I'm going to follow Alan Sepinwall's model on this one on what shows to include. For shows that premiered before 2010, it must have over half of its episodes air in this decade and that it must not have aired over two seasons. The big omission by this rule is Mad Men, which aired 3 seasons in the 2000s, and It's Always Sunny, which has actually had 97 of its 148 episodes this decade. Which is a blessing frankly. I have no idea how to judge Mad Men as a show if I'm forced to remove the first three seasons, which when included with the fourth, I think are its best. It's certainly on this list, but where is a mystery, especially since I haven't watched the show since the finale.
That's another thing - I am not a heavy rewatcher of shows. Its why I'm able to watch so many shows, because I watch it once and then move on to another show. So some of this list will include shows that I haven't seen in over five years, and thus, I'm mostly trusting my memory of how I felt about the show. Again I have one very specific example in mind that I will rewatch at some point, because I don't remember the show all that well, just that I loved it. This is going to be a long list, so I'll just get on with it.
#50 - Drunk History
Drunk History has suffered in my annual top ten lists, just because it's basically the same thing season after season. But for a list like this, that doesn't matter. It's a simple concept - drunk people trying to tell history accurately - and done well. As a person who has entertained the idea of becoming a history teacher and as a drunk person, this show is right up my alley.
#49 - Arrow
The first Arrowverse show is also its best. Legends of Tomorrow was strongly considered and frankly I have preferred that show to Arrow for most of its run, but no Arrowverse show has matched the heights of Arrow - back half of season 1, all of season 2, season 5, and this latest season. It would not have made the list if not for its last season and I'm worried I'm letting recency bias affect this too much, but I think it deserves a spot.
#48 Key & Peele
I watched my first episode after it went off the air - although obviously I had seem some of the individual sketches - and was at first underwhelmed. The thing about sketch comedies shows - even highly acclaimed ones - is that not every sketch is a hit. But this has enough classic sketches that can go face to face with any classic sketch comedy show and the pure consistency of this show to produce at least mildly funny laughs is nearly unparalleled in sketch comedy shows.
#47 New Girl
I'm not much of a binger - I try not to watch two episodes of the same show in one day believe it or not - but I was put off by the ads for this show and didn't watch it immediately, but I watched the first two seasons on Netflix in like 2 weeks. And I was a fan for good. This just has a very good comedic cast that could make even mediocre writing funny. And I'm not suggesting this had mediocre writing (although later in its run, they kind of did, but that's most comedies that air as long as this one did)
#46 Marvel's Agents of Shield
Two superhero (or superhero-adjacent) shows already? I believe this is the last one. Whether you consider that a good thing or bad thing, well I'm just letting you know this really isn't indicative of most of my list. Partially due to trying to time the show with a Marvel movie, this show started really slow, so much so that I stopped watching. But I picked it back up and it got better and better. It still has one more season to go, but the show doesn't pick up steam until the last batch of episodes in season 1. (If you're considering starting this, just start at Bill Paxton's first episode. You may or may not be a little lost, but the first fifteen episodes are extremely skippable)
#45 Silicon Valley
Pending on how I end up finishing my 2019 top ten list - which I haven't started - this show never made my top 10 comedies of the year and yet I have it here. Part of that is that I didn't have a list in 2014 honestly (I think it would have made it), but it was pretty consistently in the 11th-15th range if I extended my list past ten shows. I probably gave it an honorable mention every year for instance. Anyway good show with a very good cast.
#44 Black Mirror
I hesitate to put this on my list because it doesn't have that many episodes and it doesn't really have that many truly great episodes either. It's not like it has a 100% success rate with its episodes, especially the Netflix seasons. But I don't know it would feel weird to not include this show (which also never made my list and I'm not even sure its best seasons that were before I started this would either cause they were three episodes). And even if the episode is not quite as good as I'd like, it at least is vastly different than anything else on television.
