The 20 Best TV Shows of 2021

Lupin (Netflix)

This suspenseful, mirthful, utterly wonderful thriller-comedy about France's most wanted gentleman thief (Omar Sy), out to avenge the downfall of his late father at the hands of rich guys who aren't half as clever, was Netflix's utterly unexpected No. 1 2021 hit. Deservedly.

Watch it: Lupin, on Netflix

Maid (Netflix)

In a new Netflix original series adapting Stephanie Land’s best-selling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive, Margaret Qualley plays a single mom, and Andie MacDowell, 63 (her actual mom), plays her lively, apparently mentally ill mother who refuses treatment and acts out in a dramatic way that is God’s gift to an actress. A grueling but important study of domestic abuse, poverty and overwhelming dysfunction.

Watch it: Maid, on Netflix

Mare of Easttown (HBO)

The year’s best murder mystery is also an absorbing portrait of a small town full of unkeepable secrets, with indelible performances by Kate Winslet, Jean Smart and Julianne Nicholson.

Watch it: Mare of Easttown, on HBO

McCartney 3,2,1 (Hulu)

Sir Paul tells all! About the Beatles and thereafter, interviewed by super producer Rick Rubin (Run-DMC, Beastie Boys). If The Beatles: Get Back is too looooong for you, try this much more focused and explanatory music-history lesson.

Watch it: McCartney 3,2,1, on Hulu

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

In a comedy that's also a satisfying whodunit, three strangers obsessed with true crime stories (Steve Martin, 76, Martin Short, 71, and Selena Gomez) investigate a gory killing in their fancy building on Manhattan's Upper West Side. “Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan live in our building — she becomes my girlfriend,” Martin tells AARP. “Tina Fey is a very famous podcaster, and Sting plays himself, a celebrity in the building."

Watch it: Only Murders in the Building, on Hulu

Pose (FX)

In its tragic (yet aesthetically triumphant) final season, the show with history's biggest LGBTQ cast jumps forward to New York in 1994, when AIDS became the leading cause of death for Americans ages 25 to 44. Our ballroom MC hero Pray Tell (Billy Porter, 52) contends with health troubles and upstart rivals.

Watch it: Pose, on FX

Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)

Tired of the same old coming-of-age teen comedies? Try America’s first-ever series made by Indigenous Americans, about kids on the rez in Oklahoma looking for a way out. It’s funny, touching, authentic — and it's got great grownup stars, too: Gary Farmer, 68 (Smoke Signals), and Zahn McClarnon, 55 (Longmire).

Watch it: Reservation Dogs, on FX on Hulu

Succession (HBO)

In the superb show about power struggles in a super-rich, entertainingly evil family, downtrodden son Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) has the upper hand over his domineering dad, Logan (Brian Cox, 75) — or will dad “go full [expletive] beast” on his upstart offspring? New cast members Alexander Skarsgard and Adrien Brody liven up the wicked mix.

Watch it: Succession, on HBO

Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

A heartwarming, dark-horse hit comedy that's the antidote to our bitter times. Jason Sudeikis plays a relentlessly upbeat American football coach who knows nada about soccer but gets hired to coach a soccer team in England.

Watch it: Ted Lasso, on Apple TV+

The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime)

You knew this 10-episode adaptation of MacArthur genius Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning novel about escaping slaves by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) would be worth seeing. But it turns out to be an epic, Handmaid’s Tale-topping dystopian masterpiece that dwarfs every other new film or TV show.

Watch it: The Underground Railroad, on Amazon Prime

We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)

In the unlikeliest breakout hit of the year, an all-female, all-Muslim British punk band conquers London with tunes like “Voldemort Under My Headscarf” and covers of “9 to 5” and “We Are the Champions” (they are!).

Watch it: We Are Lady Parts, on Peacock

The White Lotus (HBO)

Mike White (School of Rock, Enlightened) crafts an amusingly scathing satire about a resort on Maui where dark shadows lurk under sunny skies. Jennifer Coolidge, 60, rules as a vulnerable, ultimately horrible guest.

Watch it: The White Lotus, on HBO

​The Wonder Years (ABC)​​

The 1980s hit about coming of age in the ’60s is back, this time chronicling the life of a Black kid (Elisha “EJ” Williams) in Montgomery, Alabama, and his family. “One thing about being 12 that hasn’t changed over the decades is that it’s around 12 that you figure out what your place is in the world,” says Don Cheadle, 57, who narrates the show.

Watch it: The Wonder Years, on ABC​

Yellowstone (Paramount Network)

​One of TV’s biggest hits sounds a lot like Succession, only it’s got eight times as many viewers. Kevin Costner, 66, plays John Dutton, a fabulously wealthy Montana rancher whose kids fight for his approval, and he schemes to thwart developers, Indigenous tribes and other rivals for power. Think of it as Succession with murders, or The Godfather with cowboy hats.

Watch it: Yellowstone, on Paramount Network

Tim Appelo covers entertainment and is the film and TV critic for AARP. Previously, he was the entertainment editor at Amazon, video critic at&bsp;Entertainment Weekly, and a critic and writer for The Hollywood Reporter, People, MTV, The Village Voice and LA Weekly.

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