Best of the 2010s - TV

The 2010s have seen TV take into new heights with most nowadays trying so hard to play out like films. So many great shows were broadcast and with the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, TV has got bigger and better as time has gone on. Now unlike films and video games, TV shows often have a season play out and then take a short hiatus before starting a new season should their broadcasting channel or service order some more seasons. So instead of picking the best season of a show for each year on this list, this list will instead be about a show's debut and how well it has gone since the debut. This may make the list a bit more difficult to do in the long run, but it is the best and probably the fairest way to do it. Like the other posts, all the shows are ones that I have seen and enjoyed very much. Each year will have the best show that debuted as well as a list of runner ups and I will also look at all the different things that occurred in the year too such as a change in channels or something more controversial like behind the scenes scandals and so on. The shows are all ones that have a story rather than any reality, game or chat shows because I tend not to talk about those particular shows on this blog normally. Also these will mainly be shows from both the UK and America because most of the TV shows I watch, come from those two places. So let's tune in and watch some great telly as we look at the best shows of the decade:

2010 - The Walking Dead

The first year of the 2010s was an interesting one. David Tennant started the year off by stepping down as Doctor Who before handing the reigns over to Matt Smith alongside a brand new production crew led by one Steven Moffatt. The Simpsons were among many franchises this year to celebrate a milestone anniversary which in their case was the 20th. 3D makes it to the small screen with Sky Sports being the first broadcaster in the world to use it for one of their events. The late Roger Ebert made his first TV appearance in a long time and his appearance was particularly notable as being around the time where he lost his ability to speak. South Park was among a few shows to reach a milestone number of episodes which in their case was 200 which they celebrated with a very controversial two part story that concerns lingering storylines and celebrities that they have mocked over the years. Analogue in the UK slowly got switched off in an successful attempt for everyone to switch to digital. Cartoon Network gets a new logo. Plus a whole host of other things went on this year too. So when people think of TV debuts in 2010, the one show that comes to mind when we think of those shows that are actually people acting that was great, was The Walking Dead. Based on Robert Kirkman's graphic novel series of the same name, this quickly became one of the most watched shows on the planet and its clear as to why that is. Unlike many forms of media that are stories set in a zombie apocalypse, The Walking Dead tends to be focused more on the human element than the actual zombies with most of the heroes and villains being alive and well for a while. It's a great series that shows how one group of survivors try and survive while taking on not just the zombies (which they refer to as walkers), but people with sick and twisted minds, cannibals, people that think they are superior than them and even those that attempt to dress up like the zombies as a means to be like a cult. I really enjoy the show and consider myself part of the Walking Dead family as its referred to in the fandom. With the success of it came an after show, a companion show and a larger franchise than it was when it was just the comics. Its a great show that is worth a watch as are the following below.

Runner Ups:

• Sherlock
• Adventure Time
• Young Justice

2011 - Game of Thrones

This year saw Comedy Central switch to a more simplified logo featuring two of the letter C. Sky did a rollout of HD channels to their own channels while Channel One (not to be confused with BBC One) became Challenge. Top Gear p***ed off a lot of Mexicans (as did a certain US president later on this decade). Classic NickToon The Fairly Odd Parents celebrated its 10th anniversary with a live action made for TV film. Disney made some decisons that resulted in the arrest of one of their now former TV stars. Plus some other things happened this year as well. Now when it debuted, Game of Thrones was well received and up until recently, was a beloved fantasy TV series despite controversy surrounding the use of nudity, sexual violence and some choice words to describe individuals. It managed to give us a great TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series. But it was forced to do something original when the final released book was adapted, but Mr. Martin was willing to provide concepts of his upcoming work to help out. In the end it had a great run to start with, but a bad ending that has made it more hated than beloved. It was good for a while, but it ran its course so yeah. Also since when has a war scene been boring as the show runners think that. But anyway, worth a watch at least if you feel like giving it a chance after all this time as well as the shows below.

