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The Best TV Shows of 2023: Every Certified Fresh Series
Updated: December 28, 2023
Rotten Tomatoes’ list of top shows of 2023 (so far) compiles the TV and streaming seasons that debuted in the U.S. this year and were designated Certified Fresh.
To be Certified Fresh, seasons must score at least 75% on the Tomatometer, with at least 20 critic reviews (five of those from Top Critics). Shows retain their Certified Fresh status even if they fall below 75%, as long as the scores stay at 70% or above.
Just added: Percy Jackson, Invincible, Reacher, Lessons in Chemistry limited series, Goosebumps season 1, For All Mankind season 4
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Adjusted Score: 103543%
Critics Consensus: Still as bracing as a punch to the face and invigorating with its vivid worldbuilding, Invincible is practically impervious to disappointing audiences in this sterling sophomore season.
Adjusted Score: 103542%
Critics Consensus: Bowing out while still having plenty of creativity to spare, Reservation Dogs' final season sidesteps feeling premature by satisfying on every level.
Adjusted Score: 101882%
Critics Consensus: Brawny as Alan Ritchson's biceps, Reacher swaggers confidently into its sophomore season as rock 'em sock 'em pulp with a sly wink.
Adjusted Score: 103099%
Critics Consensus: Full of highs and with nary a low, Happy Valley returns at the peak of its hardscrabble powers, with Sarah Lancashire seamlessly slipping back into her quintessential role for one final mystery.
Adjusted Score: 102878%
Critics Consensus: Bel Powley's arresting performance burns bright in A Small Light, a sensitive portrait of heroism in the face of all-encompassing tragedy.
Adjusted Score: 101877%
Critics Consensus: Tonally elastic and blessed with Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer's sparky chemistry, Colin from Accounts makes the alchemy of a satisfying rom-com feel effortless.
Adjusted Score: 101880%
Critics Consensus: With its complicated bedrock now established, Foundation spreads its wings in an improved sophomore season that rewards viewers' patience with a brainy sci-fi epic of genuine grandeur.
Adjusted Score: 101881%
Critics Consensus: A saga of cutthroat competition with notes of cool intelligence, Drops of God is a sleek entertainment sure to stimulate refined palates.
Adjusted Score: 101480%
Critics Consensus: Diane Morgan feigns dopiness with ingenious comedic timing in Cunk on Earth, a gut-busting sendup of anthropological documentaries.
Adjusted Score: 101663%
Critics Consensus: The elder Dubek siblings may still feel like they're also-rans, but The Other Two remains cream of the crop in a third season that turns foiled dreams into delightful comedy.
Adjusted Score: 101441%
Critics Consensus: Bearing the unmistakable stamp of creator Shea Serrano's authentic voice, Primo is a generation-spanning sitcom that feels like home.
Adjusted Score: 101438%
Critics Consensus: An irreverent twist on the crime procedural, Deadloch's addictive mixture of mystery and mordant humor makes most of its corpse-strewn competition look comparably stiff.
Adjusted Score: 102102%
Critics Consensus: Houston, there's no problem here -- For All Mankind's fourth season hones in on what the series does best and forges ahead with a thought-provoking revisionist history.
Adjusted Score: 99218%
Critics Consensus: Visually dazzling while paying deft attention to character, Blue Eye Samurai is a masterfully rendered animated adventure.
Adjusted Score: 101441%
Critics Consensus: Disturbing and wondrous, Scavengers Reign presents a vividly realized world that beckons exploration by its marooned characters and television viewers alike.
Adjusted Score: 101216%
Critics Consensus: Somebody Somewhere captures the bittersweet beauty of life in all its minutiae, never forgetting to laugh in the face of adversity.
Adjusted Score: 101327%
Critics Consensus: Recapturing the original movies' blend of cuteness and mayhem, Secrets of the Mogwai is delightful family entertainment -- just don't feed it after midnight.
