There are only a few TV seasons that boast a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, but they are worthy of this honor. Due to the quirks of Rotten Tomatoes’ review aggregation system, a single negative review can rob a show of its 100% score. There are many critically acclaimed TV seasons that fall short of full marks, and relatively few that have achieved this rare feat over the years.
Some shows have multiple seasons with 100% scores, such as The thread, the good place and BoJack Knight, but these are exceptions to the norm. Most shows can consider themselves lucky to only have one season that achieves this level of success. Many big shows have failed to claim this particular honor, so it’s worth celebrating when a show delivers a season of TV that is unanimously praised by critics.
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Schitt’s Creek season 6
Schitt’s Creek saves the best for last
- Cast
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Catherine O’Hara, Dan Levy, Noah Reid, Emily Hampshire, Tim Rozon, Dustin Milligan, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Robertson, Chris Elliott, Annie Murphy
- Release date
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January 13, 2015
- Seasons
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6
Schitt’s Creek The first season has a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score of just 68%, but the show soon recovered from that low point. In the sixth and final season Schitt’s Creek had established itself as one of the funniest and most moving comedies and TV. The final season offers many of the Schitt’s Creekbest episodes. More impressive, delivers a perfect series finale that wraps things up with genuine emotion. Schitt’s Creek I’ve always managed to find the perfect balance between comedy and character development, and season 6 exemplifies that approach.
Season 6 comes to a memorable conclusion with a series of great episodes.
In addition to the audience-pleasing ending, Schitt’s Creek season 6 has many more great moments. David’s problematic wedding planning, Moira’s The Crow movie premiere and Alexis’s touching last night with Ted are excellent in their own way, ensuring that the entire Rose family has their own highlights. Season 6 comes to a memorable conclusion with a series of great episodes. Johnny and Roland’s performance in New York, David and Patrick’s bachelor party and Moira’s last rehearsal show at Jazzagals Schitt’s Creek at his best before taking his final bow.
7
Detectorists, season 3
The British sitcom brings everything full circle
- Release date
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October 2, 2014
- Seasons
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3
Detectorists is a hilarious British comedy that deserves more love from international audiences. The BBC program follows two middle-aged friends brought together by their hobby of scouring the fields of eastern England with their metal detectors and their foolish dreams that they might uncover a horde of Saxon-era treasures. Showing a middle-aged friendship is relatively rare in a sitcom, as many seem hyper-focused on people in their 20s and 30s. Detectorists it doesn’t try to imitate these other shows, and the sincere exploration of its characters is much more compelling.
The ending offers a joyful payoff while also showing that Lance and Andy have grown enough as people to truly deserve their payoff.
Detectorists reaches its peak in its third and final season. The show repeatedly teases the audience with the idea that there really is a great treasure buried somewhere out there, hidden beneath Lancy and Andy’s feet. The ending offers a joyful payoff while also showing that Lance and Andy have grown enough as people to truly deserve their payoff. After years of metaphorically burying their heads in the sand, Lance and Andy’s treasure comes from above when they discover a magpie’s nest in a tree overflowing with ancient gold.
6
Mad Men season 2
Mad Men starts to hit its stride in year two
- Release date
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July 19, 2007
- Seasons
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7
Mad Men is remarkably consistent throughout its seven seasons, and it’s hard to say where the show peaks. Season 2 is the only one that has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, although the others are not far behind. The only outlier is the first season, which sits at 86%. This would be a huge hit for many other shows. The first season takes a while to get going after the brilliant reveal of the first episode. Season 2, on the other hand, hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the end. Don and Betty’s marriage reaches its breaking point, Duck attempts a coup, and Peggy begins to establish herself in the business world.
Mad Men season two reveals more about Don’s story when he meets Anna in California. This trip to the West Coast also provides a wake-up call about Don’s volatility and allows the show to explore what the office is like in his absence. Mad Men Season 2 has interesting stories for all the main players, not just Don. Betty gains more agency, Roger is put in the rare position of having something to fight for, and Pete steps up his scheming. The real star of the supporting cast is Peggy. The flashback to his time in the hospital is a well-timed gut punch and allows Don to deliver one of the Mad Menmost memorable quotes from: “That never happened. You’ll be shocked at how much that never happened.”
5
Veep Season 4
Season 4 finally shows Selina as president
- Release date
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April 22, 2012
- Seasons
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7
Veep creator Armando Iannucci first developed his style of political satire in Britain. Veep it gives you the opportunity to focus on all the peculiarities of American politics that don’t exist on the other side of the Atlantic. It’s no coincidence that the show focuses on the office of vice president, a position with no real British equivalent, often awarded to a lucky loser in presidential primaries as a consolation prize. It is also no coincidence that the best seasons of Veep they all happen during the campaign. British general elections lack the pomp and scandal of American ones. Veep Season 4 details the series’ most memorable election.
The season ends with two of the best episodes of the series.
Veep Season 4 sees the cast firing on all cylinders. Both Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale have won Emmys, but there are many other excellent performances. Sam Richardson’s lovable idiot Richard Splett keeps turning every one of his lines into a hilarious quote, and the introduction of Hugh Laurie as Tom James is perfectly designed to annoy Selina Meyer. The season ends with two of the best episodes of the series. The C-SPAN-style Congressional hearing is brilliant, but it’s soon overtaken by the season finale, which follows a frantic election night as the electoral college is split down the middle.