Runner Ups:

• Once Upon a Time
• American Horror Story
• Bob's Burgers
• Black Mirror

2012 - Arrow

2012 saw Analogue finally turned off everywhere. It was also the year where Harry Hill's TV Burp came to an end after 10 or 11 years being on air. A retelling of the Titanic disaster was shown on the BBC in the midst of the centenary. The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics take place with some bizarre controversy surrounding the intelligence of the American broadcasters. The Simpsons reached its 500th episode. Spongebob Squarepants became Nickelodeon's longest running show as of this year.  Plus other stuff too. So DC decided they wanted to do a show based on the Green Arrow and originally had plans to make it a spin-off to Smallville and have the actor from that series reprise his role. But he wasn't interested so a brand new show with no connections to that series was made and quickly became and instant hit. Arrow is great in that it gives us an intense series that isn't too focused on the origin aspect and instead goes right into the actual superhero and his comrades. The show even now with its final season, has been a great show. What Marvel couldn't do well, DC did better and this show is a prime example of that. It also established a media franchise known as the Arrowverse which comprises of this show as well as The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine, Freedom Fighters, The Vixen and Batwoman (the last one unfortunately has not been shown in the UK yet at the time of writing this) which are actually really good overall. Especially the annual crossovers which were unheard of due to most TV crossovers only happening on certain occasions. So yeah, worth a watch as is the runner up below.

Runner Ups:

• Elementary

2013 - House of Cards

2013 was an interesting year. Matt Damon finally took over as host for Jimmy Kimmel Live after years of being bumped and running out of time. Viacom who operate channels like Nickelodeon faced legal action this year. Disney released a new Mickey Mouse cartoon this year which started a new series of them and this is significant as being the first cartoon of the sort to be showed since 1953. Spongebob Squarepants got its most mature themed episode yet this year which tackled the sensitive subjects of losing a job and public assistance. Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary with a four part story arc comprising of a TV and cinema special, a Christmas special, the finale of series 7 and a short special focused on the eighth Doctor (though not in that order). Additionally Matt Smith stepped down to hand the reigns over to Peter Capaldi and a made for TV film about the work that went into the show's debut was also released too (and a special thing featuring some of the classic Doctors was also shown). And finally the BBC decided to axe doing any 3D filming due to a lack of interest, but still released "The Day of the Doctor" as a 3D film in cinemas and on 3D Blu-Ray plus other stuff happened this year too. So like with Game of Thrones, House of Cards had a dissapointing ending too which was the result of sexual allegations against the once beloved Kevin Spacey who was the main star of the show. House of Cards shows us the darker side of politics which has got things like betrayals, murder, sex and all sorts of other things all for the sake of one guy to become president of the United States. But when the final series came around, it changed course so then the wife of the president somehow becomes president herself. Its a good political series that shows how politics can have a darker side to things and that some people manage to get into their positions via sinister ways. A great series with a disappointing end, but worth a watch as are the ones below.

Runner Ups:

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Orange is the New Black
• Peaky Blinders

2014 - Gotham

2014 marks the 60th anniversary for children's TV shown on the likes of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 in the UK. Also the UK version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? begins a four year hiatus with Jeremy Clarkson taking over as host in its revival. The Winter Olympics and Paralympics were broadcast this year albeit with less bizarreness than its summer counterpart in 2012 (well mostly anyway). With same sex marriage being made legal here in the UK, Channel 4 embraced this with some shows to commemorate the occasion. Disgraced TV presenter Rolf Harris was sentenced to nine months in prison this year. Adult Swim in the US got a one hour expanded slot on Cartoon Network. In LEGO's biggest year yet, The Simpsons celebrate by spending their 550th episode in LEGO form (making sense seeing as they were a theme at the time). Additionally the Griffins from Family Guy pay a visit to Springfield in a crossover special between both shows after nearly a decade of fueds. An interesting year overall for TV and DC decided to do the Batman version of Smallville which unsurprisingly is called Gotham. This was a very good show that gave us the journey of Bruce Wayne from witnessing the murder of his parents to becoming the dark knight we all know and love. Not to mention that it also gave us some origin stories to some of the bad guys. The most notable of them all being Penguin, Riddler, Joker, Poison Ivy and more including some of the more less insane like Falcone. But overall, it is a show focused on Bruce Wayne's journey to being Batman as well as James Gordon's journey to becoming the Commissioner for the GCPD and thus establish one of the most important relationships in the pair's history. Its a great series that is in every way a Batman story to the point of it having lots of killings, buildings blowing up and even at one point having the city being held hostage. We all know that Gotham is a tough place to live in and this show proves that point. A great series for one of the greatest superheroes of all time and well worth a watch as are the ones below.

