The best new TV shows of 2016
Once you look at this list, you may decide you need to binge watch a show you missed.
- Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
- Updated
Credit: Netflix
Now that streaming services and premium cable networks like Netflix, Starz and Hulu are creating their own original shows, the pool of great television has grown even bigger. It seems as if new TV shows are popping up every second. One day, people were recovering from the eight-episode sci-fi roller coaster that was season one of Netflix's "Stranger Things" — the next, the same fans were obsessing over mind-bending theories for HBO's "Westworld."
Despite getting a bad reputation — for, well, everything — 2016 has been a good year for TV. The public has gotten a range of plotlines, casts and networks to choose from. With this in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, found the best TV shows that premiered in 2016.
To identify the cream of the crop of this year, PrettyFamous ranked each show by its Smart Rating. This is a score out of 100 that weighs a TV show's IMDb ratings, IMDb votes and Emmy awards. Some shows first aired after the Emmy's cutoff (May 31, 2016), so they will be eligible for nominations next year. In the case of a tie, the show with the more IMDb votes was favored.
Note: The lists of streaming sources are not entirely comprehensive. Descriptions for each show were sourced (with minor edits) from Gracenote.
Compiled by Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
- Updated
Frequency Films / NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Smart Rating: 68.21
Premiere date: 06/21/2016
Network: USA
Streaming sources: iTunes
After escaping a Mexican drug cartel, a woman becomes a "queenpin" in America.
- Updated
Warner Bros. Television / Showtime Networks
Smart Rating: 68.32
Premiere date: 06/26/2016
Network: Showtime
Streaming sources: Showtime
Roadies take the spotlight on a hot-ticket tour.
- Updated
FX Productions
Smart Rating: 68.54
Premiere date: 01/21/2016
Network: FX
Streaming sources: iTunes
After failing at a prestigious French clowning college, Chip Baskets looks to keep his dream of becoming a professional clown alive.
- Updated
Buccaneer Media / Independent Television
Smart Rating: 68.57
Premiere date: 04/04/2016
Network: ITV
Streaming sources: Netflix
Marcella Backland left the Metropolitan Police for the sake of her family, only to have her husband leave her. She returns to her job on the murder squad, investigating a case that seems disturbingly familiar to her.
- Updated
Showtime Networks / 20th Television
Smart Rating: 70.71
Premiere date: 04/10/2016
Network: Showtime
Streaming sources: Showtime
Andrew Dice Clay works in Las Vegas in an attempt to bring his career back to life.
- Updated
Lone Wolf Media / PBS
Smart Rating: 70.76
Premiere date: 01/17/2016
Network: PBS
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime, iTunes
The lives of two volunteer nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War.
- Updated
Red Production Company / British Sky Broadcasting
Smart Rating: 70.86
Premiere date: 04/15/2016
Network: Sky1
Streaming sources: N/A
Four lifelong friends are forced to revisit a tragedy from the past.
- Updated
BBC Drama Productions / BBC America
Smart Rating: 70.92
Premiere date: 03/06/2016
Network: BBC Two
Streaming sources: iTunes
The story follows 26-year-old Ivy Moxam, who was the victim of a kidnapping during which she was held captive in a cellar for 13 years. After escaping from her attacker's prison, she returns to her family home but struggles to put her life back together. As police begin to make sense of the case, evidence contradicts Ivy's statement, leaving detectives to suspect she is hiding something from them.
- Updated
Universal Television / Hulu
Smart Rating: 71.10
Premiere date: 03/30/2016
Network: Hulu
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A family at the center of a controversial cult struggles with relationships, faith and power.
- Updated
ABC Studios / Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Smart Rating: 71.11
Premiere date: 03/03/2016
Network: ABC
Streaming sources: iTunes
A politician's presumed-dead son returns 10 years after his disappearance.
- Updated
Ranch Hand Productions / Netflix
Smart Rating: 71.94
Premiere date: 04/01/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
A former semi-pro football player returns home to help run the family business with his brother.
- Updated
BBC America / BBC Worldwide
Smart Rating: 73.49
Premiere date: 06/28/2016
Network: BBC1
Streaming sources: iTunes
Isolated in the English countryside, Nathan and Charlotte Appleby encounter some menacing phenomena.
- Updated
MiddKid Productions / NBC
Smart Rating: 73.55
Premiere date: 10/03/2016
Network: NBC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A scientist, soldier and history professor team up to stop a time-traveling criminal.
