Best-of-the-decade top ten lists
This page will be updated as needed throughout the end of the year.
Last update: January 11, 2020
One problem with TV reviews: For many shows, they only reflect the first few episodes of a given season, which makes it hard to get a sense of a season (or, indeed, series) as a whole after the fact. So, to get a better read on the current consensus and the staying power of each show, we have also aggregated best-of-the-decade lists published by a variety of entertainment publications in late 2019. Individual lists are displayed at the bottom of the page, but in the table below, the most frequently mentioned shows are ranked according to our points system (which gives bonus points for being ranked at the top of a list):
- 3 points for each 1st place ranking
- 2 points for each 2nd place ranking
- 1 point for being ranked 3rd - 10th OR for being included on an unranked list of 10 or fewer TV shows
- 0.5 points for being included on an unranked list of 11-20 shows OR for being included in any position (1-10) in publications that list comedies and dramas separately (so that those publications don't skew the overall results just by virtue of publishing more than one list)
- No points for shows included on unranked lists of more than 20 shows (or for shows ranked worse than 20th)
Show (Network) | # 1st Place | # 2nd Place | # Other | Points | |
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1 | The Leftovers (HBO) | 7 | 3 | 15 | 42 |
2 | Fleabag (Prime Video) | 2 | 4 | 27.5 | 41.5 |
3 | Game of Thrones (HBO) | 6 | 2 | 16 | 38 |
4 | Breaking Bad (AMC) | 5 | 5 | 11.5 | 36.5 |
5 | The Americans (FX) | 7 | 1 | 13 | 36 |
6 | Atlanta (FX) | 1 | 5 | 21 | 34 |
7 | Mad Men (AMC) | 1 | 3 | 13 | 22 |
8 | BoJack Horseman (Netflix) | 1 | 1 | 16 | 21 |
9 | Parks and Recreation (NBC) | 1 | 3 | 11 | 20 |
10 | Stranger Things (Netflix) | 2 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
11 | The Good Place (NBC) | 1 | 1 | 10 | 15 |
Hannibal (NBC) | 2 | 1 | 7 | 15 | |
13 | Veep (HBO) | 0 | 1 | 11 | 13 |
14 | Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime) | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | 12.5 |
15 | Better Call Saul (AMC) | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
16 | Justified (FX) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
17 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox/NBC) | 0 | 1 | 6.5 | 8.5 |
18 | Succession (HBO) | 0 | 1 | 5.5 | 7.5 |
Watchmen (HBO) | 2 | 0 | 1.5 | 7.5 | |
20 | The Walking Dead (AMC) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
The Good Fight (CBS All Access) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Rectify (Sundance) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Individual top ten lists
Below are the 46 individual top ten lists used to calculate the standings above. Some critics may list shows without ranking them; such lists are displayed below, without numbers, in alphabetical order. For now, we are including only one list per critic (though that may change if numerous critics
Adweek Jason Lynch View full list |
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A.V. Club View full list |
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Buzzfeed Nora Dominick View full list |
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ComingSoon Maggie Dela Paz View full list |
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ComingSoon Kylie Hemmert View full list |
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ComingSoon Grant Hermanns View full list |
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ComingSoon Grant Hermanns View full list |
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Consequence of Sound View full list |
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The Custard TV Luke Knowles View full list |
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Decider View full list |
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The Detroit News Tom Long View full list |
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entertainment.ie View full list |
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Entertainment Weekly Kristen Baldwin View full list |
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Entertainment Weekly Darren Franich View full list |
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Esquire View full list |
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Film School Rejects View full list |
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GamesRadar+ Staff consensus View full list |
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Gizmodo Australia Leah Williams View full list |
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Goomba Stomp View full list |
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The Hollywood Reporter Dan Fienberg View full list |
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The Independent View full list |
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IndieWire View full list |
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Junkee Cameron Williams View full list |
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Mandatory View full list |
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Mashable View full list |
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Metro UK View full list |
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Newsday Verne Gay View full list |
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NME View full list |
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Pajiba View full list |
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Paste View full list |
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People Tom Gliatto View full list |
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The Playlist View full list |
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RogerEbert.com Allison Shoemaker and Brian Tallerico View full list |
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Rolling Stone Alan Sepinwall View full list |
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Salon Melanie McFarland View full list |
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The Salt Lake Tribune Scott D. Pierce View full list |
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ScreenCrush Maggie Fremont View full list |
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ScreenRant James Hunt View full list |
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Slant View full list |
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Slashfilm View full list |
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Stuff (New Zealand) View full list |
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Superhero Hype View full list |
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Sydney Morning Herald Michael Idato and Paul Kalina View full list |
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Time Judy Berman View full list View separate list of best miniseries (not included in combined standings) |
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TV Guide View full list |
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Uproxx View full list |
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USA Today Kelly Lawler View full list |
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Vanity Fair Sonia Saraiya View full list |
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Variety Caroline Framke and Daniel D'Addario View full list |
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The Young Folks View full list |
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More best of the decade coverage
Check out our lists of the best movies of the decade and the best albums of the decade.
What about your list?
What are your favorite TV shows of the decade? Give us your list in the comments section below.
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