Adjusted Score: 101327%
Critics Consensus: Scathing as ever and even funnier than before, Killing It's sophomore season compresses capitalistic malaise into a comedic diamond.
Adjusted Score: 110315%
Critics Consensus: Instead of reinventing the menu, The Bear's second season wisely opts to toss its lovable characters into another frying pan of adversity, lets 'em cook, and serves up yet another supremely satisfying dish.
Adjusted Score: 102761%
Critics Consensus: Strange New Worlds treks across familiar territory to refreshing effect, its episodic structure and soulful cast recapturing the sense of boundless discovery that defined the franchise's roots.
Adjusted Score: 110296%
Critics Consensus: Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are a diabolically watchable pair of adversaries in Beef, a prime cut comedy that finds the pathos in pettiness.
Adjusted Score: 109626%
Critics Consensus: With the incomparable Natasha Lyonne as an ace up its sleeve, Poker Face is a puzzle box of modest ambitions working with a full deck.
Adjusted Score: 100992%
Critics Consensus: Finally getting the band back together, Picard's final season boldly goes where the previous generation had gone before -- and is all the better for it.
Adjusted Score: 105418%
Critics Consensus: Just about as gruesomely subversive as its origin series, Gen V builds on The Boys in occasionally chaotic but overall inspired fashion.
Adjusted Score: 105195%
Critics Consensus: As compulsively watchable as ever, Succession's final season concludes the saga of the backbiting Roy family on a typically brilliant -- and colorfully profane -- high note.
Adjusted Score: 100321%
Critics Consensus: Boldly going where this hallowed franchise has gone before with effervescent execution, Strange New Worlds' superb sophomore season continues to recapture classic Trek with modern verve.
Adjusted Score: 99773%
Critics Consensus: Schmigadoon! returns with more libido, pizzazz, and all that jazz in a sophomore season that improves upon what was already a nifty production.
Adjusted Score: 112837%
Critics Consensus: Retaining the most addictive aspects of its beloved source material while digging deeper into the story, The Last of Us is bingeworthy TV that ranks among the all-time greatest video game adaptations.
Adjusted Score: 105188%
Critics Consensus: Relocating the action to the theatre, Only Murders in the Building can take a bow for yet another twisty mystery handled with a good-humored touch.
Adjusted Score: 103309%
Critics Consensus: Boots Riley's towering imagination looms as large as his supersized hero in I'm a Virgo, an uproarious satire that's given an enormous heart to match by star Jharrel Jerome.
Adjusted Score: 101537%
Critics Consensus: What began as a macabre comedy is now close to completely shorn of genuine mirth, but Bill Hader's masterful indictment of stardom closes the curtain with one hell of an encore.
Adjusted Score: 97202%
Critics Consensus: A faithful adaptation of Rick Riordan's novels, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a lovingly realized odyssey through adolescence and myth.
Adjusted Score: 101204%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully acted and scripted, Heartstopper's second season is fit to bursting with emotional truth.
Adjusted Score: 100872%
Critics Consensus: Retaining the heart and wit of the original movie while also carving out a fresh path for itself, Scott Pilgrim takes off in the animated medium and soars.
Adjusted Score: 98094%
Critics Consensus: A back-to-basics caper populated by the likes of a mesmerizing Juno Temple and a thick slice of Hamm, Fargo's fifth season is a superb return to peak form.
Adjusted Score: 99211%
Critics Consensus: All good comedy sets must arrive at a final punchline, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel reliably nails its own with a fifth season that wisely puts Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein's repartee front and center.
Adjusted Score: 97996%
Critics Consensus: Our Flag Means Death's sophomore season doubles down on the fans' favorite ship to some diminishing returns, but it still delivers enough joyous moments to get viewers' sabers rattling.
Adjusted Score: 97883%
Critics Consensus: Hold the phone! A truly stranger than fiction scandal is recounted with addictive aplomb in this gritty and farcical docuseries.
