Naming my favorite TV shows of the decade is especially difficult because I’m trying hard not to give into recency bias (hi, Watchmen), plus it’s difficult to not include a show that may have had an incredible season one year but not have been great all around. It’s also necessary that the majority of the show’s run occurred in this decade. Also it’s important to note that these are my favorite shows, it doesn’t mean I’m necessarily saying they’re the best of all time (although some are regarded the well). I’ve seen a few seasons of zeitgeisty shows on other lists (Atlanta, Stranger Things, The Crown, The Leftovers) but if I didn’t continue to watch and didn’t totally connect, then they just can’t appear on this list.
11. Broad City (2014-2019) / Schitts Creek (2015-2020)
Okay, I know it’s bad that I’m cheating right off the bat on this list by choosing two shows for my last slot but I just couldn’t leave one of these off. I also feel like they’re kindred spirits, and I love that. Made by incredible Jewish creators who are able to embrace exaggerated versions of themselves and take part in social commentary through the trials and tribulations of their characters. Both shows have truly absurd plotlines and relish in the progressive ideas from the past decade. Broad City felt like one of a kind when it came out, a show that was completely created by, starring and produced by (Amy Poehler was one) women who made you fall in love with their friendship and oddities and it would’ve felt wrong not to include it. In Schitt’s Creek the Levy family, mainly Dan and Eugene (but also Sarah) took their time in creating a show that felt so fresh even though the characters archetypes are not unfamiliar (especially to someone who watches a lot of teenage dramas).
Schitt’s Creek is about to enter its seventh and final season in January and it’s a show I will miss sorely.
10. The Good Place (2016-Present) / Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
I’m cheating again but this is the last time, I swear. These two also work as an amazing double feature as they are both Mike Schur shows (which makes three of his shows on this list if you count Brooklyn Nine-Nine in my honorable mentions). The Good Place feels so unique. It’s unusual that a comedy takes on such intense themes about the universe. It’s quite literally a philosophy class gone right – meaning the episode arcs feel like something a teenager would try to come up with in their English or Philosophy class for an assignment but of course the quality here is significantly better. Kristin Bell and Ted Danson were the perfect choices for their snarky but sweet characters rounded out by a relatively unknown cast with characters that have such hilariously specific personality traits yet somehow are able to embrace a general view of average people you’d find in the world. Not many shows you can feel like you’re really learning something about the world and yourself while also laughing your ass off at Tahani’s endless name-dropping, Jason Bortles’ jokes, Janet’s insistence that she’s “not a girl” and Eleanor’s not-so-foul mouth. Holy forking shirtballs this show is great, and I will miss it when it rounds out its fourth and final season.
After Tina Fey got her own TV show (which would definitely have made my list but 30 Rock took place mostly in the previous decade), it was only fitting that another iconic SNL cast member, Amy Poehler, get her due as well. After a rocky season one, the show really found its groove after casting Adam Scott and Rob Lowe to round out the cast of fat, funny Chris Pratt (I loved him even in his Everwood days, the real ones know), over-the-top Aziz Ansari, dark, twisted Aubrey Plaza, push-over Rashida Jones and friendly but stern Nick Offerman. I miss Poehler and crew on my screen.
9. Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
This show is my stand in for all great CW-esque dramas. The GOATs One Tree Hill, The OC, Gossip Girl and Grey’s Anatomy all had their peaks in the 2000s and therefore cannot qualify for this list (90210 was from ‘08-’13 so it could technically qualify but the first two seasons in the 2000’s were way better than those in the 2010’s and Vampire Diaries had a longer, better run in my opinion). I’ve had this debate many times with people and I think I feel pretty comfortable stating that this was the hottest cast of all time. Every single character was insanely attractive… the only show that might rival it is Riverdale. But I think I’d still take The Salvatore Brothers over Jughead & Archie. The switch from Stefan to Damon in season 3 was iconic and the rest of the truly ridiculous and dramatic plotlines, with the introduction of the originals (Klaus and Caroline forever) just kept you guessing. This show is also extremely rewatchable. Let us not underestimate the power of an iconic teen drama.
8. Vanderpump Rules (2013-Present)
I’ve talked about this show before but I can’t understate how entertaining and addicting this show is. I wanted to put KUWTK on this list (it made the honorable mentions) but there’s just a difference in the drama. You watch an episode of KUWTK and you get a very curated, months later response to a controversy that happened months ago; don’t get me wrong obviously I love the show and getting that context but it’s not the same as getting a blow up episode of Pump Rules with Stassi calling Kristin a dirty fucking whore and slapping her across the face. There’s nothing like watching Vanderpump and seeing Jax be completely incredulous that someone would call him out for lying for the 100th time… the man is a sociopath and it’s a true joy to watch him continuously act out. I’ll never tire of Sandoval crying, Ariana hating everyone, Scheana being a social climber, Katie yelling at Schwartz for being immature and Stassi and Kristin guzzling wine and screaming at each other. Watching these horrible people test their friendships is so fun and it’s definitely made it to one of my favorite shows of the decade.
