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This year marks the 10th year TVIV will be doing their Annual Top 10 shows of the year. Much like all the "best of the decade" lists we saw from various outlets last year to usher in the new decade, we're going to be doing our own "end of the decade" celebration as well. I've been running the poll for 2 or 3 years now so this countdown will be hosted by me as well. We'll still be doing our annual countdown later in the year, but I wanted to get this one out early so we can get maximum uptake on this one and avoid a participation drop in the other list because people can't be hosed doing it twice. We've also had a lot of drop off in the last few years with "I don't watch enough TV anymore to take part" and I'm hoping we can get those no-longer-frequent-TVIV-as-much-as-I-used-to folks to see this thread and take part as well.  RulesThe rules will be fairly similar to the annual lists, but there will be a few changes. Please read the below rules carefully: Voting Deadline has now been updated to tentatively 11:59PM January 10th1. The annual lists require you to nominate 10, and only 10 shows. This year, you can nominate up to 20 shows. This is optional, you still must nominate at least 10 shows, but you can nominate up to 20.2. Number your choices highest number to lowest number with 1. being your favourite show of the decade. This will mean your lists are created 10->1 20->1 or x-1. 3. If you are nominating less than 20 shows, keep your nominations in sequential order. If you're nominating 11 shows, they are numbers 11->1, not 20,17,16,15,11,10,5,4,3,2,1. This will either disqualify your entry if I can't be hosed manually altering it, or be changed to 11->1 by myself. 4. You must provide some commentary about your choices for your votes to count. This isn't PYF. The great thing about these threads is introducing shows to people that haven't previously seen them, and that's very hard to do if they have no context for your choices. It's also a forum, and we want to create discussion. So please, include some commentary/explanation for your choices. 5. You can not nominate the same show multiple times. 6. Feel free to nominate more than 20 shos, but only your top 20 will be tallied. 7. You're shows must have aired at least one full season between 1 Jan 2011 and 31 Dec 2021 The Sopranos is not eligble. Lost is not eligble. The Shield is not eligible 8. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I ask that people at least consider when the show you're nominating was at it's best and/or aired the bulk of it's episodes. I want this countdown to celebrate the best TV of the last decade. The Simpsons is eligble for this list, but consider it's body of work between 2011 and 2021 before nominating. There might be an all-time classic show that aired 10 seasons, one of which was in 2011. You can nominate this, but I ask that you use some common sense when placing it on your list. This does not mean you need to disregard parts of the show that aired outside of these years. I expect Mad Men and Breaking Bad to do very well in this poll, and rightfully so, I just ask that if Seasons 1-3 of Mad Men are your absolute personal favourite and you thought it was only just okay after that, you consider placing the show accordingly. I repeat, this is not a hard and fast rule. The only eligibility rule is that it aired a complete season between 2011 and 2021. 9. Don't be a dick about other people's choices. This is a positive thread to celebrate the best of TV, not a place for people to get lost in an argument over which genre show in its third season poo poo the bed worst. If you want to be critical then take it elsewhere. 10. Use common sense when talking about spoilers. 11. If you want to go back and edit your list after the fact then go for it, just shoot me a PM or post in the thread to let me know you have or I might not count it. Please ensure you edit your original post, don’t create a new list. I will periodically link user posts in the second comment of this thread. Archive Links TVIV Poll 2012: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3523734 TVIV Poll 2013: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3591552 TVIV Poll 2014: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3686396 TVIV Poll 2015: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3754622 TVIV Poll 2016: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3800289 TVIV Poll 2017: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3840812 TVIV Poll 2018: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3876499 TVIV Poll 2019: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3905825 TVIV Poll 2020: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3952217 To assist with getting your memory jogged, here is the Top 20 for each year of the poll  And here is every show that's ever been nominated.  And that's it! Happy Voting! Looten Plunder fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Jan 7, 2022 |
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Jul 31, 2021 03:43
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Lists: Edward Mass Alhazred Tiggum FLIPADELPHIA ShakeZula GoutPatrol OnlyBans Croatoan BetterLekNextTime adhuin Heavy Metal Pillowpants Oasx Senerio Jerusalem InternetBully nate fisher Paper Lion Big Bad Voodoo Lou Rarity achillesforever6 Niwrad Bulky Bartokomous Toxic Fart Syndrome Looten Plunder fancy stats Fast Luck TelevisedInsanity Open Source Idiom Meatgrinder Rob Filter Raspberry Bang BSam King Burgundy Andrew_1985 Data Graham cryptoclastic CeeJee Escobarbarian Yer Burnt MrBuddyLee Looten Plunder fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Jan 11, 2022 |
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Jul 31, 2021 03:44
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Reserved
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Jul 31, 2021 03:44
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10. Happy! (Syfy) There weren't many episodes made, but what was made were gold. Whatever Neil Gaiman could get away with on basic cable, he got away with. 9. DC's Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) A fun show with lovable characters fighting crime thought time. Of course, it wouldn't exist without... 8. Arrow (The CW) While meandering in various degrees for swaths of its run, you can't deny that when it hit, it hit. 7. American Dad! (Fox/TBS) When people say a show runs out of steam after 10 seasons of 20+ episodes, point them to American Dad! The key to the show's success is, in my opinion, being a show overshadowed by the creator's other, more mainstream hit (see also: Futurama). 6. For All Mankind (Apple TV+) The first episode or two is kind of weak, but it's necessary to get all the real people doing real things out of the way before we hit Apollos 18-75 and beyond. By far the best drama on streaming TV. 5. Veep (HBO) Political satire was briefly dead, but it got better and now we can watch Veep again and laugh. I know some people think the Thick of It is superior, but Veep has one thing TToI doesn't: a truly satisfying ending. 4. Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim) Second only to Moral Orel as the most important show Adult Swim has ever produced. Probably the first scripted program to namedrop Earl Sweatshirt. 3. Sunderland 'Til I Die (Netflix) Most television shows about sports are how, though hard work and a bit of luck, you can achieve great things. Sunderland 'Til I Die is the exact opposite of that. Instead of the warm fuzzies, you leave the show a devastated wreck. What's worse is, there are two seasons of this show, and they both end bad in different ways. 2. Doctor Who (BBC) Despite being my favorite show, I'm only giving it my number two slot due current show-runner Chris Chibnall fettering away the goodwill the show had with poor storytelling and even worse production schedules. Seasons 32-36 make up for that (season 31 was astounding but is out of the timeframe given) - I could just point to the episode Heaven Sent and call it a day. 1. Watchmen (HBO) Damon Lindelof pulled off the impossible on multiple fronts - he made a show that was self-contained in nine episodes while respecting and expanding upon a beloved comic book WHILE ALSO shining a light on the Black Wall Street Massacre and the ripples felt to this day. The show was good, too.
