Best TV of the 21st Century?
Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 2:27PM by Nathaniel R
Mad Men, my personal vote for Best TV show of the 21st century
Have you seen the latest list that has tongues wagging? BBC polled TV critics to come up with a list of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st century. Usually 100 greatest lists are silly because the time frame is too long and there are more than 100 things that are great in a century (or more) but given the short time frame (2000-2021) this one is more reasonable to argue about. We only wish they had nixed reality tv (it's silly to have only one show - RuPaul's Drag Race -- representing an entire enormous genre of television; better to just ignore it than have a single token show) and that they would not have allowed series that have not yet wrapped up to qualify; final seasons ALWAYS effect how people judge a show, for better and worse. And they should!
You should read the whole list but here's are three pulled samples to discuss...
THEIR TOP 5
- The Wire (2002-2008)
- Mad Men (2007-2015)
- Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
- Fleabag (2016-2019)
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
It's true that I am not a fan of Game of Thrones (wildly uneven which should disqualify you from being so high up the list) or Breaking Bad (miserabilism porn) but saying they're superior (by far) to several dozen other contemporary classics like the more consistent quality of Friday Night Lights or the daring versatile ambition of Battlestar Galactica is mildly enraging. Your mileage may vary of course. It's also frustrating how male dominant the list is.
TOP 5 THAT ARE STILL ON (what if they get better or what if they jump the shark?)
10. Succession (2018-)
14. Atlanta (2016-)
16. The Crown (2016-)
21. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-)
22. Black Mirror (2011-)
FOUR THAT ARE WAYYYY TOO LOW
Some of the choices higher than these are so dumb in comparison - How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy??? -- that the list is probably not worth taking seriously at all.
70 Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)
79 Mindhunter (2017-2019)
84 Normal People (2020)
98 Crazy Ex Girlfriend (2015-2019)
BBC, Battlestar Galactica, List-Mania, Mad Men, TV, The Wire, streaming
Reader Comments (17)
I don't understand putting Black Mirror on this list.
Yes, the standout episodes are great, but what about the forgettable rest of them?
I have only seen 2 Big Little Lies 1 & 2 and RuPaul's Drag Race.
I thought this list was really underwhelming.
While I get limiting it to shows that started in 2000, it feels odd to see shows like Sex and the City, Buffy, and the West Wing missing. While they started in the 1990s, they feel so 2000s.
I agree with your take that Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. I didn't like them, found them somewhat inconsistent, and more than that, I think they embody some of the trends of prestige television that I don't really love.
I also think shows that tend toward camp are missing. While Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is there, but way too low, it's odd not to see something like Ugly Betty, Grosse Pointe, or Nip/Tuck on here. Consistency clearly didn't matter, so I'm surprised they didn't make the cut. BUt, this is a very male heavy list.
Glad to see Fleabag, The Good Wife, The Good Fight Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Battlestar, Gilmore Girls, and the Comeback on there. The Comeback, in particular, seems really low. It's just as good as Fleabag, and deserves a spot at the top for what it did, even if its first season is a bit more uneven.
I agree Joe - very disorienting to cut off late 90s premieres that were largely aired in the 2000s... Sopranos most of all (in addition to the ones you mentioned). There is clearly an "era" of TV that dawns with those '98/'99 premieres.
I love Friday Night Lights but Season 2 is rough... consistent quality is not what I'd hold it up for. I also love Succession but way way way too early to be so high on such a list.
Planet Earth should be a lot higher imo. Same with Arrested Development. I thought it would crack the top 15 at least.
The Sopranos isn't the best television series of the 21st century? Either a peeved editor actually watched The Many Saints of Newark in its entirety and sought payback or an overzealous fan landed this assignment and wanted to stack the deck for The Wire.
And the absence of Tony Kushner's epic tale of the politics and humanity of the AIDS epidemic, Angels in America, is indefensible. Director Mike Nichols brilliantly adapted the landmark play into a stunning visual feast of great actors telling a remarkable story.
Quite sad not to see Desperate Housewives on the list - say what you will about the later seasons but that first season is perfection and alongside SATC really kickstarted the revolution that women after 40 could hold up a TV show and be culturally relevant.
