Alan Sepinwall’s Rolling Stone retrospective, published December 4, 2019, ranks The Leftovers first among its 50 best TV shows of the 2010s, followed by Parks and Recreation and Breaking Bad. It is one critic’s decade-end list—not a universal consensus—and the titles below remain in Sepinwall’s original order.
Alan Sepinwall’s 50 best TV shows of the 2010s, ranked
The archival index records the complete ranking and its publication date. The list ranges across drama, comedy, animation, and other formats; it does not present a single genre or format as the measure of a great decade of television.
- The Leftovers
- Parks and Recreation
- Breaking Bad
- BoJack Horseman
- Fleabag
- The Americans
- Atlanta
- Justified
- Rectify
- Better Things
- Better Call Saul
- Terriers
- Community
- Twin Peaks: The Return
- Game of Thrones
- Fargo
- Hannibal
- Halt and Catch Fire
- Bob’s Burgers
- Review
- Orange Is the New Black
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
- Brockmire
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Watchmen
- Boardwalk Empire
- Veep
- Broad City
- Treme
- Enlightened
- The Good Place
- Catastrophe
- Key & Peele
- The Deuce
- The Legend of Korra
- You’re the Worst
- Master of None
- Pose
- Girls
- Steven Universe
- Mr. Robot
- Transparent
- Gravity Falls
- Jane the Virgin
- Parenthood
- New Girl
- Men of a Certain Age
- Banshee
- Baskets
- The Good Wife
How to use the ranking as a watchlist
The order reflects Sepinwall’s ranking, not a required viewing sequence. To choose what to watch, consider the kind of experience you want rather than treating adjacent placements as a measure of how similar the shows are.
- Choose by tone and genre: The list includes comedy, drama, and animated series, so a high placement does not mean every title will suit the same mood.
- Decide how much continuity you want: Some viewers prefer stories that can be approached episode by episode; others want a longer serialized arc. The ranking itself does not label titles by viewing style.
- Check whether a show assumes prior viewing: Twin Peaks: The Return is a continuation, so it is not the same kind of starting point as a standalone new series.
- Confirm where a show is available: Streaming catalogs change and differ by country. Check a current service listing for your region before planning a watch.
A decade-end list, not a shared consensus
Television changed substantially during the 2010s. A separate Slant Magazine decade list, published January 6, 2020, discusses on-demand viewing and streaming, evolving viewing expectations, and the blurring boundary between television and film. That context can help frame the decade, but Slant’s list is a different editorial ranking and does not establish Sepinwall’s criteria or explain his ordering.
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- This fascinating and entertaining 5-DVD set of rare television dramas, broadcast both live and filmed from 1951 to 1960, stars such up-and-coming performers as James Dean, Natalie Wood, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Michael Landon, and Suzanne Pleshette, as well as established legends such as Ray Milland, Loretta Young, David Niven, Walter Brennan, Mickey Rooney, and many other luminaries of the b
For the original attribution and full ordered list, see Year-End Lists’ archival index of Alan Sepinwall’s Rolling Stone ranking. For the separate decade-era context, see Slant Magazine’s 50 Best TV Shows of the 2010s.
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