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Jul 31, 2021 07:49
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Thanks for making this, Looten!! I’m currently stuck between whether or not I want to give stuff like Mad Men and Breaking Bad slots or push them out in favour of newer stuff I want to hype more. Man there’s a lot of good TV.
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Jul 31, 2021 10:01
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I guess I better speed up my Mad Men watch 
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Jul 31, 2021 10:22
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My immediate list only has 5 shows on it, so this is going to be an interesting challenge
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Jul 31, 2021 12:45
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10. Game of Thrones (HBO) The highs is just higher than the lows. Blackwater for example is one of the few instances of someone making a huge battle work on television. And the first season is just perfect, right down to the ending where it's revealed that this truly is a fantasy show. 9. True Detective (HBO) The first season is a stone cold classic, the second one...tried and the third one almost matches the first one. 8. Dark Chrystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix) Because someone not only made a puppet show but made really good puppet show. 7. Black Mirror (Channel 4/Netflix) Because Brooker is so good at showing how cruel we can be to each other and for making a choose your own adventure episode just to show off how good he is. 6. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO) Because sometimes it's good to have someone point out that this poo poo isn't normal and sometimes making a funny song about it. 5. Veep (HBO) Because it's so sharply written that I'm surprised the cast wasn't covered in band aids. And because it refuses to let us have any sympathy for the characters. 4. BoJack Horseman (Netflix) A clever show, almost too clever for it's own good. It always narrowly escaped disappearing up it's own rear end. And like Veep it allows it's characters to do horrible things and not learn from them. 3. Breaking Bad (AMC) Another show about a horrible character. Unlike the other shows it tricks you into having sympathy for Walter White before slowly revealing that he didn't break bad, he was always bad. 2. Chernobyl (HBO) It did a really good job at showing how badly things can go if you keep lying to yourself. It was also expertly filmed, written and acted. 1. Mad Men (AMC) Because it's one of the few show that started great and kept on being great. Not a singel bad season and even managed to have a great last episode which is really rare when it comes to tv shows. Alhazred fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Jul 31, 2021 |
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Jul 31, 2021 23:44
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Just a reminder, you can nominate 20 shows for this.
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Aug 1, 2021 03:38
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Oasx posted:My immediate list only has 5 shows on it, so this is going to be an interesting challenge Would you like me to post your top 10s over the years?
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Aug 1, 2021 03:40
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I might rearrange or replace some of these if I think of anything I missed, but I might not. 20: Haters Back Off The second season lets it down a bit, because there's an unresolved cliffhanger and the first season had ended perfectly, but it was still good. 19: Last Week Tonight It's very formulaic and largely concerned with stuff that's not especially relevant to me as a non-American, but the formula works. 18: Brooklyn Nine-Nine It's never the funniest show, never especially original or innovative, it's just a consistently good time. 17: Archer The lows are very low, but at its height it was the best thing on TV. 16: Why Women Kill Funny and painful and tied together perfectly in the end. Just an extremely well-written show. 15: Broad City Wore out its welcome a little by the end, but at least it did get a proper ending and didn't just drag on until it became unwatchable - looking at you, Letterkenny. 14: Dispatches From Elsewhere I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the ending, but on the whole I liked it. 13: WWE NXT Far from perfect, but so far above every other wrestling show it's not even funny. Why are the rest so loving bad so frequently? 12: The Expanse I was kind of disappointed that the alien stuff showed up, because it seems unnecessary, but as long as the politics are still the core of the story it's fine. 11: Legion Very sneaky pretending this was a super hero show to trick people into watching it. 10: Harley Quinn May be cheating to give it such a high rating compared with something like Archer when it hasn't had the same opportunity to fail. 9: Maniac Unique and stylish, but with some actual substance to it as well. 8: The Magicians It doesn't feel right to include this show, because I would never recommend anyone watch it, but it wouldn't feel right to leave it off either. It's just that the first season was so bad. So, so bad. But you can't really just skip it. You need that foundation to appreciate how amazingly good it gets later on. But I don't think it's worth it. 7: Crazy Ex Girlfriend Very funny and the songs consistently enhance the show rather than just being a gimmick. 6: Gotham Aside from the first few episodes where it seemed to be pretending to be Law & Order: DC Universe, this show has no restraint. Every character is 110% themself all the time. 5: Misfits I still occasionally watch Nathan's speech from episode six on YouTube. Sure, the later seasons weren't great, but they were still watchable. And those first couple of seasons were perfect. 4: A Series of Unfortunate Events One of the rare adaptations that surpasses the original. The books are... ok. The show is perfect. 3: Bojack Horseman I didn't really get the hype when I watched the first season, but it picks up massively in the second, and the ending is exactly what it should be. 2: Taskmaster I don't think I could ever get sick of this show. Keep it going forever please. 1: The Good Place I don't think any TV show or movie has ever blown me away like the end of season one. The fact that it continues to be extremely good after that is just icing.
