10.) Bojack Horseman - Season 4 (2017 - NETFLIX)
I'm not going to lie, I struggled with the question of it this was a better season than Bojack Season 3, but ultimately, I think the fourth season excelled at a few things that the third was slightly less good at: namely, focusing the psychology lessons and character studies on a larger set of people. This season had a stronger Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane plot with their marriage breaking over his attempt to run for governor. You had a truly great Princess Caralyn plot around her romance with a mouse and miscarriage, leading to a truly heart-wrenching episode told from the perspective of Princess Caralyn's mis-carried child had she been born and grown up. You had great Todd episodes. You had everything. The focus went more away from Bojack which was needed to push the show further. The creation of Hollyhocck and Bojack realizing what it means to be a father was also a great season-long arc that took the focus away from his career for a year. Bojack crested with its most daring season yet, and truly cemented its place as a Pantheon-level comedy.
9.) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 7 (2010 - FXX)
It's amazing to think of given we are now closing in on the end of Season 14, but at the start of the decade, the show was old enough that co-creator Rob McElhenney felt they needed to mix things up, so he went out and decided to gain 60 pounds. Given how the seasons have more and more started to blend into each other, this one will always be known as the 'Fat Mac' season, but even outside of the humor they mined out of Mac's weight, the shows 7th season was so good. It was the final season to have 13 episodes (they would go to 10 starting in Season 8). It produced a handful of incredible episodes that showcased the show's shift towards larger storytelling than hijinks at a bar.
Admittedly, the show was smarter and more nuanced than that early on, even as far back as Season 3 with episodes like 'The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation' but they leaned into it heavily in Season 7, looking at the misgivings of Social Media ('The Anti-Social Network'), child peagents ('Frank's Little Beauties') the unfairness of the civil rights movement (the much debated 'Frank's Brother') to how media creates controversy ('The Storm of the Century'). The show was at its best that year, and while the satire and smarts would get even more pointed, for Mac gaining 60 pounds alone and the show starting its now decade-long pivot into Social Commentary, this season gets all the plaudits it so heavily deserves.
8.) Chernobyl (2019 - HBO)
Here's a weird take on Chernobyl - it actually is a damn uplifting show. In the face of such fascist, totalitarian rule (e.g. all the 'Soviets couldn't have built a bad reactor' stuff) a group of scientists, career politicians, and hundreds of poor volunteers worked together to save permanent global catastrophe. If anything, it showed the power of humanity if they can work together and sacrifice for the greater good.
The amazing characters the show painted was staggering, be it the spectacular casting, writing and performances of our three 'leads' in Valery Legasov, Boris Scherbina and Ulana Khomyuk (the only one not based on an historical figure). The career beaurocrats were swimmingly toxic. The workers who messed up to lead to the catastrophe were painted so unrelentingly beaten by the Soviet mindset. The whole show was so well constructed.
Ou of all the shows I';ve ranked #1 over the years (Fargo S1, Veep S4, People v. OJ, The Young Pope, Succession S1), this is probably the hardest one to rewatch, and the least 'entertaining' in teh traditional sense, but there is an argument that it is the best. It is a historical drama, but takes all the small moments - be it the people who didn't want to leave Chernobyl, the human trauma of using coal workers to pick up pieces of graphite one-by-one, to the mercy killing of dogs, to so much more. So much of TV in 2019 was negative and pessimistic - which led to a lot of great shows - and nothing came close to Chernobyl in its effectiveness.
7.) Veep - Season 4 (2015 - HBO)
This was the only comedy I ever ranked at #1 for an individual year, and as the best season of the best comedy of the 2000s, it was an easy choice. The 200s were defined by drama, but Veep was purely incredible in its seventh season, one that had Selina as President while also actively campaigning for it. The addition of Hugh Laurie as Tom James was perfect to mix it up a bit after we got used to the same people in the same roles. This season mixed it up completely, with Jonah trying to resurrect his career, Dan and Amy as lobbyists and Selina running around like mad.
