‘The People V. O.J. Simpson’ And ‘Atlanta’ Top Uproxx’s Television Critics’ Poll

Welcome to the First Annual Uproxx Television Critics’ Poll! (Or, if you prefer, welcome back for the Fifth Annual HitFix Television Critics’ Poll!)

When plans began to merge the two sites earlier this year, everyone on the combined TV team was clear that we wanted to keep the poll going, since it provides a fascinating snapshot of critical opinion in the age of Peak TV.

This year, we polled 59 critics, asking for their lists of the 10 best overall shows of the year, and the 10 best new shows, ranked in order. (Then, when we put them all together, a 1st place choice was worth 10 points, 2nd place 9 points, etc.) Our critics (myself included) cast votes for 103 different shows on the overall poll, and 67 shows on the new poll. When there are so many interesting viewing choices, it’s hard to achieve consensus, even among critics who allegedly all like the same kinds of shows.

But if there’s one channel on which the majority of critics seem to agree these days, it’s the great work being done at FX (which I wrote about earlier this year). Fargo won the overall poll the previous two years (and the new shows poll in 2014). With that show taking 2016 off, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story slipped into the top spot, with FX’s The Americans and Atlanta rounding out the top 3, way ahead of any other choices. (Our fourth place finisher was the year’s other O.J. Simpson miniseries: ESPN’s O.J.: Made in America.)

Interestingly, though we made clear to voters that they could consider The People v. O.J. for the new shows poll as well, since it was the inaugural season of the American Crime Story anthology, it finished second there to Atlanta. Some critics I spoke with weren’t comfortable voting for an anthology series (or, for that matter, a miniseries) as a “new series,” while others simply preferred to spread the wealth, dropping Marcia Clark and company just enough for Donald Glover’s hip-hop dramedy to win that one.

Due to the transition to the new site, the poll is both a bit later and more bare-bones than it’s been in recent years. (You can, for now, find the previous polls here; eventually, they’ll all become part of Uproxx proper.) In future polls, we hope to go back to all the old bells and whistles, which allowed you to click on any show or any critic’s name for more information, but this year, it’s three pages: the overall shows poll, whose results are listed below; the best new shows poll; and a complete list of everyone’s ballots. (Thanks, as always, to Josh Lasser for riding herd over the whole thing and making sure this particular HitFix-to-Uproxx transition went smoothly, and to Kris Maske, Keith Phipps, Jerry Thompson, Ralph Ordaz, and all the other Uproxxers who made this a priority and powered it through.)

So take a look, and then let us know what you think about what the critics thought.

The 2016 Uproxx Television Critics’ Poll:
The Best Overall Shows

Rank
1 The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
391 points
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
2 The Americans
315 points
The Americans
3 Atlanta
289 points
Atlanta
4 30 for 30 – O.J.: Made in America
185 points
30 for 30 - O.J.: Made in America
5 Game of Thrones
138 points
Game of Thrones
6 Veep
117 points
Veep
7 BoJack Horseman
110 points
BoJack Horseman
8 Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
106 points
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
9 Better Call Saul
104 points
Better Call Saul
10 Rectify
91 points
Rectify
11 Halt and Catch Fire
65 points
Halt and Catch Fire
12 This is Us
64 points
This is Us
13 The Night Of
62 points
The Night Of
14 Stranger Things
61 points
Stranger Things
15 Westworld
61 points
Westworld
16 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
60 points
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
17 Transparent
58 points
Transparent
18 American Crime
52 points
American Crime
19 The Crown
50 points
The Crown
20 You’re the Worst
40 points
You're the Worst
21 Black-ish
40 points
Black-ish
22 Fleabag
37 points
Fleabag
23 The Girlfriend Experience
36 points
The Girlfriend Experience
24 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
35 points
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
25 Insecure
33 points
Insecure
26 Better Things
33 points
Better Things
27 Silicon Valley
29 points
Silicon Valley
28 Happy Valley
26 points
Happy Valley
29 The Good Place
25 points
The Good Place
30 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
23 points
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
31 Orange Is the New Black
23 points
Orange Is the New Black
32 Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
22 points
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
33 Catastrophe
21 points
Catastrophe
34 Horace and Pete
21 points
Horace and Pete
35 Quarry
20 points
Quarry
36 Jane the Virgin
19 points
Jane the Virgin
37 High Maintenance
18 points
High Maintenance
38 Documentary Now!
18 points
Documentary Now!
39 Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music
12 points
40 Speechless
11 points
Speechless
41 Difficult People
11 points
Difficult People
42 Detectorists
10 points
Detectorists
43 Vikings
9 points
Vikings
44 Adventure Time
9 points
Adventure Time
45 Togetherness
9 points
Togetherness
46 Search Party
9 points
Search Party
47 Schitt’s Creek
8 points
Schitt's Creek
48 Late Night with Seth Meyers
8 points
Late Night with Seth Meyers
49 Animal Kingdom
7 points
Animal Kingdom
50 Mr. Robot
7 points
Mr. Robot
51 Person of Interest
7 points
52 Black Mirror
7 points
Black Mirror
53 Bates Motel
7 points
54 People of Earth
7 points
People of Earth
55 The Night Manager
6 points
The Night Manager
56 Frontline: The Choice 2016
6 points
57 Gotham
6 points
58 iZombie
5 points
59 Degrassi: Next Class
5 points
60 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
5 points
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
61 The Middle
5 points
62 The 100
5 points
63 The Get Down
5 points
The Get Down
64 The Chris Gethard Show
5 points
65 One Mississippi
5 points
66 Last Chance U
5 points
67 The A Word
5 points
68 Survivor’s Remorse
4 points
69 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Live Shows at RNC & DNC
4 points
70 The Carmichael Show
4 points
71 Mozart in the Jungle
4 points
72 Shameless
4 points
73 On Cinema at the Cinema
4 points
74 Casual
4 points
75 Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
4 points
76 Ash vs Evil Dead
4 points
Ash vs Evil Dead
77 Broad City
3 points
Broad City
78 Comedy Bang! Bang!
3 points
79 Lady Dynamite
3 points
80 The Great British Baking Show
3 points
81 Narcos
3 points
Narcos
82 Survivor
3 points
83 Queen Sugar
3 points
84 Preacher
3 points
Preacher
85 Kim’s Convenience
2 points
86 Downton Abbey
2 points
87 Saturday Night Live
2 points
Saturday Night Live
88 Take My Wife
2 points
89 The Flash
2 points
The Flash
90 Luke Cage
2 points
Luke Cage
91 Bosch
2 points
92 Brooklyn NIne-Nine
1 points
Brooklyn NIne-Nine
93 Billions
1 points
Billions
94 Blue Bloods
1 points
95 Love
1 points
96 Odd Mom Out
1 points
97 Real Time with Bill Maher
1 points
98 RuPaul’s Drag Race
1 points
99 The Walking Dead
1 points
The Walking Dead
100 Mom
1 points
101 Easy
1 points
102 Girls
1 points
103 Steven Universe
1 points