I've had this idea for a while. Some might recall we had a TV tournament ages ago and I've wanted to do a new version of something like that, but not all-time. Instead, just focusing on the 21st century. I'm sure most of you will agree that we arguably entered a whole new era of television with The Sopranos in 1999. I dunno if we'll do a tournament, but why not have folks just post their lists and debate? Everyone likes lists, right?
It's been 18 years now of "peak TV" and it's fun looking back. So that's what I've been doing, just going and compiling lists of shows. I've selected my personal favorites, not necessarily "the best", whatever that means. I've got my Top 5 for the first ten years and my Top 10 for the last 8. I'm hoping we can get some discussion going and people posting their own lists.
2000
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
- Gilmore Girls (CW)
- Coupling (BBC)
- Queer as Folk (Showtime)
- Malcolm in the Middle (Fox)
2001
- Six Feet Under (HBO)
- 24 (Fox)
- The Office (BBC)
- Undeclared (Fox)
- Star Trek: Enterprise (UPN)
2002
- The Wire (HBO)
- The Shield (FX)
- Firefly (Fox)
- MI-5 (BBC)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (CN)
2003
- Arrested Development (Fox/Netflix)
- Nip/Tuck (FX)
- Dead Like Me (Showtime)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon)
- Carnivàle (HBO)
2004
- Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
- Lost (ABC)
- The L Word (Showtime)
- The Worst Week of My Life (BBC)
- Deadwood (HBO)
2005
- Prison Break (Fox)
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
- The Office (NBC)
- Sleeper Cell (Showtime)
- Weeds (Showtime)
2006
- Dexter (Showtime)
- Jericho (CBS)
- Heroes (NBC)
- Friday Night Lights (NBC/101)
- Life on Mars (BBC)
2007
- Mad Men (AMC)
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
- Californication (Showtime)
- Meadowlands (Showtime)
- Little Mosque on the Prairie (CBC)
2008
- Breaking Bad (AMC)
- In Treatment (HBO)
- True Blood (HBO)
- The Life & Times of Tim (HBO)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (CN/Netflix/Disney+)
2009
- Parks and Recreation (NBC)
- Archer (FX/FXX)
- The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC)
- Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
- United States of Tara (Showtime)
2010
- Parenthood (NBC)
- Sherlock (BBC)
- The Walking Dead (AMC)
- Downton Abbey (ITV)
- The Big C (Showtime)
- Louie (FX)
- Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
- Adventure Time (CN)
- Luther (BBC)
- Strike Back (Sky/Cinemax)
2011
- The Killing (AMC/Netflix)
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
- Homeland (Showtime)
- Black Mirror (C4/Netflix)
- Portlandia (IFC)
- American Horror Story (FX)
- Bob's Burgers (Fox)
- Episodes (Showtime)
- Suburgatory (ABC)
- Up All Night (NBC)
2012
- Veep (HBO)
- The Newsroom (HBO)
- The Mindy Project (Fox/Hulu)
- Arrow (CW)
- Girls (HBO)
- Longmire (A&E/Netflix)
- Scandal (ABC)
- Bomb Girls (Global)
- Rita (Netflix)
- A Young Doctor's Notebook (Sky)
2013
- The Americans (FX)
- The Fosters (Freeform)
- Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
- Bates Motel (A&E)
- Hannibal (NBC)
- The Goldbergs (ABC)
- Rectify (Sundance)
- Attack on Titan (CN)
- House of Cards (Netflix)
- Wentworth (SoHo/Showcase)
2014
- BoJack Horseman (Netflix)
- Fargo (FX)
- Transparent (Amazon)
- How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
- Jane the Virgin (CW)
- Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)
- You're the Worst (FX/FXX)
- The Knick (Cinemax)
- The Flash (CW)
- Black-ish (ABC)
2015
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
- Supergirl (CBS/CW)
- Daredevil (Netflix)
- Younger (TV Land/Paramount)
- Jessica Jones (Netflix)
- Master of None (Netflix)
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW)
- Mr. Robot (USA)
- Sense8 (Netflix)
- Better Call Saul (AMC)
2016
- Stranger Things (Netflix)
- You Me Her (Audience)
- Love (Netflix)
- Westworld (HBO)
- This Is Us (NBC)
- Atlanta (FX)
- Kim's Convenience (CBC)
- The Crown (Netflix)
- Fuller House (Netflix)
- Riverdale (CW)
2017
- GLOW (Netflix)
- One Day at a Time (Netflix)
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
- The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu)
- Santa Clarita Diet (Netfix)
- Legion (FX)
- Anne with an E (CBC/Netflix)
- Babylon Berlin (Sky/Netflix)
- The Punisher (Netflix)
- Mr. Mercedes (Audience)
2018
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)
- Killing Eve (BBC America)
- Pose (FX)
- Hilda (Netflix)
- The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)
- Titans (DC Universe)
- Black Lightning (CW)
- Alexa & Katie (Netflix)
- Cloak & Dagger (Freeform)
- Barry (HBO)