Best TV of the Decade (2010-2019)

[This post was originally published on Facebook in January 2020. It has been edited since.]

It would not surprise me if one day we look back on the 2010s as the defining decade for television. At the very least, it represented a sea change in how we understand and consume the medium. The 2000s ushered in the era of “Prestige TV,” and the 2010s furthered it, as television programmers continued to assimilate novelistic narrative modes and cinematic styles in an effort to establish a highbrow sensibility. It often succeeded, and I’d be lying if I said such programming didn’t readily appeal to my own taste. It’s no wonder then that the line between television and film has blurred to a nearly indistinguishable degree at the close of the decade.

Of course, there was also a monumental commercial shift in recent years: the streaming takeover. The key evolutionary event of television in the 2010s was the rise of streaming services. Since the release of Netflix’s first “exclusive content” (Lilyhammer) on its platform in 2012, nothing has been the same. In 2011 we had 266 scripted shows; by 2016, that number had jumped to 455 (71% growth in five years), largely the result of competing streaming platforms. We’re at about 500 scripted shows today. In this era of “Peak TV” we are inundated with television programming options at an alarming rate. New content—whole seasons of new series—drop on various streaming platforms almost every week, often with little fanfare or advertising. As a result, we have fundamentally altered our viewing behavior: binging has become not just normal but almost necessary in order to stay up to date with pop culture. The irony, though, is that the proverbial water cooler conversation—now mostly online—about a popular show has become, with few exceptions, increasingly ephemeral. Interestingly, if one considers the decade’s shows that produced the most prevalent and enduring discourse—a few that come to mind: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Modern Family, This Is Us, The Good Place, Breaking Bad, Community—are those that followed a weekly episode release model. Is the binge-ready release model failing television? (Stranger Things fans may beg to differ.) I expect the 2020s will involve some course correction, like experiments with new streaming release models and, hopefully, an eventual winnowing of streaming services as consumers revolt against rising monthly subscription costs by torrenting.

But, hey, what do I know? The most-watched scripted shows in the United States during the 2010s were reportedly NCIS and The Big Bang Theory, and I haven’t seen more than a single full episode of either. Nor most reality or competition programming, which is massively popular. The proliferation and accessibility of television content in the past decade has meant we’ve all become more conditioned to prioritize the niche stuff that matches our interests, at the expense of experimentation. No doubt, I’ve overlooked shows that might have made my list. Here’s just a sample of acclaimed programs I haven’t watched (most at all, some in their entirety): Rectify, Sense8, The Good Place, Justified, You’re the Worst, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Adventure Time, Bob’s Burgers, Schitt’s Creek, Wolf Hall, The Hollow Crown, The Good Wife, Narcos, Bloodline, Dark, Happy Valley, Bored to Death, Halt and Catch Fire, Mr. Robot, Community, Modern Family, The Affair, The Hour, Unreal. So, yeah, blind spots abound. Consequently, consider my list below merely one of favorites. There is simply far too much television programming out there I didn’t see for me to feel like my list is a fair assessment of the decade.

A bit of elucidation: The construction of a list like this is complicated by the perennial nature of television programming and storytelling. That is, shows typically run for multiple seasons, thus (1) straddling decades and (2) varying in quality. To determine eligibility, I considered how much of a decade-straddling show first aired in the 2010s. That’s why Mad Men (4 of 7 seasons) and Breaking Bad (3 of 5) are eligible but Curb Your Enthusiasm (2 of 9) and Party Down (1 of 2) are not. And then I considered the quality of the 2010s seasons of eligible decade-straddling shows, which is why something like The Office, whose final 3.5 seasons are its worst, is nowhere to be found. One potentially controversial decision: I considered a show’s quality in its entirety except in cases of anthologies. Shows that have season-long or episode-long self-contained narratives with specific casts, characters, and settings (e.g., True Detective, The Girlfriend Experience, Fargo, The Terror, Black Mirror) were evaluated individually. Now onto the list!

Honorable Mentions

Top 20

20. Fleabag

A caustic, candid, and comical portrait of familial discord, romantic ruin, and a life in disarray. Fleabag also boasts the decade’s best use of fourth-wall-breaking narration. Creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a supreme talent.

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19. Rick and Morty

A sci-fi adventure series of virtually unmatched creative dexterity that blends zany comedy with existential tragedy. Rick and Morty traverses dark territory while serving up one absurdist comic invention after another.

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18. True Detective (S1)

Its reputation has diminished slightly after two underwhelming follow-up seasons, but S1 of True Detective remains an eerie, elliptical mystery and a formally impressive police procedural that isn’t afraid to venture into the pitch-black recesses of the human soul.

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17. Better Call Saul

The Breaking Bad spinoff that exceeded all expectations—and by the end of its run may just match its progenitor. A character metamorphosis tale, populated with an ace cast, that unfolds with precision and nuance. Vince Gilligan has done it again.

