THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE 2010's:
1. Breaking Bad
- The gold standard. Breaking Bad was the peak of peak TV - and though it premiered prior to 2010, it was also the first series to make binge-watching catch-up marathons a widespread cultural phenomenon. No series was ever more intense, more impeccably written or acted or saw through from beginning to end. This was the show that knocked, the king of kings.
2. Black Mirror
- An obscure British series that became a viral hit in America thanks to Netflix, Black Mirror is nothing less than the modern day Twilight Zone. No other streaming series has left me waiting in more anticipation for new batches of episodes. And what episodes they were - some of the finest TV installments ever produced, including the all-time-classic San Junipero. A thrilling, disturbing, must-watch sci-fi reflection of the times we live in.
3. Parks and Recreation
-The best sitcom of the decade, Parks and Rec was infinitely quotable, endearingly earnest, and laugh out loud funny. With an all-star cast and an all-star writing team, the show kept getting better and better, up to and including its phenomenal final season in 2015.
4. Game of Thrones
- No other TV series, ever, was more epic. GoT brought sprawling fantasy storytelling TV in a way that had never been seen before, and in doing so produced some of the greatest and most jaw-dropping moments in the medium's history. The last great water-cooler series, the end of Thrones marked the end of a TV era.
5. The Americans
- One of the all-time great TV dramas, The Americans never quite got the fan-following or the critical buzz it deserved. But the show will go down as a classic - a Cold War story that spoke to the troubles and tensions of that era as well as this one. The show was a slow-burn that you couldn't look away from, culminating in perhaps the greatest series finale in TV drama history.
6. Justified
- Speaking of all-time great finales, Justified also gave us one of the best ever. But more than that, the show was a deceptively layered drama filled with iconic characters and memorable locales. A modern Western that never skimped on the badassery, Justified was one of the true can't-miss series of the decade.
7. Community
- A series ahead of its time, Community was constantly on the verge of cancellation - even as it developed a passionate fandom that recognized it as one of the funniest and smartest shows ever. An episode of Community could be anything - and episodes of Community *were* everything. Six seasons and a movie (we still need that movie!).
8. Nathan For You
- Nathan For You is easily one of the strangest, darkest, and most hilarious things I've ever seen. Once you plug into the deadpan wavelength of Nathan Fielder, the only conclusion one can draw is that Nathan For You simply operates on a level of meta comedic genius rarely seen on television.
9. Penny Dreadful
- Those who stuck with Penny Dreadful through its three seasons of gothic Victorian horror were rewarded with one of the most mesmerizing, awe-inspiring, darkly poetic TV series ever made. The series gave us fascinating, re-imagined takes on classic monsters while also introducing Eva Green's iconic Vanessa Ives - tragically struggling with her literal inner demons. And that struggle, man, it made for some incredible TV.
10. Fringe
- The only show in my Top 10 that was *also* on my Best of the 00's list, Fringe started off really good, but ultimately became *great.* What started as a cool new take on X-Files monster-of-the-week procedurals evolved into an epic sci-fi saga that centered around an interdimensional war. The show got better and better as it got more ambitious, and ended up being something unique and unmatched - the decade's ultimate geek-out TV adventure.
THE NEXT BEST:
11. Twin Peaks: The Return
- What an unexpected blast of surreal brilliance this series was - a triumphant return to TV for David Lynch and Mark Frost, revisiting the cult-favorite TV series that had become a pop-culture sensation thirty years earlier. You never knew what Lynch and Frost had in store for you week to week, and that was part of the fun. In fact, it made for some damn fine TV.
12. Mr. Robot
- A series uniquely suited to this decade, Mr. Robot was a mind-bending show that functioned as both a more conventional cyber-thriller and as a meta-journey into the fractured psyche of its main character. Tackling modern political and social issues head-on, Mr. Robot was, ultimately, a bold look at the past decade and a call-to-arms to face the challenges of the next.
13. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Nine-Nine! After his incredible sting behind the scenes of Parks & Rec, Mike Schur went on to help create the other best sitcom of the decade - the still-going-strong (and somehow getting better with each season!) B99. Every year, the chemistry of the cast gets better, the joke-writing gets sharper, and I get increasingly annoyed that the great Andre Braugher still hasn't won an Emmy for this show.
14. Fargo
- This show should not have worked. The Coen Bros' cinematic classic did not seem to lend itself to a spin-off TV show ... but creator Noah Hawley proved that there were great stories to be mined from diving back into the snow-covered world of Fargo. And with Seasons 1 and 2 in particular, he gave us some of the decade's best TV.
15. 30 Rock
- One more holdover from the previous decade - don't get me wrong, 30 Rock is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. But I also would make the argument that it was just as strong, if not stronger, in the latter half of its run as in the first - producing multiple seasons of hilarity post-2010. Oh how I miss this show. I'm still trying to live every week like it's Shark Week.