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Aug 1, 2021 13:50
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Looking back through my old lists is interesting - for example, Breaking Bad never made my Top 3! I definitely have a rock-solid Top 10 (order still a little uncertain), but it'll be interesting to see what rounds out my full 20.
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Aug 2, 2021 04:21
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whew lad let's do this
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Aug 2, 2021 08:03
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Trying to think where I'm going to put Detroiters. It's gonna be somewhere below Patriot, which is the obvious #1, for me.
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Aug 3, 2021 09:12
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Looking back my votes, there's so many shows that I just stopped watching. Never seeing their end, because the shows became meh.
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Aug 3, 2021 13:08
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Going from top 10 to giving up on a show entirely is pretty dramatic. What are some examples?
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Aug 3, 2021 16:47
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Looten Plunder posted:Going from top 10 to giving up on a show entirely is pretty dramatic. What are some examples? Pretty much all the CW Superhero shows, IZombie, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jane the Virgin, Crazy ex-Girlfriend and Westworld. I still like the earlier seasons, but when I've tried rewatching them, my interest just fizzle out after earlier seasons. Some of them are going to make it to my top 20 list, because those few seasons were sooo good. Maybe I'm just not that much of a TV-viewer any more? I still watch youtube/twitch content creators and looking forward to new seasons of Witcher and Orville.
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Aug 3, 2021 17:26
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I'll take this chance to recommend everybody watch all three seasons of The Detectorists, which is just a lovely, lovely, lovely show that I want everybody to experience.  Also it has a simply beautiful opening theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q58Gm18-IMY
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Aug 3, 2021 23:28
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adhuin posted:Pretty much all the CW Superhero shows OK well that explains it. It's my understanding B99 is pretty consistent though. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend got pretty dark but it's definitely worth checking out. The last season was pretty strong.
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Aug 4, 2021 02:09
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adhuin posted:Pretty much all the CW Superhero shows, IZombie, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jane the Virgin, Crazy ex-Girlfriend and Westworld. IZombie is my favorite CW show, and the only one I never drifted away from. The serialized plots got ridiculously complex from season to season, but I feel like the show stayed solid throughout the run. Also, the entire cast is crazy attractive, and every character gets a chance to be the best character.
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Aug 4, 2021 16:28
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I watched it all the way through, but iZombie went from being one of my favorite weekly shows to mostly being a chore to watch. Sticking with the brain of the week format just held the story back from every getting interesting.
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Aug 4, 2021 18:59
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Taking the long view on this has been interesting, it really weeds out a lot of shows that turned out to be one-year wonders (looking at you, Westworld). Meanwhile, I have one show in my top 10 that I don't believe made any of my individual lists.
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Aug 4, 2021 23:35
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Oasx posted:I watched it all the way through, but iZombie went from being one of my favorite weekly shows to mostly being a chore to watch. Sticking with the brain of the week format just held the story back from every getting interesting. The format wasn't the problem. The writing just got really lazy. They stopped bothering to justify anything or connect things together. The effects of each brain were really exaggerated. Characters seemed to forget or overlook things for the sake of keeping the plot on track or to avoid any changes to the status quo.
