EDITOR’S NOTE: Mad Men and Breaking Bad started in the previous decade but would be near the top of the list had they been included, with Breaking Bad being at the very top. This list is for shows that began no earlier than 2010.
#20: Killing Eve
This female-driven thriller may be BBC America’s best show to date with an interesting twist on the spy-on-spy genre. Sandra Oh’s Golden Globe win for Best Actress in a Television Series was well deserved, as the show’s writers utilize her talents in a career-defining role. However, it’s Jodie Comer, who plays an assassin named Villanelle, that propels the show to success. Seductive and surprising, Oh and Comer’s chemistry drives the twists and turns that makes this show exciting and unpredictable. “Killing Eve” is an intentional, careful mix of television genres, with a varied audience to prove its’ success into the next decade. – Matt Miller
#19: Shameless
We were first introduced to the Gallaghers on Showtime in 2011. To say they are the most dysfunctional family on television is an understatement, producing some of the most unthinkable and shameless acts ever on the screen. Each character is incredibly unique, allowing to follow the family together and individually to create multiple story lines that are often exciting and emotional. William H. Macy’s comedic ability is impressive, and Emmy Rossum’s performance is crucial to the show’s momentum. The never-ending, shocking moments, delivered by this diverse cast, is the reason for ten seasons of success for “Shameless.” – MM
#18: British Baking Show
I love reality competitions. Big Brother? On it. Survivor? On it. Amazing Race? On it. Drag Race? On it. The backstabbing. The name calling. The petty drama. I enjoy every single minute of it. Do not get me wrong. There is a part of me that feels bad that I derive such pleasure from watching people be awful to each other for a cash prize. An aftertaste exists at the end of many seasons of reality competitions (Survivor especially) where you realize that a person who just did awful things just won more money than I might make in the rest of my working life. “British Baking Show” is the antidote to that. The competition is indeed rigorous, but everything is just so… nice. When the clock is running low on competitors, other contestants who have finished will help each other out. There are real tears and words of encouragement for contestants who have failed a challenge or been eliminated. The end of each season includes an epilogue which details the friendships that have been made on show continuing into the world outside the tent. My favorite behind the scenes fact is that the hosts are known for encircling a contestant who is having tough times emotionally to shield them from cameras and loudly swearing or saying the names of companies as to render the footage unusable for television.
Apart from that, I just enjoy baking, and the show displays triumphs that I would be hard pressed to ever imagine pulling off myself. I then remember that part of the screening process for the show is that all the bakers have to be amateurs, and I get that tiny glimmer that maybe I could make that next leap forward in baking if I put the time into it. – Chad Lewis
#17: The Deuce
#16: Game of Thrones
#15: Westworld
I am old enough to remember the original 1973 movie with Yul Brynner as “The Gunslinger.” Like much of 1970s sci-fi, you get to see the beginnings of some of today’s concerns with technology. In this case, what happens when AI goes rogue? Also, like much of 1970s sci-fi, the effects, script choices and design aesthetics make everything feel a little goofy and lessens the impact. I was excited to see the news when HBO announced that they were putting the full prestige show treatment on the “Westworld” idea. Continuing what they started in the 00s, HBO has changed the game for what you can do with television. They are willing to put the money and stars into ideas that would never fly on major network television. “Westworld” certainly benefits from this. It is a dense, complicated and sometimes frustrating show in how it lets its story be told. Even seeing episodes from the beginning and paying full attention, you feel like you need to find a friend or online community with which you need to discuss just what in the h*ll is happening with the show. If this sounds like your thing, “Westworld” is certainly worth the work you have to put in. The third season which promises to expand the world even further will begin in a little less than two months, so you have time to catch up. – CL
#14: Justified
“Justified” stars the ever charming cowboy-esque U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, who is assigned to his childhood home of Lexington, Kentucky (Harlan County). While the show was filmed in California, “Justified” nails all things Appalachian throughout the series including cinematography and southern drawl accents. Given’s frenemy is played by Walter Goggins as the smooth-talking Harlan Co. villain. Both characters are charming as ever and match wits week end and week out with Raylan usually coming out on top. Both actors solidified themselves as stars in “Justified” and did a tremendous honor to Elmore Leonard’s short story “Fire in the Hole.” “Justified” and Givens in particular, acts as 19th century throwback “lawman” living in modern times, even acting like a modern-day “Dukes of Hazard” at times. For these reasons, “Justified” was one of the most slept on shows of the past decade. – John Flannagan
#13: Mindhunter
#12: Succession
HBO has found a new powerhouse drama with “Succession,” a beautifully constructed story of dysfunction and struggle in a world corrupted by fortune and fame. This intelligent, dialogue-driven drama thrives due to a carefully crafted and intriguing cast that may be one of the best ensembles on television. It’s truly the intensity created in the interactions of this cast that shine, a unique form of suspense and thrills that is rarely seen in this form of drama. Accompanied by perfectly placed humor and a fantastic score, the show’s intensity and unpredictability have us excited for what’s next. – MM
#11: Black Mirror
One of the most daring and advanced shows of the decade is “Black Mirror,” a collection of independent episodes that use technology and mankind’s instincts to create intricate stories of human discovery and struggle in a world filled with uncertainty. It’s incredibly realistic, pushing the imagination to understand, speculate and relate at all times. Each episode is as captivating as the last, yet entirely different, with different writers, directors and actors that are vastly unique. These thrilling rides of anxiety-inducing “what-ifs” often spark self-reflection that force you to think about what the world could become, and who you would be in it. No other show does this better than Black Mirror. – MM
#10: Tales from the Tour Bus
Mike Judge has accomplished some pretty innovative things in the medium of television. From “Beavis and Butt-Head” to “King of the Hill” to “Silicon Valley,” he’s found a way to stay relevant over the span of nearly three decades. That alone is high praise, but what’s better is that his newest project might be his best yet. “Tales from the Tour Bus” is a music lover’s dream. The show follows the lore of yesteryear from some of music’s biggest names, deciphering which wild tour stories might be fabrications by getting firsthand takes from people who were there in the moments in which they took place.