- Updated
Warner Bros. Television / 20th Century Fox Television
Smart Rating: 73.71
Premiere date: 09/01/2016
Network: FOX
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
Ex-Navy SEAL Martin Riggs and his partner Roger Murtaugh investigate cases with the LAPD.
- Updated
Fedora Entertainment / WGN America
Smart Rating: 73.82
Premiere date: 01/26/2016
Network: WGN America
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
An Appalachian family lives off the grid and outside the law.
- Updated
Pilgrim Studios / Freeform
Smart Rating: 76.06
Premiere date: 01/25/2016
Network: Freeform
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A troubled teenager enters a sober living facility in an attempt to overcome her addiction issues.
- Updated
Amazon / Amazon Instant Video
Smart Rating: 76.13
Premiere date: 05/07/2016
Network: Wit Studio
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime
A large group of survivors seek shelter while travelling on a train after their station was attacked by aggressive, undead creatures called "Kabane."
- Updated
Netflix
Smart Rating: 76.18
Premiere date: 05/20/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
A sometimes-surreal comedy inspired by various events in comic Maria Bamford's life.
- Updated
Borderline Amazing Productions / Netflix
Smart Rating: 76.20
Premiere date: 01/23/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
Chelsea Handler explores four topics that fascinate her: marriage, racism, Silicon Valley and drugs.
- Updated
TBS Productions / Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Smart Rating: 76.21
Premiere date: 03/27/2016
Network: Turner Broadcasting System
Streaming sources: iTunes
A family takes a road trip to Florida and has the adventure of a lifetime.
- Updated
20th Century Fox Television
Smart Rating: 77.17
Premiere date: 01/13/2016
Network: FOX
Streaming sources: Tubi TV
A man is brought back to life by wealthy twin scientists.
- Updated
Fox International Studios / Cinemax
Smart Rating: 77.56
Premiere date: 06/03/2016
Network: Cinemax
Streaming sources: HBO, iTunes
A man plagued by demonic possession tries to regain his normal life with the help of a preacher.
- Updated
Home Box Office (HBO)
Smart Rating: 78.95
Premiere date: 07/17/2016
Network: HBO
Streaming sources: HBO, iTunes
The lives of the people who almost run a high school: the vice principals.
- Updated
Apatow Productions / Netflix
Smart Rating: 80.70
Premiere date: 02/19/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
Gus and Mickey navigate the exhilarations and humiliations of intimacy, commitment and love.
- Updated
Get Lifted Film Company / WGN America
Smart Rating: 81.65
Premiere date: 03/09/2016
Network: WGN America
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A group of slaves plan a daring 600-mile escape from a Georgia plantation.
- Updated
Paramount Television / HBO
Smart Rating: 83.45
Premiere date: 02/14/2016
Network: HBO
Streaming sources: HBO, iTunes
A record label president tries to save his company without ruining everything in his path.
- Updated
Lucky 8 / A & E
Smart Rating: 84.01
Premiere date: 03/10/2016
Network: A&E Network
Streaming sources: iTunes
Seven civilians go undercover in Indiana's Clark County Jail to experience life behind bars.
- Updated
Revelations Entertainment / National Geographic Channel
Smart Rating: 84.01
Premiere date: 04/03/2016
Network: National Geographic Channel
Streaming sources: iTunes
Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman explores the meaning of life, God and many big questions in between in an effort to understand how religion has evolved and shaped society.
- Updated
Chesapeake Shores S1 Productions Inc. / Borderline Distribution Inc.
Smart Rating: 84.19
Premiere date: 08/14/2016
Network: Hallmark Channel
Streaming sources: iTunes
The O'Brien family reunites after years apart to face the memories of their past.
- Updated
Kudos Film and Television / Seeso
Smart Rating: 84.19
Premiere date: 04/25/2016
Network: Channel 4
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime
The members of an eccentric family struggle to hold themselves together.
- Updated
John Wells Productions / TNT
Smart Rating: 84.24
Premiere date: 04/04/2016
Network: Turner Network TV
Streaming sources: iTunes
After his mother's death, a teen moves in with his relatives.
- Updated
CBS Television Studios
Smart Rating: 84.25
Premiere date: 06/13/2016
Network: CBS
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime
A new staffer on Capitol Hill discovers that aliens have eaten several congressmen's brains.
