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HIGHEST RATED NEW TV SHOWS COLLECTION
Only new scripted TV Shows  |  NO Documentaries  | No Animated shows  |  No Reality TV
The Top 25 Highest Rated New TV Shows of 2017
The Top 25 Highest Rated New TV Shows of 2017

Here is a looked at the highest rated brand new scripted TV shows that debuted in 2017. The ratings are averaged from the scores on IMDb, and Rotten Tomatoes.

25 – The Orville
Drama  |  Comedy  |  Sci-Fi & Fantasy
10 September 2017   –  Ongoing  |  3 Seasons so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.0 |  RT Audience:  8.9  |  RT Critics:  7.7
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.20 /10
SYNOPSIS:
It’s 2417, and the Planetary Union promotes Ed Mercer to Captain of the exploratory vessel The U.S.S. Orville. Ed’s enthusiasm for his new position is dampened when his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson, is assigned to be his First Officer.
24 – Cardinal
CRIME  |  DRAMA

25 January 2017   –  Ended  |  4 Seasons

NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.7 |  RT Audience:  8.2  |  RT Critics:  8.7
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.20 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Detective John Cardinal attempts to uncover the mystery of what happened to the missing 13-year-old girl whose body is discovered in the shaft-head of an abandoned mine. At the same time, he comes under investigation by his new partner, Lise Delorme, a tough investigator in her own right.
23 – The Bold Type
Comedy  |  DRAMA
20 June 2017  –  Ended  |  5 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.8 |  RT Audience:  8.0  |  RT Critics:  8.9
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.23 /10
SYNOPSIS:
A glimpse into the outrageous lives of Jane, Kat and Sutton, who are working at the nation’s top women’s magazine, Scarlet, while navigating their careers, identities and individual voices.
22 – Taboo
Drama  |  Mystery
7 January 2017  –  ongoing  |  1 Season so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.3 |  RT Audience:  9.2  |  RT Critics:  7.6
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.37 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Stars Tom Hardy.
In 1814, James Delaney (Tom Hardy) returns to England after spending twelve years in Africa, following the death of his father and the approaching end of Great Britain’s war with the United States. Taboo explores the dark side of 19th-century London, its political and business corruption, gangs, the misery of the working class, and the increase in wealth of the rich.

21 – Future Man
Comedy  |  Sci-Fi & Fantasy
14 November 2017  –  ended  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.7  |  RT Audience:  8.3  |  RT Critics:  9.1
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.37 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Stars Josh Hutcherson. Josh Futturman, a janitor by day/world-ranked gamer by night, is tasked with preventing the extinction of humanity after mysterious visitors from the future proclaim him the key to defeating the imminent super-race invasion.
20 – Strike
Crime  |  Drama  |  Mystery
27 August 2017  –  ongoing  |  4 Seasons so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.9  |  RT Audience:  9.4  |  RT Critics:  8.2
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.50 /10
SYNOPSIS:
A war veteran turned private detective operates out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Although wounded both physically and psychologically, his unique insight and background as a military police investigator prove crucial in solving complex crimes that have baffled the police. Based on the bestselling novels written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
19 – Ozark
Crime  |  Drama
21 July 2017  –  ended  |  4 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.5  |  RT Audience:  8.7  |  RT Critics:  8.3
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.50 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Stars Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner.
After a money laundering scheme for a Mexican drug cartel goes wrong, financial advisor Marty Byrde proposes to make amends by offering to set up a bigger laundering operation in the Lake of the Ozarks region of central Missouri. Marty suddenly moves his family from the Chicago suburb of Naperville to the remote summer resort community of Osage Beach, Missouri. When the Byrdes arrive in Missouri, they become entangled with local criminals, including the Langmore and Snell families, and later the Kansas City Mafia.