#43 The Leftovers
Holy shit Gabe this is low, right? I liked the show more with each successive season, but there are three seasons and I liked two episodes - TWO - of the first season. And the Guilty Remnant was a huge drag on the show in my opinion. So yeah it's not going to rank all that highly for me - especially in comparison to other critics - and I'm definitely going to one day give it another shot, but hey I still have it at 43, so clearly I like it a lot.
#42 Catastrophe
One of the truly annoying things about making a list like this is just how different certain shows are in length. This has four seasons with six episodes a season. That's as much as one season of a network comedy. How the hell do I judge these shows in comparison to one another? Well, fair or not, what I usually do, is I give credit to the longer show if it uses the extra episodes to still make good episodes. Which is mostly why Catastrophe is this low. Because there just aren't that many episodes. (I do have shows with less episodes higher, so it's not the only reason admittedly)
#41 Terriers
Ladies and gentleman, this is the show I was referring to above. I probably haven't seen this show in 8 years - it was on Netflix whenever I watched it, but it wasn't long after it aired. And I did love the show. But I remember very little about why I loved it. So admittedly, this could be higher - or lower - and I wouldn't argue with you, but I feel like 41 is a pretty good hedge bet especially since this only had 13 episodes. I will one day rewatch this show.
#40 Master of None
The second season was unfortunately very hit or miss, which is why it isn't higher, even though the hits were among the best episodes on television. The first season was much more consistent, but again I'm just not working with very many episodes, so I can't place it much higher than this.
#39 Succession
The timing here is fantastic for Succession to make my list. The most recent episode I watched - and I haven't watched all of the second season yet - was my favorite of the series. I know people wanted this to be labeled a comedy, but it wasn't until my most recent episode that it completely clicked as a comedy for me. And I realize that's a little insane if you watch the show, but it wasn't really laugh out loud funny for me.
#38 Russian Doll
If End of the Fucking World is any indication, it's a blessing that the second season hasn't aired yet. End of the Fucking World, clearly a one season show if there ever was one, would have made this list if they didn't have season two. But they did. Russian Doll is also clearly a one season show that will be making a season two - and I'm part of the problem since I'm going to watch it - but boy did I like the first season. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but it's only eight episodes and that's why it's not higher.
#37 Bob's Burgers
Bob's Burgers does not have the lack of episodes problems - it has 181 episodes made in this decade. And I think maybe 10 of them are weak episodes. It probably doesn't reach the heights of most of the shows on this list, but it is startlingly consistent. Nearly every episode is at least good and definitely entertaining.
#36 Game of Thrones
Everyone talks about how bad the final season was, but it barely came as a shock to me because it wasn't all that good the season before. Nonetheless, it still has what I'd call the "book years." I'm not going to overreact to the last season and not include it on this list, but I'm also not going to pretend that I included this show on my top 10 every year before its last season. (Granted, no top ten lists before 2015, which is removing its first four seasons). This should probably be higher, but it's also a show that was pretty heavily reliant on nailing its ending and boy did it not do that.
#35 Louie
Oh boy did I not want to include this show! And apparently a lot of sites felt the same way. Including this show is a minefield I'm not interesting in stepping in, but I'm also interested in, you know, presenting an accurate list so I kind of had to include this. It would feel dishonest not to, which is why I'm not going to pretend this wasn't one of the most highly acclaimed shows of its time (including by me). Now that I've properly pissed off half the people reading this, I'll piss off the other half: it's fine if Louis CK goes away from pop culture and is never heard from again. (He has admittedly made this incredibly easy if his recent standup is any indication of where he plans to go from here)
#34 Mr. Robot
I hate that I'm writing this list before the conclusion of this show. This is at 36 with the assumption that it's going to nail its ending, because it has sure nailed the final season. This is a show that lost me with its second season and with a third that I thought was fine, but nothing special. But I was a Mr. Robot fanboy for its first and the show grabbed me back with a gripping final season. If Sam Esmail fucks up the ending, it's lower than this and maybe not even in the top 50.
