Best TV series
Thirty acclaimed live-action TV series, from prestige dramas and miniseries to classic sitcoms.
Tier list by PairTier · 30 items
- Breaking Bad — AMC drama (2008–2013) about a chemistry teacher who turns to making methamphetamine.
- The Wire — HBO drama (2002–2008) examining Baltimore's drug trade, police, schools and politics.
- The Sopranos — HBO drama (1999–2007) about a New Jersey mob boss who starts seeing a therapist.
- Game of Thrones — HBO fantasy epic (2011–2019) based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels.
- Friends — NBC sitcom (1994–2004) about six friends living in Manhattan.
- Seinfeld — NBC sitcom (1989–1998) created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, often called a show about nothing.
- The Office — US NBC sitcom (2005–2013), a mockumentary adapted from the British original.
- Mad Men — AMC drama (2007–2015) set in a New York advertising agency in the 1960s.
- Chernobyl — 2019 HBO miniseries dramatizing the 1986 nuclear disaster and its aftermath.
- Twin Peaks — Mystery series by David Lynch and Mark Frost about a murder in a small Washington town.
- Stranger Things — Netflix series by the Duffer Brothers about supernatural events in 1980s Indiana.
- Succession — HBO drama (2018–2023) about a media dynasty's children fighting to succeed their father.
- Better Call Saul — AMC prequel to Breaking Bad (2015–2022) following lawyer Jimmy McGill.
- True Detective — HBO crime anthology whose 2014 first season starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
- Band of Brothers — 2001 HBO miniseries following Easy Company of the US 101st Airborne Division in WWII.
- Fleabag — BBC comedy-drama (2016–2019) written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
- Sherlock — BBC series (2010–2017) placing Sherlock Holmes in modern London, with Benedict Cumberbatch.
- Lost — ABC drama (2004–2010) about plane crash survivors on a mysterious island.
- The West Wing — NBC political drama (1999–2006) created by Aaron Sorkin, set in the White House.
- Six Feet Under — HBO drama (2001–2005) about a family running a funeral home in Los Angeles.
- Arrested Development — Comedy about a dysfunctional wealthy family, first on Fox (2003–2006) and later revived by Netflix.
- Fawlty Towers — BBC sitcom starring John Cleese as a hotel owner, with only twelve episodes (1975 and 1979).
- The Crown — Netflix drama (2016–2023) about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Dark — German Netflix series (2017–2020) about time travel and family secrets in a small town.
- Black Mirror — Anthology series created by Charlie Brooker about the dark side of technology.
- Frasier — NBC sitcom (1993–2004), a spin-off of Cheers about a psychiatrist in Seattle.
- The X-Files — Fox series following FBI agents Mulder and Scully as they investigate the paranormal.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Series (1997–2003) created by Joss Whedon about a teenage girl chosen to fight vampires.
- The Last of Us — HBO series (from 2023) adapting the video game about survival after a fungal pandemic.
- The Bear — FX series (from 2022) about a young chef taking over his family's sandwich shop in Chicago.