I'm disappointed to see things like The Queen's Gambit on here - stuff like that needs time to be culturally relevant and I don't think comparing miniseries, anthology series (American Crime Story is three completely different shows and shouldn't count as one) and reality TV is fair.
I'm not surprised Grey's Anatomy made it as rubbish as it can be - the show is an institution and I'm amazed that it is still around but I don't think it is going anywhere either :D
Thoroughly disagree with Game of Thrones being in the Top 5 and not just for the last season. Fleabag might be the best though - I've never laughed or cringed harder than episode 1 season 2
1. MAD MEN!!! Betty, Joan, Peggy, Megan, Sally... some of the best characters of all time. Everything about that show is perfection.
2. Arrested Development (Seasons 1-3)
3. Veep
4. The Comeback
5. Orange is the New Black
Also love The Office (until Michael left), The People vs. OJ Simpson, Curb, the first few seasons of Dexter. The Other Two could make its way onto this list if it keeps delivering like it has.
"The Wire" is hands down without an equal. It is the very best television series to have ever been created. It merits multiple viewings.
Any and every other ranking on the list deserves to be critiqued, save for the genius of The Wire.
I enjoyed Breaking Bad, but it's too full of forced symbolism for me.
I May Destroy You is an amazing achievement. But this feels like recency bias.
The Americans was great, but it was also painfully slow at times.
Deadwood was brilliant and it is underappreciated.
Succession is a great show, but it's far too soon to tell if the narrative of its creators merits inclusion on this list at all.
It's very hard to include the US version of The Office on this list when its latter seasons were horribly uneven and mostly unwatchable.
No Sopranos?
Well then, I guess I'm going to have my phone book and call some people from Jersey about this news. They're going to have to do some dirty work.
I'm beyond offended by this exclusion.
For everyone mad about The Sopranos not being on the list—the first episode aired in 1999, so it wasn’t eligible!
I am most sad about Scrubs' omission. It did dramedy (extremely well) before it is the go-to-thing for quality sitcoms. Both Scrubs and Brooklyn 99 would be better options than Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother.
Nathaniel--of their Top Five, I've only watched Breaking Bad. So I must disqualify myself from criticizing this group. My Top Five would be 1. Downton Abbey; 2) Modern Family; 3) Schitt's Creek; 4) Six Feet Under; 5) The Office (US).
PS. The best series from the earlier century is Picket Fences. Perfection.
I don't watch many TV series and the only comedy shows listed I've been watched (The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother) don't drive me crazy.
The #1 comedy series (from the US) for me is Malcolm in the Middle by a mile.
Curiously I don't usually love dramatic / sentimental moments embedded in comedy, but this show balances serious items so naturally that it ends up adding to the hilarity.
The visual narrative sum extra points.
I'm almost sure that if the list were made in latin-america would it be the #1 from the list because here is very popular, we identify so much with the imperfect familiar atmosphere of deficiencies through humor.
Glad to see Money Heist, and I think that it was done before Squid Game - will be there, next time they vote - opened.
I miss "The League of Gentlemen" and specially "The Amazing World of Gumball" in the list. Also, the fact that maybe there are not even 5 non english-speaking shows, speak volumes of the abusive dominance of anglo-saxon entertainment industry...
My top 5 must come from HBO lol
1. Game of Thrones
2. Veep
3. Big Little Lies
4. Mare of Easttown
5. Succession
6. Modern Family (the lack of which is STUPID)
7. The Crown
8. The Good Wife
9. Sherlock
10. Homeland
I think Black Mirror already jumped the shark. The concept has worn itself out.
Maybe I'm the only one (or maybe most of you haven't just watched it), but I just don't see the big deal about The Wire. I tried to watch it during the pandemic, I got about 2 1/2 season through, it felt like a chore, so I quit. I just couldn't care about the characters. And I like slow tv and David Simon's other work.
Mad Men is definitely #1, but Breaking Bad belongs up there, although I think Better Call Saul is even better. I do agree that Succession is the best show currently on the air and probably deserves to be ranked that high; The Crown probably does, too.