Looking for a new show to binge? The Hollywood Reporter pulled its critics together to create a list of the 50 best TV shows of the century so far. Whether you’re looking for a compelling drama, a mind-blowing miniseries, or a standout comedy, this list has something for everyone.
Best Shows: 50-41
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Sex and the City
June 6, 1998Based on the bestselling book by Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City tells the story of four best friends, all single and in their late thirties, as they pursue their careers and talk about their sex lives, all while trying to survive the New York social scene.
The popular characters returned in the 2008 “Sex and the City” movie, 2010’s “Sex and the City 2,” and the 2021 series “And Just Like That…”
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Avatar: The Last Airbender
February 21, 2005In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
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South Side
July 24, 2019Two recent community-college graduates get stuck working at Rent-T-Own in the Chicago neighborhood of Englewood and work to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.
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Vida
May 6, 2018Two Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other are forced to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and surprising truth about their mother’s identity.
- Philo
- $37 / month
- STARZ
- $10.99 / month
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The Underground Railroad
May 13, 2021Follow young Cora’s journey as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. After escaping her Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil.
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The Crown
November 4, 2016The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain’s post-war destiny.
The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
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The Leftovers
June 29, 2014When 2% of the world’s population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they’re supposed to do about it. The drama series ‘The Leftovers’ is the story of the people who didn’t make the cut.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
April 14, 2013Bourdain travels across the globe to uncover little-known areas of the world and celebrate diverse cultures by exploring food and dining rituals. Known for his curiosity, candor, and acerbic wit, Bourdain takes viewers off the beaten path of tourist destinations – including some war-torn parts of the world – and meets with a variety of local citizens to offer a window into their lifestyles, and occasionally communes with an internationally lauded chef on his journeys.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Orange
- $40 / month
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Station Eleven
December 16, 2021A post apocalyptic saga spanning multiple timelines telling the stories of survivors of a devastating flu as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew while holding on to the best of what’s been lost.
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BEEF
April 6, 2023A road rage incident between two strangers — a failing contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur — sparks a feud that brings out their darkest impulses.
Best Shows: 40-31
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Insecure
October 9, 2016Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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The Deuce
September 10, 2017The story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early ’70s through the mid ’80s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed there until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence of the area.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Band of Brothers
September 9, 2001Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s acclaimed book of the same name.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
October 12, 2015Rebecca Bunch is a successful, driven, and possibly crazy young woman who impulsively gives up everything - her partnership at a prestigious law firm and her upscale apartment in Manhattan - in a desperate attempt to find love and happiness in that exotic hotbed of romance and adventure: suburban West Covina, California.
- YouTube TV
- $72.99 / month
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The Shield
March 12, 2002The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren’t above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Blue
- $40 / month
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Chernobyl
May 6, 2019The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Jane the Virgin
October 13, 2014A comedy-drama following a chaste young woman who is accidentally impregnated via artificial insemination as she struggles to inform her devoutly religious family and make the right choices concerning the child. Based on the telenovela “Juana la virgen.”
- YouTube TV
- $72.99 / month
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Orange Is the New Black
July 11, 2013A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women’s prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.
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Veep
April 22, 2012A look into American politics, revolving around former Senator Selina Meyer who finds being Vice President of the United States is nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned her about.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Fleabag
July 21, 2016A portrait into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, porn-watching, grief-riddled woman, trying to make sense of the world. As she hurls herself headlong at modern living, Fleabag is thrown roughly up against the walls of contemporary London, with all its frenetic energy, late nights, and bright lights.
Best Shows: 30-21
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Game of Thrones
April 17, 2011Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night’s Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Broad City
January 22, 2014Broad City follows two women throughout their daily lives in New York City, making the smallest and mundane events hysterical and disturbing to watch all at the same time.
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How To with John Wilson
October 23, 2020In a uniquely hilarious odyssey of self-discovery and cultural observation, documentary filmmaker and self-described “anxious New Yorker” John Wilson covertly and obsessively films the lives of his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give everyday advice on relatable topics. The awkward contradictions of modern life are eased by Wilson’s candid, unpolished commentary. Building upon Wilson’s previously released “how to” short films, each episode takes wildly unexpected turns but is grounded in John’s refreshing honesty.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Parks and Recreation
April 9, 2009In an attempt to beautify her town — and advance her career — Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, takes on bureaucrats, cranky neighbors, and single-issue fanatics whose weapons are lawsuits, the jumble of city codes, and the democratic process she loves so much.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $13.99 / month
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Battlestar Galactica
October 18, 2004When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
If you’d like to watch this groundbreaking sci-fi series, you’ll need to start with its 2-episode miniseries, or else it won’t make much sense. Believe it or not, this may be the best show we have about our response to the 9/11 tragedy.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Blue
- $40 / month
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Review
March 6, 2014A review of a movie, or a restaurant, or a car—or whatever else that typically falls under a critic’s domain—is all well and good, and can even be helpful at times. But how can one find out about myriad other experiences that are never tackled in reviews? Enter Forrest MacNeil, a critic who goes beyond overviews of life’s more-common subjects—way beyond—to satisfy the curiosity of others: The adrenaline rush of stealing; the danger of drug addiction; the delight of sleeping with a celebrity. MacNeil tries anything suggested by viewers of his TV show, then presents a 1-to-5-star review. But his unwavering commitment to experiencing intense adventures means he must deal with the unintended consequences of such a goal.
