elizabeth Berrington). It's definitely not the same British crime show you've seen countless times: There are no detectives or murder investigations or serial killers, just the relentless, day-to-day life of a cop on the beat, heavy on detail thanks to a script from former cop turned first-time writer Tony Schumacher. Critics found the series intense and harrowing and buttressed by strong performances from the full cast.

“This is a phenomenal cast across the board, taking Schumacher's superb scripts and propelling them to even greater heights.” —David Craig, Radio Times

Watch it on BritBox US (6 episodes)

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