#33 Documentary Now!
What a difficult line the writers (and directors) have to straddle to make this entertaining television. They have to craft 21 minute effective parodies of well-known documentaries and put enough of a twist on them to still make it entertaining on its own. And they manage it every time. And like Drunk History, bonus points for a comedy making me interested in classic documentaries which I think is cool as shit.
#32 Lodge 49
This is not a show I would oversell to someone who is interested in watching it personally. It is an extremely low key type of show that is pretty uninterested in plot. That's the type of show, that if oversold, can make people wonder what the big deal is. That would have happened to me had I not "discovered" it on my own. But I recommend this show and be prepared for how laid back it is. Unfortunately it was cancelled which on the bright side means a low investment in time to watch the whole thing.
#31 American Vandal
Remember above when I mentioned that Russian Doll is probably benefiting from not yet having its second season air? Well it could pull an American Vandal, which did have a weaker second season, but not by much. What a delightfully unusual show this one is. It's a show that makes you sound like a crazy person when you make the case for it in person: believe me I've tried.
#30 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
I'm very glad this show exists. While I don't exactly think this show had many weak points, the main character could be... tough to watch at times, which is why I can't place it higher than this. But still this is a show with many, many original numbers (most of them inspired by something else) that are endlessly re-listenable. Search for some Crazy Ex songs on Youtube, and if you enjoy them, this show might be for you. (Here are two of my favorites: 1 and 2)
#29 You're the Worst
This show was a little too committed to the awfulness of its characters to place higher than this (sometimes it became hard to watch), but it told its story in the time it wanted and had a good final season, which is better than you could say about a lot of shows honestly.
#28 Watchmen
To be perfectly honest, this show is better than some shows above it - but it is working with a very small sample of episodes, and if it continues its momentum, will be high on the 2020 lists. I've also only currently seen four of the episodes, but am pretty sure I'm not going to regret this ranking. Including shows that clearly are going to go for more seasons but literally just started is weird when making an end of the decade list.
#27 GLOW
This is mostly here on the strength of its second season, probably one of the best seasons of television of this decade. That's to take nothing away from its first - which needed to get to the wrestling part to find its groove - or its third - which is a little too scattershot, but still has its high points. Still a pretty great show.
#26 Party Down
All shows are unrealistic, but I now know how lawyers feel about the accuracy of lawyer shows and doctors feel about doctor shows. Cause wow. This show is about Hollywood caterers and while I obviously live in St. Louis, this show does not seem all that realistic. Nonetheless, this has one of the greatest comedy casts ever and takes advantage of that.
#25 Boardwalk Empire
The curse of being the show compared to The Sopranos. I didn't see this show on many end of decade lists, so I was very surprised to find out that the entire show did in fact air this decade. A highly underrated show, again this show had the misfortune of being directly compared to The Sopranos due to Terrance Winter, and while it is no Sopranos, it still is worth a place on this list.
#24 Broad City
This is one of those shows were initially, the perception of this show of people whose TV tastes I trust was at odds with my perception. Not to say I ever disliked this show, but they always seemed to grade it a little higher than I thought. But the show seemed to only get better with each season, an opinion I'm not sure is shared by many, and didn't overstay its welcome. In fact, I believe its last season will land on my top 10 this year, which again - aside from cancellations - doesn't happen that much.
#23 Jane the Virgin
Ah, a show with a title that is instantly off-putting - and to a certain extent the premise is too. This sounds like a show you can write off - but you can't. Sometimes, I warn that shows get off to slow starts and eventually find their way - that's the norm actually - but this show came out of the gate instantly great and in fact made my top 10 shows of the year every year since its inception.
#22 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Talk about unlikely good shows - go back to the Roast of James Franco and lots of people make fun of Andy Samberg for this - which hadn't aired yet - becoming cancelled or bad soon. And I didn't really blame them for thinking it to be honest. Instead season seven is going to air in 2020 after a cancellation and subsequent pickup by NBC. This has the consistency of a Bob's Burgers with better high points.
