Topic: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

[BlackNMild2k1]

Hollywood Reporter drops Top 50 Tv Shows of since the year 2000 (21st Centrury)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-tv-shows-21st-century/sex-and-the-city-hbo-1998-2004/

Top 10:
10. BoJack Horseman
9. Freaks and Geeks
8. Girls
7. Better Call Saul
6. Reservation Dogs
5. The Wire
4. 30 Rock
3. Succession
2. The Sopranos
1. Mad Men

I have The Shield in my Top Spot, but didn't even make the Top 30 of their list.
but this is all based on opinions, and I haven't even seen a lot of the shows on the list.

Such as 13 of the bottom 20 shows I haven't watched any of at all.
and overall 32 of the entire 50 I haven't seen.... some of these I've never even heard of.
Some I've seen a few episodes, or at best a majority of a single season worth of episodes.

Anyway, how would you rate this list? what's missing from your Top 5/10/25/50?

[Khushrenada]

I like this post. I like it so much I think it should be a topic all on its own and not just get lost in the Rate Your Last TV Show Thread. Hope you don't me hijacking your post to create a new thread for you but I haven't abused my mod powers in some time and I just gotta know if I still have that forum dictator mojo I used to give off. 

[Khushrenada]

First things first, I'm going to enlarge on BnM's beginning legwork by just posting the whole list here for reference. But feel free to read his linked article as well. I always like to read the comments as to what makes a person / critic choice an item for the list and why they recommend it. However, it we are just going to follow his suggestion to talk about our thoughts on the list and what we've seen / haven't seen or would add / replace then it just makes sense to post that basic list here.


50. Sex and the City
49. Avatar: The Last Airbender
48. South Side
47. Vida
46. The Underground Railroad
45. The Crown
44. The Leftovers
43. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
42. Station Eleven
41. Beef
40. Insecure
39. The Deuce
38. Band of Brothers
37. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
36. The Shield
35. Chernobyl
34. Jane the Virigin
33. Orange is the New Black
32. Veep
31. Fleabag
30. Game of Thrones
29. Broad City
28. How To With John Wilson
27. Parks and Recreation
26. Battlestar Galactica
25. Review
24. I May Destroy You
23. Survivor
22. Better Things
21 Deadwood
20. Peep Show
19. Rectify
18. Friday Night Lights
17. Halt and Catch Fire
16. Breaking Bad
15. Atlanta
14. Enlightened
13. 30 For 30
12. The Americans
11. The Daily Show
10. Bojack Horseman
09. Freaks and Geeks
08. Girls
07. Better Call Saul
06. Reservation Dogs
05. The Wire
04. 30 Rock
03. Succession
02. The Sopranos
01. Mad Men


And the honorable mentions. America to Me, Arrested Development, Bob’s Burgers, The Good Wife, The Great British Bake-Off, Happy Valley, Harley Quinn, It’s a Sin, Justified, The Office (U.S.), Sense8, Somebody Somewhere, This Country, Up, Watchmen.

I'll also spoiler the list for now in case you want to see the article and surprise yourself as you read along. But be warned, as discussion now continues in this thread, no one needs to abide by spoiler quotes unless you want to get into some plot details and be careful for those that may not have seen a show. As far as series titles and other stuff goes, have it. As well, too, check out the start of the article which explains their criteria for ranking and why you won't see something like Squid Game appearing.

As for me, I am just going to briefly mention that of the 50 series listed, I have seen a large chunk of 14/50 series listed. Most of that was the complete series but some stuff I wasn't too bothered by seeing every episode Like watching every episode of The Daily Show, for instance.. As for the honorable mentions, it's 4/15. About the same percentage. As for what all those shows..... ah, ah. That'll have to be tomorrow. Getting late now. Also there's one really big personal omission as far as I'm concerned but I'll come to that.

[Khushrenada]

I suppose I'll just quickly mention that it had been on my mind for a couple years to create a thread asking us to rate our top ten or twenty shows of the past decade like with stuff airing from 2010 - 2020 particularly since a lot of shows in the latter part of the teens had been wrapping up making it a bit easier to start judging the whole works but never got around to it. Just wasn't sure if the interest would be there.

This idea of just going with the complete 21st Century instead of a decade makes for a stronger and easier way to list and rank things which has got my posting juices pumped up and wanting to make this a thread. Have enough of us watched a lot of TV to do at least a Top 20 list? Get your thinking caps on and let's find out!