Adjusted Score: 97659%
Critics Consensus: Now that I Think You Should Leave's rhythms have become a recognizable pattern, some of these sketches CAN'T hit, but most of them still CAN hit -- and indeed they do, with quotable hilarity.
Adjusted Score: 97548%
Critics Consensus: Having settled into one of DC's most dependably entertaining series, Harley Quinn continues to be funny, quirky, and romantic.
Adjusted Score: 102531%
Critics Consensus: A resplendent romance between two of the most interesting characters in the Bridgerton saga, Queen Charlotte is a spin-off that arguably perfects the primary series' formula.
Adjusted Score: 99953%
Critics Consensus: Slow Horses refreshes the espionage genre by letting its band of snoops be bumbling, with Gary Oldman giving a masterclass in frumpy authority.
Adjusted Score: 98765%
Critics Consensus: Returning after a long layoff, Party Down brings patient fans a third season that's every bit as sharp -- and laugh-out-loud funny -- as its predecessors.
Directed By:
Adjusted Score: 98432%
Critics Consensus: The Afterparty welcomes in a mostly new cast and keeps things festive with its enduringly clever Rashomon-style format, stirring up an entertainment that viewers won't want to end.
Adjusted Score: 96770%
Critics Consensus: Displaying a comedic longevity that'd make even a vampire blush, What We Do in the Shadows enters its fifth season showing no signs of getting long in the fang.
Adjusted Score: 96330%
Critics Consensus: Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen turn in some of their best work yet in Best Intentions, a frank depiction of any parent's worst nightmare that is equal parts graceful and harrowing.
Adjusted Score: 96219%
Critics Consensus: Shining bright and casting a warm glow over viewers, Starstruck continues to be masterful comfort television in this sweet third season.
Adjusted Score: 96330%
Critics Consensus: Hosted by Alan Cumming with theatrical relish, The Traitors deploys a rogues' gallery of reality television stars to make for a compelling murder mystery party.
Adjusted Score: 96216%
Critics Consensus: Ably dramatizing a deadly serious chapter of World War II history while also remembering to have fun, Transatlantic is a visually sumptuous throwback to classic Hollywood melodramas.
Adjusted Score: 96217%
Critics Consensus: Stonehouse reenacts one of Britain's most ridiculous spy games with wry flair while star Matthew Macfadyen puts on a masterclass of fecklessness.
Adjusted Score: 100531%
Critics Consensus: Having already made a startling first impression, Yellowjackets coils itself in a second season preparing for the long haul -- thankfully, its superb performances and mesmeric ambience are fine substitutes for fast answers.
Adjusted Score: 100088%
Critics Consensus: A wickedly uncomfortable marriage of sensibilities between Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, with a masterful Emma Stone tying everything together, The Curse will make viewers cackle and squirm in equal measure.
Adjusted Score: 98870%
Critics Consensus: Jam-packed with inventive flourishes and grounded by lovable actors, American Born Chinese musters epic elements from Chinese mythology to tell a deeply relatable coming of age story.
Adjusted Score: 98213%
Critics Consensus: Even with bold swings and romance off the table, the rambunctious rapport between Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen makes Platonic an ideal relationship comedy.
Adjusted Score: 98873%
Critics Consensus: With the fortune of Bob Odenkirk in its favor, Lucky Hank makes ennui essential viewing with a comedy rooted in relatable human behavior.
Adjusted Score: 95328%
Critics Consensus: Authentically brutal with pinpricks of humor that's all the more true to life, Rain Dogs is a bracing story of toil that proves to be immensely rewarding.
Adjusted Score: 96545%
Critics Consensus: More topical than before while also owning its frivolous appeal with unapologetic splendor, Julian Fellowes' operatic soap enters its own halcyon age.
Adjusted Score: 97869%
Critics Consensus: The hunter becomes prey in You's London-set fourth season, which shows some wear as this premise begins to outlive its believability -- but Penn Badgley's sardonic performance continues to paper over most lapses in logic.