#21 Stranger Things
Part of me wonders if this should be higher, but then I remember that the solo Eleven story exists, which is easily the worst thing this show ever did. A huge gamble and I admire the ambition, but man did that episode fall flat and halt that season's momentum. Anyway, aside from that, the rest of the show is great.
#20 Barry
A hitman turned actor is a great premise that I can also see failing spectacularly. But Bill Hader has long been a great actor in need of a vehicle for a starring role and Barry finally provides it. And ronny/lilly is one of my favorite episodes of anything for a long time and completely unlike anything I've ever seen.
#19 Hannibal
I'm a little worried about recency bias for most of my list, but not this one, which I haven't seen in four years since it last aired. But I remember loving this weird, well acted show that has been unlike anything I've ever seen.
#18 Review
It's here where I'll again knock a show for very few episodes, because this show is a masterpiece. It's only three seasons with the third being only 3 episodes, and it's not immediately clear it's a masterpiece when you first watch it. So I'm aware I'm probably raising expectations too high. But hilarious and dark show.
#17 Better Call Saul
The spinoff of Breaking Bad ultimately has a chance to pass that show in quality, depending on how it ends. But for now, it'll have to "settle" merely for being the 17th best show on my list. It is a way better than show than it has any right to be. Yes, the character of Saul Goodman always looked ripe for his own show, but it never seemed like it would be this good of one.
#16 Fleabag
It is a testament to how good this show is that I have it this high with just 12 episodes. I cannot stress enough that the amount of episodes and the success rate of that amount is heavily factored into where shows ranked. It just does not seem fair to rank a show with 50 good episodes below a show 20. But as I said, this only has 12!
#15 Gravity Falls
As a show that was on Disney XD, which I'm not convinced is a real channel, I did not watch this when it first aired, but well after, on Hulu. It's only two seasons and 40 episodes, but it has a central mystery behind the comedy that is compelling in its own right. This is a classic mystery show that constantly teases and foreshadows and actually delivers on that promise, unlike... just about every other mystery show there is.
#14 Nathan for You
This is one of those shows that, I'm sure if you watched the first episode - maybe even the first season - you'd be truly mystified at this ranking. And I don't necessarily blame you. It's best episode by far is its movie length last episode - another thing that would mystify based off just watching the first episode. But stick with the show and you'll find it more than just funny and entertaining.
#13 Justified
I truly do want this to be higher, but I can't really go any higher than this, since for most of its run, it never really vaulted into one of the best shows on television. The exception is the Margo Martindale season 2, and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins constantly kept things entertaining, but what sealed its place on this list was its strong final season as well. Modern Western that I wholeheartedly recommend.
#12 Community
The sheer consistency of this show for its first three seasons is nearly unmatched by any other comedy on this list - and the first 9 or so episodes of the first season are not included in this list since they aired in 2009. But that barely harms the show since it didn't really hit its groove until the 2010s hit. Unfortunately, there's the dreadful season 4 and season 6, but I hardly feel compelled to hold that against them. Dan Harmon was fired, a lot of the behind the scenes people left with him and the show's momentum was killed. They did recover to make a good season 5 at least.
#11 Bojack Horseman
I have not completed the most recent season, but I don't have to - the show's first five seasons speak for themselves. I'm knocking it ever so slightly for keeping its characters in stasis - and they are far from the first show to do so - but it tends to tilt towards misery porn at times with watching its main character constantly screw his own life over. It's still 11 so obviously I don't have a huge issue with that, but it's a small complaint.
#10 Veep
Even in its down years, the cast and the colorful language kept this entertaining. And obviously, the show became nearly prescient with what's happened after it aired, making its parody of politics reality. I will say - it doesn't hurt the show much - but in its middle years, the show's commitment to not reveal Selena's party hurt it a bit - in my opinion anyway.