7. Succession (2018-Present)
I feel like this show could be higher on the list but it only just finished its second season and I don’t want to jump the recency bias gun. We at OFD clearly love this show as we covered every episode of season two, which honestly was a masterful season of TV. The ability to evoke such disdain and disgust for people one minute and then turn around the next and make us feel compassion for them is very rare in television. Tom and Cousin Greg’s antics give a necessary lightness to Kendall and Logan’s intensity while Roman and Shiv’s vulgar language is often both funny and dark. This is an elite show and I can’t wait to see where they take it.
6. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-Present)
There are only a few people on earth as adept with the English language as Aaron Sorkin and Amy Sherman-Palladino. The two are famous for having insanely long scripts but having shows / movies that span the same time as normal television, and it’s easy to tell when you watch their shows (hi Gilmore Girls and The West Wing). This is Sherman-Palladino’s second show, centers around Midge Maisel, a New York Jew who just wants to make it in stand-up comedy in the 50s… a decidedly male profession. The humor is vulgar (not uncommon on this list rounded out by Succession, Fleabag, and Veep… sorry mom) and the stereotypes are spot on if you can appreciate them. People said season two wasn’t as good as season one but I disagree. I think both seasons were hilarious… particular the episodes in the Catskills. When Midge ditches Suzie and Suzie calls Midge from the payphone describing all the insane activities she had to go to in order to find her, I laughed so hard on the plane I started crying and the woman next to me asked me if I was okay. As a Jewish woman who loves comedy, it’s difficult not to adore shows you can relate to that heartily, especially when so many themes still exist today. You have to love Midge sticking it to Joel and her parents and following through with what she believed in, knowing that she was better than him.
5. Black Mirror (2011-Present)
Has any show ever been so disturbing yet so captivating? It’s difficult to describe how emotionally affected I am after watching Black Mirror. The episodes somehow hit you at your emotional core while giving really insightful, if not frightening, commentary about society and the future we’re facing as technology slowly spirals out of control, even if in ways that we can’t always obviously see. “Be Right Back” (Season 2, Episode 1) is likely in my top 3 favorite episodes of the decade. Never has an episode of TV made me cry so hard – mixing feelings of confusion about social media with the painful unrelenting feelings of loss and love is just about as powerful an episode as I can imagine. This show is one of a kind, ushering in an age of limited and anthology series that have continued to after the success of this show. I think few shows can describe the decade better than Black Mirror.
4. Fleabag (2016-2019)
Season 2 is probably a perfect season of television and I’m thrilled that Phoebe Waller-Bridge got the recognition she deserved for writing, starring, producing, and directing this entire show. Hot Priest was a stroke of genius on her part, teaching Fleabag to try to understand herself and the people around her more and take a chance on something real instead of just having sex with anyone off the street to try to subside her guilt for even 20 minutes. One of my favorite parts of the show was her breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience, even with just a look, which is why having the Hot Priest call her out for “disappearing” whenever she would go to break the fourth wall was so brilliant. It was the purest signal that he could really see her and wasn’t going to stand for her defensive bullshit. The relationship coming to an end in the way it did was so heartbreaking. I was crying but also laughing because of the way she walked away from us, looking back as if to say, well we had a good run and it was fun and we learned a lot but nothing lasts forever so it’s important to put it all out there while you can. At least that’s how I interpreted it. I’ve already rewatched this show three times and I think Waller-Bridges’ lasting impact and talented voice will be seen across many platforms in the future.
3. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
I’m so happy this show BARELY makes it into the 2010s top list, and if anything I think it’s pushed over the edge because its impact has certainly permeated throughout the rest of the 2010s through Better Call Saul and El Camino. Vince Gilligan, channeling Damon Lindelof, never overlooked a single detail in this show. I remember when it ended and all of the easter eggs he spread throughout the show were going around; my favorite was the diagram of how every character’s outfits got darker or brighter with how horrible or not they were being, so for example Walter White started out wearing beige and colors off-white and by the end only wore black. Many creators will say that landing the end of TV shows is almost impossible but Breaking Bad along with a few other shows (Veep and Fleabag for two) are in rarefied air in landing the plane almost flawlessly. Walter White’s transformation from average Joe to almost the embodiment of evil is truly one of the most incredible character evolutions of all time; if you rewatch the show I don’t even think it happens as slowly as people think… he let Jane choke on her own vomit in season 2!!! My favorite character was obviously Jesse Pinkman and I thank this show for introducing the world to Aaron Paul (cannot wait for him to show up in Westworld). The peripheral characters also made the show as important whether is was Gus Fring or Todd Alquist, along with starring turns by Saul or Mike and the rest of White’s family. “Ozymandias” is probably one of the best episodes ever made and I miss diving as deep into television episodes as we did for Breaking Bad.
