Critics Poll: ‘Breaking Bad' Named Best TV Show of the 21st Century

In the last 25 years of television, we’ve seen many changes as to what actually constitutes TV, and what could possibly veer into cinema. With the emergence of “The Sopranos,” talk of TV actually being cinema entered the fray, and we haven’t look back since. The question continues to be asked, and wildly different responses keep emerging.

Many A-list filmmakers have made the case for cinema over TV, and they include Joel Coen, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Then again, you have prestigious outlets like Cahiers du Cinema naming a series the best film of the 2010s.

With that said, Rotten Tomatoes has asked an innumerable amount of critics, thousands of them, what are their top TV shows released in the past 25 years. No surprise, the most acclaimed shows remain intact – “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “The Wire,” and “The Sopranos.” The “gold standards” for television dramas.

I’m inclined to agree with the top 10 (results posted below), but things dicier from 11-20. Having shows like “Fleabag” (#11) and “Ted Lasso” (#12) is wild stuff. Didn’t ‘Lasso’ lose considerable steam after its first season? As for “Fleabag,” I liked the show, but does Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s show actually deserve all of the acclaim it’s been getting?

As you scroll through the results, you will notice that David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks: The Return” is at #8. A few years ago, it was named the 17th best film of the 2010s in our own critics poll.

ROTTEN TOMATOES’ BEST TV SHOWS OF THE LAST 25 YEARS

(1) Breaking Bad
(2) The Sopranos
(3) The Wire
(4) Mad Men
(5) Succession
(6) The Leftovers
(7) Game of Thrones
(8) Twin Peaks: The Return
(9) Lost
(10) Six Feet Under
(11) Fleabag
(12) Ted Lasso
(13) Better Call Saul
(14) Bojack Horseman
(15) Curb Your Enthusiasm
(16) Atlanta
(17) Stranger Things
(18) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
(19) The Office
(20) The West Wing
(21) The Americans
(22) Parks and Recreation
(23) Arrested Development
(24) Watchmen
(25) Chernobyl

This is a strong list, and one that we might be looking back very fondly on in the coming years as there have been plenty of writeups about how “Succession” was the last gasp of “prestige television.” That’s what The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The New Republic, The Guardian, and Forbes all believe.

“Succession” can be seen as the end of an era, one which started with “The Sopranos,” and kept going for another two decades. Now television’s boom cycle has gone bust, streamers are embracing more conservative, less experimental programming and a heavier reliance on formula and algorithms.