Well, my top tens for 2019 are slightly delayed because I’m not quite done watching everything I wanted to watch this year (I’ve got two shows left), so look for that in January, but since we’re at the start of a new decade, I thought I could do my favorite shows of this last one. My only criteria for this is how much I loved the show at any point in time- so if for example it had two great early seasons and wasn’t as good after that, my level of love for those first few years may have been higher than any show I merely liked all the way through its run. So these are the ones I fell hard for and would probably watch again, at least the good parts.
1) THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD Season 1 (2017)
The perfect first season of this black comedy teen road romance is one for the ages
2) THE AMERICANS (2013-2018)
The slow burning story of Russian spies undercover in 1980’s America got deeper and deeper under your skin, and was a show about relationships and marriage as much as anything else
3) MAD MEN (2007-2015)
Mad Men started at the end of the last decade, but its simmering, atmospheric character driven episodes were excellent well into the 2010s
4) BREAKING BAD (2008-2013)
Breaking Bad also got its start at the end of the 2000s, but built to its climax, getting better and better every year all to the way to its explosive and inevitable series finale
5) JUSTIFIED (2010-2015)
Justified was such a fun show that had excellent characters, deliciously entertaining villains, the best dialogue on television, and mixed humor, violence and modern day western sensibilities with Elmore Leonard inspired writing
6) ORPHAN BLACK (2013-2017)
Orphan Black had its ups and downs, but the highs were so high, thanks to Tatiana Maslany’s unforgettable performance as multiple clones of herself- a show that mixed outrageous humor with high concept sci-fi/horror elements, and a terrific supporting cast for its wonder of a lead
7) OUTLANDER Seasons 1 & 2 (2014-2016)
The show goes on, and it may never be better than its first two seasons, but those seasons comprised one of the most romantic, sensual and passionate love stories on TV
8) CATASTROPHE (2015-2019)
Four seasons of hilarious and brutally unforgiving relationship comedy, thanks to Rob Delaney and Sharon Morgan’s acting and writing of a perfectly mismatched couple trying to make their way through a whirlwind romance and daily modern life as new parents
9) FARGO Seasons 1-3 (2014-2107)
Noah Hawley’s anthology series brought us three distinct and excellent seasons, all of a piece with each other and superbly acted, each with its own unique story and payoff
10) THE KNICK (2014-2015)
A show that was unjustly cut short, that followed the lives of doctors in turn of the century New York, all cleverly directed by Steven Soderbergh and dealing with modern issues as they would have been back then (drug use, abortion, racism, etc), without resorting to preachiness
Honorable Mentions: Happy Valley (2014-2016); Casual (2015-2018); The Returned (2012-2015); Rectify (2013-2016); Fleabag (2016-2019)
