Here is the definitive list of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century
[Oct 20, 2021: Wenlei Ma]
Eugene Levy and Rizwan Manji from Schitt's Creek which ranked the 41st best TV Show in the 21st Century according to BBC Culture critics. Is your favorite show on the list? (CREDIT: Netflix)
We’ve all been told that this is the era of peak TV.
Since the turn of the century, an explosion of streaming services and before that, the wide availability of DVD boxsets, means we’re all discovering more TV shows than ever.
No longer tethered to a TV programmer’s whims, driven by the need to sell as many eyeballs as possible at any given timeslot to advertisers, the diversity in business models has led to a diversity in storytelling.
TV shows that wouldn’t have been greenlit under a commercial model are now being given multi-season orders, and the people that’s benefiting is the audience, who can get behind a cultural phenomenon or indulge in something niche that speaks to them.
In the almost 22 years of this century, there have been some absolute cracker TV series, and the BBC Culture site has put together a list of the top 100, as selected by 206 critics*, academics and industry folks from 43 countries.
Universally beloved crime drama The Wire came out on top, followed by Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s biting comedy Fleabag came in fourth while fantasy epic Game of Thrones was fifth.
Most of the series were either American or British while Danish series Borgen, Germany’s Dark and the French Call My Agent! made their way onto the list.
Editors Note: Schitt's Creek which also stars Rizwan Manji (The Brighter Side of News Podcast host) ranked 41st on the list.
There are also a handful of animated shows, including the 11th-placed existential dramedy Bojack Horseman, Rick & Morty and Steven Universe, while two versions of The Office – both the UK and US iterations – made it in.
Among the non-scripted series are RuPaul’s Drag Race and David Attenborough’s Planet Earth.
Here are the top 100 picks.
Top 100 TV shows of the 21st century:
1. The Wire
2. Mad Men
3. Breaking Bad
4. Fleabag
5. Game of Thrones
6. I May Destroy You
7. The Leftovers
8. The Americans
9. The Office (UK)
10. Succession
11. BoJack Horseman
12. Six Feet Under
13. Twin Peaks: The Return
14. Atlanta
15. Chernobyl
16. The Crown
17. 30 Rock
18. Deadwood
19. Lost
20. The Thick of It
21. Curb Your Enthusiasm
22. Black Mirror
23. Better Call Saul
24. Veep
25. Sherlock
Top 100 TV shows of the 21st century:
26. Watchmen
27. Line of Duty
28. Friday Night Lights
29. Parks and Recreation
30. Girls
31. True Detective
32. Arrested Development
33. The Good Wife
34. The Bridge
35. Fargo
36. Downton Abbey
36. Band of Brothers
38. The Handmaid’s Tale
39. The Office (US)
40. Borgen
41. Schitt’s Creek
42. Peep Show
43. Money Heist
44. Community
45. The Good Fight
46. Homeland
47. Grey’s Anatomy
48. Inside No 9
49. The Bureau
50. Halt and Catch Fire
Top 100 TV shows of the 21st century:
51. Small Axe
52. This is England 86, 88 and 90
53. Call My Agent!
54. Happy Valley
55. The Shield
56. The Big Bang Theory
57. The Young Pope
58. Dark
59. The Underground Railroad
60. House of Cards
61. Avatar: The Last Airbender
62. The Good Place
62. Pose
64. Detectorists
65. Orange is the New Black
66. Mare of Easttown
67. RuPaul’s Drag Race
68. Stranger Things
69. 24
70. Battlestar Galactica
71. Enlightened
72. Gilmore Girls
73. Planet Earth
74. Utopia (UK)
75. Babylon Berlin
Top 100 TV shows of the 21st century:
76. Rick and Morty
77. American Crime Story
78. The Killing (Denmark)
79. Mindhunter
80. House
81. OJ: Made in America
82. Big Little Lies
83. Insecure
84. Normal People
84. Narcos
86. How I Met Your Mother
87. The Comeback
88. The OA
89. Dexter
90. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
91. Westworld
92. Show Me a Hero
93. Treme
94. Louie
95. Luther
96. Catastrophe
97. Hannibal
98. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
99. Steven Universe
100. The Queen’s Gambit
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