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Aug 5, 2021 06:09
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10 - Game of Thrones - a staggering monument to what could have been. The show started to decline fairly early but for the first 2 seasons, it was difficult to believe my favorite fantasy series was not only on the screen, not only done extremely well, but also the most popular show in the world. The showrunners should be equally lauded and vilified for creating something so unique and powerful, then through arrogance, laziness, and ineptitude, letting it become the gold standard for how to gently caress up in entertainment. 9 - The Mandalorian - very uneven in quality yet despite this, its brief moments of heroism and idealism really do summon the emotions I felt as a child, watching the original trilogy. I rate this one on this list mainly because of the season 2 finale, which was a truly remarkable piece of writing. Lucas and Disney have been chasing that dragon for 40 years and for a brief moment, someone actually caught it. 8 - It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - it’s not always great but when it is, it’s the funniest show of the decade and maybe even ever. Kaitlin Olsen and Glenn Howerton are my favorite comedic actors. The way they just go all in, every time, never gets old. The show knows what it is and embraces it fully. It’s also the best show for bloopers - the ad libbing these actors do is just incredible. 7 - Better Call Saul - this show never ceases to amaze me how riveting it can be with such low stakes, as compared to its mother show. BCS channels the austere, tragic vibe of Breaking Bad but somehow makes the life of a nobody lawyer something worth exploring. Odenkirk carries the show but Gilligan’s craft is just so evident in every scene. I can’t wait to see how it ends. 6 - Fargo - I rate this one so highly simply because it exceeded my expectations by orders of magnitude. The anthology approach to coloring in this world the Coens built has been a success few people could have expected. Its occasional forays into the downright weird set it apart from almost anything else on tv. Each season brings unique and outstanding performances, making it a fresh experience with every new iteration. 5 - Chernobyl - a story so dramatic that it’s sometimes easy to forget it’s mostly based in fact. The dread and the endless upping of the stakes make it somehow a nailbiter even though we know exactly how it ends. Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard give career performances, which is saying a lot for those two. It’s earnest portrayal of Soviet society, with all its strengths and faults, is laudable on its own. 4 - The Expanse - the best sci-fi ever to appear on the small screen. I rate it at #4 here because I don’t know how it will end, and the most recent seasons were slightly less impressive than season 3, which was probably the most fun I’ve ever had binging a season of television. Despite its flaws, the ambition of a close future space opera is something truly unique and the show has demonstrated that the genre can work. 3 - Halt and Catch Fire - While not exactly in the same category as the top tier prestige shows, Halt is a stunning character study that takes a seemingly mundane backdrop and tells a profound story about people failing. This show, and more importantly, the creative direction it took in its final season, made me seriously reevaluate my life. It encouraged me to be a better person- something I can’t really say for any other show I’ve ever seen. 2 - Breaking Bad - one of the few shows that is able not only to make it 5 seasons, but actually improve in quality over the duration. This show is a perfect example of the advantages of having a single showrunner free to implement their vision with minimal interference or constraints from a network. AMC gave Vince Gilligan what he wanted- in return he created a protagonist that rivals Tony Soprano in greatness, set against a crime epic for the ages. 1 - True Detective - since it’s an anthology series I am ok with singling out season 1 here as a standalone. Quite simply the best season of TV ever made. The acting, the writing, the directing, the atmosphere of the show are mesmerizing and after 6 or 7 rewatches, it still just holds up. An absolute masterpiece that I don’t know will ever be repeated. FLIPADELPHIA fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Aug 20, 2021 |
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Aug 9, 2021 03:29
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Alright, list is finally complete! I will resist the urge for further tinkering as best I can. 20. Arrow – It never rose to the level of a prestige drama, but Arrow was a hugely-important show for me over this decade. Not only did it consistently entertain me on its own (some seasons more than others, sure), it also spawned an entire shared universe of shows (some better than others, sure) that have given so many DC characters the chance to breathe in a way that the feature film department of Warner Brothers has not. Also, in the second half or so of its run the show handed the action choreography (and eventually the director's chair) over to James Bamford, who has proven himself to be a genius at filming fight scenes. 19. Agents of SHIELD – While it began as a light piece of connective tissue existing entirely in the name of Corporate Synergy, Agents of SHIELD truly found its voice once its initial purpose was more or less abandoned. The show wasn't a hit, and it turns out the movies really didn't need the help, so Disney essentially stopped paying attention. Instead of dying in darkness, though, Agents of SHIELD flourished in exploring the nooks and crannies of the world established by the MCU. Everyone who watched it has their own favorite arc: The Framework, time travel, the Inhumans, Hive, even Ghost Rider showed up in a prominent role. By the time it reached its (near-perfect) finale, it had legitimately become one of my favorite shows, and not just in the way I tend to love the Marvel movies, but because of how much it made me care about the characters. 18. The Magicians – This is a show that snuck up on me a bit. I watched the first season and wasn't terribly impressed. In fact when the second season started I let it pile up on my DVR and very nearly just deleted it unseen. But I decided to check back in, and it was like a switch was flipped and the show had found its stride. From that point on I was a loyal viewer, and the show really did seem to get better and better as it went along, leading up to a fantastic series finale. 17. Rectify – Part of my process for making this list was reviewing my old lists, and while I admittedly hadn't though too much about Rectify in recent years when I saw it at the top of one of my lists I immediately remembered just how special it was. Rectify was a quiet show, mostly, and a slow burn if ever there was one. It was a fascinating meditation on faith and forgiveness, but more than anything it was a superb showcase for its cast. I don't think I've seen star Aden Young in many things since the show ended, but his performance here was a revelation, and I could say much the same about the rest of the ensemble. 