The 10 best tv shows of the 21st century

The last 20 years have given us many TV series worthy of note. From the funniest ones, like “The Office”, to the most serious ones, like “The Wire”, many have remained in our minds and have conquered our hearts. Find out here the 10 best TV shows of the 21st century.

10. Atlanta (2016- )

This show is full of pop-culture callbacks, political subtext and dark lols. Its best episodes are the ones where racial conflict meets weirdness. This series really proved Donald Glover’s talent, also known by the stage name of Childish Gambino.

9. Peep Show (2003-2015)

The king of 00s sitcoms is also extremely innovative: ts point-of-view filming and audible inner monologues are used to show diseased male minds. Peep Show was always hilarious, often touching the limit of good taste.

8. Fleabag (2016-2019)

Born as a London stage show six years ago, Fleabag’s two seasons allowed Phoebe Waller-Bridge to create the the sadcom genre, filled with British awkwardness, grief, family problems, and, of course, the hot priest (Andrew Scott).

7. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Despite its infamous last season, Game of Thrones remains the biggest show of the century so far. And it did come up with amazing episodes and characters throughout its eight-year reign: from the thrills and blood spills of the “Red Wedding” to the best battles ever seen on the small screen (“The Battle of the Bastards”). A must-watch!

6. The Office UK (2001-2003)

It didn’t invent the mockumentary, but Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant clearly defined the 21st century comedies. Up until the point that, after 20 years, people are still trying to imitate it. Also their casting decisions look as extraordinary as their scripts (Martin Freeman is one of the actor).

5. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

The perfect example fo the antihero drama: nothing, and no one, has been able to top Bryan Cranston’s Walter White, a chemistry teacher who became the meth lord. Also Vince Gilligan and Aaron Paul’s performances were perfect in this show.

4. The Thick of It (2005-2012)

The idiotic characters of this series would be considered wise in today’s political landscape, but at that time this scabrous comedy showed what was wrong in British politics. Luckily, it was mostly hilarious, thanks to Peter Capaldi’s performance of the ferocious Malcolm Tucker.

3. Mad Men (2007-2015)

Full of sex and amazing suits, this masterwork, spanning the entire 60s, showed the social shifts in an ad agency in extremely precise detail. It wasn’t just the story of Don Draper: it was also a meditation on how modern America came to be made.

2. The Wire (2002-2008)

Along with The Sopranos, this crime saga showed that small-screen entertainment could be polemical, panoramic, both funny and tragic, and all of these things at the same time. It was both beautifully written and performed, and it’s still the most importat example of an intelligent and ambitious television.

1. The Sopranos (1999-2007)

When it first aired, some critics dismissed it as just another mob drama. But its creator, David Chase, completely change the conventions and cliches of the gangster epic. The Sopranos were just a tragicomic family reigning over the suburbs of New Jersey. It was a world populated by petty people, and its protagonist was both a ferocious don and a man tortured by panic attacks and cowed by his even more ferocious mother. The Sopranos transformed the TV into a medium where intelligence, experimentation and depth were treasured. For anyone currently making TV, the show stands as something to aspire to.

Here there were the 10 best TV shows. Let’s hope that next years will give us some amazing series like these ones!