Best TV Shows of 2016
The 40 most popular TV shows that premiered in 2016, most watched first, with a vote floor so obscure titles do not crowd out the ones people remember.
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40 titles · updated 3rd October 2026
1.Stranger Things(2016)
8.5Action & AdventureMysterySci-Fi & Fantasy
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.
Watch from S1 E1
2.Westworld(2016)
8.0Sci-Fi & FantasyWestern
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
Watch from S1 E1
3.Lucifer(2016)
8.4CrimeSci-Fi & Fantasy
Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar abandoned his throne and retired to Los Angeles, where he has teamed up with LAPD detective Chloe Decker to take down criminals. But the longer he's away from the underworld, the greater the threat that the worst of humanity could escape.
Watch from S1 E1
4.This Is Us(2016)
8.2Drama
Follows the lives and families of three adults living and growing up in the United States of America in present and past times. As their paths cross and their life stories intertwine in curious ways, we find that several of them share the same birthday - and so much more than anyone would expect.
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5.DC's Legends of Tomorrow(2016)
7.2Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyDrama
When heroes alone are not enough ... the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat — one in which not only is the planet…
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6.The Loud House(2016)
7.8AnimationComedyFamily
Welcome to the Loud House, where life can get pretty crazy. One boy, TEN girls?! Lincoln Loud wouldn’t change it for the world!
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7.The Crown(2016)
8.2Drama
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations…
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8.Billions(2016)
7.8Drama
Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.
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9.MacGyver(2016)
7.3DramaAction & Adventure
20-something Angus MacGyver creates a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.
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10.Animal Kingdom(2016)
7.8CrimeDrama
17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. Headed by boot-tough matriarch Janine "Smurf" Cody and her right-hand Baz, who runs the business and calls the shots, the clan also consists of Pope, the oldest and…
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11.Bull(2016)
7.1CrimeDramaComedy
Dr. Jason Bull is the brilliant, brash, and charming founder of a hugely successful trial consulting firm.
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12.Lethal Weapon(2016)
7.3Action & AdventureCrimeDrama
A slightly unhinged former Navy SEAL lands a job as a police officer in Los Angeles where he's partnered with a veteran detective trying to keep maintain a low stress level in his life.
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13.Private Eyes(2016)
7.3CrimeDramaComedy
Ex-pro hockey player Matt Shade irrevocably changes his life when he teams up with fierce P.I. Angie Everett to form an unlikely investigative powerhouse.
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14.American Crime Story(2016)
7.6CrimeDrama
An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.
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15.Designated Survivor(2016)
7.2DramaWar & Politics
Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.
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16.American Housewife(2016)
7.7Comedy
A family comedy narrated by Katie, a strong-willed mother, raising her flawed family in a wealthy town filled with perfect wives and their perfect offspring.
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17.The Good Place(2016)
8.0Sci-Fi & FantasyComedy
Eleanor Shellstrop, an ordinary woman who, through an extraordinary string of events, enters the afterlife where she comes to realize that she hasn't been a very good person. With the help of her wise afterlife mentor, she's determined to shed her old way of living and discover the awesome (or at least the pretty…
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18.Goliath(2016)
7.6CrimeDrama
Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of Cooperman & McBride, the massive law firm he helped create, Billy and his ragtag team uncover a vast and…
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19.Ben 10(2016)
5.9KidsAnimationComedy
With the fifth offshoot of the "Ben 10" franchise, the animated series returns to its roots and its original name, bringing 10-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and Grandpa Max back to life on a new summer vacation journey. As in the original, the stories in the remake of the series also spin around…
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20.Preacher(2016)
7.4Sci-Fi & FantasyMysteryDrama
A preacher sets out on a mission to make the almighty himself confess his sin of abandoning the world. With his best friend Cassidy, an alcoholic Irish vampire, his love Tulip, a red blooded gun towing Texan, and the power of genesis, an unholy child born from an angel and a devil, Jesse gives up everything to set…
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21.Insecure(2016)
7.2ComedyDrama
Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.