2. Veep (2012-2019)
The thing I love about comedies is that they often have a lot to say about society, since comedy is such a cultural thing, digestible and usually enjoyable. No show has accomplished this better than Veep. There is perhaps no actress more iconic in TV than Julia Louis Dreyfus, having gone from Elaine on Seinfeld to Christine on The New Adventures of Old Christine to Selena Meyer on Veep. I don’t think someone funnier exists than JLD and the creation of Selena Meyer and her band of idiots was masterful. It’s incredible how much people love these characters because there are few more despicable people depicted on TV. I feel like using the word narcissistic just doesn’t cut it for any of these characters because they’re so much worse than simply narcissistic. They’re indelibly cruel and so vulgar that only HBO would allow about 80% of the content. Meyer and her staff show staggering incompetence and selfishness, and a political commentary for the ages was born. The show started with Obama’s second term and ran through the Trump era; JLD has talked about how difficult it was to steer the show in the correct direction, careful to ensure they were giving off the right message about the political landscape. I’ve never laughed harder in my life than I have been watching this show; Jonah Ryan will probably be one of the most outrageous characters ever on TV; Dan follows in a close second with the rest of the almost perfect cast of Amy, Ben, Mike, Ken, Gary, and even poor Catherine, close behind them. Veep has won 17 Emmys with countless more nominations. The cultural impact of JLD’s comedy genius is everlasting and after a perfect finale, this will go down as one of the best comedies of all time.
1. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
If people didn’t put this in the top shows of the decade because of the failure of the last season, then I hate those people. One day I’ll write a defense of season 8… no it wasn’t perfect but I think it was still good enough (hello if George can’t do it, how did we think D&D were going to do it to satisfy a massive fanbase). Now that that’s out of the way… we can talk about how Game of Thrones changed TV for the better forever. The show many are calling the last monoculture show, in light of all the niche TV shows out there now, was beyond special. There aren’t many shows that you can assume 95% of people you encounter are watching; being able to share something like that with people you both love and complete strangers that you come to know through the show is special and should not be degraded. It’s hard to remember a world in which we didn’t know Ned Stark, the supposed hero of the story, would die in season one. Killing off the main character in episode 9 was literally unheard of before Thrones did so. And then… the Red Wedding truly changed the landscape of TV forever. Bringing the “Rains of Castamere” to life is something I’ll never forget; from the second we hear those Lannister chords to the horrible moment Catelyn is begging for her son Robb’s life after he’s already witnessed his pregnant wife be brutally murdered… it’s tragic. Then we get episodes like “The Lion and the Rose” and “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter”, I mean the list goes on and on. Fantasy stories are some of the most powerful out there because they give people a reason to dream and to theorize and bond in a way that often, normal stories don’t. They’re called “epics” for a reason. Harry Potter and Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are probably the four stories that have touched the most people in this world, and any time something that powerful comes to an end, it’s impactful. These stories will never truly be over because people will never stop returning to them to dive back into a world and spend time with characters they’ve grown to truly love. I’m thankful I got to spend an entire decade living inside Game of Thrones with the rest of the world and sharing that experience will be something I miss more than anything.
Some general observations about my list:
- There are 5 dramas (Game of Thrones, Succession, Breaking Bad, Black Mirror, Vampire Diaries); 1 Reality show (Vanderpump Rules) and 7 comedies (Fleabag, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, Schitt’s Creek, Broad City, Veep) — although Maisel could technically go under drama since it’s not 30min or less
- Represented Networks:
- 3x HBO (Game of Thrones, Veep, Succession)
- 2x Amazon Prime (Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
- 2x NBC (Parks and Recreation, The Good Place)
- 1x AMC (Breaking Bad)
- 1x Netflix (Black Mirror)
- 1x Pop (Schitt’s Creek)
- 1x Comedy Central (Broad City)
- 1x Bravo (Vanderpump Rules)
- 1x CW (Vampire Diaries)
- Emmy’s
- Game of Thrones has 58 wins
- Veep has 17 wins
- Breaking Bad has 16 wins
- Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has 16 wins
- Black Mirror has 8 wins
- Fleabag has 6 wins
- Broad City has 1 win
- Parks and Recreation has 16 nominations
- The Good Place has 6 nominations
- Schitt’s Creek has 4 nominations
- Vampire Diaries has 0 nominations
- Vanderpump Rules has 0 nominations
Honorable Mentions… (in no particular order)
- Euphoria (2019-Present)
- Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007-Present)
- New Girl (2011-2018)
- Big Little Lies (2017-2019)
- Watchmen (2019)
- Russian Doll (2019-Present)
- Westworld (2016-Present)
- Silicon Valley (2014-2019)
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-Present)
- Orange is the New Black (2013-2019)
- Billions (2016-Present)
- End of the Fucking World (2017-2019)
- The Morning Show (2019-Present)
- Dickinson (2019-Present)
- The Mandalorian (2019-Present)
Here’s to another decade of awesome TV! I can’t wait to continue to experience more stories.
