The Best Miniseries, TV Movies, and Specials of 2016
Below are the highest-scoring special TV programs—including "limited" series, made-for-TV-movies, and one-off specials—debuting in the United States between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Titles are ranked by Metascore (an average of grades from top professional critics on a 0-100 scale) prior to rounding, and any programs with fewer than 7 reviews are excluded. (Note that regular TV series will be ranked in a separate list coming later this week.)
Playful but also surprisingly insightful and nuanced—and graced with a terrific cast at the top of their games (save for a Travolta or two)—all that the "other" O.J miniseries did was collect 22 Emmy nominations (winning nine) and wind up on more critic top 10 lists than any other show in 2016. It is technically part of yet another Ryan Murphy anthology series (American Crime Story) that should return with a second installment in 2017, this time depicting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.