The 2017 Uproxx TV Critics Poll

Let the mystery be solved: The Leftovers has won this year’s Uproxx Television Critics’ Poll.

Continuing a tradition that began in the HitFix days, we asked 55 critics for lists of both their 10 favorite overall shows of the year and their 10 favorite new shows. (Then, when we put them all together, a 1st place choice was worth 10 points, 2nd place 9 points, etc.) Peak TV really hit home in the poll this year: where in the 2016 overall poll, 103 different shows got at least one vote, this year 146 different shows got named by at least one critic. (Interestingly, the increase in new shows getting at least one vote was only from 67 to 70.)

In the end, though, there were consensus winners for both polls. The Leftovers — HBO’s alternately devastating and ridiculous epic about grief, loss, depression, the end of the world, and Tasmanian lion sex boats — handily won the overall poll, thanks to the passion of its supporters: other shows appeared on more ballots, but Leftovers received by far the most first-place votes.

The show it beat in the overall poll was the victor for the new shows poll: Hulu’s religious dystopian nightmare The Handmaid’s Tale, which finished well ahead of HBO’s star-studded Big Little Lies.

If you scroll below, you can see every show that received votes, as well as links to each critic’s ballot. Clicking on each show will, in turn, show you the votes it received and give you a chance to look for patterns and oddities in the voting. And for more trivia — about shows that rose or fell significantly from last year, the show that got one first-place vote and no other votes at all, and more — click here.

Best TV Show Of 2017

275 points

The Leftovers

The final eight episodes of the drama about grief, depression, and the end of the world were also shockingly fun, provoking at least as many laughs as tears in a season that featured a Perfect Strangers reunion of sorts, Wu-Tang Clan as trampoline music, a presidential penis scanner, God, and a Tasmanian lion sex boat. (Technically, God on a Tasmanian lion sex boat.) It was strange, it was beautiful, and it was one of the best farewell seasons TV has ever seen.

233 points

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale depicts America in the not so distant future reborn as Gilead, a religious state where women have been stripped of their rights and forced into either indentured servitude or sexual slavery. Elisabeth Moss stars as the titular handmaid at the center of the conflict desperate to escape her circumstances and reunite with her family.

193 points

Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies had all of the makings of a pulpy, escapist mystery, with the HBO budgets, lust-worthy real estate, and a slew of Hollywood A-listers, including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern. However, the series ended up being more than just a whodunit with an incredible view.

170 points

Better Things

It’s hard to name a show that does small, intimate life moments quite like Pamela Adlon’s Better Things. Adlon, who ended up directing all of season two, is able to find the quiet in the chaos and make even the mundane — a graduation, a first date, a trip to the hardware store — exciting and nuanced.

163 points

Twin Peaks: The Return

After nearly thirty years, Twin Peaks returned, though it wasn’t so much in an effort to tie up loose ends as it was to simply create a worthy installment of the strange, dark, melancholy tale that David Lynch has been building for the past few decades.

159 points

The Good Place

The Good Place went through a near-total reboot for season two, with Ted Danson’s Michael now in full embrace of a villainous role and Kristen Bell’s Eleanor committed to working with a group of people that now qualify as her friends to get clear of their perpetual torture.

122 points

Halt And Catch Fire

The powerful fourth and final season of the drama about the rise of personal computers and the Internet took the characters into the mid-’90s, and the birth of the modern Web, to deal with triumph, tragedy, and a never-ending quest for the next big idea, with powerhouse performances by Lee Pace, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishe, and Scoot McNairy.

98 points

Insecure

Season two of Insecure delved deeper into the romantic entanglements of its leading lady (Issa Rae) as she struggled to get back into the dating game after breaking up with her long-time boyfriend. If Issa’s journey in season two is about rediscovering herself, her friend Molly’s (Yvonne Orji) story is about pushing against racially-biased workplace systems constantly trying to hold her back.

94 points

Game Of Thrones

The spectacle and the effects intensified in Game Of Thrones‘ penultimate season, pulling the long quarreling houses together and apart while the Night King’s forces demonstrated their immense power and what may be an unstoppable weapon.

92 points

Better Call Saul

Saul Goodman finally made an appearance in season three of Better Call Saul — sort of — and so did Gus Fring, as the Breaking Bad prequel juggled drug business and the ongoing war between Bob Odenkirk’s Jimmy and older brother Chuck (Michael McKean). Odenkirk gives Jimmy even more dimension and makes his journey compelling, which is really saying something since we all know how it ends.