[BlackNMild2k1]

we do have a tendency to Mega-Thread everything around here....

but since I'm replying here's my personal Top 5:
The Shield
The Sopranos
Breaking Bad
The Wire
.... I have to put more thought into the actual 5th show here, but honorable mentions to

Better Call Saul
Avatar: TLA
The Boys
Arrested Development
The Good Place (had to edit that in, I knew i was forgetting something)

and other shows that likely fall outside of that Top 10 but I still enjoyed:

Battlestar Galactica
Lost
Game of Thrones

[UncleBob]

I'm sorry, but while I appreciate a list that puts Better Call Saul above Breaking Bad (god damn, that spin off is so good), I just can't take a list missing The Good Place seriously. 🤣

In no particular order, I'd have to say my top shows would include Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, The Good Place, Avatar: TLA, all of Adventure Time (though Fionna and Cake, which was freaking amazing), and Infinity Train (which I didn't even know existed two weeks ago).

The original list seems light on animation, which is a shame because there's some great animated content out there.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Oooh, The Good Place.

Good call. I knew I was forgetting a REALLY good show.
I had to edit and move that into a Top 5 contender.

[UncleBob]

Honestly, I'm shocked it was just a note in the entry of another show that was good, but no where near TGP's quality of every freaking plotpoint in every single episode.

It might be my top live action show ever.

[Khushrenada]

Alright. So, of the shows listed, these are the ones I've seen the complete series of with one exception:

44. The Leftovers
38. Band of Brothers
37. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
32. Veep
28. How To With John Wilson (The exception)
27. Parks and Recreation
25. Review
16. Breaking Bad
07. Better Call Saul
04. 30 Rock
01. Mad Men

In regards to How To With John Wilson, I actually watched the first two seasons earlier this year around May. The last season of the show just recently came out a month or two ago and I've meant to check it out but just haven't at the moment. But I will because I do find the show enjoyable enough and will check off another complete series by doing so.

There are a couple entries in which I've watched many episodes but have never seen them all and there's no real obligation (storywise) to watch them all.

13. 30 For 30
11. The Daily Show

Personally, I'd have put The Colbert Report on the list and left off the Daily Show but I get that it was a pretty big deal from 2000 - 2008 and it really created waves through TV from its cast going on to other things and projects.

As for the honorable mentions, these are the ones I've seen: Arrested Development, Justified, The Office (U.S.), Watchmen. I've seen all episodes of those series as well.

Now, for myself, one missing show that I thought was fantastic is Mr. Robot. That show got a lot praise and nominations for its first season and then people just didn't seem to care about the other three seasons and I just don't get it. It's a top tier show from beginning to end as far as I'm concerned. I loved the cinematography and look of it and the way it was willing do some stunts like a wordless episode or a unbroken shot (real time type) episode (which has been done a bit more of late) and other twists it would throw in plus it had a lot of great engaging characters. And yet, it just seems to have been forgotten and never see critics talking about it much since that first season.

Another show that I thought might get mentioned or more love on these forums is Person of Interest. I still think that is a highly underrated show that continues to sort of stay relevant with the continual advances of AI technology. Whenever hearing about peoples fears of AI, I can't help but think of that show from time to time.

I'm going to just browse over TV shows from the past few decades to make sure I'm not missing anything and then when come the hard part of ranking and making my top 20 list.

I guess a couple things on my mind are would I include anything like Smallville, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow or Superman and Lois? Some of those shows like Smallville and Arrow had some dips in quality but, when things did gel on them, I quite enjoyed my time on them. There's also some reality TV stuff like The Amazing Race or Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Then there is stuff like The Mentalist. I watched that entire series and I did enjoy a lot of it but as far as I'm concerned they totally botched the big series mystery on the serial killer Red John. It still bugs me. Will it get a spot despite that or is that too big a problem to overlook?

[Khushrenada]

As for the list itself, I guess I'll break mention some things about it.

Awhile ago, I made a list of some TV shows I'd like to get around and see because of great reviews and they intrigued me in some way. From this list, here are some of the shows that I do still want to get around to seeing:

35. Chernobyl
31. Fleabag
15. Atlanta
12. The Americans
06. Reservation Dogs
05. The Wire
03. Succession

And maybe someday:

18. Friday Night Lights
17. Halt and Catch Fire

Both of those shows seem to have a devoted small following and Friday Night Lights would get mentioned a bit on Parks and Rec as a favorite show of Ann and Leslie and something they bonded over so that's the word of mouth recommendation I have through some fictional characters. To FNL's credit, it does seem to be one of the few times where a TV show has replaced the movie it was based on and is the better product. A rare feat. M*A*S*H is the premier example of this but perhaps someday I'll check out both the movie and show and see what I think about it all. For now, these are still low on my radar.

Then there's these entries:

30. Game of Thrones
26. Battlestar Galactica

Galactica never appealed to me. I like Sci-Fi stuff but, the visuals I'd see of it, the plot and character details I'd hear about it, it just never made me want to check it out. Yet, it also become an early poster child of binge-watching as a lot of people seem to discover it early on in streaming and get addicted to the series. Yet, it feels to me like it evaporated in pop culture awareness and my understanding was that it seemed to lose focus in the last few seasons and did end well? But maybe that's a misconception on my part.

