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

for each 1st place ranking 2 points for each 2nd place ranking

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

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)

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)

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

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.