The show is animated, which lends a comedic value to scenes that otherwise would be pretty rotten and allows for more interesting and fantastical recreations. The first season focused on the outlaw country movement and featured Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings and Blaze Foley to name a few. The second season went with the funk and highlighted George Clinton, James Brown and Bootsy Collins, Morris Day and the Time and Rick James, among others. The show separates fact from fiction in many cases, but most of the time the real stories are crazier than the folklore. It’s a must-watch for fans of either genre of music or anyone fascinated by road culture. – RO
#9: Fleabag
True confession time. As of one month ago, I had seen zero episodes of Fleabag. I knew about it even from the first season, I am just awful at watching television for the most part. After seeing it mentioned again and again and again in the weeks leading up to the Golden Globes, I finally decided that I needed to make an effort to watch it. As part of being terrible at television, I tend to take a long time to watch most everything aside from shows that I am completely in love with. “Fleabag” is one of the few shows that I can ever remember purposefully pacing myself because a very large part of me wanted to blow through all twelve episodes in a single sitting. Doing that would be a disservice to the world that Phoebe Waller-Bridge has created. The show carries weight with it. One needs time to let the show breathe in order to fully appreciate it. Waller-Bridge has penned scenes and lines that would be world class in even the most mediocre cast’s hands. “Fleabag’s” cast is consistently amazing. They take Waller-Bridges’ script and make it real. Life will be hard to us at times, and every character in the show gets those times put into full view. How you feel about them in their hard times is up to you. That is except for Martin. Everyone should hate Martin. – CL
#8: True Detective
After nearly 40 months off, True Detective came back with a third season with several noticeable nods to the show’s brilliant first season. There are a lot of parallels between the show’s best seasons and the first of these is a welcome one: There is a lot of time in the car.
Some of the best conversations from season one took place between Matthew McConaughey’s Ruston Cohle and Woody Harrelson’s Marty Hart from the lens of a rear view mirror. The two got to know each other in this way, mostly amidst arguments, but the audience also got to dive in to what made each character tick via these conversations in the squad car. The second easily-noticeable similarity is the roles of the two cops in charge.
In season three, Mahershala Ali’s character (Hays) is Rust in many ways, while Stephen Dorff’s character is Marty.
The similarities between Cohle and Hays are many, but the most important familiarity is that of their demeanor.
They are two men who wonder why they get out of bed in the morning and are holding on simply because it’s something to do. They are defeated but they want to crack the case to make up for all the dirt they did in the name of a previous war.
There’s more, too, in the way of homage to season one.
There are dolls. There are costumes. And there are ritualistic and intertwined crimes that seem too highbrow and intricate for these sleepy, small towns. Then there’s the potential for these crimes to be connected to politicians and other people of general high esteem.
Filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories) does southern gothic and he does it very well. When he strays from that narrative, his stories aren’t as complete. The same could be said for TD’s Nic Pizzolatto. The Louisiana native has a seemingly effortless knack for displaying southern intricacies. He presents stories teeming with all the charms and faults of the region and presents them in a way where even the most flawed characters have redeeming qualities. Some folks say that the first season of True Detective was the finest season in television history. Pizzolatto knows these rural angles, much like Nichols, so just as one of the characters in their grassy towns might say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Season two of True Detective was a letdown for fans of the inaugural show. By itself, it’s fine, but it’s hard to follow a legend. Pizzolatto had his whole life to conjure The Yellow King, Carcosa and the relationship between Marty and Rust, but was forced to crank out the second season within a years time. When Pizzolatto got back to what he knows, he shined again. Had season two been better, this show could have been at the top of this list. – RO
#7: Ozark
#6: Boardwalk Empire
Terrance Winter dropped “Boardwalk Empire” on the masses in the fall of 2010 with directorial help from period piece master Martin Scorsese. Boardwalk tells the story of prohibition era Atlantic City as run by Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, based on the historical Enoch Johnson, who ran AC with an iron fist as a larger than life political figure. Through the course of the roaring twenties, Thompson rubs elbows with everyone from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Dormandy to Arnold Rothestein and Al Capone.
