Say what you will about the state of the entertainment industry at the end of the decade, and my is it precarious, but there’s no denying that the last ten years have delivered an absolutely absurd amount of the best TV ever created. From the birth of streaming services, to the fading prejudice against being a “TV star” (Meryl Streep makes TV now!), the 2010s have been a goldmine of creativity and ambitious storytelling across mediums, genres, networks, and platforms.
With the 2010s coming to a close, the Collider Staff has selected our picks for the best TV shows of the decade – and let us tell you, that was no easy feat. Long gone are the days when broadcast and cable waged a two-party war for your attention; this is the era of Peak TV, folks!
With that in mind, we ultimately had to cull our favorites, but here are some honorable mentions thatalmostmade the cut:Shameless, The Handmaid’s Tale, My Mad Fat Diary, Crashing (both versions), Better Things, Archer, Man Seeking Woman, Don’t Trust the B– in Apartment 23, Bojack Horseman, Big Little Lies, True Blood, Jessica Jones, I Think You Should Leave, The Good Wife,andScandal.
And without further ado, here are our picks for the best TV shows of the decade, from most recent to the start of the 2010s. And for more, be sure to check out the rest of ourBest of the Decadecoverage.
The Boys (2019 - Present)
It’s been a while since a social satire cut so deeply into the exact time it was released likeThe Boys, Amazon’s dissection of what it’d be like to live in an age of actual superheroes, not just one where they rule the box office. Adapted from the Dynamite comic series by writerGarth EnnisandDarick Robertson,The Boys is 2019’sWatchmen—yes, I know there is an actual 2019Watchmen, also very good!—putting on display our near-religious devotion to superhero media and the dangers of trusting too hard in spandex-wearing gods. It’s also just like, a really freaking entertaining black comedy that pairs up an endearingly skittishJack Quaidand a filthy-mouthedKarl Urbanin a crude, bloody mystery tale. Urban kills a room full of goons with a superpowered baby. It’s a good time. Special attention must be paid to roles likeAntony Starras Homelander, the homicidal man-child with the powers of Superman, who would be the most chilling, multi-layered villain on the show if it weren’t for Oscar-winnerElisabeth Shueas Madelyn Stillwell, a corporate suit who signs lives away with a smile. –Vinnie Mancuso
Russian Doll (2019 - Present)
If you want to see what happens when a group of brilliant and super creative female forces comes together for one project, look no further than Netflix’sRussian Doll. Not only does the show rock a standout performance fromNatasha Lyonne, a magical pairing of creators in Lyonne,Leslye HeadlandandAmy Poehler, and A+ direction from Lyonne, Headland, andJamie Babbit, but the series also puts a very smart and highly entertaining twist on the time loop narrative.Russian Dollis brimming with sass and energy. It barrels through its eight-episode run with laughs, heart and one intense ticking clock, all while peeling back the layers of its main character (Lyonne) and, in a sense, exploring how to reassemble them to make her feel whole and move forward. –Perri Nemiroff
Unbelievable (2019 - Present)
From showrunnerSusannah Grantand inspired by real events, the eight-episode mini-seriesUnbelievableis a story of unspeakable trauma and the strength and resilience that you’re able to discover within yourself, as a result. When 18-year-old Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever, giving a reserved but remarkable performance) reports that she’s been sexually assaulted by an intruder in her home in 2008, everyone from her former foster parents to her friends to the investigating detectives doubt the truth of her story. Meanwhile, in 2011 and hundreds of miles away, Detectives Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) and Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) find themselves investigating a pair of intruder rapes that are eerily similar to Marie’s experience, and they partner to catch what is clearly a serial rapist.
Throughout the case, and as more victims are discovered, you get a real sense of why it’s so hard for survivors of such crimes to come forward. You want to scream and cry for Marie, as she’s dismissed and judged by those she thought would help her. It will break your heart and make you sad and angry, again and again, but although it is difficult subject matter, it’s also really informative, compelling and necessary viewing, with a trio of incredible performances at its center. –Christina Radish
Watchmen (2019)
Full disclosure, at the time of this posting, I still haven’t seen the finale episode ofWatchmen. Is it a big swing to put a series on your Best of the Decade list when you don’t even know how it ends? Yes. ButDamon Lindelof’s insane, ambitious adaptation of the celebrated comic series has earned a spot based on the measure of its first eight episodes alone. Somehow Lindelof and his creative team pulled off the impossible: a potent, timely, and gripping new world built from the events of the source material, that’s just as existentially ponderous and unabashedly bizarre asAlan Moore’s original story. Gorgeous on a technical level, acted to hell and back (putJean Smartineverything, you cowards), and featuring some sublime writing,Watchmenisn’t just one of the best series of the decade, it’s one of the series that best expressed what it felt to live through it, just with a lot more squids. –Haleigh Foutch
Chernobyl (2019)
From creator/writerCraig Mazinand director Johan Renck, the five-part HBO miniseriesChernobylexplores how the 1986 nuclear accident becomes one of the worst human-made catastrophes in history. After the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe, countless brave men and women sacrificed their own lives, both knowingly and unknowingly, in an attempt to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Chernobylis masterful in its storytelling, as it shines a spotlight on the domino effect of what happens when a government values their own agenda over human lives. As the viewer witnesses the role that truth and lies played in the outcome of this terrible disaster, you also get to see the incredible strength and courage that was displayed by so many. It has a phenomenal cast with no weak links and includes stand-out performances fromJarred Harris,Stellan Skarsgård,Emily Watsonand Jessie Buckley.There are tragic images throughout that will haunt you long after seeing them, like the moment on the Bridge of Death in Pripyat. –Christina Radish
When They See Us (2019)
Created, co-written and expertly directed byAva DuVernay, the four-part Netflix limited seriesWhen They See Uschronicles the notorious case of the five teenagers of color from Harlem –Antron McCray,Kevin Richardson,Yusef Salaam,Raymond Santana, andKorey Wise– who became labeled the Central Park Five, after being accused of a violent rape in New York in the spring of 1989. After being questioned as teenagers and pressured to confess, they were convicted and sentenced and served between 6 and 13 years in prison before their exoneration in 2002.
