Television had been around for decades at the turn of the 21st century, but it didn’t hit its stride as a medium for storytelling untilantiheroes like Tony Soprano and Walter White came alongwith their complex, serialized storylines. This ushered in the so-called “Golden Age” of television, sometimes called “Peak TV,” and audiences were treated to some of the greatest TV series ever produced during this time.
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The best TV dramas have broken down the conventions of episodic television and some of them can feel more like a giant movie cut up into bite-sized chunks than a traditional TV show.
10Lost
The mysteries of the island on which the survivors of the Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 plane crash were marooned kept TV viewers on the edge of their seats for six years.Lostwas deservingly one of the most popular dramas on the air throughout its run.
The muddled finale episode let down the series’ standing as a complete work, but there was no way aLostfinale was going to please everyone and, on the whole, it’s still a great show.
9Sherlock
Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’sSherlockbrought Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson into the modern era. The show’s feature-length episodes have brilliantly re-contextualized the classic Arthur Conan Doyle mysteries for the present day.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman anchor the show in the roles of Holmes and Watson, nailing each character in addition to sharing palpable on-screen chemistry.
8The Leftovers
Although it was cut unfortunately short by its low viewership,The Leftoversis one of the most intriguing and well-crafted shows in recent memory. It’s set in a world in which 2% of the global population has mysteriously vanished.
The apocalypse inThe Leftoversdoesn’t devastate civilization like the zombie uprising ofThe Walking Dead; instead, the series focuses on the psychological ramifications. The world looks the same, but the mentality is different.
7The Handmaid’s Tale
Elisabeth Moss has made for a captivating lead as Offred in Hulu’s small-screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpieceThe Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood herself has been involved in translating her story to the screen.
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Touching on plenty of timely issues,The Handmaid’s Talehas been one of the most socially significant shows of the past few years, even if its second and third seasons couldn’t quite live up to the first.
6Game Of Thrones
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ small-screen adaptation ofA Song of Ice and Fire,Game of Thrones, disappointed fans witha disjointed, half-baked final seasonthat rushed through its plot points.
But before perhaps the most notoriously bad final season ever broadcast,Game of Throneswas one of the greatest shows on the air for seven years.
5Better Call Saul
Spin-offs don’t always work out in television. In fact, they usually don’t. Most spin-offs are a shallow attempt to cash in on a successful series and rarely manage to hold a candle to their predecessor. But against all odds, Vince Gillian, Peter Gould, and co. have satisfiedBreaking Badfans with their prequel seriesBetter Call Saul.
Chronicling the origins ofBreaking Bad’s criminal underworld through the story ofWalter White’s devious “criminal” lawyer,Better Call Saulisalmost as great as the flagship show.
The advertising industry might not sound like the basis for a riveting TV drama, but Matthew Weiner proved it could be across seven seasons ofMad Men, the ‘60s-set saga of ad man Don Draper.
Jon Hamm delivered a star-making performance as Draper, while supporting turns by Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, and January Jones helped to bring the writers’ impeccable work to life.
3The Wire
Despite being a scripted drama,The Wireoften feels more like a documentary. David Simon and his writers all came from a background in journalism, and were well-equipped to expose the institutionalized corruption in Baltimore across five seasons of television.
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Each season ofThe Wirefocuses on a different part of the city, from the police to the press to the local government to the education system, fora rounded portrait of the American city.
2Breaking Bad
Inspired by television’s M.O. of resetting a show’s premise every week so that the characters never change and they can run for 100 episodes, Vince Gilliganset out to make a show about change. At the beginning ofBreaking Bad, Walter White is a mild-mannered chemistry teacher who’s diagnosed with lung cancer. By the final season, he’s a drug lord with more money than he knows what to do with.
The web of lies between the characters ofBreaking Badand the high-stakes world they inhabit made the show as addictive as Heisenberg’s pure blue meth.
1The Sopranos
AlthoughThe Sopranostechnically premiered in 1999, it spent the majority of its run in the 21st century and its influence lasted long after its controversial series finale. James Gandolfini’s lead performance as Tony Soprano consists of some of the most incredible acting ever captured on film.
Inspired byGoodfellas, David Chase made a show about the mob that focuses more on the mundane aspects of their daily life than the violent aspects. In exploring Tony’s psyche, Chase made something universally relatable that transcends its gangland setting.
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