Top TV Shows/Experiences of the Decade

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[bada]

Ash v Evil Dead
Atlanta
Baskets
Black Sails
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Daredevil
Doom Patrol
Game of Thrones
GLOW
Hell on Wheels
Haunting of Hill House
Justified
The Knick
Louie
Longmire
The Mandalorian
Outlander
Sherlock
Terriers

[Simple Torture]

Three other things that come to mind:

@midnight was a show that my wife and I watched every night for four years. Chris Hardwick is 100% a hack and staring at his face makes me physically ill, but this show introduced me to a lot of great comedians and was consistently funny throughout its run. Sort of glad it ended when it did before it became too stale.

I feel like the final season of Lost (yes, that was this decade!) and especially the finale have had an indescribable impact on the way we watch and consume TV. The recap culture that surrounds prestige TV has its genisis in Lost, and the way that a show's quality is disproportionately tied to how well it "sticks the landing" can be traced directly from here. There's also something to be said for the way people talk about "investment" in a show, ownership, and fandom that have roots here.

Also, while not "top" moments, the ending of both The Colbert Report and Jon Stewart's edition of The Daily Show deserve some sort of recognition, I think. Both of these shows had formulas that have been often imitated but never perfectly. It was sad to watch Stewart get increasingly cynical and worn as the show neared its end that I never would have imagined in the '00s.

[Bi_3]

Breaking Bad
GoT
The Americans
Mr Robot
Justified
Archer
Fargo
Girls
Black Mirror

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

I feel like the final season of Lost (yes, that was this decade!) and especially the finale have had an indescribable impact on the way we watch and consume TV. The recap culture that surrounds prestige TV has its genisis in Lost, and the way that a show's quality is disproportionately tied to how well it "sticks the landing" can be traced directly from here. There's also something to be said for the way people talk about "investment" in a show, ownership, and fandom that have roots here.

Great post

I wanted to include LOST here (as it's my second favorite TV show of all time) but since the majority of the series happened the decade before, I omitted it. Still, glad you mentioned it. Feels like LOST was a fitting end to a previous era and a fitting start to the next one. It is the hinge in a way.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

I feel like the final season of Lost (yes, that was this decade!) and especially the finale have had an indescribable impact on the way we watch and consume TV. The recap culture that surrounds prestige TV has its genisis in Lost, and the way that a show's quality is disproportionately tied to how well it "sticks the landing" can be traced directly from here. There's also something to be said for the way people talk about "investment" in a show, ownership, and fandom that have roots here.

Great post

I wanted to include LOST here (as it's my second favorite TV show of all time) but since the majority of the series happened the decade before, I omitted it. Still, glad you mentioned it. Feels like LOST was a fitting end to a previous era and a fitting start to the next one. It is the hinge in a way.

*donkey wheel

oh damn...

[bada]

Ash v Evil Dead
Atlanta
Baskets
Black Sails
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Daredevil
Doom Patrol
Game of Thrones
GLOW
Hell on Wheels
Haunting of Hill House
Justified
The Knick
Louie
Longmire
The Mandalorian
Outlander
Sherlock
Terriers

I really dig the first few eps of Baskets, I should get back into it. Are they still making new episodes?

nope

[E.H. Ruddock]

Ash v Evil Dead
Atlanta
Baskets
Black Sails
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Daredevil
Doom Patrol
Game of Thrones
GLOW
Hell on Wheels
Haunting of Hill House
Justified
The Knick
Louie
Longmire
The Mandalorian
Outlander
Sherlock
Terriers

I really dig the first few eps of Baskets, I should get back into it. Are they still making new episodes?

Yes

[bada]

The series ended on August 22, 2019.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Then no

[digster]

In a very, very loose semblance of order...

The Americans
Twin Peaks
Catastrophe
Mr. Robot
Bojack Horseman
Succession
Watchmen
Fleabag
You're the Worst
Show Me a Hero
Broadchurch

Stuff like Breaking Bad and Mad Men are on this list as well, but I felt like I came to those shows later and they feel like shows from the 2000s. There's a fair amount more comedy on this list than I would've expected (though comedy as a definition is fairly loose). I'd also really wanted to put Friday Night Lights on this list, until I realized that was almost entirely last decade, which is somewhat horrifying. I could probably break this down further into seasons (i.e., Mr. Robot is really there for it's first and last season, Fleabag is primarily there for its second, etc.)

[epilogue]

That first season of the original Broadchurch is absolutely outstanding.

[epilogue]

Also The Fall. I kept trying to get that into my top 10 but couldn't figure out what to cut. Still, that show was breathtaking. It really deserves to be in the discussion.

[digster]

The Deuce could probably fit in here as well, though I'm not sure Show Me a Hero (Simon's other recent project, which I included on my list) doesn't hit the same heights in less time. Sometimes there's a bit of showiness to Simon's writing that I feel gets excised from Hero due to the constricted running time.

[CopperTom]

How am I the only person to list Killing Eve?! Tisk, tisk, RM.

[epilogue]

How am I the only person to list Killing Eve?! Tisk, tisk, RM.

Haven't seen it yet.

[The Argonaut]

Here's a few I haven't seen listed yet that deserve consideration for a top ten list:

Halt and Catch Fire
Man Seeking Woman
Nathan for You
Silicon Valley
Big Little Lies
The Deuce
Escape at Dannemora