- Updated
Kippster Entertainment / Amazon
Smart Rating: 84.38
Premiere date: 06/17/2016
Network: Amazon Original
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime
Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, a Hollywood golden boy battles for the soul of a studio.
- Updated
Netflix
Smart Rating: 84.38
Premiere date: 02/19/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
An examination of the primal human need to cook and a clarion call for a return to the kitchen.
- Updated
ABC Studios / Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Smart Rating: 84.40
Premiere date: 09/21/2016
Network: ABC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A low-level cabinet member unexpectedly becomes president after an attack on Washington.
- Updated
DreamWorks Animation / Netflix
Smart Rating: 84.59
Premiere date: 06/10/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
Teenagers transported from Earth become pilots for robotic lions during an intergalactic war.
- Updated
AMC Studios / AMC
Smart Rating: 84.67
Premiere date: 05/22/2016
Network: AMC
Streaming sources: iTunes
Jesse Custer, a preacher from West Texas, teams up with his ex-girlfriend and an Irish vagabond.
- Updated
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Smart Rating: 84.86
Premiere date: 02/21/2016
Network: BBC1
Streaming sources: iTunes
Former British soldier Jonathan Pine works to infiltrate the inner circle of an arms dealer.
- Updated
Netflix
Smart Rating: 84.94
Premiere date: 02/12/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
A teenager has finally gotten her own apartment. The only problem is that she's sharing it with the most popular boy in school, and they have to keep it a secret.
- Updated
TBTF Productions Inc. / Showtime
Smart Rating: 84.96
Premiere date: 01/17/2016
Network: Showtime
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes, Showtime
An aggressive New York attorney deals exclusively with obnoxious hedge fund billionaires.
- Updated
Studio BONES / FUNimation Entertainment
Smart Rating: 85.14
Premiere date: 04/30/2016
Network: N/A
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
Despite being born powerless in a super-powered world, Izuku never gives up on becoming a hero.
- Updated
New Metric Media / The Comedy Network
Smart Rating: 85.14
Premiere date: 02/07/2016
Network: CraveTV
Streaming sources: N/A
Wayne and his buddies get into scuffles with their small town Ontario rivals.
- Updated
Condé Nast Entertainment / Netflix
Smart Rating: 85.14
Premiere date: 07/29/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
Elite athletes in tough circumstances must keep up the pace on a champion community football team.
- Updated
Bazmark Films / Netflix
Smart Rating: 85.23
Premiere date: 08/12/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
A ragtag group of teenagers run wild in the streets of the Bronx in the late 1970s.
- Updated
"Universal Television / NBC
Smart Rating: 85.32
Premiere date: 08/23/2016
Network: NBC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus
This hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy/reality show follows cultural icons Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman on their greatest adventure yet.
- Updated
Ryan Murphy Productions / FX Network
Smart Rating: 85.34
Premiere date: 02/02/2016
Network: FX
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, Amazon
The chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the O.J. Simpson trial.
- Updated
FX Productions / FX Networks
Smart Rating: 85.35
Premiere date: 09/06/2016
Network: FX
Streaming sources: iTunes
Two cousins with different views on art versus commerce navigate their way up through the Atlanta rap scene.
- Updated
20th Century Fox Television / NBC
Smart Rating: 85.73
Premiere date: 09/01/2016
Network: NBC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
The show follows a group of people with the same birthday: Rebecca and Jack, a married couple expecting triplets, Kevin, a handsome television actor growing bored of his bachelor lifestyle, Kate, his funny and sweet heavyset twin and Randall, a successful lawyer in search of his biological father.
- Updated
Warner Bros. Television / HBO
Smart Rating: 86.44
Premiere date: 10/02/2016
Network: HBO
Streaming sources: HBO
A Western-themed park unveils the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin.
- Updated
21 Laps Entertainment / Netflix
Smart Rating: 87.84
Premiere date: 07/15/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
When a boy disappears, his friends, family and police are drawn into a mystery as they seek answers.
- Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
Credit: Netflix
Now that streaming services and premium cable networks like Netflix, Starz and Hulu are creating their own original shows, the pool of great television has grown even bigger. It seems as if new TV shows are popping up every second. One day, people were recovering from the eight-episode sci-fi roller coaster that was season one of Netflix's "Stranger Things" — the next, the same fans were obsessing over mind-bending theories for HBO's "Westworld."