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22.Fuller House(2016)
7.4FamilyComedy
The Tanner family's adventures continue as DJ Tanner-Fuller shares a home with her sister Stephanie and friend Kimmy who help raise her three boys.
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23.Stuck in the Middle(2016)
7.7ComedyFamily
Harley is an engineering whiz who uses her inventions to navigate life as the middle child in a large family of seven kids.
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24.Shadowhunters(2016)
7.6Action & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
When Clary Fray's mother has disappeared, Clary joins a band of Shadowhunters; demon killing hunters, and gets caught up in a plan to save the world.
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25.Elena of Avalor(2016)
6.4AnimationKids
The story of a brave teenager who has saved her kingdom from an evil sorceress and must now learn to rule as a crown princess until she’s old enough to be queen.
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26.Timeless(2016)
7.2DramaAction & AdventureSci-Fi & Fantasy
A mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. Our only hope is an unexpected team: a scientist, a soldier and a history professor, who must use the machine's prototype to travel back in time to critical events. While they must…
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27.Angie Tribeca(2016)
6.4ComedyAction & AdventureCrime
Lone-wolf detective Angie Tribeca and a squad of committed LAPD detectives investigate the most serious cases, from the murder of a ventriloquist to a rash of baker suicides.
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28.Van Helsing(2016)
7.0MysterySci-Fi & FantasyAction & Adventure
Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of famous vampire hunter and Dracula nemesis Abraham Van Helsing is resurrected five years in the future to find out that vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.
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29.Wynonna Earp(2016)
7.8Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyWestern
Wyatt Earp's great granddaughter Wynonna battles demons and other creatures with her unique abilities and a posse of dysfunctional allies - the only thing that can bring the paranormal to justice.
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30.Speechless(2016)
6.9Comedy
Maya DiMeo is a mom on a mission who will do anything for her husband, Jimmy, and kids Ray, Dylan, and JJ, her eldest son with special needs. As Maya fights injustices both real and imagined, the family works to make a new home for themselves and searches for just the right person to give JJ his “voice.”
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31.Travelers(2016)
7.6DramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These "travelers" assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible…
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32.Man with a Plan(2016)
6.7Comedy
A dad finds out that parenting is harder than he thought after his wife goes back to work and he's left at home to take care of the kids.
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33.The Girlfriend Experience(2016)
7.0Drama
Explore the relationships between exclusive escorts and their clients, for whom they provide far more than just sex. Known as GFEs, they are women who provide “The Girlfriend Experience”—emotional and sexual relationships at a very high price.
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34.Greenleaf(2016)
7.1Drama
The unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Born of the church, the Greenleaf family love and care for each other, but beneath the surface lies a den of iniquity—greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and…
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35.Colony(2016)
6.9Sci-Fi & FantasyDrama
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has been occupied by a force of outside intruders. While some people have chosen to collaborate with the authorities and benefit from the new order, others have rebelled —…
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36.Chesapeake Shores(2016)
7.8Drama
A divorced mom deals with an old romance and complicated family issues when she returns to her hometown with her twin daughters.
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37.Shooter(2016)
7.2Action & AdventureWar & PoliticsDrama
Bob Lee Swagger is an expert marksman living in exile who is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president.
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38.Justice League Action(2016)
7.2AnimationAction & AdventureSci-Fi & Fantasy
Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman lead the DC Super Heroes against their most infamous foes.
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39.Star(2016)
8.0Drama
Star is a tough-as-nails young woman who came up in the foster care system and decides one day to take control of her destiny. She tracks down her sister, Simone, and her Instagram bestie, Alexandra, and together, the trio journeys to Atlanta with the hope of becoming music superstars.
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40.StartUp(2016)
7.2CrimeDrama
A desperate banker needs to conceal stolen money. A Haitian-American gang lord wants to go legit. A Cuban-American hacker has an idea that will revolutionize the very future of money itself. Forced to work together, they unwittingly create their version of the American dream - organized crime 2.0.
Watch from S1 E1