Runner Ups:

• The Flash
• Madam Secretary
• Constantine
• Bojack Horseman

2015 - Better Call Saul

This year saw beloved British comedian, narrator, actor and TV personality Stephen Fry get married while also stepped down as QI host. The BBC's future hanged in the balance when the government announced dramatic changes while the corporation enabled equality over all their panel shows. Jeremy Clarkson got fired from the BBC following an incident and thus his Top Gear also came to an end. This year also marked the 10th anniversary for the revival of Doctor Who. The competition for becoming the next big streaming platform quietly gets underway with HBO announcing their US based one. So yeah a big year for the BBC and thank goodness they are still going despite claims of fake news and other things. So unfortunately Breaking Bad only just misses out from this list due to the show having debuted in 2008. To make up, I have instead decided to put in the show's spin-off Better Call Saul which itself has had similar praise, but not as big in terms of ratings. As you can probably tell, its both a prequel and sequel series that looks at Saul Goodman's life before becoming a criminal for hire lawyer as well as where he has ended up following the end of Breaking Bad (which they touch upon briefly at the start of each season). Its a good series that much like with Breaking Bad, sees a guy who was for a while OK with what he had. But slowly starts turning due to him wanting more and eventually wanting to be independent while dealing with all sorts of things like his brother's apparent allergy to electricity and light, his mishandlement from one of the higher ups at his former workplace and forming a relationship with this girl he met. Its a great series that does and continues to do what it set out to do and is worth watching as are the runner ups below.

Runner Ups:

• Jessica Jones
• Daredevil
• Supergirl
• Agent Carter

2016 - Stranger Things

In a year that saw many celebrities pass away, Brexit being a thing and people coming to terms with having Donald Trump as President of the United States, we had some great telly I think. The CW and CBS had their first ever crossover with Barry Allen from The Flash winding up on a different earth to his which just so happened to be the setting for Supergril (both would eventually share the same channel after CBS drops the latter). The Simpsons did the unthinkable which had an episode see Homer Simpson read out live tweets and the show also had their 600th episode which was also their 27th Treehouse of Horror special. The summer Olympics and Paralympics took place this year in Rio which had the bizarreness of a green swimming pool. Jeremy Clarkson's new show The Grand Tour, started this year with a very similar format to his Top Gear for the first three years. With BBC losing its bid on The Great British Bake Off (also known as Baking Show in some territories), Channel 4 gave it a new home this year. BBC Television celebrated its 80th anniversary this year. Plus some other stuff happened too. So with the rise of Netflix which until recently was the king (or queen) of video streaming, they made a lot of original programs and films. Depending on where you live, many of these were marketted as such because of Netflix having the rights to said shows or films in some territories. But for Stranger Things, this was one of their own creations. Lots of people see this as a nostalgic thrill ride that has lots of 80s nostalgia with the typical stereotypes you get in that decade. On top of all of that, its main focus is on a group of young male teenagers who one day realise that something is up with the town and discover a portal to another dimension that is full of monsters. The first season was focused on saving one of the boys who got sucked into this dimension while later seasons would see the boys continue to defend their home town from the dimension known as the Upside Down. But they would not be alone in doing this as the police chief, the mother of the boy who got sucked in and a trio of much older teenagers, also chip in to help though albeit in their own bizzare way. Three seasons in and it still is a great series. Its nostalgic, has fantasy elements and lots of monsters and even some horror elements too. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I still love it and I also enjoy the runner ups below too.