#9 Rick & Morty
If only I could put this on this list without the backdrop of its annoying fandom that surrounds it. I think I got into Rick & Morty before I let the fandom impact my opinion of the show, but I pretty much don't blame people who don't watch it at this point. Nonetheless, they are missing out as this is a very inventive, funny comedy.
#8 Rectify
I am struggling to write passages for every show - I'm not sure why I did that - but especially so for shows like Rectify. Rectify apparently last aired an episode in December of 2016, and while that was three years ago, it feels like five. So my memory of this show is of a quiet, very well-acted, very well-written drama that I need to rewatch as soon as I can.
#7 Parks and Recreation
With the 2009 episodes cut off, you lose.... virtually nothing. You lose Hunting Trip, which is a classic, but otherwise you get a very different show in the first six episodes and a show still finding its footing in the beginning of season 2. And I wholeheartedly recommend you start watching at season 2, but it's not quite at its peak yet. Rob Lowe and Adam Scott enter the picture in the back half of season 2 and then the show becomes a classic.
#6 Fargo
If only it weren't for season 3, which is definitely better than I remember it, but which was coming off the tails of one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched in season 2. The show is this high almost entirely on the back of season 2, even though season 1 is quite good in its own right. And like I said, season 3 isn't bad, it's just mostly unpleasant to watch, which I realize sounds like a different way of saying it was bad, but you'd understand if you watch the show.
#5 Atlanta
How good is this show? Well it's ratings appear to be shit, though I do not know the context for FX shows, and it got renewed for a third season after the second season and a fourth season in August of 2019 very randomly. It still hasn't aired the third season. Between Donald Glover's music and movie career and Laketh Stanfield being in every movie lately, I feel like we're going to get season 4 in 2025.
#4 The Pacific
This is technically a miniseries and I obviously have no other miniseries on this list, even though I'm sure I could have included more. Alias Grace comes to mind. I strangely haven't seen Show Me a Hero, but that's a David Simon show so I'm sure that has an argument. But I just had to include this show, which doesn't even seem like it aired this decade, but it did. It is a much more difficult watch than Band of Brothers, but no less remarkable. In fact, it's told in a more - ambitious? - way and with less audience hand-holding.
#3 Breaking Bad
I'm not the biggest fan of the final season, but seasons 3 and 4 are the most thrilling, fly by the seat of your pants television I have ever seen and probably will ever see. This is sort of a "watch it one time" type of show and if you watch it more than once, watch it with someone else with fresh eyes. I'm still afraid I'm putting it too high - not that many would argue - just because, as I said, not the biggest fan of season 5. But even then, season 5 has Ozymandias so you know what, it belongs.
#2 The Good Place
It is entirely possible that this show will fuck up the ending, but that actually doesn't matter at all on this list. I mean a show as geared up towards an ending as Good Place will retroactively make the rest of the show worse if they do it badly enough, but I don't think that's going to happen. Truly one of my favorite shows of all time.
#1 The Americans
I mean come on. If you guys ever ever read my TV stuff - literally ever - this is the least surprising #1 pick ever. It was my #1 show every single year I made a top 10 list. I'm going to have to make my first top ten list without The Americans in a couple weeks. And I don't know what's replacing it. So that'll be fun. So watch The Americans I say enthusiastically and demandingly.
Honorable Mentions
Legends of Tomorrow - A truly entertaining show I recommend to anyone. It probably should have made its way on my list.
Archer - Unfortunately, this show was great for about two years, and one of the better years was in 2009 so pretty easy omission here.
The Crown - It's a bit too boring, but it's very well made and has great acting.
The Knick - The Steven Soderbergh produced show benefits heavily from what I thought was a great ending in its two season run.
Black-ish - In terms of sitcoms with serious highs, this had a real shot, but there's a whole lot of episodes of this show that are skippable.
Wilfred - This show never had a real shot at this list, but I do want to give a shoutout to this weird ass show that I liked a lot!