Adjusted Score: 97657%
Critics Consensus: Positively bonkers while undergirded by an intelligent design, Mrs. Davis makes Betty Gilpin a hero for modern times in a highly imaginative mixture of spirituality and technology.
Adjusted Score: 95099%
Critics Consensus: Turning a high concept into a grounded good time, The Big Door Prize realizes its full potential thanks to a lovable cast of relatable characters.
Adjusted Score: 93885%
Critics Consensus: A glittering cast is worth its weight in Gold, giving this posh caper plenty of compelling glamor to go along with its trenchant class commentary.
Adjusted Score: 99749%
Critics Consensus: Shrinking has darker ideas on its mind than its earnest approach can often translate, but Jason Segel and Harrison Ford's sparkling turns make these characters worth close analysis.
Adjusted Score: 96318%
Critics Consensus: Timothy Olyphant's quickdraw charm shows no signs of dulling in City Primeval, an introspective and very welcome return for Raylan Givens.
Adjusted Score: 92433%
Critics Consensus: As sweetly empathetic and inclusive as ever, Sex Education's final season serves as a bittersweet -- but largely satisfying -- farewell.
Adjusted Score: 89659%
Critics Consensus: Blessed with an affable and charismatic subject, Beckham's intimate access to one of the world's most renowned athletes makes for a delightful binge.
Adjusted Score: 92441%
Critics Consensus: While its marquee stars are plenty welcoming all their own, Wrexham smartly spends its sophomore season focused on the community itself to inspiring effect.
Adjusted Score: 101741%
Critics Consensus: Presenting vintage Poe stories filtered through Mike Flanagan's deliciously dark lens, The Fall of the House of Usher will get a rise out of horror fans.
Adjusted Score: 94207%
Critics Consensus: A queer romance with the full breadth and depth of an epic, Fellow Travelers is a moving showcase for Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey's captivating on-screen chemistry.
Adjusted Score: 91216%
Critics Consensus: Deriving extra flavor from its Australian setting and Miranda Otto's unsettling performance, The Clearing is an eerie thriller with plenty to recommend.
Adjusted Score: 91214%
Critics Consensus: A mirthful satire of religious zealotry that hits more than it misses, Everyone Else Burns is an agreeably irreverent sitcom.
Adjusted Score: 91102%
Critics Consensus: Still getting great mileage from its marriage of the feminist and the frivolous, Minx's second season is smart, sexy, and fun.
Adjusted Score: 96424%
Critics Consensus: Largely devoid of storytelling turbulence and benefitting greatly from its real-time pacing, Hijack is a glossy but effective thriller that achieves genuine liftoff.
Adjusted Score: 94534%
Critics Consensus: With deft writing, awe-inspiring production design and the inestimable star power of Rebecca Ferguson, Silo is a mystery box well worth opening.
Adjusted Score: 94759%
Critics Consensus: Confounding as it is seductive, Murder at the End of the World is a worthy brain-teaser for fans of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's offbeat storytelling.
Adjusted Score: 91765%
Critics Consensus: As much an exposé on ugly cultural forces as it is a straightforward presentation of Brooke Shields' life, Pretty Baby is disturbing and triumphant in equal measure.
Adjusted Score: 89769%
Critics Consensus: Carrying off a mature mystery with a light touch, Shelter is an absorbing and spry adaptation of Harlan Coben's work.
Adjusted Score: 89479%
Critics Consensus: More cerebral than outright thrilling, A Spy Among Friends is an intelligent tale of espionage elevated by a pair of sterling performances.
Adjusted Score: 93534%
Critics Consensus: Swarm can be as unpleasant as a hornet sting, but Dominique Fishback's ferocious performance and the creators' bold creative swings add up to a truly subversive take on toxic fandom.
Adjusted Score: 94090%
Critics Consensus: Boding well for the series' longevity, Good Omens' second season is even more splendid than the first.