As for not ending well, that seems to be all people want to talk about with Game of Thrones. I find it funny how it went from all sorts of people telling others that they had to watch this show to then telling them it was a waste of time. I know feel like I did the smart thing in never bothering to check it out. I suppose this goes back to my thought on the Mentalist or other shows that perhaps don't end well or unresolved because of getting cancelled. Does the other 70, 80, or 90% of the show that was great up to a point still merit the time to watch or deserve some credit or does the bad taint the good too much?

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

[Adrock]

It feels weird to leave Futurama off this list since it spent less than a year in the 20th century. It's also still going because Disney or whomever won't let it go.

I'm struggling with how to rank my favorite shows because I haven't finished some shows while others haven't ended their run yet. They could be awesome to start and terrible by the end. And there are whole seasons of some shows that are all-timers like Season 2 of Dexter. Overall, that's probably enough to knock them off a top 10 list.

Here's what I have so far (may adjust later):

10. Justice League Unlimited
9. 30 Rock
8. Daredevil
7. Lost
6. Breaking Bad
5. Schitt's Creek
4. Avatar: The Last Airbender
3. Better Call Saul
2. Wonderfalls
1. The Good Place

I'm 100% absolutely forgetting something though I feel pretty good about my top 7. Either Season 5 or 6 of 30 Rock was... not good. Still, collectively, its hit rate is just a little better than Community's as it ran longer and had a better ending (not counting the upcoming Community movie).

It should be noted that I didn't watch a lot of TV between 2004 and 2010, and only circled back to a few shows of that period if they popped up on Netflix. I think Oblivion shamed me into watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Any show that's still on the air was not considered as its placement may change depending on how the rest of its run shakes out such as Andor, Rick and Morty, and Loki. Archer too though I haven't seen anything past Season 5. It's ending this year after its 13th season so I have a lot to catch up to.

Honorable mentions (mostly because they were awesome for a time then fizzled out): Game of Thrones, Arrested Development, and Castlevania.

[Khushrenada]

It feels weird to leave Futurama off this list since it spent less than a year in the 20th century. It's also still going because Disney or whomever won't let it go.

Go ahead and include it. As the Hollywood Reporter said, they considered shows that crossed over that starting point. They just went with the episodes that fell past that starting date. That's why The Soprano's made the list since its last 5 seasons were all in the 21st Century and those seasons were still enough for them to put it 2nd. If you feel the Futurama episodes that aired in the 21st Century are worth rating highly then put it on your list. Make it a Top 20 or 30 if you want.

[Khushrenada]

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

Granted, it's been a little while since I've watched it, but as I recall it had a pretty definite ending. It was somehow simultaneously too sudden and dragged out too long, and kind of weird how they did it, but it was a clear ending.

[Adrock]

Go ahead and include it. As the Hollywood Reporter said, they considered shows that crossed over that starting point. They just went with the episodes that fell past that starting date. That's why The Soprano's made the list since its last 5 seasons were all in the 21st Century and those seasons were still enough for them to put it 2nd. If you feel the Futurama episodes that aired in the 21st Century are worth rating highly then put it on your list. Make it a Top 20 or 30 if you want.

LOL. Clearly, I didn't read the article. 🤷‍♀️ I'm too lazy to make a top 20 or 30.

I included additional personal conditions to corral the list as there were plenty of options:

1. The show must have premiered in the 21st century.
2. The show must have a finale.
3. I had to watch all of it.

I might have made an exception for Futurama had it not been recently brought back since only 17 episodes aired in the 20th century and most of its best episodes are in the 21st century. Slot it in #2 without the conditions above.

The more I dwell on it, the more confident I am about The Good Place at #1. It's a nearly perfect show that stumbles a little right before the end then completely sticks the landing when it matters.

Normally, I don't participate in list threads, but this is giving me a ton of shows to add to the list and gentle reminders for some I already had on there.

[Adrock]

I'm 100% absolutely forgetting something

Yep. The IT Crowd.

I'll just keep editing this when I remember other shows.

[UncleBob]

The more I dwell on it, the more confident I am about The Good Place at #1. It's a nearly perfect show that stumbles a little right before the end then completely sticks the landing when it matters.

A fellow human of culture and taste.  I tip my hat to you.

[broodwars]

I find the lack of The West Wing and Warehouse 13 on this list disturbing, especially when stuff like BSG is on it. Like, I suspect the writers actually forgot that West Wing started in 1999, because it was both extremely critically acclaimed and beloved.