16. Eastbound & Down
- Eastbound kicked off in 2009, but a few years later it would go down as one of the craziest, most boundary-pushing, most hilarious TV shows ever. Since the end of the series, we've seen the team of Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green go on to produce so much great television - but this was really the show that started it all ... and the saga of Kenny Powers remains a comedy classic.
17. Boardwalk Empire
- With an incredible cast and an incredible pedigree of creators behind the scenes, this Martin Scorsese-produced, Prohibition-era crime drama showed the origins of organized crime in the United States - and in so doing showed us a lot about the origins of the world we live in today. Filled with memorable characters both real and fictional, this one was an underrated epic that demands to be binged.
18. Better Call Saul
- Breaking Bad set such a high bar ... it seemed like folly to try to follow it up with a prequel series. But never doubt Vince Gilligan and co. They've made Better Call Saul, in its own way, nearly the equal of Breaking Bad. The show tells a similar story of a good person's slide to the dark side, but it does so with a lighter touch and a more contemplative pace. In the end, Saul will be considered nearly the classic that Breaking Bad was.
19. Silicon Valley
- Incredibly spot-on at all times, always, Silicon Valley was a biting satire of the tech-world culture that has shaped so much of the last decade. Mike Judge again proved his comedic genius here, and the cast was so funny and so good.
20. New Girl
- Another great comedy series, New Girl was a joke-machine with some of the sharpest writing of any recent comedy. The main cast was so good and so funny, and the show did a great job at capturing elder-Millennial issues and anxieties.
21. True Detective
- While True Detective had a bit of a sophomore slump, it was absolutely killer in Seasons 1 and 3 - delivering a certain brand of gothic-noir crime-story I really hadn't seen on TV before (and certainly not done this well). Attracting A-list talent like Matthew McConauhey, Woody Harrelson, and Mahershala Ali - this show at its best was a tour de force.
22. Rick & Morty
- This infinitely creative animated series manages the impossible task of being both laugh out loud hilarious and a genuinely mind-bending sci-fi adventure that never skimps on the science-fiction. In fact, the show's willingness to go all-in on its crazy sci-fi conceits is part of what makes it a legend it its own time.
23. Review
- Hopefully, this under-seen Comedy Central series lives on forever as a genuine cult classic. It's one of the strangest, funniest, craziest shows I've ever seen. Andy Daly plays Forrest McNeil - a man who, for some unknown reason, is forced to host a TV show in which he *must* review any life experience that viewers ask him to. The result is a shockingly dark and daring comedy the likes of which may never be seen again.
24. The Good Place
- Set to finale in January 2020, it will feel like we're all in The Bad Place when this modern comedy classic comes to an end. The Good Place dared to bring high-concept, Lost-esque serialization to a sitcom - and it brilliantly mixed smart philosophical discussion with some of the best comedy writing around. That Mike Schur guy is pretty good.
25. Westworld
- In its twisty, time-jumping first season, Westworld rocked the pop-cultural landscape and set the internet on fire. And with good reason: it gave us some of the most compelling, thought-provoking, can't-miss sci-fi television of the decade. Its return in 2020 for Season 3 is easily one of my most-anticipated TV moments of the upcoming year.
1. Breaking Bad
- The gold standard. Breaking Bad was the peak of peak TV - and though it premiered prior to 2010, it was also the first series to make binge-watching catch-up marathons a widespread cultural phenomenon. No series was ever more intense, more impeccably written or acted or saw through from beginning to end. This was the show that knocked, the king of kings.
2. Black Mirror
- An obscure British series that became a viral hit in America thanks to Netflix, Black Mirror is nothing less than the modern day Twilight Zone. No other streaming series has left me waiting in more anticipation for new batches of episodes. And what episodes they were - some of the finest TV installments ever produced, including the all-time-classic San Junipero. A thrilling, disturbing, must-watch sci-fi reflection of the times we live in.
3. Parks and Recreation
-The best sitcom of the decade, Parks and Rec was infinitely quotable, endearingly earnest, and laugh out loud funny. With an all-star cast and an all-star writing team, the show kept getting better and better, up to and including its phenomenal final season in 2015.
4. Game of Thrones
- No other TV series, ever, was more epic. GoT brought sprawling fantasy storytelling TV in a way that had never been seen before, and in doing so produced some of the greatest and most jaw-dropping moments in the medium's history. The last great water-cooler series, the end of Thrones marked the end of a TV era.
5. The Americans
- One of the all-time great TV dramas, The Americans never quite got the fan-following or the critical buzz it deserved. But the show will go down as a classic - a Cold War story that spoke to the troubles and tensions of that era as well as this one. The show was a slow-burn that you couldn't look away from, culminating in perhaps the greatest series finale in TV drama history.
