The 2010s was a great decade for television, one which saw the debut of numerous shows that are in a position to become classics. The so-called, current “Golden Age of Television” refers to the proliferation of quality, creator-driven programming that is generally agreed to have begun with HBO’s the legendary drama The Sopranos. The golden age is still going strong; if anything, the rise of streaming services in the 2010s saw the amount of quality content grow significantly, with more hours of content to fill, and thus more room for creative gambles that diverge from the safe formula.
The 2010s saw a legion of risky programs make their way to mainstream programming. While some of these risks didn’t pay off, a considerable number of the most memorable shows to debut during the decade pushed the boundaries of form, content or production. Some series earned their status as classics with innovative and highly original approaches to characterization, resulting in some of the most beloved TV characters in this era. Other series challenged the form of the medium, delivering shows more suited to tap into the culture of the 2010s. While not all of these shows maintain their consistency throughout, the impact they had on culture is profound and undeniable.
10 Fleabag (2016-19)
Fleabag began in 2013 as a Kickstarter-funded one-woman stage show. It’s hard to imagine more modest beginnings for a series that has had such an interesting impact on the television landscape. The British dark-comedy series follows Fleabag, a self-absorbed, self-doubting young woman struggling to understand what she owes to herself and to those in her life. The series takes significant risks with its form and content, presenting a psychologically complex, often unlikable protagonist whose capacity to break the fourth wall helps create a gripping, funny, moving, character-study that rocketed Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge to stardom.
9 Succession (2018-23)
The characters portrayed on HBO’s Succession are among the most complex, vivid and engrossing ever put to television. The classic series follows the caustic interpersonal conflicts and power bids of the Roy family, the owners of the largest media and entertainment company in the world. On a network that earned a name for itself with bold, unlikeable characters, Succession’s Roys, and their acolytes, stand out. The show made a remarkably self-assured debut in 2018, with the characters already fully-formed and acid-tongued. Succession saw its massive critical success in the first season grow even larger in subsequent outings, with its Rotten Tomatoes score climbing from 89% to 97% for seasons 2-4.
8 The Good Place (2016-20)
This sitcom from Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine creator Michael Schur redefined what a sitcom can be. The Good Place follows four people who find themselves forced to examine what it means to be good people after finding themselves in an ethically arbitrating afterlife. It’s a complex question, and the series establishes its identity through its exhaustive, sensitive approach to finding an answer. While most sitcoms bend their concept around the sitcom form, The Good Place bends the sitcom form around its concept. The series takes risks by going serialised and radically changing the status quo between seasons, but the 100% Rotten Tomatoes score speaks for itself.
7 Better Call Saul (2015-22)
Vince Gilligan, apparently not satisfied after creating one of the best TV shows of the 2000s with Breaking Bad, sought to make another hit show in the 2010s. The Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul centers on Jimmy McGill, a fiercely independent lawyer destined to become the crooked criminal attorney, Saul Goodman. While Breaking Bad concerns itself with questions of evil, and how a good person become bad, Better Call Saul wonders whether it’s possible for a bad person to do good. The result is a series just as thoughtful as its predecessor, and even more tragic.
6 Black Mirror (2011-Present)
It’s easy to forget that the Netflix flagship series Black Mirror didn’t originate with the streamer. The first two seasons of the anthology series aired on Channel 4 in the UK, before the technology-commentary series took on greater budgets by moving to Netflix. Charlie Brooker’s series is a cultural event; every new batch of episodes generates new discourse with its dark themes and twisted, inventive storylines. While quality ittedly varies, Black Mirror's best episodes are some of the most compelling, haunting episodes of television in recent memory. The show's boldest entries are likely to be one day be ed as classics.
5 Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
Game of Thrones, which began airing at the start of the decade and concluded at its end, is widely regarded as the definitive series of the 2010s. The show takes place in the fantasy realm of Westeros, where various parties vie for power, largely unaware of the supernatural threat encroaching from beyond the wall. Game of Thrones is the most watched show in HBO’s history, as well as the most pirated TV series of the decade and beyond. The disappointing eighth season failed to deliver on its numerous promises, but that alone didn't ruin its cultural dominance the likes of which might not be seen again on TV for decades.
4 Chernobyl (2019)
In 2019, HBO put their considerable resources behind a detailed, historically faithful rendering of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which took place in Soviet Ukraine in April 1986. On paper, the concept doesn’t necessarily scream mass appeal, but it’s a testament to HBO’s proven capacity to recognize resonant ideas. Chernobyl was given the greenlight, and quickly captivated audiences. The miniseries shows exceptional dedication to craft in nearly every aspect; the performances, writing, cinematography, score and production design all cohere to render Chernobyl a future classic of the TV form. Chernobyl is the highest ranked 2010s series on greatest miniseries of all time.
3 Rick And Morty (2013-Present)
Rick and Morty follows a cynical, alcoholic scientist and his earnest teenaged grandson on interstellar and interdimensional misadventures. Rick and Morty is notable for its modern, oscillating tone, which sees the series fluctuate between the sincere and the absurd. It’s this fluctuation that allows the series to strike a delicate tonal balance between cerebral scientific or philosophical concepts and gleefully juvenile humor. The series’ tone resonates greatly with modern audiences, making Rick and Morty not only a one of the standout shows of the 2010s, but a series that feels synonymous with the spirit of the current era of television.
2 Gravity Falls (2012-16)
In the 2010s animated series Gravity Falls, two kids attempt to uncover the mysteries of a small town which seems to be a hotbed for paranormal and fantastical activity. It’s a smart, satisfying and deeply funny series that imagines a world in which every wondrous, childlike assumption about the unknown proves true. It’s also a rewarding series, one in which nearly any individual episode can be enjoyed without context; however, the greatest satisfaction is reserved for the patient viewer. The self-contained episodes gradually lay the groundwork for an overarching mystery plot which, when it finally pays off, delivers some of the most satisfying television ever put to children’s programming.
1 Stranger Things (2016-Present)
The Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things follows the residents of the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, who find themselves plagued by dark forces after a gateway to an alternate dimension is opened near the 1980s community. The series’ smart mix of nostalgia, cinematic storytelling and strong characterization brought it to immediate popularity upon the 2016 release of its first season. As Stranger Things has progressed, it has only grown in scale and popularity, with season 4 being the second-most watched Netflix title of all time, behind Squid Game (via GamesRadar). Stranger Things is a cultural juggernaut, one which rewards Netflix’s gamble on the relatively untested young creators who approached the streamer in the 2010s.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, GamesRadar