Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
Why you should watch: Although the series won't return until next summer or fall, lapping up this hilarious, dry, sad, and sometimes even joyous family dysfunction might be just what you need to stay sane as you take on your own during the holidays. Sam Fox is a divorcee/actress/voice-over artist/mother of three girls (Max, Frankie, and Duke) who is constantly juggling auditions, recording sessions, school functions, dog walking, dance lessons, household chores, and her own insane British mother, who lives across the street — all while trying to figure out how to find her flavor of porn on the Internet or go on an occasional date. It's as much a portrait of single working motherhood as it is a realistic look at aging and women in Hollywood. Louis C.K. and his constant collaborator Pamela Adlon, who plays Sam, created the show, and there is a definite "call it like you see it" tonal similarity to Louie, although Better Things adds heaps of female perspective. And also tons of cameos from the likes of David Duchovny, Lenny Kravitz, Julie Bowen, Constance Zimmer, Danny Pudi, and Zach Woods. Don't think you have to be a parent to appreciate this comedy either. As much power as it has to make viewers feel like they are not alone in the struggle, the show is equal parts an argument for holding off on reproduction or choosing to live child-free.
Where you can watch: The FXNow app, iTunes, and Amazon Video. —Carrie Bell

(Credit: Colleen Hayes/FX)

Length: 1 season, 7 episodes so far
Why you should watch: At the heart of it, the show is about two screwed-up people who intersect at a crazy point in their lives and have no clue how to survive it. But you don't yet know the joy of rooting for the beautifully and tragically messy con woman/addict that is Michelle Dockery's Letty. On the surface you might think nothing about how her previous role as Downton Abbey's Lady Mary prepared her for this train wreck of a character, but the vulnerability she displays as she tries to be a "good person" even as she steals and lies will seem vaguely familiar yet wildly impetuous. Despite her self-destruction, you still want her to reconnect with the child she had to give up custody of to her mother. That mother-daughter relationship is one of many family arcs that are treated with nuance, love, and viciousness. Another is with Letty's new partner in crime (and love?) Javier — a handsome killer with a moral code and complicated backstory — played by Juan Diego Botto. It's juiciness and emotion every week, and this freshman series needs your support so we can all find out if redemption is in the cards for either lost soul.
Where you can watch: On Demand or Amazon, then Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on TNT. —Abby West

(Credit: TNT)

Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
Why you should watch: It was the other new, excellent ensemble drama from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman this fall. Pitch stars our reader-voted Breakout Star of 2016, Kylie Bunbury, as Ginny Baker, the first female pitcher in the major leagues. Over the course of Season 1 (which you can binge in full to help fuel a renewal, please), we see the pressures — and perks — of being a trailblazer unfold. We also see Mark-Paul Gosselaar in one of his best TV roles to date as gruff veteran catcher Mike Lawson, who’s dealing with the twilight of his career and attractions to both Ginny and his ex; a juicy role for Ali Larter as Ginny’s agent, Amelia, who we’d happily watch in a spinoff; and one of the fall’s best new couples (Mo McRae’s center fielder Blip and his wife, Meagan Holder’s Evelyn, who’ve become Ginny’s family).
Where you can watch: On Demand, Fox Now, and Hulu. —Mandi Bierly

(Credit: Ray Mickshaw/Fox)

Length: 4 seasons, 40 episodes
Why you should watch: The end is near. Bates Motel's fifth and final season premieres on Feb. 20, and since the series — a prequel take on the characters from Psycho — has only gotten better each season, there's every reason to trust the last run is going to be its best. Smarter than most movie-to-TV series adaptations, and much, much more darkly funny than it probably should be, Bates Motel‘s creators, Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse, have infused the backstory of Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Norman (Freddie Highmore) Bates with heart and reverence, turning the horror story into a thoughtful examination of this dysfunctional, and surprisingly endearing, family. Spectacular, award-worthy performances and original characters — like Nestor Carbonell's complicated and charming Sheriff Romero and Max Thieriot's crushingly neglected and decent Dylan (the other Bates son) — have also helped flesh out the Bates tale, which we desperately don't want to end, though we can't wait to see how it rides off into the TV sunset.
Where you can watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Netflix (Season 1-3), and AETV.com. —Kimberly Potts

(Credit: A&E)