6. Justified
- Speaking of all-time great finales, Justified also gave us one of the best ever. But more than that, the show was a deceptively layered drama filled with iconic characters and memorable locales. A modern Western that never skimped on the badassery, Justified was one of the true can't-miss series of the decade.
7. Community
- A series ahead of its time, Community was constantly on the verge of cancellation - even as it developed a passionate fandom that recognized it as one of the funniest and smartest shows ever. An episode of Community could be anything - and episodes of Community *were* everything. Six seasons and a movie (we still need that movie!).
8. Nathan For You
- Nathan For You is easily one of the strangest, darkest, and most hilarious things I've ever seen. Once you plug into the deadpan wavelength of Nathan Fielder, the only conclusion one can draw is that Nathan For You simply operates on a level of meta comedic genius rarely seen on television.
9. Penny Dreadful
- Those who stuck with Penny Dreadful through its three seasons of gothic Victorian horror were rewarded with one of the most mesmerizing, awe-inspiring, darkly poetic TV series ever made. The series gave us fascinating, re-imagined takes on classic monsters while also introducing Eva Green's iconic Vanessa Ives - tragically struggling with her literal inner demons. And that struggle, man, it made for some incredible TV.
10. Fringe
- The only show in my Top 10 that was *also* on my Best of the 00's list, Fringe started off really good, but ultimately became *great.* What started as a cool new take on X-Files monster-of-the-week procedurals evolved into an epic sci-fi saga that centered around an interdimensional war. The show got better and better as it got more ambitious, and ended up being something unique and unmatched - the decade's ultimate geek-out TV adventure.
THE NEXT BEST:
11. Twin Peaks: The Return
- What an unexpected blast of surreal brilliance this series was - a triumphant return to TV for David Lynch and Mark Frost, revisiting the cult-favorite TV series that had become a pop-culture sensation thirty years earlier. You never knew what Lynch and Frost had in store for you week to week, and that was part of the fun. In fact, it made for some damn fine TV.
12. Mr. Robot
- A series uniquely suited to this decade, Mr. Robot was a mind-bending show that functioned as both a more conventional cyber-thriller and as a meta-journey into the fractured psyche of its main character. Tackling modern political and social issues head-on, Mr. Robot was, ultimately, a bold look at the past decade and a call-to-arms to face the challenges of the next.
13. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Nine-Nine! After his incredible sting behind the scenes of Parks & Rec, Mike Schur went on to help create the other best sitcom of the decade - the still-going-strong (and somehow getting better with each season!) B99. Every year, the chemistry of the cast gets better, the joke-writing gets sharper, and I get increasingly annoyed that the great Andre Braugher still hasn't won an Emmy for this show.
14. Fargo
- This show should not have worked. The Coen Bros' cinematic classic did not seem to lend itself to a spin-off TV show ... but creator Noah Hawley proved that there were great stories to be mined from diving back into the snow-covered world of Fargo. And with Seasons 1 and 2 in particular, he gave us some of the decade's best TV.
15. 30 Rock
- One more holdover from the previous decade - don't get me wrong, 30 Rock is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. But I also would make the argument that it was just as strong, if not stronger, in the latter half of its run as in the first - producing multiple seasons of hilarity post-2010. Oh how I miss this show. I'm still trying to live every week like it's Shark Week.
16. Eastbound & Down
- Eastbound kicked off in 2009, but a few years later it would go down as one of the craziest, most boundary-pushing, most hilarious TV shows ever. Since the end of the series, we've seen the team of Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green go on to produce so much great television - but this was really the show that started it all ... and the saga of Kenny Powers remains a comedy classic.
17. Boardwalk Empire
- With an incredible cast and an incredible pedigree of creators behind the scenes, this Martin Scorsese-produced, Prohibition-era crime drama showed the origins of organized crime in the United States - and in so doing showed us a lot about the origins of the world we live in today. Filled with memorable characters both real and fictional, this one was an underrated epic that demands to be binged.
18. Better Call Saul
- Breaking Bad set such a high bar ... it seemed like folly to try to follow it up with a prequel series. But never doubt Vince Gilligan and co. They've made Better Call Saul, in its own way, nearly the equal of Breaking Bad. The show tells a similar story of a good person's slide to the dark side, but it does so with a lighter touch and a more contemplative pace. In the end, Saul will be considered nearly the classic that Breaking Bad was.
19. Silicon Valley
- Incredibly spot-on at all times, always, Silicon Valley was a biting satire of the tech-world culture that has shaped so much of the last decade. Mike Judge again proved his comedic genius here, and the cast was so funny and so good.
20. New Girl
- Another great comedy series, New Girl was a joke-machine with some of the sharpest writing of any recent comedy. The main cast was so good and so funny, and the show did a great job at capturing elder-Millennial issues and anxieties.