Runner Ups:

• Westworld
• The Crown
• Designated Survivor
• DC's Legends of Tomorrow
• Luke Cage
• The Good Place
  

2017 - Legion

This year saw the long awaited return of The Crystal Maze on Channel 4. Peter Capaldi stepped down to hand the reigns of the Doctor over to Jodie Whittaker, the first ever female Doctor in Doctor Who alongside yet another production crew while the show made continuous attempts this year to include equality in the cast and crew. Channel 5 celebrated its 20th anniversary. Disney+ began its early stages of development this year and the Fox deal also gets started this year too. And following the Wienstien effect, various people in television got fired following sexual allegations against them. So yeah an interesting year overall. So with Marvel having already made TV shows connected to their cinematic universe, Fox (whom at the time were not bought by Disney) decided they wanted a piece of that action and gave us Legion. A series based on the life and times of the so called son of Professor Xavier. Well it did that, but it also gave us a trip inside the mind as if all the characters are high in a way. Yeah this was truly a bizarre series, but it worked really well. As it went on, many of us would question if we should still root for the main character or not because of everyone making him out to be a monster. Nevertheless it was a very good show with great acting, great visuals but a very bizarre way of doing each episode so you either need to be drunk or in the right frame of mind to watch. Fortunately this is not the case for the runner ups. Still worth a watch though.

Runner Ups:

• Riverdale
• The Punisher

2018 - Bodyguard

Fake News was a big thing this year and many broadcasters went out of their way to ensure that everything remained true. As for the rest of the year, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics took place once again. The first ever live action and cartoon crossover took place when Supernatural entered the world of Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?. Chris Hardwick faced problems with AMC which put his future of being the host of The Walking Dead aftershow Talking Dead into uncertainty (though this would only be a temporary thing as he did indeed return in time for the broadcast of the ninth season of The Walking Dead). Two of the most hated people on the planet Piers Morgan and Donald Trump did a video interview early on this year. Blue Peter reaches episode 5000 which is probably the biggest milestone that any show ever has reached. One half of Ant & Dec decides to spend the year off television following a drink driving situation. A pretty mixed year overall I'd say. So of the many debuts this year, I decided to go with the Bodyguard. Its one of those British shows that has the basis of dealing with bombs and right into the first episode, we get the main hero dealing with a bomb. Its a great edge of your seat show that really shows how one guy will go the extra mile to protect his country and his loved ones from the dangers of terrorism and bombs. A great show worth watching as is the one runner up below.

Runner Ups:

• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

2019 - Chernobyl

Finally coming to last year's set of TV now. This year, Channel 4 showed a Michael Jackson documentary that had the channel run into some major problems. Nickelodeon starts work on a series about Paddington Bear with Ben Whishaw reprising his role as the titular character from the films. BBC iPlayer's content got an extension to how long they can be on the service for. Prince Andrew gets interviewed about sexual allegations against him (which had some controversy around it). The Simpsons became the first American prime time scripted series to reach its 700th episode following the renewal of its thirty-first and thirty-second seasons. New Coke made its return to tie in with the third season of Stranger Things. Netflix made a big deal about reducing the use of smoking in their original content (with any content based on historical events being exempt). Plus other stuff too. Now while many of us enjoy playing the Fallout games, what a few of us may be unaware of is that there was a time where radiation could have taken over the world and change it forever. This story was told in the miniseries Chernobyl which dramatises the events that unfolded in 1986 showing us what went down, the effect it had on people and how this place got sealed up from the rest of the world. It is a really good series that manages to tell the story with the greatest of respect and accuracy to the actual events. It gave me some shivers knowing that the world we live in could have been different had Chernobyl not get sealed up. A great miniseries worth watching. Plus some runner ups to check out too.

Runner Ups:

• The Witcher
• His Dark Materials
• The Umbrella Academy

And with that, that wraps up my "Best of the 2010s" posts on things that I regularly talk about. But because I had covered other things too in the last decade, I will attempt to talk about those as well in more "Best of the 2010s" posts leading up into February. But for now, check out these TV shows and feel free to leave a comment below on your favourites.