This is Us - Yeah yeah this show is actually good and it's kind of annoying, but it does try to manipulate emotions too much.
Shameless - At this point, I think the not good seasons outweigh the good ones, and that's why it's not on here, but it had a good run for a while there.
Santa Clarita Diet - Dark comedy featuring Olyphant and Drew Barrymore that I can't recommend enough if you like dark comedy.
Orphan Black - Again, never a real shot, but watching Tatiana Maslany play 20 different characters is worth the price of admission.
Banshee - Very kickass show
Chernobyl - I forgot to mention this show when mentioning miniseries that probably could have made it.
On Becoming a God in Central Florida - I felt weird putting too many one season shows on this list unfortunately otherwise it did have a shot.
#16 Fleabag
It is a testament to how good this show is that I have it this high with just 12 episodes. I cannot stress enough that the amount of episodes and the success rate of that amount is heavily factored into where shows ranked. It just does not seem fair to rank a show with 50 good episodes below a show 20. But as I said, this only has 12!
#15 Gravity Falls
As a show that was on Disney XD, which I'm not convinced is a real channel, I did not watch this when it first aired, but well after, on Hulu. It's only two seasons and 40 episodes, but it has a central mystery behind the comedy that is compelling in its own right. This is a classic mystery show that constantly teases and foreshadows and actually delivers on that promise, unlike... just about every other mystery show there is.
#14 Nathan for You
This is one of those shows that, I'm sure if you watched the first episode - maybe even the first season - you'd be truly mystified at this ranking. And I don't necessarily blame you. It's best episode by far is its movie length last episode - another thing that would mystify based off just watching the first episode. But stick with the show and you'll find it more than just funny and entertaining.
#13 Justified
I truly do want this to be higher, but I can't really go any higher than this, since for most of its run, it never really vaulted into one of the best shows on television. The exception is the Margo Martindale season 2, and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins constantly kept things entertaining, but what sealed its place on this list was its strong final season as well. Modern Western that I wholeheartedly recommend.
#12 Community
The sheer consistency of this show for its first three seasons is nearly unmatched by any other comedy on this list - and the first 9 or so episodes of the first season are not included in this list since they aired in 2009. But that barely harms the show since it didn't really hit its groove until the 2010s hit. Unfortunately, there's the dreadful season 4 and season 6, but I hardly feel compelled to hold that against them. Dan Harmon was fired, a lot of the behind the scenes people left with him and the show's momentum was killed. They did recover to make a good season 5 at least.
#11 Bojack Horseman
I have not completed the most recent season, but I don't have to - the show's first five seasons speak for themselves. I'm knocking it ever so slightly for keeping its characters in stasis - and they are far from the first show to do so - but it tends to tilt towards misery porn at times with watching its main character constantly screw his own life over. It's still 11 so obviously I don't have a huge issue with that, but it's a small complaint.
#10 Veep
Even in its down years, the cast and the colorful language kept this entertaining. And obviously, the show became nearly prescient with what's happened after it aired, making its parody of politics reality. I will say - it doesn't hurt the show much - but in its middle years, the show's commitment to not reveal Selena's party hurt it a bit - in my opinion anyway.
#9 Rick & Morty
If only I could put this on this list without the backdrop of its annoying fandom that surrounds it. I think I got into Rick & Morty before I let the fandom impact my opinion of the show, but I pretty much don't blame people who don't watch it at this point. Nonetheless, they are missing out as this is a very inventive, funny comedy.
#8 Rectify
I am struggling to write passages for every show - I'm not sure why I did that - but especially so for shows like Rectify. Rectify apparently last aired an episode in December of 2016, and while that was three years ago, it feels like five. So my memory of this show is of a quiet, very well-acted, very well-written drama that I need to rewatch as soon as I can.