4
Fleabag Season 1
Fleabag’s first season was hugely influential
- Release date
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June 21, 2016
- Seasons
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2
Flea bag only produced two seasons, but both seasons were rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s dramedy focuses on an unnamed woman reeling from the death of her best friend while struggling to keep up appearances with her family and continue her small business. Flea bag is a masterpiece of cheeky humor, but its most revolutionary technique is the constant breaking of the fourth wall. Of course, other shows have broken the fourth wall for comedic effect, but Flea bag uses this as a vital part of the character. She takes comfort in the artifice of a TV show and this allows her to avoid the harsh realities of her life.
Flea bagThe first season of is extremely confident, and it’s impressive to see how such a groundbreaking show starts out so fully formed.
Flea bagThe first season of is extremely confident, and it’s impressive to see how such a groundbreaking show starts out so fully formed. The show was based on Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show, but adapting it for TV adds another layer to the tongue-in-cheek character study. The Season 2 finale is often cited as a perfect ending, but the final episode of season 1 is equally powerful. After the intriguing twist of the first episode, the season finale reveals that the protagonist is partially to blame for Boo’s depressed state. This recontextualizes the entire season, as the reveal of the unreliable narrator makes her seem less sympathetic, less quirky, and more cynical.
3
Arrested Development Season 1
Arrested Development displays its esoteric style from the start
- Release date
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March 15, 2019
- Seasons
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5
Although Arrested development ended on a sour note after moving to Netflix, the first three seasons are still hilarious. The sitcom is deliciously complex, with several different plots, densely layered jokes, and an unbeatable cast. Ron Howard serves as narrator to guide the audience through the narrative’s mysterious tangle, and does so with biting humor. Arrested developmentThe dysfunctional Bluth family is introduced in a perfect first episode, when George Sr. is arrested and the family is thrown into crisis. The rest of the first season maintains the same pattern.
Arrested development it has several different plots, densely layered callback jokes, and an unbeatable cast.
Arrested development The first season has many of the series’ best episodes. “Pier Pressure” features Michael’s ill-fated lesson to his son, “Justice is Blind” has Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s fraudulent lawyer and the season finale “Let ‘Em Eat Cake” features George Sr.’s prison escape. impressive thing about Arrested developmentThe first season of is the way it delivers memorable episodes while continually advancing the plot of George Sr.’s trial, Michael’s tense love life, and George Michael’s relationship with Maeby. Many of the show’s storylines carry over into the next two seasons.
2
Fargo season 2
1970s Fargo’s Crime Story is the show’s best season
- Cast
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Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Martin Freeman, Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon, Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Jason Schwartzman, Juno Temple, Jon Hamm
- Release date
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April 15, 2014
- Seasons
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5
Each season of Fargo takes place in a different time with a new cast of characters, so there’s no strong connection to the Coen brothers’ film beyond the location and the darkly comedic tone. After a strong first season, FargoSeason two took things back to the 1970s for a story about a young couple struggling to cover up the hit-and-run that killed a member of the Midwest’s most notorious crime family. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons prove that their real-life relationship translates into fantastic on-screen chemistry, and they are surrounded by a talented cast that includes Ted Danson, Jean Smart and Patrick Wilson.
The second season is probably FargoThe show’s best season, with the mix of heart-pounding action and dark humor reaching its peak.
The second season is probably FargoThe show’s best season, with the mix of heart-pounding action and dark humor reaching its peak. Many of Season 2’s characters are unforgettable, like the silent killer Hanzee and the cold sociopath Mike Milligan. These characters and many others are thrown into a heady game of swashbuckling, in which competing criminal enterprises engage in frenzied warfare right under the noses of the poorly equipped local police department. Season 2 has some Fargothe most beautiful and ambitious sequences inlike the massacre in Sioux Falls and the thrilling shootout in the woods.
1
Only Murders in the Building’s First Season
OMITB Season 1 Establishes a Compelling Personal Mystery
- Release date
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August 31, 2021
- Seasons
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4
The first season of Only murders in the building breathed new life into the mystery genre. The light-hearted comedy and compelling mystery elements are perfectly balanced. You can explore a single case over the course of an entire season, but its tone is a throwback to an earlier era of mystery showsas Monk and Psychic. Only murders in the building sees things through the lens of true crime podcasts and delivers the same intriguing thrills. However, it also shows the real danger of crime, demystifying the stories that people so often treat as popcorn entertainment. Mabel’s story is fundamental to this.
The first season established the trio’s quirky dynamic early on and also established some of the show’s other key ingredients.
Martin Short and Steve Martin have worked together for decades. No one predicted that Selena Gomez would be the ideal third partner their comic duo was hoping for. Her youthful perspective contributes to the group’s decrepit charm, but her character is vital in the first season. Mabel is the one who provides a personal connection to the Tim Kono murder case. The first season established the trio’s quirky dynamic early on and also established some of the show’s other key ingredients. Season 1 ends like all subsequent seasons, with a surprising cliffhanger that sets up the next mystery.