Despite getting a bad reputation — for, well, everything — 2016 has been a good year for TV. The public has gotten a range of plotlines, casts and networks to choose from. With this in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, found the best TV shows that premiered in 2016.
To identify the cream of the crop of this year, PrettyFamous ranked each show by its Smart Rating. This is a score out of 100 that weighs a TV show's IMDb ratings, IMDb votes and Emmy awards. Some shows first aired after the Emmy's cutoff (May 31, 2016), so they will be eligible for nominations next year. In the case of a tie, the show with the more IMDb votes was favored.
Note: The lists of streaming sources are not entirely comprehensive. Descriptions for each show were sourced (with minor edits) from Gracenote.
Compiled by Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
Buccaneer Media / Independent Television
Smart Rating: 68.57
Premiere date: 04/04/2016
Network: ITV
Streaming sources: Netflix
Marcella Backland left the Metropolitan Police for the sake of her family, only to have her husband leave her. She returns to her job on the murder squad, investigating a case that seems disturbingly familiar to her.
BBC Drama Productions / BBC America
Smart Rating: 70.92
Premiere date: 03/06/2016
Network: BBC Two
Streaming sources: iTunes
The story follows 26-year-old Ivy Moxam, who was the victim of a kidnapping during which she was held captive in a cellar for 13 years. After escaping from her attacker's prison, she returns to her family home but struggles to put her life back together. As police begin to make sense of the case, evidence contradicts Ivy's statement, leaving detectives to suspect she is hiding something from them.
Warner Bros. Television / 20th Century Fox Television
Smart Rating: 73.71
Premiere date: 09/01/2016
Network: FOX
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
Ex-Navy SEAL Martin Riggs and his partner Roger Murtaugh investigate cases with the LAPD.
Amazon / Amazon Instant Video
Smart Rating: 76.13
Premiere date: 05/07/2016
Network: Wit Studio
Streaming sources: Amazon Prime
A large group of survivors seek shelter while travelling on a train after their station was attacked by aggressive, undead creatures called "Kabane."
TBS Productions / Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Smart Rating: 76.21
Premiere date: 03/27/2016
Network: Turner Broadcasting System
Streaming sources: iTunes
A family takes a road trip to Florida and has the adventure of a lifetime.
Revelations Entertainment / National Geographic Channel
Smart Rating: 84.01
Premiere date: 04/03/2016
Network: National Geographic Channel
Streaming sources: iTunes
Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman explores the meaning of life, God and many big questions in between in an effort to understand how religion has evolved and shaped society.
Chesapeake Shores S1 Productions Inc. / Borderline Distribution Inc.
Smart Rating: 84.19
Premiere date: 08/14/2016
Network: Hallmark Channel
Streaming sources: iTunes
The O'Brien family reunites after years apart to face the memories of their past.
ABC Studios / Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Smart Rating: 84.40
Premiere date: 09/21/2016
Network: ABC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
A low-level cabinet member unexpectedly becomes president after an attack on Washington.
Netflix
Smart Rating: 84.94
Premiere date: 02/12/2016
Network: Netflix
Streaming sources: Netflix
A teenager has finally gotten her own apartment. The only problem is that she's sharing it with the most popular boy in school, and they have to keep it a secret.
Studio BONES / FUNimation Entertainment
Smart Rating: 85.14
Premiere date: 04/30/2016
Network: N/A
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
Despite being born powerless in a super-powered world, Izuku never gives up on becoming a hero.
"Universal Television / NBC
Smart Rating: 85.32
Premiere date: 08/23/2016
Network: NBC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus
This hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy/reality show follows cultural icons Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman on their greatest adventure yet.
Ryan Murphy Productions / FX Network
Smart Rating: 85.34
Premiere date: 02/02/2016
Network: FX
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, Amazon
The chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the O.J. Simpson trial.
20th Century Fox Television / NBC
Smart Rating: 85.73
Premiere date: 09/01/2016
Network: NBC
Streaming sources: Hulu Plus, iTunes
The show follows a group of people with the same birthday: Rebecca and Jack, a married couple expecting triplets, Kevin, a handsome television actor growing bored of his bachelor lifestyle, Kate, his funny and sweet heavyset twin and Randall, a successful lawyer in search of his biological father.
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