10 Best New TV Shows Of 2017
5. American Vandal
Who drew the dicks?
That question is the central conceit of Netflix's American Vandal, and one that could quite easily have been far too immature, churlish, and one-note. It's to the huge credit of creators Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, then, that instead the series serves as a pitch-perfect satire of true crime documentaries such as another Netflix hit, Making A Murderer, and the podcast Serial. Not only that, though, but it's also an enthralling mystery in its own right.
The series centres on the aftermath of a high-school crime, which sees 27 staff cars vandalised with spray-painted penises, and known prankster Dylan expelled despite his repeated protestations of innocence. Student filmmaker Peter Maldonado launches an investigation to uncover the truth of who actually drew the dicks.
It's really quite remarkable how well it all comes together. The show takes great care in expertly capturing an authentic high school, a rare thing for a TV show to get so right, and even if the performers are older they're completely believable as high-schoolers. It perfectly mimics the tropes that made the shows it apes so gripping, with different threads constantly emerging and cliffhangers making it hard to stop watching, but does so with a knowing wink too. And somehow, the dick jokes never run dry.