The most talked about TV of 2018

There aren't enough water coolers in the world to chat about all the outstanding TV you can watch these days. So what's set tongues wagging so far this year?

We've compiled the small-screen hits with the most user reviews on CNET sister site Metacritic. Click through the gallery to see which popular shows take us from Atlanta to Westworld and beyond, on Netflix, Hulu and YouTube and good old-fashioned networks, counting down to the most discussed show of 2018.

Donald Glover's incendiary song and video This is America already had people talking when the excellent Atlanta returned to HBO for a second season. The comedy-drama's shift into chilling horror for the episode Teddy Perkins has proved a particularly popular topic of discussion.

Netflix loves a true-crime documentary. The truth is certainly stranger than fiction in Wild Wild Country, the story of a cult taking root in the American heartland. Fans were torn as to who was in the right as things got weirder and wilder.

Clark who? SyFy blasts off to the doomed planet of Superman's birth. It can be tough for prequels to engage viewers, but fans have been won over by Krypton's intriguing take on Game of Thrones in space.

Misty Knight and Luke Cage are back in action on Netflix, much to the delight of Marvel fans.

There's a lot to unpack in Legion, the dream-like Marvel adaptation. That gives fans lots of scope to puzzle over the fractured logic and hidden meanings of season 2.

Solo star Phoebe Waller-Bridge adapts Killing Eve, seducing fans with a twisty-turny take of spies, assassins and obsession.

Season 5 of Arrested Development arrived on Netflix under a cloud after a cast interview highlighted the on-set politics that affect the whole industry. Fans also had to grapple with the question of whether the show was still any good.

Sailing into the conversation like a ship emerging from the mist, The Terror took many friends by surprise with an atmospheric and chilling story. 

Counterpart, another show that flew under the radar, featured J.K. Simmons in a career-best dual role.

Chris Rock has always been a comedian capable of setting tongues wagging, and Tamborine, his latest Netflix special, is no exception. 

It wasn't quite the same word-of-mouth sensation as the O.J. Simpson-focused first season, but American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace still had viewers talking.

There's clearly something magic about Deception, which follows a crime-fighting magician.

Everything Sucks!, a Netflix coming-of-age story set in the '90s, is a real gem. It warms fans' hearts with its gentle humor and period references.

Hulu followed the smash hit Handmaid's Tale with another heavyweight drama. Starring Jeff Daniels, The Looming Tower follows the rivalry between the FBI and CIA at the time of the September 11th attacks.

Black Lightning is the latest DC comics hero flying onto TV, with fans excited to see a black superhero lighting up the small screen.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and Danish drama The Rain mixes its chilling scares with compelling drama.

Everybody's talking about Westworld season 2 and its complex twists, which have inspired all kinds of fan theories. Of course, not every viewer wants their favorite compelling drama to come with homework.

The dark humor of The End of the F***ing World had viewers chuckling, and maybe feeling guilty about it.

Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why has a lot of fans, but it also drew criticism for its portrayal of teen suicide.

YouTube got into the original content game with Cobra Kai, the long-awaited return to the story of The Karate Kid. Fans praised the show for its combination of an '80s nostalgia hit and compelling drama.

Another Marvel hero returned to Netflix. The second outing for Jessica Jones started frustratingly slow, with fans lamenting the absence of a villain as strong as the first season's Kilgrave.

Netflix rebooted the classic sci-fi show Lost in Space in entertainingly modern style.

Occasionally clunky, Netflix's cyberpunk series Altered Carbon still entertained fans with intriguing ideas and crazy set pieces like a fight scene with an army of naked clones.

Those are the most-talked-about TV shows of 2018. Now, check out the most discussed movies.