The Best New TV Shows of 2023

The Last of Us may have been the first really great new show of the year, but it's certainly not going to be the only really great new show of the year. So far, we've gotten another compelling mystery from Rian Johnson in Poker Face, the so-dumb-it's-brilliant comedy Cunk on Earth, and the exceptional true crime docuseries Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence. There are plenty to come, and we'll be highlighting them to help keep you up to date on the best new shows to watch in 2023.

Whether a show is on a streaming service, a cable channel, or even a broadcast network, as long as it's good and new, you'll find it on the list below. We'll also tell you where to watch it (even new cable shows are usually easily available on streaming services like HBO Max, Hulu, or Peacock these days), share TV Guide's review (when there is one), and link to a trailer to help you decide for yourself if you want to watch it. As long as you like good TV, you'll find something new to watch on this list as we update it over the course of the year.

FEBRUARY

The Consultant

Premiered: Feb. 24 on Amazon Prime Video
This satirical horror takes corporate downsizing to an entirely bizarre new level. Christoph Waltz stars as a mysterious consultant who takes over a mobile gaming company after the CEO dies, and his unusual methods for reaching maximum efficiency destroy his employees' ways of life. It's a dig at capitalism with a little supernatural/sci-fi flavor thrown in, and it's a highly bingeable and ridiculous time. As Keith Phipps says in his positive review, after watching the opening scene that sets up the series' madness, "Is there anyone who could resist wanting to know what happens next?" I watched the whole thing in a couple of days with zero regrets. -Tim Surette

Red Rose

Premiered: Feb. 15 on Netflix
Our daily lives have been completely changed by smart phones, so why shouldn't our ghost stories be just as disrupted by them? This British teen horror series hit Netflix this year after premiering in its native land last summer, and though the premise is hokey — a new mobile app goes viral among teens in Bolton, England, asking its users to participate in increasingly daring challenges — the execution is brilliant, prompting questions about the dangers of social media, corporate surveillance, and emotional isolation. Your kids will look at The Ring and scoff at the idea of a haunted VHS cassette, but they'll be terrified by this. -Tim Surette [Trailer]       

Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence

Premiered: Feb. 9 on Hulu
Every year, we're inundated with a bunch of true crime docuseries, but occasionally there's one that really feels like a standout among the bunch. Stolen Youth examines the bizarre story of Larry Ray, the manipulative con artist who abused a group of his daughter's classmates at Sarah Lawrence College in the early 2010s. To a degree, anyway; it explains what went on there, but it's largely a story about the survivors, giving an intimate look at what it means to deprogram your mind after escaping a cult. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

JANUARY

Cunk on Earth

Premiered: Jan. 31 on Netflix
Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker co-created this spoof of BBC documentaries that looks at the entire history of human civilization through dunderheaded host Philomena Cunk, whose grasp of history is equal to that of one who has suffered several massive head injuries. Borrowing from British icon Ali G., Cunk (played to perfection by comedian Diane Morgan) interviews experts in history with the stupidest questions you've ever heard, and it's funny every time. It's so dumb it's brilliant. -Tim Surette [Trailer]       

Shrinking

Premiered: Jan. 27 on Apple TV+
Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence brings Jason Segel back to his comedic roots. He plays Jimmy, a therapist teetering on the edge after the sudden death of his wife. He begins acting as a "psychological vigilante" toward his patients, abandoning his filter of professionalism and bluntly telling them exactly what he thinks. In his review, Keith Phipps notes that the series transitions easily into a fun hangout comedy, aided by excellent performances from Harrison Ford (!) and Jessica Williams. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] 

Poker Face

Premiered: Jan. 26 on Peacock
Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson loves a good mystery, but do you know what he loves even more? A new mystery every week. Johnson went old school with Poker Face, a case-of-the-week series starring Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a woman whose ability to perceive when someone is lying makes her a pretty nifty detective. Each episode, Charlie cruises to a new town in her classic car, trouble finds her, and she tackles the case like a modern-day Columbo. Poker Face is also noteworthy for its impressive cast of guest actors, which includes Adrien Brody, Hong Chau, Lil Rel Howery, Chloe Sevigny, Nick Nolte, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more. -Tim Surette [Trailer | Review]       

