20 Best TV Shows Of 2017

2017 was Peak(s) TV.

By James Hunt /

Showtime/AMC/HBO

2017 has been A Year. On a political, societal, and cultural level it's been, by turns, awful, exhausting, divisive, and a little bit hopeful too. And of course, with the year coming to an end and everyone writing end-of-year lists, you'll no doubt here a number of variations on that same theme before a segue into 'but, at least [topic] was pretty great, eh?'.

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So, at least TV was pretty great, eh?

2017 saw the era of Peak TV continue apace, with somewhere in the region of 500 scripted shows airing across the traditional networks, cable outfits, and streaming services. With that much content there was, of course, a lot of noise and plenty of poor shows, but rising above the miasma were a great number of series that were at least pretty good.

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It was another year where it was impossible to watch everything; when sleeping giants awoke, new pretenders to the throne arose, established hits continued, beloved shows ended in stunning fashion, and whittling it down to just 20 is a near-thankless task. These are the shows that stood out from the crowd, and made viewers whoop with joy, cry with sadness, ache with laughter, and generally left an indelible impression on the audience.