16. Breaking Bad – This is an obvious inclusion, though I suspect my list will have it lower than most. I don't really have too much to say about it that hasn't already been said. I liked the show quite a bit, and it was certainly an important show, so I feel comfortable listing it here. I really did especially love the finale. 15. Mr Robot – It is easy for me to imagine a world where I hate this show, where I watch it and roll my eyes at the edgelord hax0r protagonist and his naive attempts at playing revolutionary. And yeah, the show gets a little “out there” in terms of conspiracy plots and Dark Army shenanigans. But where this show really separates itself is in the execution. Rami Malek is phenomenal as Elliot, but even beyond him there are so many outstanding performances. And on top of that Sam Esmail displays immense creativity in the design and direction of the show from top to bottom. And again, like many of the shows on my list, it had a near-perfect series finale. 14. The Good Place – For most of its first season this was a perfectly fine fish-out-of-water sitcom with a charming lead, fun supporting characters, and an interesting (if unusual) premise. But with its now-famous twist, the show morphed into an interesting exploration of morality, ethics, cosmic justice, and the realities of infinity. Perhaps most impressively, it managed to do this while still being funny. A delicate balancing act to be sure, but one that The Good Place absolutely nailed. 13. Legion – I didn't know what to expect from Legion when it started, but it managed to surprise me in all the best ways over its three seasons. The show had some detractors starting in the second season, but for me it continued to deliver throughout. It's rare to find a show that can pivot effectively from comedy to horror to musical in the space of a single episode, but Legion was such a show. 12. Archer- If the first season was included in the eligibility window this would certainly be a Top 10 show, but as it stands it still belongs in a position of prominence. Archer went through a lot of changes over the course of its run (which is still ongoing at the moment), and not all of them worked. But the highs are just too high for me to leave it off my list. 11. Fleabag – Probably my biggest issue with Fleabag is that there just wasn't enough of it. Hilarious and poignant. 10. Fargo – This show would be higher on my list if not for the third season (which I didn't even finish) and the fourth (which was simply alright), but man those first two seasons are something special. I had the first season ranked as my top show that year and I maintain that it stands up against almost any season of television I've ever seen. 9. Hannibal – Quite simply one of the most beautiful shows I've ever seen, an impressive feat considering how many of its sumptuous visuals were in fact horrific at their core. Perhaps even more impressive was Mads Mikkelsen, who played Hannibal Lecter with such subtlety and finesse that he somehow managed to upstage one of the most iconic performances in film history. 8. Patriot – I wish this show had gotten another season or two, and the only reason it's not even higher on my list is that the story doesn't quite feel complete. But what is there is a hilarious, melancholy meditation on family and trauma, with a kickass soundtrack to boot. All in all, this show is pretty good. 7. Better Call Saul – I am one of those who believes this prequel spin-off has surpassed its parent show. Both shows essentially tell the same story – a good man is driven by circumstance to a life of crime and immorality. But where Breaking Bad quickly becomes the story of a man reveling in his inner monster, Better Call Saul is a classic tragedy through and through. We get to know Jimmy McGill and root for him, even in spite of what we know of his ultimate fate. We spent years wondering when Jimmy would finally be overtaken by Saul, and when it happened it was exactly as heartbreaking as we'd feared. 6. Game of Thrones – I suspect this show will be much lower on other lists, possibly even absent entirely. But in looking at the decade as a whole, it became impossible for me to keep Game of Thrones out of my top 10, and the more I thought about it the higher I found it climbing. At the end of the day, all the controversy in the world can't change the simple fact that I loved this show, and it was hugely important to me as a viewer. I even liked the final season a lot  5. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Interestingly, I don't think Always Sunny ever made any of my individual lists, and if it did it never placed very high. But part of the fun of this project was taking the long view of the entire decade, and it's hard to find a more consistent, and consistently hilarious, comedy over that timeframe. Which is amazing considering the first eligible season is the [i]seventh[/]. I looked over the episode list and was sure the show's best days came before, but I found myself recognizing tons of classic episodes. Few shows in TV history have had a run like Always Sunny, and even fewer live action shows. Certainly deserving of a spot in my top 5. 4. Justified – While the first season of Justified falls outside of the eligibility window, I think most would agree that Season 2 is really where the show finds its voice and becomes great. I came to this show out of my love for Timothy Olyphant (I maintain Deadwood is the best show of all time), and he did not disappoint. Along the way I also discovered Walton Goggins, and that alone earns Justified a spot in my top 5. 3. Parks & Recreation – This was a tough one to place, because while I knew it would be in my top 10 there was an issue with my favorite individual season (Season 2) being outside the eligibility window. However, Season 3 is arguably where the show truly reached its potential, and the additions of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe proved to be massive in that regard. There were certainly shows that made me laugh harder in this decade than Parks & Recreation, but none that had the same heart. 2. The Americans – It's one thing to craft a compelling spy thriller, which The Americans certainly does. It's quite another thing to do so while delivering non-stop excellent performances at every level of the cast. Obviously Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were the standouts, but even supporting players like Annet Mahendru and Noah Emmerich knocked it out of the park every time. Over the course of its entire run the show never dipped in quality, and stuck the landing like few shows I've ever seen. 1. The Leftovers – The first thing I knew when I started working on this list was that The Leftovers would be number one. Something about the show just absolutely works for me on every level. It's sad, and haunting, and absurd, and just so beautiful at times that it's difficult for me to really articulate my feelings about it. That being said: Season 1 was an extremely good show, Season 2 was an all-time great season of television, and Season 3 managed to conclude the story in perfect fashion with one of the best finales I've ever seen.