Extraordinary

Premiered: Jan. 25 on Hulu
Superhero shows are a dime a dozen, but Hulu's British import Extraordinary is a charming show because it focuses on the... ordinary. Set in a world where everyone gets a superpower on their 18th birthday, Extraordinary takes us on a ride with Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a sardonic single twentysomething whose powers never developed, and her friends who have powers but are still looking for purpose. With sharp humor and zany exploits, it would be a fun hangout comedy about young people trying to get by even without the superpowers, but that added extra layer allows the writers to get creative. (Example: Jen's boss has the power to look young, and it's never not funny to see a child play a cranky old chainsmoking lady.) It's an easy breezy blast with a knockout performance from Tyers, and Hulu didn't promote it at all so please tell a friend. -Tim Surette [Trailer]  

The Last of Us

Premiered: Jan. 15 on HBO
The Last of Us is the best TV adaptation of a video game ever made — a low bar to clear, to be sure, and it has the benefit of having excellent source material, the acclaimed 2013 PlayStation game of the same name. It stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, survivors in a post-apocalyptic America where most of the population has been wiped out by a fungal infection that turns people into horrifying mushroom-covered zombies, as they go on a journey that could end with them saving what's left of humanity. Time will tell if it starts a wave of really good video game adaptations (and a lot more are on the way) or stands alone as a one-of-a-kind show. –Liam Mathews [Trailer | Review]

Break Point

Premiered: Jan. 13 on Netflix
Few sports are as mentally taxing as professional tennis, and people on the verge of psychological breaks make for great docuseries subjects. Break Point follows several members of tennis' "next generation," the up-and-coming (and in some cases recently established) players fighting up the ranks, as they travel the world, navigate professional relationships, and battle each other for titles. It comes from the same team as Formula 1: Drive to Survive and serves as a fitting entry point for new fans while also giving tennis vets the behind-the-scenes access they crave. -Tim Surette [Trailer]     

The Traitors

Premiered: Jan. 12 on Peacock
Look, I'll be first to scream how much I do not need a show featuring reality stars I don't know competing in elaborate games, forming alliances and then stabbing each other in the back, and eliminating each other one by one. But Peacock's The Traitors takes that formula and molds it for one person and one person only: the viewer. The game is essentially Mafia, with 20 players vying for a cash prize. Three of them are secretly working in cahoots to eliminate the others while also being targets themselves. Half of the players are reality stars (like The Bachelor's Arie Luyendyk, Real Housewife Brandi Glanville, and Below Deck's Kate Chastain), and the others are normies. But the producers keep things spicy with twists meant to psychologically torture the participants, and the most fun part is seeing souls crushed through broken trust and knowing that you'd be a better player than anyone else. Plus it takes place in a Scottish castle and host Alan Cumming struts around in fabulous Highland costumes. Peacock didn't promote the show much, but people found it, and weeks after it premiered it seemed everyone was talking about it. –Tim Surette [Trailer]       

Paul T. Goldman

Premiered: Jan. 1 on Peacock
The meta reality of Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal was a high point of 2022, but Jason Woliner's Paul T. Goldman technically beat Fielder to the punch despite coming out months later. Woliner, the director of 2020's Borat sequel (and showrunner of the amazing Eagleheart), has been working on Paul T. Goldman since 2012, after an online encounter with the title character who was looking for a director to tell his story of love, deception, and revenge, based on events that actually happened in his life. Goldman wrote a book, then wrote a screenplay, and agreed to play himself in the film, the making of which became this surreal meta-comedy six-episode series that blends truth and fiction before settling and becoming a personal portrait of a man with a vivid imagination. If you enjoyed the creeping madness of The Rehearsal, you'll love Paul T. Goldman. –Tim Surette [Trailer]