18 – HAPPY!
Sci-Fi & Fantasy  |  Comedy  |  Action & Adventure
6 December 2017  –  cancelled  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  9.0  |  RT Critics:  8.4
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.50 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Disgraced police detective Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni) lives as a social outcast, filling his days with heavy drinking and substance abuse, moonlighting as a hitman to feed his various habits. After sustaining a massive heart attack, Nick comes into contact with a small, blue, winged unicorn named Happy (an animated character voiced by Patton Oswalt) that apparently only he can see. Happy explains he is the imaginary friend of a little girl named Hailey, who has been kidnapped by a deranged man dressed as Santa Claus (“Very Bad Santa”). Happy reveals that Hailey is Nick’s estranged daughter and sought Nick’s aid, believing him to be the hero cop that Hailey envisioned him to be. Though skeptical at first, Nick reluctantly agrees and the two work to save Hailey. The events of their search slowly begin to reveal the existence of a massive, global conspiracy involving child trafficking, sex cults, aliens, ancient gods, and the apocalypse.
17 – The Deuce
Drama
10 September 2017  –  ended  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  8.4  |  RT Critics:  9.3
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.60 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Stars James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Set during the 1970s and 1980s in New York, the violence of the drug epidemic is worsening. Twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino become fronts for the Mafia while operating out of Times Square, which is also the home of Eileen “Candy” Merrell, a street-level prostitute who exits the dangers of the street by entering the now-legal emerging porn industry as an actress and director. The first season takes place from 1971 to 1972, while the second season jumps five years ahead to 1977 with the season concluding in the summer of 1978. The third season takes place from 1984 to 1985.

16 – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Comedy  |  Drama
16 March 2017   –  ongoing  |  4 Seasons so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.7  |  RT Audience:  8.3  |  RT Critics:  8.9
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.63 /10
SYNOPSIS:

It’s 1958 Manhattan and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she’s ever wanted – the perfect husband, kids, and Upper West Side apartment. But when her life suddenly takes a turn and Midge must start over, she discovers a previously unknown talent – one that will take her all the way from the comedy clubs of Greenwich Village to a spot on Johnny Carson’s couch.

15 – Snowfall
Crime  |  Drama
5 July 2017   –  ongoing  |  5 Seasons so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.2  |  RT Audience:  8.7  |  RT Critics:  9.0
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.63 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Set in Los Angeles in 1983, the series revolves around the first crack epidemic and its impact on the city. The series follows the stories of several characters whose lives are fated to intersect: 20-year-old drug dealer Franklin Saint, Mexican luchador Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata, CIA operative Teddy McDonald, and a Mexican crime boss’s niece, Lucia Villanueva
14 – Manhunt
Crime  |  Mystery
1 August 2017   –  ongoing  |  2 Seasons so far
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  8.2  |  RT Critics:  9.6
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.63 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Inspired by actual events, this true crime anthology series takes a deep dive into the dark, twisted minds of terrorists and follows the brave souls who hunt them down. The first season, Manhunt: Unabomber, stars Sam Worthington and Paul Bettany, and depicts a fictionalized account of the FBI’s hunt for the Unabomber. The second season follows the hunt for Eric Rudolph, who was the perpetrator of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, after suspicion initially fell on security guard Richard Jewell.
13 – Legion
Action & Adventure  |  Sci-Fi & Fantasy
8 February 2017   –  ended  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.2  |  RT Audience:  8.6  |  RT Critics:  9.1
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.63 /10
SYNOPSIS:
David Haller was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age and has been a patient in various psychiatric hospitals since the diagnosis. He was committed to the latest facility by his adoptive sister, Amy Haller. After Haller has an encounter with a fellow psychiatric patient, he is confronted with the possibility that there may be more to him than mental illness where an incident led to the death of his friend Lenore “Lenny” Busker.
12 – GLOW
Comedy  |  Drama
23 June 2017   –  cancelled  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.0  |  RT Audience:  8.7  |  RT Critics:  9.2
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.63 /10
SYNOPSIS:
In Los Angeles in 1985, Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress, auditions along with many other women in a fledgling professional wrestling promotion called the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW). Traditionally minded in her approach to acting and highly idealistic, she clashes with GLOW’s director Sam Sylvia due to his cynical demeanor and often unconventional work style. Ruth discovers early on that Sylvia has employed her former best friend, retired soap opera actress Debbie Eagan to star in the show. Ruth and Debbie had fallen out with one another after Ruth had an affair with Debbie’s husband, Mark, whom Debbie then divorced. The tension between the two women promises either to make or break the developing show. The series follows the personal and professional lives of the fictional show’s numerous cast and crew as they navigate the 1980s in Southern California and Southern Nevada.
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11 – Atypical
Drama  |  Comedy
11 August 2017   –  ended  |  4 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.3  |  RT Audience:  9.1  |  RT Critics:  8.7
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.70 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, takes a funny, yet painful, journey of self-discovery for love and independence and upends his family.
10 – Santa Clarita Diet
Comedy  |  Mystery
3 February 2017  –  cancelled  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.8  |  RT Audience:  9.4  |  RT Critics:  8.9
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.70 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. The series centers on husband and wife real estate team Joel and Sheila Hammond whose normal, mundane lives change dramatically when Sheila shows symptoms of having become a zombie. The bewildered family seek a cure for her condition while dealing with its consequences, such as Sheila’s new craving of human flesh and radically altered personality that has become more primal and impulsive.