21. True Detective
- While True Detective had a bit of a sophomore slump, it was absolutely killer in Seasons 1 and 3 - delivering a certain brand of gothic-noir crime-story I really hadn't seen on TV before (and certainly not done this well). Attracting A-list talent like Matthew McConauhey, Woody Harrelson, and Mahershala Ali - this show at its best was a tour de force.
22. Rick & Morty
- This infinitely creative animated series manages the impossible task of being both laugh out loud hilarious and a genuinely mind-bending sci-fi adventure that never skimps on the science-fiction. In fact, the show's willingness to go all-in on its crazy sci-fi conceits is part of what makes it a legend it its own time.
23. Review
- Hopefully, this under-seen Comedy Central series lives on forever as a genuine cult classic. It's one of the strangest, funniest, craziest shows I've ever seen. Andy Daly plays Forrest McNeil - a man who, for some unknown reason, is forced to host a TV show in which he *must* review any life experience that viewers ask him to. The result is a shockingly dark and daring comedy the likes of which may never be seen again.
24. The Good Place
- Set to finale in January 2020, it will feel like we're all in The Bad Place when this modern comedy classic comes to an end. The Good Place dared to bring high-concept, Lost-esque serialization to a sitcom - and it brilliantly mixed smart philosophical discussion with some of the best comedy writing around. That Mike Schur guy is pretty good.
25. Westworld
- In its twisty, time-jumping first season, Westworld rocked the pop-cultural landscape and set the internet on fire. And with good reason: it gave us some of the most compelling, thought-provoking, can't-miss sci-fi television of the decade. Its return in 2020 for Season 3 is easily one of my most-anticipated TV moments of the upcoming year.
THE NEXT BEST
26.) American Vandal
27.) The Handmaid's Tale
28.) Vice Principals
29.) Sherlock
30.) Bates Motel
31.) Atlanta
32.) Orphan Black
33.) Louie
34.) Key & Peele
35.) The Goldbergs
36.) Stranger Things
37.) American Horror Story
38.) An Idiot Abroad
39.) Documentary Now
40.) Broad City
41.) Children's Hospital
42.) Terriers
43.) Portlandia
44.) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
45.) Big Mouth
46.) Fleabag
47.) Barry
48.) Big Mouth
49.) Fosse/Verdon
50.) Veronica Mars
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
a.) 24: Live Another Day was a legitimately great season of 24. Jack Bauer was sorely missed for much of this decade.
b.) The Walking Dead's first season from 2010 truly kicked-ass. But the show's quick downhill slide made it hard to include on this list from a big-picture perspective.
c.) Riverdale was one of the most fun semi-guilty TV pleasures of the decade.
d.) The Righteous Gemstones had an incredible Season 1. I have a feeling this show will, in short order, be a modern classic. But it felt too early to include quite yet.
e.) The Flash, especially early on, provided some awesome comic book-inspired moments. I really loved the show when it first premiered.
f.) Watchmen was one of the most compelling new series of 2019. I'm still digesting it. It just barely missed making the list.
g.) Chernobyl was another show from 2019 that barely missed the cut. It's amazing television.
h.) Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life was another one that just barely missed the list. A mostly-great return for one of my favorite series ever.
i.) Humans - when this show was on its game, it was genuinely amazing. It faltered at times but I really dug its look at AI.
j.) The Haunting of Hill House just missed the cut ... only one season and it took a few episodes to get great ... but when it was at its best it was truly fantastic.
SHOWS I NEED TO CATCH UP ON:
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bojack Horseman, The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, Succession, The Magicians, Mad Men, The Crown ... and probably about 500 others!
a.) 24: Live Another Day was a legitimately great season of 24. Jack Bauer was sorely missed for much of this decade.
b.) The Walking Dead's first season from 2010 truly kicked-ass. But the show's quick downhill slide made it hard to include on this list from a big-picture perspective.
c.) Riverdale was one of the most fun semi-guilty TV pleasures of the decade.
d.) The Righteous Gemstones had an incredible Season 1. I have a feeling this show will, in short order, be a modern classic. But it felt too early to include quite yet.
e.) The Flash, especially early on, provided some awesome comic book-inspired moments. I really loved the show when it first premiered.
f.) Watchmen was one of the most compelling new series of 2019. I'm still digesting it. It just barely missed making the list.
g.) Chernobyl was another show from 2019 that barely missed the cut. It's amazing television.
h.) Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life was another one that just barely missed the list. A mostly-great return for one of my favorite series ever.
i.) Humans - when this show was on its game, it was genuinely amazing. It faltered at times but I really dug its look at AI.
j.) The Haunting of Hill House just missed the cut ... only one season and it took a few episodes to get great ... but when it was at its best it was truly fantastic.
SHOWS I NEED TO CATCH UP ON:
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bojack Horseman, The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, Succession, The Magicians, Mad Men, The Crown ... and probably about 500 others!
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