Adjusted Score: 97279%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by Rosario Dawson's strong performance in the title role and a solid story that balances new and old elements of the Star Wars saga, Ahsoka is a must-watch for fans of the franchise.
Adjusted Score: 88213%
Critics Consensus: Shut up and take our money!
Adjusted Score: 88106%
Critics Consensus: The Muppets Mayhem might be too slight to find the Rainbow Connection, but its ragtag band of plucky puppets and plethora of showbiz gags make for a solid addition to the franchise.
Adjusted Score: 87880%
Critics Consensus: The Wheel of Time keeps spinning on a steady track in a rousing second season that deepens its characters.
Adjusted Score: 93749%
Critics Consensus: If Dead Ringers doesn't wield as cutting a blade as David Cronenberg's original chiller, it's not a pale imitation either, thanks to Rachel Weisz putting on a clinic in doppelgänger duplicity.
Adjusted Score: 90869%
Critics Consensus: One Piece captures the essence of its beloved source material with a charmingly big-hearted adaptation that should entertain longtime fans as well as patient newcomers.
Adjusted Score: 89096%
Critics Consensus: Mileage may vary by a couple parsecs as The Mandalorian becomes more and more about the connective tissue of broader Star Wars lore, but this remains one of the most engaging adventures in a galaxy far, far away.
Adjusted Score: 89660%
Critics Consensus: A clever spin on the pressures of office culture, The Other Black Girl blends comedy and horror to thrilling effect.
Adjusted Score: 88438%
Critics Consensus: Tiny Beautiful Things is littered with cumbersome narrative choices, but Kathryn Hahn's soulful performance is one big plus that keeps this adaptation firmly compelling.
Adjusted Score: 86219%
Critics Consensus: The Company You Keep gets off to a rocky start in the first few episodes, but the show's appealing cast and entertaining blend of crime and romance will pay off for patient viewers.
Adjusted Score: 86219%
Critics Consensus: A genial showcase for Michelle Buteau, Survival of the Thickest is equal parts amusing and heartwarming.
Adjusted Score: 93974%
Critics Consensus: With performances by father-son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell that work a charm, Monarch adds a welcome wrinkle to the Godzilla legacy by honing its monstrous scope to a very human level.
Adjusted Score: 92756%
Critics Consensus: Touching on several hot button issues while benefitting immensely from a perfect pinch of Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry's ambitious ingredients add up to satisfying entertainment.
Adjusted Score: 87656%
Critics Consensus: More cohesive and engaging than its woolly first installment, Perry Mason's sophomore season is a marked improvement driven by an urgent sense of purpose, with Matthew Rhys commandingly watchable as ever.
Adjusted Score: 89212%
Critics Consensus: Keri Russell's scrappy performance negotiates the best possible terms for The Diplomat, a soapy take on statecraft that manages to make geopolitical crises highly bingeable entertainment.
Adjusted Score: 91193%
Critics Consensus: Ted Lasso's third and possibly final season takes time to find its footing, but patient viewers who believe will find that they appreciate Coach as much as ever.
Adjusted Score: 90860%
Critics Consensus: Loki's dizzying, dazzling second season may rely on sleight of hand to distract from its slightly less satisfying storyline, but the end result still contains enough of that old Marvel magic to entertain.
Adjusted Score: 84772%
Critics Consensus: Sigourney Weaver is excellent as a thorny matriarch in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a visually appealing and well-acted melodrama.
Adjusted Score: 85982%
Critics Consensus: While this courtroom comedy isn't as tedious as actual jury duty -- largely thanks to a very game James Marsden -- the verdict is still out on whether its stylistic gambit pays off.
Adjusted Score: 83438%
Critics Consensus: Trying to defend the title is hard, but Winning Time's sophomore season keeps pace as some of the best courtside seats to sports history that television can provide.
Adjusted Score: 84097%
Critics Consensus: Leveraging its alien conceit to make astute observations about society, Strange Planet is wryly amusing and relatably human.