The show did shine a cruelly beautiful light at what a president actually does - and of course while it is satire, it was probably showcasing a fake president who gave a lot more to the job than our current real one. What really set the show apart, and provided arguably its apex as a series, was that series of the episodes to end the season. First with B/Ill showing the true side of congressional lobbying, and the incredible game of politicking to get a bill signed. Then of course was maybe the shows best ever episode in 'Testimony' watching all of our favorites take part in a congressional hearing, with such brilliant moments as Mike pretending not to know how his notes app works, and of course the listing out of Jonah's many, many nicknames.
The season ends with the ridiculous convolution (based on real law) that the VP would take over the presidency because there was an electoral college tie - something that of course can happen. As with everything great about Veep, it exposed the stupidity of our government, in the funniest, sharpest, most cutting of ways.
6.) Succession - Season 1 (2018 - HBO)
Remember when I said about Stranger Things that few shows were more surprising to be hits. Well, Succession was one of those shows. HBO dropped it randomly over the summer. There's literally no headlining actor or actress, with just a few semi-known character actors thrown in. It even started somewhat slow, with an Arrested Development like opening of the old patriarch not giving up control of his company to his fake golden child son. Then Logan had a stroke. Then he woke up, and mustered the energy out of nowhere to stake his claim in full. Then his son tried to oust him and failed, and Logan shouted 'You Lose. I'm Trying to turn a FUCKING TANKER AROUND' and then we were treated to maybe the best five straight episodes of television in a standard TV series of any in the decade. From the moment Kendall lost the vote of no confidence, through the finale with tears streaming down his face while Logan calls him his 'number one boy' was about as good as television as you can have.
For a quick reminder, those episodes featured a whole lot of Cousin Greg and Tom (eating birds whole under a hood), a bachelor party in an underground club where Greg does a whole lot of coke, a trip to Connor's scenic desert retreat, a couple trips to Europe, and so much more. The corporate manuevering that was the plot was interesting, but so was watching this group of hilariously greedy, awful people interact and back-stab each other time after time. A lot of people couldn't get into teh show because of how terrible the people were, but much like its comedy counterpart Arrested Development (seriously, the similarities are jarring) watching terrible people be terrible is a whole lot of fun. More than anything else, the show oozed fun, it oozed entrapment, it oozed brilliance.
5.) Game of Thrones - Season 4 (2014 - HBO)
I underanked Game of Thrones at the time. I've done my ranking of Top shows in 2014-2019. The Top-eight in this ranking includes the six #1 shows I had, a show that was on in 2013, and then this one. Game of Thrones was the pinnacle of TV in terms of modern consumption in the 2010s (last season shenanigans excluded), and its best season to me was its 4th, where the main story focused almost exclusively on the political machinations in King's Landing, with the death of Joffrey, the Trail of Tyrion, and his final killing of his father. The stuff outside of King's Landing was interesting too, with the Watchers On the Wall, all the Baelish/Sansa/Lyssa stuff, and Dany's continued reign. But at its heart, to me Game of Thrones was best when it focused on the political stuff, and in that it was truly great.
Everything in King's Landing in Season 4 was note perfect. The memories of watching Tyrion's trail, and his final speech before being sentenced to death is still a highlight of Game of Thrones as a show. All scenes with teh Red Viper were special. Those last moments with Joffrey at his best/worst shocased a truly great young actor who sadly has been typecast into that role. Everything around Olenna Tyrell was amazing. The show was incredible at its best, and in its fourth season with the show about as large as it would ever be (few characters were introduced after this) it was as good as it would ever be.
4.) American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson (2016 - FX)
The first time I did a list like this was in 2014, when I put Fargo at #1. To me, that was an easy call. It was the show that best defined television in 2014, that best showcased the medium - and ultimately it was a wholly surprising given how hard it was going to be to pull off, to create a TV show in the same universe with the same tone as a beloved cult film. In many ways, The People vs. OJ Simpson was so similar. Nothing was more memorable about TV in 2016 than this, and nothing was more surprising. Unlike the other OJ piece, this was not a documentary, this was scripted, original material. This was a show with actors playing the part of real people - people that themselves became celebrities during the OJ ordeal. This was such a daunting task, I was skeptical from the start. The skepticism went away quickly, and was replaced by sheer joy.
