This British import (airing on PBS's Masterpiece) is a six-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning historical novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. The series is set during the reign of King Henry VIII and stars Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies). A second season is a possibility, though Mantel will have to finish writing the third novel (The Mirror and the Light) first.

Thanks to the hit podcast Serial and HBO's recent miniseries The Jinx, true crime stories are all the rage—especially when the cases feature unexpected twists and plenty of ambiguity. Debuting just two weeks ago, Netflix's new docuseries investigates another such tale, tracing a decade in the life of ex-con Steven Avery, who was convicted and then exonerated of one murder, only to be accused of another killing after he was freed from prison.

This year's best-reviewed broadcast network newcomer is an anthology series from TV veteran and recent Oscar winner (for 12 Years a Slave) John Ridley. The first season, with an ensemble featuring Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Timothy Hutton, and Lili Taylor (among others), centered on a racially charged murder in the California farm town of Modesto. Those actors will return next week for a second season, though they will be playing different characters in a story revolving around a sexual assault at an Indiana high school.

Is this the golden age of the "anti-rom-com"? While 2014 introduced critic favorite You're the Worst, this past year saw British newcomer Catastrophe head to the U.S. via Amazon Prime. The six-episode series traces the unlikely relationship between an Irish schoolteacher (Sharon Horgan) and a visiting American (Rob Delaney)—their one-night stand turns into something a bit more permanent thanks to a pregnancy—and features a raunchy but charming script by the two stars themselves. A second season has already aired in the UK, and should head to Amazon in early 2016.

Netflix's second of five planned Marvel shows stars Krysten Ritter as the titular character, who has a few more flaws than the usual Marvel superhero. That gives the show—part action series, part noir-ish detective thriller—a welcome complexity, and it has quickly become critics' favorite small screen entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thanks to its "Characters Welcome" brand of lighter dramatic fare, the USA Network has always been an afterthought compared to other, buzzier cable networks. That changed in 2015 with the arrival of Sam Esmail's techno-thriller Mr. Robot, which instantly became the best computer hacker drama of all time—as well as one of TV's best series, period.

The Duplass brothers, long among the film world's most prolific filmmakers, have increasingly been turning their attentions to TV as well, including recent roles in The League (for Mark) and Transparent (for Jay). Mark stars in—and both brothers write, direct, and produce (along with co-star Steve Zissis)—this HBO comedy series about the complicated lives of four adults in Los Angeles. The brothers have another HBO series (the animated Animals) arriving in February alongside a second season of Togetherness.

So much could have gone wrong here: a half-hour adult Showtime comedy gets shifted to the youth-oriented CW and extended to an hour. And that's not even the crazy thing about Rachel Bloom's "screwed-up" rom-com: it's also a musical. Yet the highly original newcomer has impressed critics much like last year's CW breakout hit, Jane the Virgin.

It's not easy to follow what might be the greatest show of all time, but Vince Gilligan and former Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould quickly established this prequel series as both its own unique thing and as another of TV's top dramas, filled with strong performances by a returning Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks as well as franchise newcomer Michael McKean.

Don't be discouraged by the word "Lifetime" up there. Easily the best scripted series ever to air on the network, UnReal (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Marti Noxon) is a bold, dark satirical drama set behind the scenes of a dating competition show (similar to The Bachelor), where Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer play just two of the behind-the-scenes characters who are constantly manipulating "reality" both on screen and off.

The BBC's answer to Game of Thrones is based on Bernard Cornwell's book series The Saxon Stories, which is based loosely on actual 9th century events (and thus steers clear of Thrones' fantasy elements).

Developed by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock for NBC as their follow-up to 30 Rock, Kimmy Schmidt never aired on that network, instead moving to Netflix. On the streaming service, it quickly became one of 2015's funniest shows (despite a Room-like premise that involves a group of women held captive for years), with winning performances from stars Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, and Jane Krakowski, plus one of the year's stickiest theme songs.

Though Hulu has played second (or third) fiddle to Netflix and Amazon in recent years, the streaming service has been beefing up its lineup of original programming. This past year brought two acclaimed new comedies to Hulu, including Julie Klausner's excellently caustic Difficult People, and this Jason Reitman-directed series about modern romance starring Michaela Watkins and Tommy Dewey.

Taking the concept of mockumentary to its logical conclusion, this satirical anthology series from Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers presents—complete with faux-serious introduction from Helen Mirren—a different fake documentary each week, lampooning such classics of the genre as Grey Gardens. The two-part finale (about fake 1970s music act Blue Jean Committee) even spawned a real-world album.