9 – Imposters
Drama  |  Comedy  |  Mystery  |  Crime
7 February 2017   –  cancelled  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.8  |  RT Audience:  9.0  |  RT Critics:  9.3
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.70 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Maddie, a persona shifting con-artist who is as beautiful as she is dangerous, leaves her unwitting victims tormented when they realize they have been used and robbed of everything – including their hearts. But things get complicated when her former targets, Ezra, Richard, and Jules team up to track her down.
8 – Harlots
Drama

27 March 2017  –  ended  |  3 Seasons

NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.6  |  RT Audience:  8.9  |  RT Critics:  9.7
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.73 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Inspired by The Covent Garden Ladies by British historian Hallie Rubenhold. The series focuses on Margaret Wells, who runs a brothel in 18th-century London and struggles to secure a better future for her daughters in an unpredictable environment.
7 – Big Little Lies
Drama
19 February 2017   –  ended  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.5  |  RT Audience:  8.9  |  RT Critics:  8.9
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.77 /10
SYNOPSIS:
Big Little Lies stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz as five women in Monterey, California, who become embroiled in a murder investigation. Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, James Tupper and Jeffrey Nordling also feature in supporting roles. For the second season, Meryl Streep joined the main cast while Kathryn Newton and Iain Armitage were upgraded following their appearances in recurring capacities.
6 – A Series of Unfortunate Events 
Action & Adventure  |  Family  |  Comedy  |  Mystery  |  Drama
13 January 2017   –  ended  |  3 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  7.8  |  RT Audience:  9.0  |  RT Critics:  9.6
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.80 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, or simply A Series of Unfortunate Events, is an American black comedy-drama series based on Lemony Snicket’s children’s novel series of the same name. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, K. Todd Freeman, and Presley Smith. Lucy Punch, Dylan Kingwell, and Avi Lake join the cast in the second season.
It follows the misadventures of the three Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, following the deaths of their parents in the destruction of their home. While the children are shuffled between various foster homes, they are pursued by Count Olaf who desires to gain control of the vast Baudelaire inheritance before Violet comes of age. Along the way, the Baudelaires discover their parents’ connections to an elusive secret society.

5 – American Vandal
Comedy  |  Crime
15 September 2017  –  cancelled  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  8.7  |  RT Critics:  9.8
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.87 /10
SYNOPSIS:

The series is a parody of true crime documentaries such as Making a Murderer and Serial.

The first season follows the aftermath of a costly high school prank that left 27 faculty cars vandalized with phallic images. Senior class clown Dylan Maxwell is accused of the crime by the school. He is expelled, but an investigation into the incident is launched by sophomore Peter Maldonado, with help from his friend Sam Ecklund, to uncover whether Dylan was the one truly behind the crime.

The second season follows Peter and Sam as they investigate a new crime at a Catholic private high school after their cafeteria’s lemonade is contaminated with maltitol by someone calling themselves “The Turd Burglar.”