As for Warehouse 13, it's just an exceedingly "fun" show that knew just how silly and kinda cheap it was and just rolled with it to some surprisingly heartfelt moments.

[broodwars]

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

Granted, it's been a little while since I've watched it, but as I recall it had a pretty definite ending. It was somehow simultaneously too sudden and dragged out too long, and kind of weird how they did it, but it was a clear ending.

It's fitting that BSG and Game of Thrones were both on the list together, because both were ruined by final seasons where the writers basically just gave up while simultaneously trying to spike the ball. It's been a while since I watched BSG, but what I most remember about that final season was that this was a smart show about shades of gray that got very, very DUMB but also somehow pretentious in its waning hours. And that ending pulled one of the more annoying cliches in Sci-Fi writing.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I always meant to watch Warehouse 13, as it was in some way related to Eureka which was another show I enjoyed and completely forgot about till W13 was mentioned.

I also never got far into West Wing , another show I meant to binge watch that I heard was excellent.

[broodwars]

I always meant to watch Warehouse 13, as it was in some way related to Eureka which was another show I enjoyed and completely forgot about till W13 was mentioned.

I also never got far into West Wing , another show I meant to binge watch that I heard was excellent.

Eureka actually shares a universe with 2 other Siffy series: Warehouse 13 and the short-lived Alphas, though they don't have official crossovers until 1 episode each series late in their respective runs.

If you do watch Warehouse 13, just bear with the first 4 or so episodes. The show doesn't really find its footing until Best Girl Claudia joins the show 5 episodes in. I like Eureka, but it's very clear that the show runs out of ideas by its 3rd or so season. Warehouse 13 had fewer episodes per season, so it had a stronger run IMO until its extremely long and segmented 4th season, leading to cancellation and a short but memorable 5th season.

The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

On a side note, animation (as usual) got ignored on this list. Avatar TLA being on the list period is nice (especially since I don't believe Korra was, as it deserves), but it's way lower on that list than it should be and the DCAU got screwed in general. Seriously? No love for Batman Beyond; Justice League; or Justice League Unlimited? No love for Spectacular Spider-Man, either.

[Khushrenada]

The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

Funny enough, I've always been interested in getting around to the West Wing because of its last season since I know Alan Alda was a big part of it. I've always liked checking out other things he has been in since watching M*A*S*H and I remember reading bits of reviews and articles about the West Wing at the end and how he played a candidate running for President. Him playing a role like that is the biggest reason as to why I sometimes think about getting around to watching that show but, aside from downloading it somewhere, I've never really seen any easy option to get around to watching that show. So, it's an idea that keeps getting kicked further down the road.

On a side note, animation (as usual) got ignored on this list. Avatar TLA being on the list period is nice (especially since I don't believe Korra was, as it deserves), but it's way lower on that list than it should be and the DCAU got screwed in general. Seriously? No love for Batman Beyond; Justice League; or Justice League Unlimited? No love for Spectacular Spider-Man, either.

Yeah, and that's mentioned in the article.

We each have feelings about things that are missing from the list or things that the list could use more of. Short version: Needs more British TV! Needs more animation! Needs more reality TV!

Perhaps if this was a list of 100 then there would have been more included. There's only two animated shows which are Avatar and Bojack Horseman. I thought Rick and Morty was on the list for some reason until I went back and just checked it over. Bob's Burgers and Harley Quinn got mentioned in the Honorable Mentions but that's it. That said, while making my own list of TV I've seen, I did remember and check to see if Batman Beyond qualified for this century and have noted it among things I've watched. Yet, I doubt it will make my final list. Same with Justice League. They're shows I've enjoyed watching but when thinking of what I would rank among best of TV when compared to things like Mad Men, Better Call Saul, Mr. Robot, etc, it is not a surprise to me none of the DCAU made a list like this either.

[broodwars]

The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

Funny enough, I've always been interested in getting around to the West Wing because of its last season since I know Alan Alda was a big part of it. I've always liked checking out other things he has been in since watching M*A*S*H and I remember reading bits of reviews and articles about the West Wing at the end and how he played a candidate running for President. Him playing a role like that is the biggest reason as to why I sometimes think about getting around to watching that show but, aside from downloading it somewhere, I've never really seen any easy option to get around to watching that show. So, it's an idea that keeps getting kicked further down the road.

According to Google, The West Wing is streaming on Max right now, as well as Amazon Prime (though that one may be a premium purchase).

Strangely enough, Warehouse 13 is not available on streaming right now. It HAD been on Peacock until a few months ago, but joined Eureka and BSG in getting delisted. You know, because "shiny digital future" and all that.

[ThePerm]

I see Mad Men on a few of these. I really need to watch these. I watched some of them at the beginning and they were good but I was moving around that time.