Selecting the Top Ten TV Shows of the decade was quite a bit easier than the films. I suppose a major reason for that is because the best shows usually last, so a lot of the lesser shows disappear, making the list of real contenders much smaller than when it comes to film. However, there was still the most shows ever produced in any decade by a LOT thanks to the rise of original streaming content, meaning there still had to be some metric for selection. The metric I chose is the shows that really mattered in some way, either to the medium of TV or to the culture. Here we go!
10. Portlandia
Portlandia reinvigorated the sketch comedy genre at the start of the decade and paved the way for several other singular sketch shows throughout the decade. It also foretold the current backlash against a segment of white liberal America with its razor sharp skewering of hipster trends against the perfect backdrop of hipster haven Portland. The pair of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein have a quirky chemistry that charms and the variety of characters they can transform themselves into is astonishing. The main sketch of the first episode is possibly my funniest TV moment of the decade.
9. The 100
The 100, like several shows this decade, explores what it takes to survive, and asks how far would you go to survive. Big questions about morality, purpose, and love run throughout the entire series and are taken seriously. However, contrary to a show with similar themes like The Walking Dead, The 100 is fun and keeps its momentum up through a consistent storytelling pace that never lags. More importantly, hope often feels more justified and attainable in this world, giving the continued obstacles and horrible choices more weight and complicating their morality. It is becoming more and more reflective of the world we live in now.
8. Rectify
Rectify is a show hardly anyone has seen, but it is probably the most finely crafted show of the decade. It changed my view of what a TV show could aspire to be artistically and thematically. Film is a medium that has always invited a lot of experimentation and singular artistic visions that TV has not because of the need to get ratings and draw ad dollars to stay on air. That has changed this decade in the era of streaming, but no show has reached a higher artistic bar than Rectify. Sadly, that means it is very niche and may not appeal to a wide audience. But, that also means it has a lyricism and depth about the burden of humanity that few other shows could ever match.
7. Silicon Valley
Big Tech has taken over the world, controlling the flow of information around the globe, for good and for evil. Silicon Valley was a necessary balancing force to take down the industry with biting satire. At times it may have been messy, but it always maintained a sharp focus on the absurdity and vanity of a group of people that continually create disastrous unintended consequences from their work in pursuit of intellectual validation and garish displays of wealth. This show is proof that no matter how brilliant you are, you’re also just a dumb human.
6. Homeland
Homeland may be the most controversial selection on my list, but it was important in a number of ways. First, it offered up a strong and flawed female lead played brilliantly by Claire Danes, and actress whose film and tv output had never quite matched her talent. before this show. Second, it showed a messy but mostly realistic portrait of dealing with mental illness and trauma in a job that is constantly triggering, but never judged it. Finally, it reflected just how complex and impossible modern national security is at a time when the public’s awareness of such things was being blown open by the likes of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Many viewers gave up on this show after only a few seasons, but the first season still stands as one of the most tense, intriguing, and well-crafted seasons of TV this decade.
5. Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation was the most relentlessly optimistic and hopeful sitcom in a decade full of antiheroes and pessimism. Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope is one of the best female role models in television history, always working for the betterment of her community and uplifting others even when no one appreciates her work. It also has a terrific ensemble and happens to just be really damn funny!
4. Game Of Thrones
Game Of Thrones proved that appointment viewing television can still be a thing in the 2010s. I caught up on the entire series before the final season, but I know it was a show people loved to talk about every Monday throughout its run, a rare feat for TV these days, and I felt left out the cultural conversation by not watching it in real time. It also showed that serialized storytelling has caught up to and maybe even surpassed the modern blockbuster movie when it comes to production quality, making TV now the perfect medium for epic stories such as this and paving the way for the upcoming Lord of the Rings show and other fantasy epics.
3. Orange Is The New Black
Orange Is The New Black is the show that changed everything. Original content for streaming platforms was totally unproven and seemed very niche when OITNB premiered on Netflix back in 2013. It was new, it was daring, it was complex, and it was utterly compelling. It showed the kind of risky and rewarding stories that were possible in a world of original streaming content. Its success helped Netflix grow and become the original content behemoth it is today. It was also beautiful to see a show full of complicated female characters that would not traditionally be explored in a network or even cable TV show. For my money, this is still the best show made by a streaming platform to this day.
2. Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is the show that more or less guaranteed the 2010s would be the Age of The Antihero in popular entertainment. Walter White is the most iconic TV character of the decade, bar none. This show also comes the closest to the artistic achievement of Rectify, but with a much more engaging, exciting, and mainstream storyline to hook viewers. Breaking Bad is definitely one of those sea change shows in television history where you can classify things as before Breaking Bad and after Breaking Bad. It is incredible from beginning to end.
1. BoJack Horseman
Yes, the best TV show of the decade is a cartoon about an alcoholic former celebrity horse-man, and for me, it wasn’t even a close call. The first season felt a bit uneven to many viewers because no one knew yet what the show was to become. However, the penultimate episode of that first season had one of the most devastating and human moments of the decade, and that was just the first of many achingly beautiful moments to come in later seasons. There has never been an animated series that captures the pain of being human better than BoJack, all while being irreverent, visually inventive, and hilarious. There are many standout episodes that are formally experimental, such as the silent undersea episode ‘Fish Out Of Water’. It also takes a deep, hard look at our celebrity culture, depression, addiction, childhood trauma, recovery, sexual abuse, and much more. BoJack Horseman has become quite possibly my favorite show not just of the decade, but of all time. If you've never watched it before, it is highly bingeable, and you must watch to at least episode 11 of season 1 before you can properly judge it. If you find being human a struggle, you will love this show.