Stephen Graham plays the later character flawlessly, giving the viewers a less jovial look at the young crime boss. The casting is impeccable as Stephen Graham (Capone), Michael Stuhlbarg (Arnold Rothestein) and Vincent Piazza (Lucky Luciano) are introduced to a wide audience and each have gone on to star in several movies and dramas since “Boardwalk Empire” ended in 2014. The real essence of “Boardwalk Empire” is trying to decide who’s the bigger crook, the NYC gangsters or Nucky Thompson. – JF
#5: Fargo
Written by Noah Hawley and produced by the infamous Cohen Brothers, who wrote and directed the film Fargo in 1996, the TV series “Fargo” gains the honor of being the darkest comedy on television. Each season is set in a different era with mostly new characters. The first season stars Billy Bob Thornton, who passes through town creating mischief and malice in his wake. Season two stars Kristen Dunst and Ed Lumquist, who cover up a hit and run accident that involves the son of a notorious gangster. Season three stars Ewan McGregor, who plays two roles as the Stussy Brothers which brilliantly shows McGregor’s range playing the classic duality of good/bad brother. Season four was recently green lit and stars Chris Rock and will debut in April of 2020. – JF
#4: Stranger Things
Creators Matt & Ross Duffer used nostalgia galore to create this suspenseful sci-fi thriller that feels equal parts Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. Set in rural Indiana in the mid 80s, “Stranger Things” tells the story of a group tweens battling everything from demogorgons, Russians and their family (who take a while to convince of the happenings in Hawkins, IN). Audiences get sucked into the 80’s nostalgia of music, malls, and new Coke while having their world turned upside down, proving that those oh so simpler times maybe weren’t that simple at all. – JF
#3: Better Call Saul
As a prequel to “Breaking Bad,” a show that many consider the finest television show of all time, “Better Call Saul” could easily have been a disappointment. But by focusing on “Breaking Bad’s” most interesting character, Jimmie McGill (aka Saul Goodman), and presenting a surprising backstory that shows what made Goodman such a skeezer and his desire to be good in the beginning, the show hit its mark in every episode. “Breaking Bad’s” Mike is also involved, played brilliantly by Jonathan Banks, and together these two helped to present one of the best spinoffs of all time. – RO
#2: The Leftovers
Generally, the thought of best of lists give me the dry heaves. I have an incredibly difficult time trying to rank anything under the umbrella of creative expression. That being said, “The Leftovers” is my favorite show ever, and it is not even particularly close. I could easily write a thousand page essay about it. If I have spoken to you about television for any length of time, I have probably tried to talk you into watching it. I cannot think of any show that has occupied my mind more than “The Leftovers,” and even now staring at a computer screen, I find it impossible to fully cover the show in words. The short version is that I am a person for whom grief has been a prominent theme throughout my life and nothing has ever made me feel more seen than parts of this show. Into less personal territory, I feel everything on the show hits. The script is excellent. The cast is great across the board. Max Richter’s score is so successful at creating mood and heightening the emotion of the story. As much criticism that Damon Lindelof got for “Lost,” he deserves so much credit for what this show is. The first season was bound to source material (Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name). The show was allowed more freedom in the second season where the world is expanded and a fair amount of chances are taken. After that, the show barely got a third and final season. Somehow, the show manages to take that hard left from setting up a world for an extended run to wrapping it up in three seasons without missing a beat. You watch and cannot help but think about all the story that might have been if the show ran longer, but you also leave it immensely satisfied at the story that was. Given the story of the show, that is oddly fitting. – CL
#1: Atlanta
The Donald Glover we know now is not the same one from the beginning of the decade. He has become a master of all the crafts he has undertaken, propelling him to massive success over the course of the last four years. With authentic and intricate storytelling delivered by one of TV’s best casts, “Atlanta” has staked its claim as essential viewing in the medium. Glover’s writing is impressive and his performance as Earn maintains the show’s fluidity. However, it’s Brian Tyree Henry (Paper Boi) and Lakeith Stanfield (Darius) that expand the depth of intricate character development in the show, all while providing hilarious, unforgettable moments. With both individual and collective character development comes intense moments of heartbreak, passion, struggle and consequence that make “Atlanta” a riveting, thought-provoking show about the lives of those just trying to figure it out and find a modicum of happiness in this weird world. Glover continues to expand his talents, refine his art and redefine what is possible, leaving you wanting more after each exposure to his creations. Every aspect of this show is near perfection and it only gets strong each season. And then there’s the “Teddy Perkins” episode. Check www.blanknews.com for a piece devoted to Glover, BLANK’s Human of the decade. – MM
