Year-End Lists

Emily St. James: The Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by Vox

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

The best TV show of 2021

• The Underground Railroad

12 other TV shows I really loved (in alphabetical order)

• Evil
• For All Mankind
• The Great
• Midnight Mass
• Mythic Quest
• Reservation Dogs
• Station Eleven
• Succession
• We Are Lady Parts
• Work in Progress
• Yellowjackets
• You

Five other shows, why not?

• Y: The Last Man
• The White Lotus
• What We Do in the Shadows
• PEN15
• Hellbound

Ben Yakas: The Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by Gothamist

Dramas

1. Succession
2. Shtisel
3. The White Lotus
4. Station Eleven
5. The Underground Railroad
6. For All Mankind
7. Yellowjackets
8. Mare of Easttown
9. Impeachment: American Crime Story
10. WandaVision
10. Loki
10. Hawkeye

Honorable Mentions - Drama

• You
• Maid
• The Great
• Invincible
• Billions

Comedies

1. What We Do in the Shadows
2. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
3. The Other Two
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. Mythic Quest
6. Hacks
7. How To with John Wilson
8. Only Murders in the Building
9. Girls5eva
10. PEN15

Honorable Mentions - Comedy

• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Insecure
• Betty
• Sex Education
• Big Mouth
• Ted Lasso
• Starstruck
• We Are Lady Parts
• Dave
• Reservation Dogs

BuzzFeed: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2021, numbered as follows but seemingly in alphabetical order

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2010s]

1. Baking It
2. The Beatles: Get Back
3. Big Mouth
4. Bo Burnham: Inside
5. Clickbait
6. Dickinson
7. Hacks
8. Hawkeye
9. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
10. Made for Love
11. Mare of Easttown
12. McCartney 3,2,1
13. Midnight Mass
14. Only Murders in the Building
15. The Other Two
16. PEN15
17. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
18. Reservation Dogs
19. Scenes from a Marriage
20. Search Party
21. Squid Game
22. Starstruck
23. Succession
24. Survivor (season 41)
25. Ted Lasso
26. WandaVision
27. What We Do in the Shadows
28. The White Lotus
29. Yellowjackets
30. You

Willa Paskin: The Top 10 TV Shows of 2021, as published by Slate

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Succession
2. Hacks
3. The Underground Railroad
4. Philly D.A.
5. City of Ghosts
6. The White Lotus
7. Station Eleven
8. The Beatles: Get Back
9. Only Murders in the Building
10. Starstruck

The A.V. Club: The 25 Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Succession
2. Only Murders in the Building
3. The Underground Railroad
4. Mare of Easttown
5. Hacks
6. Reservation Dogs
7. What We Do in the Shadows
8. WandaVision
9. The Other Two
10. For All Mankind
11. We Are Lady Parts
12. The White Lotus
13. Dickinson
14. Squid Game
15. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
16. Girls5eva
17. Starstruck
18. Mythic Quest
19. Maid
20. Pose
21. Yellowjackets
22. Love Life
23. Insecure
24. It's a Sin
25. Never Have I Ever

ScreenCrush: The Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2022]

1. Succession
2. Squid Game
3. The Underground Railroad
4. Ted Lasso
5. WandaVision
6. Reservation Dogs
7. Sweet Tooth
8. Mare of Easttown
9. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
10. Hacks

The Guardian: The 50 Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019]

1. It's a Sin
2. The White Lotus
3. Mare of Easttown
4. Succession
5. Squid Game
6. Feel Good
7. Time
8. Alma's Not Normal
9. Starstruck
10. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
11. Stath Lets Flats
12. Uprising
13. The Underground Railroad
14. Ted Lasso
15. We Are Lady Parts
16. WandaVision
17. This Way Up
18. Back to Life
19. Line of Duty
20. Can't Get You Out of My Head
21. Maid
22. Inside No. 9
23. Vigil
24. Call My Agent!
25. Only Murders in the Building
26. Reservation Dogs
27. The Beatles: Get Back
28. Marc Munden
29. Guilt
30. Master of None
31. Unforgotten
32. The Cleaner
33. Insecure
34. Ghosts
35. Motherland
36. Gods of Snooker
37. Blair & Brown: The new Labour revolution
38. Clarkson's Farm
39. Pose
40. Bo Burnham: Inside
41. The Hunt for a Killer
42. Hellbound
43. The Flight Attendant
44. The Pursuit of Love
45. Lupin
46. Together
47. US Open (women's final)
48. The North Water
49. Four Hours at the Capitol
50. Ladhood

Rachel Cooke: The Best TV of 2021, as published by New Statesman

• Succession
• Blair & Brown: The new Labour revolution
• Marc Munden
• The White Lotus
• Hemingway
• Time
• Gods of Snooker
• Motherland
• Mare of Easttown
• It's a Sin

Kelly Lawler: Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by USA Today

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. For All Mankind
2. The Underground Railroad
3. It's a Sin
4. Hacks
5. We Are Lady Parts
6. The White Lotus
7. Ted Lasso
8. Squid Game
9. Mare of Easttown
10. Maid
11. Reservation Dogs
12. Only Murders in the Building
13. Evil
14. What We Do in the Shadows
15. Girls5eva
16. Shrill
17. Everything's Gonna Be Okay
18. The Wonder Years
19. Top Chef

Robert Lloyd: The 13 Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by The Los Angeles Times, including only programs that debuted in the past year

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

• Reservation Dogs
• Only Murders in the Building
• Maya and the Three
• Kid Cosmic
• 100 Foot Wave
• Naomi Osaka
• The White Lotus
• Hacks
• Big Shot
• The Upshaws
• Station Eleven
• Painting with John
• The Beatles: Get Back