Adjusted Score: 82996%
Critics Consensus: A modest and sweet extension of all the films that fans have loved before, XO, Kitty aims straight for the heart and finds its mark.
Adjusted Score: 84107%
Critics Consensus: Anchored by the indispensable Stephen Graham, Bodies' multiple twisting time strands coalesce into one satisfying binge.
Adjusted Score: 82327%
Critics Consensus: Serving up a fresh look at the next generation of tennis stars, Break Point is strictly for established fans of tennis but full of well-aimed volleys into insight.
Adjusted Score: 84660%
Critics Consensus: Glossy as a magazine cover, The Super Models largely sidesteps the thornier aspects of the fashion world but centers some of its most iconic stars on their own terms.
Adjusted Score: 82096%
Critics Consensus: Full Circle's windy plotting may prove too labyrinthine for casual enjoyment, but Steven Soderbergh's assured direction and a stacked cast give this simmering noir plenty of intrigue.
Adjusted Score: 83549%
Critics Consensus: The Horror of Dolores Roach bites off more than it could chew with the delicate balance between horror and humor, but Justina Machado's commitment to the zany premise makes for a savory snack of a series.
Adjusted Score: 80545%
Critics Consensus: Shadow and Bone's sophomore season packs in too much story sinew to properly breathe, but this adventure remains great fun for fantasy fans.
Adjusted Score: 80659%
Critics Consensus: Culprits is a stylish caper packed with enough twists to solve a Rubik's Cube, making for a bloody entertaining binge.
Adjusted Score: 83207%
Critics Consensus: Capably shouldered by Henry Cavill's gruff charm, The Witcher's plotty third season pays a fittingly fond farewell to this particular Geralt of Rivia.
Adjusted Score: 83882%
Critics Consensus: With Christoph Waltz's menacing charm on retainer, The Consultant compensates for its lack of depth with slick presentation and diverting twists.
Adjusted Score: 81650%
Critics Consensus: With David Oyelowo capably stepping into the stirrups of Bass Reeves, this gritty procedural is slow to the draw but hits its mark nonetheless.
Adjusted Score: 82659%
Critics Consensus: Pete Davidson's second crack at playing a fictionalized version of himself may feel faintly recycled, but a terrific supporting cast and some surprising depth ensure this series adds up to more than just Bupkis.
Adjusted Score: 79993%
Critics Consensus: Anachronistic to the max and loving it, The Buccaneers is a feminist and frothy treat for fans of period piece pageantry.
Adjusted Score: 80429%
Critics Consensus: True crime enthusiasts have been satirized more sharply, but engaging leads and a lightly humorous touch make Based on a True Story worth investigating.
Directed By:
Adjusted Score: 78765%
Critics Consensus: Although Rabbit Hole tumbles into one twist too many, Kiefer Sutherland remains compelling in his welcome return to the espionage genre.
Adjusted Score: 79769%
Critics Consensus: A solidly serviceable sequel series, That '90s Show may take a little time to find its rhythm, but still delivers a respectable number of warmly nostalgic laughs.
Adjusted Score: 77321%
Critics Consensus: Wickedly inventive enough to give viewers the creeps if not nightmares, Goosebumps solidly transplants R.L. Stine's spooky stories into a serialized format.
Adjusted Score: 76435%
Critics Consensus: Bingeable as a beach read and just as forgettable, The Night Agent is a routine spy thriller told with commendable bravado.
Adjusted Score: 72989%
Critics Consensus: Centering Norman Reedus' fan favorite character in a fresh setting, Daryl Dixon can be a wobbly shot across the crossbow but still gives The Walking Dead faithful plenty more to chew on.
Adjusted Score: 72330%
Critics Consensus: While it never realizes its full potential as a revenge fantasy for real historical atrocity, Hunters tracks down a satisfying enough conclusion in this second and final season.
100%