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Aug 20, 2021 05:04
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When trying to make my own list, there was one criteria that I kept falling back on: I wouldn't want to put something in my top 20 where I wasn't willing to sit through every season of it. Because if I couldn't, then why would it be up there? 15. Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim) Is this a Quibi show before Quibi? I would suggest everyone here watch "Childrens Hospital: A Play in Three Acts" from Season 3, one of the best 10 minutes of television ever. 14. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) The closest thing to help drive away my 30 Rock pangs, which I felt I couldn't include on the list because it missed too much. 13. Chernobyl (HBO) The only 1 season/miniseries on my list. Last year on election day, I shut myself off from the rest of the world, disconnected the internet, and just watched this instead, because if I was going to watch a depressing train wreck, I would rather be entertained. 12. Coba Kai (Netflix) Again, something I never would have expected being any good, somehow was? Not exactly an original thought on the series, sure. The last season did start to dip, but those first two pre-Netflix were great. 11. Stranger Things (Netflix) Although it peaked in the first season, I am still anticipating what's going to happen here. Hard to tell if this was creating a new trend of retro-80s inspired stuff or was piggy backing on the familiar ideas though. 10. Big Mouth (Netflix) I'm guessing most people here would say Pen15 is a better breakdown of middle school fears and angst, but I think Big Mouth does it better, even if the animation itself it not that great. Excellent cast. 9. The Terror (AMC) Fantastic first season that was able to come back with a totally new premise for the next and still slay. 8. Nailed It! (Netflix) The only game show on my list, it is the most fun of any of the cooking/baking competition shows to me, and the only one I would desperately want to be on myself because I can't bake for poo poo. 7. Game of Thrones (HBO) Yes, this is including the last couple years that just sucked. Because the peak of this show was about as good as TV can get. 6. Mad Men (AMC) This is just for the final 3 seasons, because if I could include season 4 in this list it would probably be 2 or 1. My favorite drama of all time, a show that never dipped in quality over its run. 5. The Good Place (NBC) I'm slotting this just below the other big NBC sitcoms of the decade, even if this show had the best finale. Such an excellent cast all working great together. 4. Parks and Rec (NBC) Again, hard to not count that 2nd season, but adding Adam Scott and Rob Lowe kicked the show into overdrive (and hey, then you don't need to count the Louie CK episodes too.) 3. Community (NBC) Would be #1 if I could include the whole series, especially that first season which is close to perfect as I can recall. 2. Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) Yes, fandom, along with alot of the TVIV thread, has tried to make me hate this show. But I can't. 1. Bob's Burgers (Fox) This is my comfort food. The show that I go back to more than any other, besides just old Simpsons. The older I get, the more this show speaks to me - and maybe I see too much of myself in Bob.
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Sep 10, 2021 03:00
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gently caress I'd better actually put a list together for this one Everyone please remember that Sex House is eligible for voting
Rarity fucked around with this message at 13:00 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 12:31
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Now Succession season 3 is definitely airing this year my list won’t be up until December lol
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Sep 15, 2021 12:43
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My list is still only at nine shows, and two of them I am not completely sure of. My goal is to reach ten.
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Sep 15, 2021 13:11
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I have a list of 20 shows drawn up but the Wheel of Time show doesn't finish till Xmas Eve 
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Sep 15, 2021 13:57
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I know it's best shows of the last decade, but then my brain went to "what show has been the best FOR a decade" when I read the Simpsons line in the op. I'll make my own thread list later, but for now I'm putting American Dad on the top of my fake list of shows that have been great for the entire last decade and that can only include shows that actually have aired for the last 10 years not just during it. I dare you to name a bad season of American Dad in the last 10 years... I double dog dare you.
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Sep 15, 2021 14:47
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I've been holding off on mine because I've only really just gotten to the eligible portion of Mad Men for this decade and there's no way I'm not including it, I just don't know where yet.
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Sep 16, 2021 01:35
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Yeah Mad Men and Breaking Bad are definitely going to be the interesting placements. Two shows that you'd probably lock in as consensus top 5 if it was "Best of the 21st century" My list is drafted but I don't have commentary yet. Ive found myself very torn. There a few shows like Shameless and Survivor that on one hand, I watched religiously, enjoyed for the entire period, and in Survivors case spend countless hours consuming supplementary material but on the other hand, acknowledge that they weren't elite all timer shows and in Survivors case, was way less enjoyable than the ineligible years.
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Sep 16, 2021 03:36
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I have a list of 27 shows that are definitely “the shows” it’s just ordering and waiting for Succession s3 (and Lasso to finish s2). I feel pretty confident that the top 10 aren’t changing either. I’m quite excited for this to eventually all happen!