Length: 1 season, 13 episodes
Why you should watch: It's a series for anyone who loved the adventures of Harry Potter but secretly wished there'd been more sarcasm, sexual experimentation, and alcohol-induced shenanigans. Based on the bestselling novels of Lev Grossman, the story centers on socially awkward and depressed Quentin Coldwater, who would rather reread an old book about a Narnia-ish land called Fillory than party with peers. That is, until he gets invited to enroll at Brakebills College, discovers that magic is real, and meets a beautiful smart girl and other oddballs like him. Unfortunately, his childhood bestie Julia doesn't make the cut at the wizarding academy, and her dark dabbling with secret sorcerer societies pulls them apart. What follows is an edgy coming-of-age tale that deftly tackles first love, ambition, loss, jealousy, friendship, mental illness, family dysfunction, and sexual abuse, all while also creating a detailed mythology and complex characters (including bisexual party boy Eliot and his feisty gal pal Margo) that fantasy fans will devour with relish. Life at Brakebills gets more complicated as finals loom and a big bad known as the Beast starts roaming the halls. Get enchanted before the second season premieres Jan. 25.
Where you can watch: The entire first season will be available on Netflix starting Dec. 26; until then the options include On Demand, the Syfy Now app, iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play. —CB

(Credit: Jeff Weddell/Syfy)

Length: 4 seasons, 30 episodes
Why you should watch: Strikingly original and moving, Rectify's premise — man freed from prison after nearly two decades for a crime he may not have committed — doesn't suggest its depth. It's a Deep South saga about family bonds, a low-key crime investigation that also works in equally low-key humor and romance. And we can now tell you it has a satisfying series finale.
Where you can watch: Netflix (Seasons 1-3), Sundance.tv (Season 4), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play. —Ken Tucker

(Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/Sundance)

Length: 1 season, 8 episodes
Why you should watch: Issa Rae's Web series "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl" made her a rising star, but the HBO adaptation has shot her into the stratosphere. Rae plays a fictionalized version of herself, a black woman in L.A. grappling with relationship and career ennui: friction with her under-ambitious boyfriend; awkwardness with her white colleagues; and a push-pull dynamic with her unlucky-in-love best friend. Her issues feel both universal and unique, and most of all real and grounded.
Where you can watch: HBO on Demand, HBO GO and HBO NOW. —Kelly Woo

(Credit: HBO)

Length: 2 seasons, 18 episodes
Why you should watch: We’ve said it before: There is arguably no greater, funnier, or more realistic friendship on TV right now than that of Playing House's Maggie and Emma, played by real-life best friends Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair. This half-hour comedy is the rare one that remembers friends aren’t just there to make each other laugh; they’re there to help each other live their best lives. At the beginning of the series, that means workaholic Emma moving home to help a pregnant Maggie, who discovers during her baby shower that she needs to leave her husband. Equally entertaining is Emma reconnecting with her high school boyfriend Mark (Keegan-Michael Key), who begins the show happily married to Tina (Lindsay Sloane), aka Bird Bones. By the end of Season 2, you’ll wish he was the leading man in a big-screen rom-com.
Where you can watch: Seasons 1 and 2 are available online and On Demand, so you have plenty of time to catch up before Season 3 arrives later in 2017. —MB

(Credit: Nicole Wilder/USA Network/Getty Images)

Length: 1 season, 9 episodes so far
Why you should watch: Because, like us, you're probably still crying over the conclusion of Parks and Recreation, and a Ron Swanson spinoff never materialized. You can get a fast fix of Mike Schur-style smart silliness with this new fall comedy about Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a self-centered jerk who suffers a humiliating accident and wakes up in a pristine, nonsectarian afterlife filled with endless frozen yogurt and flying lessons. Michael (Ted Danson), the "architect" of the hyperselective heaven, explains that entrance into the Good Place is calculated with a complex algorithm in which one's every act in life is added or subtracted from a score. Plus: "Plant baobab tree in Madagascar, fix a broken tricycle for a child who loves tricycles." Minus: "Ruin opera with boorish behavior, use Facebook as a verb." She quickly realizes that she doesn't belong but plans to ride out the mistaken identity. How hard could it be to blend in with the paragons of virtue? When heaven goes haywire in a new surreal and bizarre way every time she lashes out, Eleanor asks her assigned soulmate/ex-philosophy professor Chidi (William Jackson Harper) to school her in the ways of sainthood. In the process, the world is expanded as the histories of the other residents are revealed à la Lost, running gags are established, and bits about how it (as well as the Bad Place) all works are parsed out. Bell is easy to root for, and if you commit you'll be rewarded with a genius guest spot by a Parks and Rec alum. The series returns with a new episode Jan. 5.
Where you can watch: All the episodes that have aired can be seen on NBC.com, On Demand, and through the NBC app. —CB

