Written By | Entertainment Desk
A poll of 516 actors, showrunners and insiders put a meth-cooking chemistry teacher on top
Search
NEW YORK
Every few years a list drops that people argue about for weeks. This one landed in the last week of September: The New York Times' ranking of the 100 best television shows of the 21st century. Its number one pick, Breaking Bad, is not shocking. The conversation around the other 99 slots, however, has been lively, funny and in places furious, and it is still trending days later.
The Times surveyed 516 industry professionals, including actors, showrunners and other TV insiders. Contributors named in coverage included Elisabeth Moss, Bryan Cranston and Lena Waithe. The result is a list shaped by the people who actually make television, which is part of why it has such a distinct personality.
The Top 10
The top ten reads like a seminar on the prestige era. After Breaking Bad at number one come The Wire (2), Mad Men (3), Succession (4), Fleabag (5), Game of Thrones (6), Veep (7), 30 Rock (8), Curb Your Enthusiasm (9) and Atlanta (10).
Comedy punches well above its usual weight here. Four of the ten are comedies or comedy-dramas, with Fleabag the highest at fifth. The list also favors American television heavily, a bias coverage has been quick to point out. One technicality: The Sopranos is absent because it premiered in 1999, before the century began.
The Streamers' Scorecard
Netflix landed 16 series on the list, about one in six entries, according to What's on Netflix's tally. Twelve are true Netflix originals, led by The Crown at 20, with BoJack Horseman at 44, House of Cards at 48, Stranger Things at 53, I Think You Should Leave at 57, Ozark at 68, Beef at 71, Squid Game at 72, The Queen's Gambit at 81, Baby Reindeer at 89, The Diplomat at 94 and The OA at 98.
Four more carry the Netflix brand without being homegrown: Arrested Development (12), Black Mirror (26), Peaky Blinders (43) and The Great British Baking Show (85). Elsewhere on the list, The Pitt lands at 36, Downton Abbey at 52, Ted Lasso at 75, Gilmore Girls at 99 and Scandal at 100.
Where the Arguments Started
No list survives contact with fans. Crime-drama devotees complained that The Shield landed at 70 and Justified at 83, while The White Lotus and The Comeback sit in the high 20s. Also missing from the 100 are Fargo, Arcane, The Last of Us, Mr. Robot, Dark, Broadchurch and Avatar: The Last Airbender. What's on Netflix's writer lamented the absence of Dark and Mindhunter.
Philadelphia's reaction gave the debate its sharpest local flavor. The Inquirer noted that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia placed 78th, with critic Austin Considine writing: "Sunny outlasted The Office. It outlasted Cheers. It may last as long as we need to laugh at horrible people." Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss called it "the smartest show about dumb people ever made." Mare of Easttown placed 65th, praised for a "Pennsylvania atmosphere so thick you could slap it on a hoagie."
The Inquirer also flagged the biggest local snub: Abbott Elementary, created by West Philadelphia native Quinta Brunson and a five-time Emmy-nominated favorite, did not make the cut. Other regional touches include Broad City at 46, Hacks at 42 and Friday Night Lights at 14.
Why Lists Like This Still Matter
In an age of infinite streaming catalogs and algorithmic suggestions, a ranked list does something a recommendation engine cannot: it gives people a shared canon to fight about. The Times also published voting data showing how individual contributors ranked their favorites, which turns a flat list into a gossip-worthy map of taste. Seeing which show a favorite actor put first tells you more about them than any press junket.
The list also captures how television changed. Shows from early in the century such as The Wire and Mad Men sit near the top, while streaming-era entries like Succession, Squid Game and Baby Reindeer crowd the middle. That tells you the medium's center of gravity moved, and fast.
The list also doubles as a map of where the industry's talent comes from. Hacks, at 42, features Eagles fan Hannah Einbinder. Broad City, at 46, was created by Wayne native Abbi Jacobson. Friday Night Lights, at 14, grew out of reporting by former Inquirer journalist H.G. Bissinger. It is a reminder that great television tends to come from specific places and specific people, not from a formula.
"Sunny outlasted The Office. It outlasted Cheers. It may last as long as we need to laugh at horrible people."
— Austin Considine, on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (#78)
What This Means for You
The best use of this list is as a watchlist. The Times' interactive version lets readers mark what they have seen and what they want to see, which makes it a ready-made autumn plan. If you have never watched a top-five pick, start with Fleabag, which is short and endlessly rewatchable. If you want the highest-ranked show you might have skipped, look at Succession or Veep. And if you disagree with the list, good. Send your own ranking to a friend and see how long it takes to start an argument.
The Bottom Line
Lists are not verdicts, and this one makes no claim to be. It is a snapshot of what 516 people who work in television think matters, and it has done what any good ranking should: it sent people back to old favorites and into fights about new ones. Breaking Bad may sit at number one, but the real winner is the conversation.