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Sep 16, 2021 12:53
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Looten Plunder posted:Yeah Mad Men and Breaking Bad are definitely going to be the interesting placements. Two shows that you'd probably lock in as consensus top 5 if it was "Best of the 21st century" opening it up to 21st century would probably not let mad men or breaking bad into the top 5 either tbh, and i say that as someone that loves both shows (mad men much moreso). that list for me at least would be in no order deadwood, the shield, the wire, arrested development and futurama
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Sep 16, 2021 14:52
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20) Mr Robot: A lot of the thrill elements I like from shows like The Americans, Breaking Bad and Continuum with the brain problems of Bojack and Better Call Saul. Pity about the ending and pity it restrained itself from really getting weird. But still a great show. It reminds me a bit of Dispatches From Elsewhere (a show that did not make my list) where a good fun show is basically ruined by an uninspired ending. I am happy that it managed to 1) reveal the initial twist relatively early 2) move on from that reveal and 3) not get trapped in a series of never-ending mystery boxes. The show was also somewhat derailed by real life events, one of the dangers of making a show set in what is ostensibly "now" and "here". 19) The Expanse: Best Space Opera since Babylon 5. Great story, great special effects, trained rat actors. A little more restrained than I normally like but still very good. The transition to Amazon wasn't totally clean and I felt the first Amazon season was a little boring and the second sort of went up its own butt. First three seasons are amazing and then it beings a slow decline. Still good all the way through, but I'd recommend against the temptation to binge the later seasons since your attention will likely drift and then you'll miss everything. You have to *watch* it, not *binge* it. 18) The Boys: The cast more than anything makes this show work. That and having the shockingly controversial and timely messages that 1) Nazis suck and 2) There is a club of powerful people and you ain’t in it. 17) Raised by Wolves: I like crazy shows that go off the rails and do weird poo poo. The others shows that just go bugfuck crazy on my list (Breaking Bad, 12 Monkeys, Continuum) basically managed to hold it together which Raised by Wolves does not. But it doesn’t need to. Let it explode in a thousand directions! 16) Mad Men: A great prestige show. Seasons 5 and 7 were amazing, season 6, ehhh, not so much (or was that 7.1, I can't quite remember but I'm sure people will know what I am talking about). I can understand the thematic importance of doldrums but it doesn’t make for fun TV. But the madness of collapse and recovery in season 7 and 15) Counterpart: The secret twist that it didn’t take place in Berlin like we thought but Wuhan was cool. JK Simmons is great, spy thrillers are fun, dimensional shenanigans/butterfly effect stuff is cool. Some people didn't like the second season as much because it transitioned away from being a more cerebral spy thriller to just a straight-up spy thriller but I thought it was earned. It is a bit like chess where a sort of inertia/fatalism takes place after a while because the board is set and there are really only so many good moves you can make at that point. I thought it followed its logic, earned its place and went for a satisfying resolution. 14) Cobra Kai: AND THEN IN 2021, COBRA KAI SEASON 3 CAME OUT. YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T CARE WHAT THE CRITICS SAY, I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. NOT AS GOOD AS COBRA KAI SEASON 1 AND COBRA KAI SEASON 2, BUT HEY, WHAT SHOW IS? I put this show on as background noise while I worked. I’m sure I saw Karate Kid when I was a kid, but I don’t really remember it. I had a friend who would bring back bootleg Kung Fu action movies and Karate Kid isn’t going to stand out vs those. However, the show drew me in to the point where I had to stop watching it while I worked because it was too distracting. The actors have a natural charisma and it is just a fun crazy 80s story. 13) Search Party: I had to ninja edit this one in because I knew I was forgetting something! Take a bunch of the worst people you know and then watch them try to act in their own rational self-interest. Watching their narcissism and ego play out as their lives unravel is immensely satisfying. The cool gimmick of the show is that the characters remains the same and the plot advances but the genre changes each season. It can lead to weird tonal shifts but it keeps the show fresh and exciting. Plus, the stakes of different genres creates a nice escalation of tension. It's a younger Always Sunny played straight instead of for laughs (though there are plenty of laughs). 12) Devs: A nice show that makes you think. Personally, I think there are a lot of different ways the show could have gone to make an even better, different show but thinking along those lines is fun and what I like about TV. Sitting in bed before I go to sleep thinking about how Devs would be different if some elements had changed, which is fitting for the show. Even taken straight, it is a wonderful achievement. A good show about fatalism, life, the quest for meaning, techbro culture and what it means to be alive. 11) Continuum: Another great show that just gets more bonkers as it goes along. The show starts as a fairly bland procedural going after time traveling criminals which is fun in a "sci-fi schlock" kinda way. It feels a little propagandish (not uncommon in SciFi) because the "bad things" the "bad guys" are doing seem like they'd be the heroes on another show. Noble extremists. Then it gets really interesting when the protagonist starts to realize that the future she is from may, in fact, not be a good future at all and then taking steps to stop that. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends in unexpected and exciting ways while everything gets stranger and wilder and wilder and stranger is great. Plus it is fun to see Vancouver as Vancouver instead of Vancouver as New York or DC or Berlin or Space City 1, or whatever. 10) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Just a fun gay romp, making the homosexual subtext of the original He-Man text. Swift-wind is the best, Catra is the best, Scorpia is the best. Just so much fun. I dare you to watch this show and not smile. 