#7 Parks and Recreation
With the 2009 episodes cut off, you lose.... virtually nothing. You lose Hunting Trip, which is a classic, but otherwise you get a very different show in the first six episodes and a show still finding its footing in the beginning of season 2. And I wholeheartedly recommend you start watching at season 2, but it's not quite at its peak yet. Rob Lowe and Adam Scott enter the picture in the back half of season 2 and then the show becomes a classic.
#6 Fargo
If only it weren't for season 3, which is definitely better than I remember it, but which was coming off the tails of one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched in season 2. The show is this high almost entirely on the back of season 2, even though season 1 is quite good in its own right. And like I said, season 3 isn't bad, it's just mostly unpleasant to watch, which I realize sounds like a different way of saying it was bad, but you'd understand if you watch the show.
#5 Atlanta
How good is this show? Well it's ratings appear to be shit, though I do not know the context for FX shows, and it got renewed for a third season after the second season and a fourth season in August of 2019 very randomly. It still hasn't aired the third season. Between Donald Glover's music and movie career and Laketh Stanfield being in every movie lately, I feel like we're going to get season 4 in 2025.
#4 The Pacific
This is technically a miniseries and I obviously have no other miniseries on this list, even though I'm sure I could have included more. Alias Grace comes to mind. I strangely haven't seen Show Me a Hero, but that's a David Simon show so I'm sure that has an argument. But I just had to include this show, which doesn't even seem like it aired this decade, but it did. It is a much more difficult watch than Band of Brothers, but no less remarkable. In fact, it's told in a more - ambitious? - way and with less audience hand-holding.
#3 Breaking Bad
I'm not the biggest fan of the final season, but seasons 3 and 4 are the most thrilling, fly by the seat of your pants television I have ever seen and probably will ever see. This is sort of a "watch it one time" type of show and if you watch it more than once, watch it with someone else with fresh eyes. I'm still afraid I'm putting it too high - not that many would argue - just because, as I said, not the biggest fan of season 5. But even then, season 5 has Ozymandias so you know what, it belongs.
#2 The Good Place
It is entirely possible that this show will fuck up the ending, but that actually doesn't matter at all on this list. I mean a show as geared up towards an ending as Good Place will retroactively make the rest of the show worse if they do it badly enough, but I don't think that's going to happen. Truly one of my favorite shows of all time.
#1 The Americans
I mean come on. If you guys ever ever read my TV stuff - literally ever - this is the least surprising #1 pick ever. It was my #1 show every single year I made a top 10 list. I'm going to have to make my first top ten list without The Americans in a couple weeks. And I don't know what's replacing it. So that'll be fun. So watch The Americans I say enthusiastically and demandingly.
Honorable Mentions
Legends of Tomorrow - A truly entertaining show I recommend to anyone. It probably should have made its way on my list.
Archer - Unfortunately, this show was great for about two years, and one of the better years was in 2009 so pretty easy omission here.
The Crown - It's a bit too boring, but it's very well made and has great acting.
The Knick - The Steven Soderbergh produced show benefits heavily from what I thought was a great ending in its two season run.
Black-ish - In terms of sitcoms with serious highs, this had a real shot, but there's a whole lot of episodes of this show that are skippable.
Wilfred - This show never had a real shot at this list, but I do want to give a shoutout to this weird ass show that I liked a lot!
This is Us - Yeah yeah this show is actually good and it's kind of annoying, but it does try to manipulate emotions too much.
Shameless - At this point, I think the not good seasons outweigh the good ones, and that's why it's not on here, but it had a good run for a while there.
Santa Clarita Diet - Dark comedy featuring Olyphant and Drew Barrymore that I can't recommend enough if you like dark comedy.
Orphan Black - Again, never a real shot, but watching Tatiana Maslany play 20 different characters is worth the price of admission.
Banshee - Very kickass show
Chernobyl - I forgot to mention this show when mentioning miniseries that probably could have made it.
On Becoming a God in Central Florida - I felt weird putting too many one season shows on this list unfortunately otherwise it did have a shot.