Watching their journey is an undeniable gut-punch that will break your heart, turn you into a sobbing mess who’s angry at the injustice of it all, and inspire hope. What these men went through when they were still just boys is unconscionable, and the fact that they are a beacon of light today, now known as The Exonerated 5, is truly a miracle, but they went through it and even though it is, at times, painful to watch, it’s also important to witness and understand why their story is still so relevant today.–Christina Radish
Barry (2018-Present)
I’ve already written rather extensively about how incredibleBarryis, but I can’t really say it enough: this is one of the best shows on television. ShowrunnersBill HaderandAlec Bergturned a fairly basic premise—a hitman wants to become an actor—into one of the most compelling, emotional, and funniest shows on television. The writing is whip-smart, the performances are strikingly nuanced, and the direction is purposeful and motivated. To the latter point,Barryis oftentimes more cinematic and visually satisfying than many other so-called prestige dramas currently on TV. That’s a testament to Hader’s talent as a director (see: Season 2, Episode 5), and the filmmaking team’s dedication to meticulous storytelling.Barryisn’t strictly a comedy, but it’s not really a drama either. It’s completely, entirely, uniquely human, complete with all the best and worst qualities that descriptor entails. –Adam Chitwood
The Haunting of Hill House (2018 - Present)
Equal parts emotionally traumatic and turn-the-lights-on scary,Mike Flanagan’sThe Haunting of Hill Houseadaptation delivers an ambitious update on the classicShirley Jacksonnovel, spinning the seminal haunting tale into a gripping ghostly melodrama about the Crane family. Featuring phenomenal performances from an ensemble that includesCarla Gugino,Victoria Pedretti,Katie Siegel,Oliver Jackson-Cohen,Elizabeth Reaser,Timothee Hutton, andMcKennaGrace, the series skips back and forth in time, exploring the Crain family’s harrowing move into the poisonous grounds of Hill House, and how that trauma continues to terrorize them decades later.
Combining technical mastery (I’m still blown away by the impact and sheervolumeof the hidden ghosts) with heartfelt storytelling, Flanagan created a gripping soapy drama that’s peak binge-worthy and also happens to be legitimately terrifying. Flanagan has made a career of spinning scary stories out of emotional tales of trauma, butThe Haunting of Hill Houseis his most impressive (and nightmare-inducing) yet, stirring up that sickening, deeply scary pot of fear inside us all – fear of mortality, loneliness, disfigurement, self-destruction, loss, grief and heartbreak – and giving it the horrifying faces that haunt Hill House. –Haleigh Foutch
Killing Eve (2018 - Present)
Phoebe Waller-Bridgehas one of the sexiest, most surprising voices in the industry right now (hence her spot on our breakout storytellers of the decade list,) but she never loses sight of her characters' humanity no matter how many wide curve-balls she throws at them. That was true inFleabagandCrashing, but Waller-Bridge elevated her style to the heights of genre indulgence with the assassin thrillerKilling Eve.
Jodi ComerandSandra Ohare impeccably matched as a fashionably alluring and utterly psychopathic international assassin (Comer) and the contrasting blue jeans and steady home life FBI agent trying to hunt her down (Oh). Then they start to fall for each other, each enraptured in the thrill of the chase, and the results are violently delicious and never, ever predictable. Season 2 was still entertaining, but you can’t top that first batch of episodes and the absolute head-rush of cheeky carnality in Waller-Bridge’s vision. –Haleigh Foutch
Succession (2018 - Present)
“It gets good X number of episodes in” is the death-knell of any TV show in 2019, at a time when we’re inundated with too much content. But those who weren’t first struck by HBO’sSuccessionunderstood by the third, fourth, or fifth episode (depending on your temperament) that this was something special, and with the show’s recently aired second season, it solidified its place as one of the best TV shows to ever air on HBO.
Loosely inspired by the Murdoch family, the show chronicles the wheelings, dealings, and backstabbing of a wealthy media family whose patriarch suffers some health issues in the pilot. The various sons, daughters, and cousins come out swinging with their own separate tactics, butSuccessionunderstood halfway through the first season that the show is at its best when the entire ensemble is together in the same room, hashing it out and throwing expletive-laden insults to hilarious results. So that’s whereJesse Armstrongtook the series, which is darkly comedic but also wildly compelling, doling out plot twists with the impact of an atom bomb. It’s addictive, supremely satisfying TV at its best. – Adam Chitwood
