The Best Miniseries, TV Movies, and Specials of 2018

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 29, 2018

Above are the 20 highest-scoring special TV programs—including "limited" series, made-for-TV-movies, and one-off specials—debuting in the United States between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. 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. (Looking for the best regular TV series of 2018? Those are ranked in a separate list.)

Note that Netflix original films (such as Roma and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) generally open in at least a few theaters prior to (or in conjunction with) their streaming debuts, and are excluded here. (They will be eligible for our Best Movies of 2018 list instead.)

18 of 21 photo by National Archives and Records Administration

77 #18: Watergate

This six-hour History Channel documentary from director Charles Ferguson (Inside Job) is not the first TV series to examine the scandal that brought down the Richard Nixon administration, but it offers a timely refresher course that covers the affair in its entirety. Only a decision to stage dramatic reenactments of key moments mars an otherwise strong miniseries, at least for some critics.

“At first these re-creations are distracting, if not comical. Then something remarkable happens: You begin to look forward to them. Each has been staged perfectly, the words phrased clearly and concisely. They begin to reveal how Watergate did in fact happen. ... Superb, but not for the casual viewer.” —Verne Gay, Newsday

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