The New York Times has crowned Breaking Bad the best TV show of the 21st century and the rest of its top 100 has TV lovers arguing like it’s a Roy family dinner.
The masthead polled more than 500 actors, showrunners, writers, critics and other industry figures, each of whom could name up to 10 shows, with the full list landing on Friday, September 25.
Only shows that premiered on or after January 1, 2000 were eligible, in any language and almost any format: scripted, reality, documentary, even talk shows.
I’ll say it up front: I agree with most of it.
The Wire in second place, Mad Men third, Succession fourth and Fleabag fifth is a top five I’m not going to fight.
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The shows I’m cheering for
I’m so glad Scandal (100th) and Gilmore Girls (99th) scraped in. Olivia Pope and Lorelai Gilmore deserve their seats at this table.
Veep at No. 7 and Arrested Development at No. 12 are proof that the voters have a sense of humour.
But the ones that made me happiest were The Comeback (23rd) and Hacks (42nd).
Lisa Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish was cringe comedy before we had a name for it, and Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder turned Hacks into the best double act on TV.
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The Buffy and Sopranos problem
Now, where are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Sopranos?
Blame the rulebook. The Sopranos premiered on January 10, 1999, so it was ruled ineligible, even though it ran until 2007.
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Forbes contributor Erik Kain called the exclusion a “huge, unbelievably bizarre mistake”, pointing out that 73 of the show’s 86 episodes aired after January 1, 2000.
He suggested the Times should have allowed “shows that premiered in 1999 so long as the majority of their episodes aired in the 21st century”.
That fix still wouldn’t have saved Buffy, which premiered in March 1997 but ran until 2003. Burn.
The ones that got away
What I can’t forgive are the snubs that were eligible.
Where is The Boys?
Where is Doctor Who? The 2005 revival is one genre TV’s most consistent and consistently interesting programs.
And I genuinely cannot believe Suits missed out. Men’s Journal named it among six shows it says were snubbed, alongside Monk, Yellowstone, Snowfall, Abbott Elementary and Grey’s Anatomy.
This is the legal drama that became a streaming phenomenon years after it ended and the one that gave us the future Duchess of Sussex.
The Aussie show missing? Bluey. Critic Dan Barrett, writing at Always Be Watching, was among those who questioned its absence.
Other names on my snub lists include Hannibal, Fargo, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Interview with the Vampire, Mr. Robot and Derry Girls.
The shows people say don’t belong
Just as loud is the debate over what did make it.
The one-season wonders: BroBible’s Cass Anderson took aim at limited series such as Chernobyl, I May Destroy You, Baby Reindeer and The Queen’s Gambit.
“How can we possibly say that these shows which ran for a single season are qualitatively better than the numerous shows that ran for years on end?” Anderson wrote. I tend to agree. I love all these shows, but they have little to no longevity.
Too soon? Writer Rebecca Bodenheimer flagged recency bias, pointing to The Pitt (36th) and Severance (30th), which have two seasons each. Adolescence (40th) only arrived in March 2025.
The White Lotus v Lost: Bodenheimer called The White Lotus ranking above Lost “insane”, arguing the “whole concept of a mystery box show is indebted to Damon Lindelof and the other ‘Lost’ creators”.
House of Cards: Bodenheimer also questioned why House of Cards (48th) made the list when Orange Is the New Black did not.
Bake Off over Dexter: According to UNILAD, fans were baffled that The Great British Baking Show (85th) beat Dexter (88th), and that Better Call Saul (27th) and Stranger Things (53rd) sat so low.
The verdict
Every list like this is built to start fights, and this one has done its job.
It’s a strong, mostly right 100, but a list with room for House of Cards and no room for Suits, The Boys or Doctor Who isn’t the final word.
The full list is at nytimes.com/bestTV. Tell me what you’d add and what you’d cut.