9) The Good Place: Look, I’m a sucker for moral philosophy. A comedy about moral philosophy? I’m in. Back-door Buddhist proselytizing to an American audience? I’m down. Beautiful, ugly cry ending? What more could you want? 8) 12 Monkeys: The first season was part of a fad at the time where networks would ask, “What if we took a 2 hour movie, made it with a much lower budget and stretched it over a 12 hour season?” The fad was mercifully short but 12 Monkeys was able to rise beyond its humble beginnings. After getting renewed for a second season, I imagine they had a meeting in the writers room where the lead calmly explained that for the next few days they were going to be taking a regime of psilocybin and Datura and diving into bathtubs full of cockroaches. It just got weird and loving wild. Like Breaking Bad, the show was at its best when it had written itself into a corner and rather than move on to the next mystery box or introduce something new, they looked at what had happened before and built a solution from that groundwork. This show didn’t go off the rails, it launched itself into space. A stellar show with a stellar cast and a stellar finish where everything feels earned. Will you join me in the red forest, free of the tyranny of causality? 7) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Perfect musical TV. Every episode is over the top and it always gives me a good reason to laugh with great music in every season. Team Josh. 6) The Americans: Great spy drama. On a recent re-watch, I was shocked by how well they managed to make the neighbor dynamic work on the show without feeling completely ridiculous. Thrilling, funny, interesting period in history, just so much good stuff is crammed into this show. 5) Always Sunny: I have no idea how a show that has been on TV this long continues to be so loving funny. Each time there is a new season, I approach it with a lot of apprehension because, certainly, this is the time it is going to just suck. But, every time, it miraculously doesn’t. It doesn’t even feel stale, it is some weird wizardry I do not understand but the world is a better place for it. 4) Mandalorian: After disappointing prequels, bad sequels and some mediocre TV shows, this basically rescued Star Wars for me. Go back to basics and steal from spaghetti westerns and Japanese movies that steal from spaghetti westerns. 3) Better Call Saul: If Breaking Bad is a laser trying to push atoms together and create fusion, Better Call Saul is a turkey fryer explosion. It is on a more mundane scale where it is something that we can picture and experience but its destruction is a sight to behold. It polished off a lot of the rougher edges from Breaking Bad and is just an absolute blast to watch and rewatch. 2) Bojack Horseman: Like Bojack, I can be sad sometimes. I also have issues with substance use. Couple that hook with great writers, great animators and a great cast – what’s not to like? A lot self-indulgent but hey, isn’t that what TV is for? It’s not often that I see something on TV that is like, a picture of what goes on inside my head. Bojack did that all the time. 1) Breaking Bad: This show is so good, watching it makes me angry. It was also strangely personal, when it started I was a frustrated scientist in a very bad relationship. I did a bunch of things outside of my comfort zone and found a lot of success (and some tragedy) there. So, I was sold after the first season. Having to wait for each season was an agony. And each season they just turned up the heat more and more getting crazier and crazier until boom. It ended the way it always had to in one of the, if not the, greatest ending of all time. Just an outstanding achievement in television. Outstanding cast, Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul are stellar, but the side characters are also amazing. Bob Odenkirk, Betsy Brandt, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Jonathan Banks, etc. OnlyBans fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Nov 6, 2021 |
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Sep 27, 2021 07:34
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The Suitcase was s4 which aired in 2010. Season 5 is amazing, though
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Sep 27, 2021 10:19
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I think I have a good solid 15 great shows, the top ten of which is really tight. So I am happy with that.
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Sep 27, 2021 18:53
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10 Gogglebox Gogglebox in theory sounds like a terrible idea but after watching it for a few years I really can say that I genuinely love watching this show. For those of you who aren't watching UK TV Gogglebox is a show where you watch TV with other people watching TV or rather, you watch people watching TV. I know it sounds stupid as gently caress and it is but it's thoroughly enjoyable to watch peoples responses to things you have watched that week. 9 Travelers I loved this show and although another season or two would've been awesome, this is one of the best time traveling shows I've ever watched that ended basically perfectly. 8 Taskmaster Taskmaster is phenomenal and I look forward to every season. I've watched other countries versions of the show and they're OK but not great. Something about Alex Horne and Greg Davies makes this one a special show if it's the UK TV version. 7 Mandalorian I was looking forward to the Mandalorian and it lived up to the hype. Disney really knocked it out of the park with this one. 6 Watchmen I expected this show to suck rear end and if you go to the thread about the show you would think that it indeed sucked rear end but it was one of the best shows the past decade. It was kind of like blade runner 2049 in that a sequel should not have worked but they made it work. 5 Mad Men Mad Men and breaking bad are two sides of the same "prestige TV" coin. These two shows probably defined what we consider in that genre even past Sopranos. 4 Black mirror I know that this pick is going to get some hate but based on the episode White Christmas alone, this show is one of the best TV shows in the past decade. It's basically what the twilight zone was for the 60s. 3 Breaking bad Again see above this show helped define what we think of when we think of a "prestige TV" show. 2 TGBBO The great British bake off is one of the most wholesome television shows I've ever seen and if it didn't exist I would put Ted Lasso on this list but it was here and wholesome and I needed it. 1 Better Call Saul Another example of a sequel being better than the original show. In my humble opinion Better Call Saul is better than breaking bad and that's saying a lot! This show really has been my favorite show over the past decade and I look forward to it ending. Croatoan fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Sep 29, 2021 |
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Sep 29, 2021 02:20
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It's going to be so hard not to be hung up on the last couple of years...
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Sep 29, 2021 19:15
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