4 – The End of the F***ing World
Comedy  |  Crime  |  Drama
24 October 2017   –  ended  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  9.2  |  RT Critics:  9.4
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.90 /10
SYNOPSIS:
James is a 17-year-old who believes he is a psychopath. He kills animals as a hobby, but grows bored with the practice. He decides he wants to try killing a human. He settles on Alyssa; a mouthy, rebellious 17-year-old classmate with issues of her own. She proposes they run away together, hoping for an adventure away from her turbulent home-life, and James agrees with the intention of finding an opportunity to kill her. They embark on a road trip across England, and begin to develop a relationship after a series of mishaps. However in series 2 they grow distant and Alyssa proposes to another man. But someone thirsty for revenge for what they did hunts them down, bringing them together once again.
3 – One Day at a Time 
Comedy
6 January 2017  –  cancelled  |  4 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.1  |  RT Audience:  8.9  |  RT Critics:  9.9
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
8.97 /10
SYNOPSIS:

One Day at a Time is an American sitcom based on the 1975 series of the same title.

The series depicts the everyday life of a Cuban-American family with each character finding their own journey. Following the story of Penelope Alvarez, a United States Army Nurse Corps[4] veteran, facing her return to civilian life with a lot of unresolved issues from her time in the Army. She works as a nurse in the office of Dr. Leslie Berkowitz. After her husband’s alcoholism due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in the Army made it, in Penelope’s words, ‘unsafe to be in the house’, she separates from Victor, taking the children with her. With the help of her Cuban mother, Lydia Riera, she raises two children: Elena and Alex

2 – Counterpart
Sci-Fi & Fantasy  |  Drama
10 December 2017  –  cancelled  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.0  |  RT Audience:  9.0  |  RT Critics:  10
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
9.00 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Starring J. K. Simmons.
Howard Silk, a gentle, quiet office worker, has been working for a Berlin-based United Nations agency, the Office of Interchange (OI), for thirty years. His position is too low for him to be told what his work—exchanging apparently nonsensical messages—really involves. The OI oversees a checkpoint below its headquarters between parallel Earths (the “Alpha” and “Prime” worlds). The parallel Earths were created in 1987 during an experiment by East Germany when only a scientist named Yanek was on-site. The “Alpha world” Yanek met his “Prime world” counterpart, and they soon began studying how the initially identical Earths diverge.

1 – Mindhunter
Drama  |  Crime
13 October 2017   –  cancelled  |  2 Seasons
NETWORK:
IMDb:  8.6  |  RT Audience:  9.5  |  RT Critics:  9.7
COMBINED SCORE:
Star icon
9.27 /10
SYNOPSIS:

Mindhunter revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), along with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), who operate the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit within the Training Division at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Together, they launched a research project to interview imprisoned serial killers to understand their psychology with the hope of applying this knowledge to solve ongoing cases.

The first season takes place from 1977 to 1980, in the early days of criminal psychology and criminal profiling at the FBI. Cameron Britton has a recurring role in this season as notorious serial killer Edmund Kemper, who is the first to assist Ford and Tench in understanding how a serial killer’s mind works. Other notable serial killers featured in the first season include Montie Rissell played by Sam Strike, Jerry Brudos played by Happy Anderson, Richard Speck played by Jack Erdie, and Dennis Rader also known as BTK, played by Sonny Valicenti.

The second season takes place in 1980 and 1981, with Ford and Tench investigating the Atlanta murders of 1979 to 1981, which included at least 28 deaths, mostly children. This is based on the real case of Wayne Williams, who was charged and convicted for the murder of two adult men but was never tried for the killing of the children and adolescents, causing mass outrage and questions over Williams’s guilt as the children’s cases went cold. The second season also features other infamous murderers, such as David Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, played by Oliver Cooper, William Pierce Jr. played by Michael Filipowich, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. played by Robert Aramayo, and Charles Manson, played by Damon Herriman.

SO WHICH NETWORKS DID THE BEST?

A huge year for Netflix with a whopping 9 titles making the top 25! Although the best rated show, Mindhunter, was cruelly cancelled after just 2 seasons, which shows the major downside to Netflix’s output, they are way too fast to cancel shows!

9
Mindhunter  |  One Day at a Time  |  American Vandal  |  A Series of Unfortunate Events  |  Santa Clarita Diet  |  Atypical  |  GLOW  |  Manhunt: Unabomber  |  Ozark
3
Harlots  |  Future Man  |  The Orville
2
Strike  |  Taboo
2
Legion  |  Snowfall
2
Big Little Lies  |  The Deuce
1
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
1
Imposters
1
The End of the F***ing World
1
Cardinal
1
The Bold Type
1
Counterpart
1
HAPPY!