My Rank of 2021's Best Shows with New Seasons

[icecream]

Here is my rank from best to worst of the new shows I watched in 2021. It includes new to the US shows like Heartland, 800 Words, and All Creatures Great and Small. Possible spoilers if you haven't caught up on certain shows.

1. Manifest- This gem deserved renewal on NBC over long past its prime The Blacklist and terribly unfunny Mr. Mayor. Netflix had better not ruin Manifest making it needlessly explicit like they did Designated Survivor.
2. Prodigal Son- fantastic show gone way too soon. I am glad FOX's new replacement dramas this season have been total flops.
3. Blue Bloods- This old dog still has plenty of life left creatively. I hope ION is happy with its syndication deal and wants many more seasons on CBS still. Blue Bloods deserves at least 15 seasons, much better than the horrible shell of its former quality NCIS has turned into.
4. Mental Samurai- FOX had better be behind this show and give it a season 3.
5. All Creatures Great and Small- charming remake that makes me want to see the original. One problem though, 7 episodes is way too short for a season.
6. People Puzzler- I was skeptical of a Leah Remini hosted game show as The King of Queens is very mediocre. But she won me over here, game play is like Merv Griffin's Crosswords which I have missed. While I like several originals on Game Show Network, this one is the best of their current crop.
7. Ghosts- This is a rare time I agree with the critics on a show being really good. CBS has several comedies I like, but this is the only one that can say it is drop dead funny. 😃
8. United States of Al
9. FBI: Most Wanted- Even with terrible cast replacements, the writing on this show is still pretty good. And it will be worth watching for a long time as Julian McMahon is an excellent lead actor.
10. FBI: International- TV's best freshman drama
11. Weakest Link- I hope NBC hasn't decided to quietly burn this show off for season 2. Weakest Link deserves better treatment from them.
12. Rebel- This show would have been able to get better writing for season 2 than Big Sky has.
13. Jeopardy!- Ken Jennings is a fantastic host- no one better to replace Alex Trebek. Mayim Bialik and Buzzy Cohen are/were also really good hosts. But then there were the bloody awful hosts like Savannah Guthrie, Katie Couric, George S., Dr. Oz, and total dullard Aaron Rodgers. LeVar Burton was better than them but overrated, really pompous and I could also tell several mental lapses with him. The inside info I heard said they had to do a lot of post production editing with LeVar, so even worse than he appeared. Jeopardy! really should have given Cash Cab's Ben Bailey, Danica McKellar, and Sarah from the clue crew opportunities to host.
14. College Bowl- Meow! And now a word from our sponsor. I hope Capital One is happy with this show and makes NBC want to renew for season 2. College Bowl has just the right mix of smart game show playing and comedy.
15. Chain Reaction
16. America Says
17. Young Sheldon- Season 4 was still pretty good. But I hate where they are going with the George and Brenda storyline. Just because Sheldon's dad had an affair on TBBT doesn't mean they have to stick with it. Young Sheldon has a separate audience that likes family comedies, don't ruin it for that audience. Frasier is proof you can change several details from the parent show and still be fantastic in your own right. Also, I hate the new Sunday school teacher. It is sad Jim Parsons shoves his personal atheist beliefs into this show using every opportunity to mock Christianity, even more so for season 5.
18. The Neighborhood
19. You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno
20. FBI- Some cases can have good writing. But I can't stand Jubal, his poor wife was already going through enough with their son's health problems without her swine of an adulterer husband. The fall finale just hammered in how much more Jubal cares about his mistress than his neglected wife he shouldn't have abandoned.
21. The Chase- ABC's version of The Chase is not on the level of GSN's. But it is still worth watching and enjoyable.
22. Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
23. Cruel Summer
24. Tug of Words
25. S.W.A.T.- Chris can get irritating really fast. But overall this is a good show.
26. Heartland- It is bad enough they killed off Ty. Alisha Newton barely appearing on season 14 and Jade's very annoying stepsister living at Heartland made this once excellent show far worse than it used to be. Heartland sadly needs put out to pasture soon.
27. 800 Words- Poppy was a wonderful addition to the final season.
28. B Positive- If it comes down to this or United States of Al for renewal, I would much rather have Al renewed. While I still like B Positive some, the changes with Drew being scaled back haven't been the best. I do like Hector Elizondo here better than on Last Man Standing. But I can't stand Jim Beaver.
29. Call Me Kat- Seeing Jenna Von Oy on the Blossom reunion premiere will be nice. What would be even better: if she was made a regular.
30. Big Sky- Season 1 had a lot of good moments. Season 2, not so much.
31. The Wonder Years- This is a decent show, but nowhere near quality of the original.
32. The Good Doctor
33. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist- Season 2 was a lot weaker than season 1. I would still like to see the Christmas wrap-up movie though, hopefully that company lets NBC air it next December.
34. America's Got Talent- as always, a very mixed bag
35. The Cube
36. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?- This should only be renewed if the celebrities are dropped, and it is all regular contestants (not limited to first responders either).
37. Supermarket Sweep- good gameplay but horrible host
38. NCIS- Emily Wickersham leaving was so disappointing, her replacement sucks. I ended up watching all of the final Mark Harmon episodes and the first one without him with Gary Cole as the sole lead. NCIS is a horrible show now, too bad its ratings haven't dropped since Mark and Emily left.
39. All Rise- Season 1 had potential. But season 2 was awful, I won't be following All Rise to OWN.
40. Last Man Standing- The whole FOX era was pretty awful. Only bright spots were Jay Leno's appearances.
41. Call Your Mother- While I watched every episode, this show in general had terrible writing. I don't miss it.
42. Abbott Elementary- Very borderline call but for now I am sticking with this show when it returns. I like the main character some and the older experienced Christian teacher. But I couldn't stand how the token white guy was written or their horrible principal.