The Best TV Shows of 2020, from New Critical Darlings to Returning Favorites

The little Canadian sitcom that could concluded its six-season run this year, and definitely fulfilled its promise to give the Rose family (and their many fans) the satisfying ending they deserve. The image of Moira officiating David and Patrick's wedding in a pope hat-slash-wig will live forever in our memories.

Over its six seasons, BoJack Horseman has offered some of television's most insightful—and, often, most bleak—takes on family, mental health, and careerism. Its final episodes took the show's achievements to even greater heights, letting its characters at once continue to bear their emotional scars and show signs of growth.

Five seasons in, the fandom surrounding Outlander has only grown stronger. This latest installment continued Claire and Jamie's love story—as well as the more complicated one of their daughter Brianna and her now-husband Roger—to great effect.

Twenty years after 2000's High Fidelity hit theaters, Nick Hornby's novel of the same name was adapted for the screen yet again—this time as a TV show, with its lead roles gender-swapped. Zoë Kravitz stars, replaying her top heartbreaks in an effort to finally get over her recent breakup. The show is sweet, uneven if well-acted—but most importantly, it's deeply cool.

The successor series to The Good Wife remains under-appreciated (likely due to its home at CBS All Access, which has yet to amass a large subscriber base) but that hasn't stopped it from turning out stellar season after stellar season.

Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon starred in this adaptation of Celeste Ng's hit book Little Fires Everywhere, which ended up breaking significantly from its source material. The show isn't perfect, but any shortcomings are more than made up for by Washington and Witherspoon's performances—not to mention Lexi Underwood's amazing turn as Pearl Warren.

Julian Fellowes, best known as the creator of Downton Abbey, continues to delight fans with intrigue-filled period dramas—the most recent of which was Belgravia, an ITV miniseries adapted from Fellowes's own novel. The story begins at a glamorous ball held in Brussels, just before the Battle of Waterloo—then jumps ahead 25 years, when certain events from that night begin to come to light.

FX (excuse me, FX on Hulu) assembled a dream lineup of Hollywood talent for Mrs. America, a limited series about the fight to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Cate Blanchett stars as Phyllis Schlafly, Rose Byrne plays Gloria Steinem, Uzo Aduba portrays Shirley Chisholm, the list goes on. The miniseries was criticized for being too kind to Phyllis Schlafly, but it's definitely worth a watch, if only as a conversation-starter.

The comedic heights reached by this gem of a show—a mockumentary-style series following a group of vampires living in Staten Island—are nearly unmatched. Its first season was hilarious, but the second is just... chef's kiss. Pour yourself a human alcohol beer and enjoy.

Hulu's Normal People has been hailed as a pitch-perfect adaptation of Sally Rooney's much-loved novel. It hews very close to the book—perhaps because Rooney herself was involved in the production—following a young couple as they grow, depicting their (sometimes) love with an almost surprising amount of authenticity.

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette meets Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite in this delightfully anachronistic take on Catherine the Great's rise to power. Elle Fanning stars as a naïve young Catherine, sent off to marry Nicholas Hoult's oafish Peter. Quickly, she realizes she may need to take matters into her own hands if she—or Russia, for that matter—is going to have any kind of happy ending.

After receiving rave reviews for its first season, Ramy continued to impress in its sophomore run. Mahershala Ali joined as Sheikh Malik, providing an interesting onscreen counterweight to Ramy, who continues to struggle to find his way. It's superbly written, superbly acted—an all-around gem.

Chewing Gum's Michaela Coel once again proved herself a stunning, multi-hyphenate talent in I May Destroy You, a London-set series following Arabella (Coel), who struggles to pick up the pieces after her drink is spiked.

Lovecraft Country is definitely a show for our moment. Based on the novel by Matt Ruff, the show explored America's endemic racism and the legacy of H.P. Lovecraft—a forefather of science fiction literature, and a repulsive racist. Each episode featured a new adventure, and though the plot could sometimes get lost, we saw stellar performances from Jurnee Smollett, Wunmi Mosaku, Jonathan Majors, and Aunjanue Ellis.

This miniseries, based on the award-winning novel by James McBride, follows abolitionist John Brown and newly-freed teenager Onion. Told from Onion's point of view, the show manages to hit both humorous and dramatic notes while probing the history and legacy of slavery in America.

The Queen's Gambit was the come-from-behind hit of the fall TV slate, managing to entrance scores of viewers with its stylish adaptation of Walter Tevis’s novel. And in the process, it achieved the impossible: making chess cool.

If The Crown (and recent royal events) have taught us anything, it's that each decade brings fresh challenges for Britain's monarchy. This time around, the show tackled the '80s, and centered on two main interpersonal conflicts: the uneasy partnership between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, and the deeply unhappy marriage between Prince Charles and Princess Diana. With this latest installment, showrunner Peter Morgan proved once again that he wouldn't shy away from the Windsors' more difficult periods—even as the timeline inches closer to the present day.

Netflix gave its subscribers quite the present when it dropped all of Bridgerton on Christmas Day. The series is nearly irresistible, combining the most delicious elements of the traditional period drama with the fun and light anachronism of much more contemporary fare. And this delightful escapist fantasy came just when we needed it most.