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I May Destroy You
June 7, 2020Set in London, where gratification is only an app away, the story centers on Arabella, a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when her drink is spiked, she must question and rebuild every element of her life.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Survivor
May 31, 2000A reality show contest where sixteen or more castaways split between two or more “Tribes” are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for roughly 39 days. Frequent physical challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for “Immunity”, forcing the other tribe to attend “Tribal Council”, where they must vote off one of their players.
Next Episode:
Nov 6, 2024- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Paramount Plus Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
- $12.99 / month
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Better Things
September 8, 2016Sam Fox is a single, working actor with no filter trying to raise her three daughters – Max, Frankie and Duke – in Los Angeles. She is mom, dad, referee and the cops.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Blue
- $40 / month
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Deadwood
March 21, 2004The story of the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota; woven around actual historic events with most of the main characters based on real people. Deadwood starts as a gold mining camp and gradually turns from a lawless wild-west community into an organized wild-west civilized town. The story focuses on the real-life characters Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Best Shows: 20-11
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Peep Show
September 19, 2003Peep Show follows the lives of two men from their twenties to thirties, Mark Corrigan, who has steady employment for most of the series, and Jeremy “Jez” Usbourne, an unemployed would-be musician.
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Rectify
April 22, 2013After 19 years on Death Row for the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, Daniel Holden is going home. His conviction has been vacated due to new DNA evidence. Now he has to return to a world he no longer knows and his reentry into the outside world may be as unforgiving as prison. Daniel is haunted by the past, dogged by the present, and uncertain of the future. As he struggles to adapt to his new life, his homecoming reignites the fears of a small town and threatens to shatter his family’s fragile peace. Daniel’s alleged crime divided a community. Will his freedom tear it in half?
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Friday Night Lights
October 3, 2006The trials and triumphs of life in the small town of Dillon, Texas, where high school football is everything.
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Halt and Catch Fire
June 1, 2014During the rise of the PC era in the early 1980s, an unlikely trio - a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy - take personal and professional risks in the race to build a computer that will change the world as they know it.
- Philo
- $28 / month
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Breaking Bad
January 20, 2008Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family’s financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.
- Philo
- $28 / month
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Atlanta
September 6, 2016In this wildly imaginative show from creator Donald Glover, a one-hit wonder hip-hop artist and his cousin navigate the world of small-time fame in the music industry. “Atlanta” is impossible to categorize - alternately funny, touching, strange, surreal, and perceptive. Each episode switches tone, serving almost as a standalone film featuring recurring characters. There are no rules on “Atlanta” - Justin Bieber is Black, invisible cars exist - the world is whatever Glover needs it to be for that particular episode. This gem is one of the most inventive shows on TV.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Blue
- $40 / month
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Enlightened
October 10, 2011After a very public breakdown and a subsequent philosophical awakening in rehabilitation, Amy tries to get her life back together.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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30 for 30
October 6, 200930 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two “volumes” of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Orange
- $40 / month
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The Americans
January 30, 2013Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Sling TV Sling Blue
- $40 / month
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The Daily Show
July 22, 1996The World’s Fakest News Team tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and pop culture.
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Best Shows: 10-1
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BoJack Horseman
August 22, 2014Meet the most beloved sitcom horse of the 90s - 20 years later. BoJack Horseman was the star of the hit TV show “Horsin’ Around,” but today he’s washed up, living in Hollywood, complaining about everything, and wearing colorful sweaters.
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Freaks and Geeks
September 25, 1999High school mathlete Lindsay Weir rebels and begins hanging out with a crowd of burnouts (the “freaks”), while her brother Sam Weir navigates a different part of the social universe with his nerdy friends (the “geeks”).
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $13.99 / month
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Girls
April 15, 2012The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Better Call Saul
February 8, 2015Six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White. We meet him when the man who will become Saul Goodman is known as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer searching for his destiny, and, more immediately, hustling to make ends meet. Working alongside, and, often, against Jimmy, is “fixer” Mike Ehrmantraut. The series tracks Jimmy’s transformation into Saul Goodman, the man who puts “criminal” in “criminal lawyer”.
- Philo
- $28 / month
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Reservation Dogs
August 9, 2021Four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California.
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The Wire
June 2, 2002Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
This brilliant series is routinely cited as the best TV show ever made. (Entertainment Weekly, The BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and Salon.com have all ranked it #1.) It is the closest thing we have to a novel on television. Sprawling narratives, unforgettable characters, and jaw-dropping plot twists combine into something remarkable, unique, and definitively American. From the police to the drug dealers to the junkies to blue-collar workers to politicians to journalists to elementary students, all the pieces matter.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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30 Rock
October 11, 2006Liz Lemon, the head writer for a late-night TV variety show in New York, tries to juggle all the egos around her while chasing her own dream.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment
- $86.99 / month
- Peacock Premium Plus
- $13.99 / month
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Succession
June 3, 2018Follow the lives of the Roy family as they contemplate their future once their aging father begins to step back from the media and entertainment conglomerate they control.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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The Sopranos
January 10, 1999The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony’s family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.
- DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment + HBO
- $101.99 / month
- Hulu Live TV
- $97.99 / month
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Mad Men
July 19, 2007Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.
- Philo
- $28 / month
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