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16. Mildred Pierce

Todd Haynes’ miniseries adaptation of James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce is a superb evocation of a time and place, turning the hardboiled nature of the source material into rich melodrama to examine a single working mother’s struggle for agency and success in a status-oriented, patriarchal society.

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15. The Girlfriend Experience (S1)

A season of television that completely eclipsed the film from which it was adapted. An elusive yet insightful look at sexual politics and the sex industry through the enigmatic perspective of an enterprising high-class escort (Riley Keough, in a perfectly calibrated performance).

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14. Broad City

A zeitgeist-y buddy comedy series with so much boundless energy and brazen joy packed into every eccentric scenario. The screwball upper to Girls’s moody downer. Creators and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson should rank among the great comedy duos.

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13. Watchmen

With the Doomsday, err, decade clock at five to midnight, Damon Lindelof delivered his second stunning series of the 2010s. This expansion of and emendation to the Watchmen comic series is a provocative deconstruction of power and race in America.

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12. The Leftovers

Wouldn’t have expected this show to land on my decade list after S1, but the latter two seasons are poignant, spiritual, and deeply stirring stuff. Lindelof has made what is perhaps the medium’s definitive meditation on grief and guilt.

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11. Atlanta

A surrealist panorama of the black experience in America. Occasionally veering into nightmarish horror but never losing its satirical, comic edge, Atlanta is an incredible feat of tone and a brilliant execution of vision for creator and star Donald Glover.

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10. Parks and Recreation

A show I initially dismissed as an Office copycat turned into the ensemble comedy series of the decade. A light satire of government bureaucracy but also a kind of small-town, modern-day Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Parks and Rec is a funny and empathetic stroll through an environment that shouldn’t be as entertaining as it is.

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9. Succession

It’s admittedly a bit risky to put a new-ish, ongoing show this high on a decade list, but Succession has wowed in its first two seasons. A scathing and hilarious dissection of a turbulent, filthy-rich family and its declining media empire, this series is impeccably cast, shrewdly written, and shaped with an unexpectedly affecting narrative of moral, ethical, and familial quandaries.

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8. Black Mirror: San Junipero

Black Mirror as a series is frustratingly hit or miss (mostly miss in more recent seasons), but the standout from S3, San Junipero, is a revelation. The standalone episode, with a central technological concept seemingly borrowed from Philip K. Dick’s Ubik, is a clever and profound love story that had this viewer on the verge of tears.

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7. The Knick

Between his involvement with The Girlfriend Experience, Mosaic, and this series, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh had quite the decade in television. It’s an ambitious show of hefty themes—racism, sexism, drug addiction, corruption—and sordid medical drama, filmed with an atmospheric verve that emanates from the screen. Award for TV score of the decade goes to composer Cliff Martinez.

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6. Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad, the story of a family-oriented high school teacher’s transformation into a ruthless drug kingpin, is one of the great antihero sagas. Vince Gilligan is a master at writing characters into corners and then finding logical ways for their escape. A taut, cinematic series that basically redefined the television crime drama.

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5. Girls

Myopic in its ethnically homogeneous picture of New York City, but then don’t these characters strike you as the type who would remain so isolated? In fact, Girls is a daring, confrontational, and at times prescient show honestly addressing the underachievements of aloof twentysomethings. Lena Dunham expertly captures a milieu and takes a scalpel to it.

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4. O.J.: Made in America

This doc miniseries presents a riveting analysis of the rise and fall of an American icon. Filmmaker Ezra Edelman examines O.J. Simpson’s story in sharp detail, touching on critical aspects of American life—sports, celebrity, media, race, legal justice, public opinion. (Note: In 2016, I had OJ:MIA on my film list, but I’ve moved it to TV because that is how most viewers consumed it. Regardless, it’s the documentary of the decade.)

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3. BoJack Horseman

A sharp skewering of Hollywood and celebrity, but more importantly a complex, existential character study of a flawed but relatable protagonist grappling with childhood trauma, personal failings, and depression while occupying a quirky, colorful landscape. The throwaway jokes alone are worth the watch.

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2. Twin Peaks: The Return

Arguably the most unique and idiosyncratic series to ever air on U.S. television, and I doubt we’ll see anything like it ever again. The Return—technically S3 but not really—is unfiltered David Lynch: mystery-horror melodrama wrapped in an oddball, avant-garde nightmare of unforgettable imagery. A haunting, visionary work. I still can’t believe this got made.

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1. Mad Men

Mad Men is a multi-faceted success: it is an absorbing and critical reflection on a decisive era of 20th century American life, a boldly discursive ensemble drama that probes the professional and personal lives of over a dozen characters that exist in the orbit of a Madison Ave advertising agency, and a slippery, unconventional character study of an unchanging protagonist as the world changes around him. The rare show that grew stronger—and stranger—in its later seasons, as it became increasingly untethered from traditional TV form.