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
Why you should watch: Adapted by creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge from her one-woman stage play, Fleabag is sharp as a scalpel, highly profane, and very raunchy in its depiction of the main character's attempt to hold together the pieces of her life while grieving for her dead best friend. Fleabag's sexual escapades, family quarrels, and selfish behavior are all amusing, but it becomes clear that she's broken inside, and the final episode is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
Where you can watch: Amazon Prime Video. —KW

(Credit: Amazon Studios)

Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
Why you should watch: It's only the most original new basic-cable scripted show of 2016. Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat stars in this mystery millennial mash-up, in which the disappearance of a young woman becomes a metaphor for searching for one's own identity. It’s been renewed for a second season.
Where you can watch: On Demand, Amazon Video. —KT

(Credit: TBS)

Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
Why you should watch: In its freshman year, The Expanse firmly established itself as the heir to Battlestar Galactica's mantle as heady sci-fi for serious genre fans. Faithfully adapted from the six-books-and-counting series by James S.A. Corey (the pen name for writing duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), the show — which returns for Season 2 on Feb. 1 — depicts a far future where human civilization has expanded to the stars, but petty infighting and mutual distrust keeps dragging us back to Earth… both literally and metaphorically. It's a compellingly messy alternative to the more hopeful vision of the future promised by Star Trek.
Where you can watch: Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes. —EA

(Credit: Rafy/Syfy)

Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
Why you should watch: Eighties nostalgia trumped '70s nostalgia on Netflix this summer, as word of mouth sensation Stranger Things stole The Get Down's thunder as the streaming service's buzziest original series. Boasting co-creator Baz Luhrmann's typical exuberance (and extravagance), this invigorating re-creation of the Boogie Down Bronx during the birth of hip-hop is a wild mélange of genres — rom-com, social realism, and vintage kung fu flicks — held together by a pulsating rap/disco/gospel soundtrack and an ultra-appealing young cast. Due to a demanding and costly production schedule, the first (and possibly only) season was split into two halves, with the next batch of six episodes set to drop sometime in 2017 … preferably before the second season of Stranger Things eats up our collective binge-watching time.
Where you can watch: Netflix. —EA

(Credit: Netflix)

Length: 2 seasons, 14 episodes
Why you should watch: Episode for episode, parody for parody, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and their merry band of pranksters offer up a master class in mockumentary moviemaking. No documentary is too big — or too small — to be exactingly spoofed by the Documentary Now! team, who have lampooned everything from Grey Gardens to Stop Making Sense over the course of the show's two-season run. We can't wait to see what nonfiction features they take aim at in Season 3. May we recommend Grizzly Man and Don't Look Back?
Where you can watch: Netflix (Season 1 only), Amazon Prime, Google Play, IFC.com, iTunes. —EA

(Credit: IFC)

Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Why you should watch: A consummate comic's comic, Maria Bamford assembled a stellar roster of recurring players and guest stars for her semiautobiographical series, including Fred Melamed, Ana Gasteyer, Patton Oswalt, and June Diane Raphael. Co-creators Pam Brady and Mitch Hurwitz use their star's real-life bipolar diagnosis as the foundation for a comic framework that freely moves back, forth, and sideways in time, as well as over, under, and through the proverbial fourth wall as the onscreen Bamford rebuilds her life and career after a nervous breakdown. Her brand of comedy may be an acquired taste, but it's gone down smoothly with Netflix, which gave Lady Dynamite the go-ahead for a sophomore year.
Where you can watch: Netflix. —EA

(Credit: Doug Hyun/Netflix)

Length: 1 season, 8 episodes
Why you should watch: Golden Globe nominee Billy Bob Thornton has a fine old time playing a frowsy lawyer in David E. Kelley's old-fashioned lawyer show, set in a Los Angeles steeped in the moral rot of the legal system. Nothing revolutionary here, just some good storytelling.
Where you can watch: Amazon Prime. —KT

(Credit: Amazon Studios)