One of the links between Fargo and The People vs. OJ Simpson (and so many other great shows including my #2 this year), was just how much fun they were to watch. I don't know if any show was as good as this in that regard. Like all shows it starts with the acting. Everyone was great. Few shows have such a star-studded cast, and, putting aside Travolta's Shapiro for a minute, while most of the big names got smaller parts they were all amazing, like Nathan Lane's F. Lee Bailey. Of course, the stars were Courtney B. Vance's amazing portrayal of Johnny Cochrane, and Sarah Paulson's great, complicated view of Marcia Clark. While the documentary focused on the larger picture, The People vs. OJ Simpson focused in on the trail and the main players, and did an incredible job. The courtroom scenes were great. The emotional arcs of Chris Darden and Clark were great. The infighting in OJ's circle was so well scripted and played. The largest flaw people seemed to have was Travolta's portrayal, but even that I thought hit the spot given how larger than life Bob Shapiro considered himself. My main takeaway from the show ended up being just how incredibly entertaining it was. The hours flew by, and after each one I left my chair with a large smile on my face. Nothing was better, few were even close, to The People vs. OJ Simpson in 2016.
3.) The Young Pope (2017 - HBO)
There are three distinct aspects to The Young Pope that I think they did better than any show I have ever seen. First is cinematography (or maybe lighting, not sure what the right term is). The airy way the show was shot fit so well into the almost heaven-like nature of the show. Some of those scenes were so airy, so dream-like, which fit so well with the show as a whole. Second, the music. Man that score, such a perfect mix of EDM to House to Folk. The star was probably 'Recondite' the synth-heavy track that was used so well, but all the music was perfect. Best example actually is the theme, with All Along the Watchtower setting the scene so damn well.
Finally, and it must be said, was Jude Law's performance. The smarm, the delivery, the charm, all of it was so damn on point from episode 1. Seeing him interact with various people was always such a brilliant experience. Most memorably was every interaction with bespectacled Cardinal Vieollo, but so good also were his interactions with the other Cardinals, the Prime Minister of Italy and the President of Greenland. Every moment was so good in that large, empty hall he sat in.
The plot also should be mentioned. While the marketing leaned heavy into the 'Hey, its a Pope, but he's young and HOT!' angle, teh show itself turned that around 180 degrees, with the genius idea to make Pope Lenny a staunch conservative Pontiff wanting to take the Vatican back centuries, a brilliant spin that gave the show life. It was a joy to watch the inner workings (however distorted they may be) of the Vatican, the politics, the intrigue, and, of course, the kanagaroo of it all.
2.) Breaking Bad - Season 3 (2010 - AMC)
Breaking Bad is forever lost to the same fate that espoused say Zinedine Zidane - a player who's peak was 1998-2006. Never really tied to any one decade. Breaking Bad started in 2007 and ended in 2013. It's third season that aired in 2010 just sneaks into eligibility here, which is great because it will remain my favorite season of the shows run, and the only one I would put up against the best season of The Wire Season 1 or 4 (or Arrested Development Season 2, or my show at #1 here). As a quick reminder, this season first peeled back the world's awareness to Walt's cruelty, with Skylar knowing about his meth-making. It also toed between the woebegone RV days (the RV was destroyed during the season), and the Super-Lab being built (the season ending with Gale being killed). It was the only season to showcase every part of Breaking Bad's brilliance, to the small-show buddy-cop comedy, to the high stakes of the Cartel. It was as wide as Breaking Bad would get, and could show it could explore a ton of areas, much like The Wire.
Outside of just seeing Walt's continued devolving mental state, the season had the best Hank storyline, with his PTSD making him unable to take the transfer to El Paso, and then beat up Jesse which put him the position to be ambushed by The Cousins - leading to maybe the best ever dramatic scene in TV history for pure excitement and drama. You had a great Jesse season as well, with him dealing with teh fallout of losing Jane and wallowing into madness. There was no bad storyline or even bad moment in the season.
Aside from the large storylines, the season also gave the show some of its most memorable episodes, if not the most memorable standalone episodes of the decade in The Fly, the bottle episode set in Gus's super-lab, which was a masterpiece in small, quiet but anxious storytelling. Vince Gilligan never seemed as much in control of his world as it did during Breaking Bad season 3. To me, there's always a difference between plot and story. Plot is getting from A to B, and story is showing C, D, E and F as well. The Wire was the best ever at showing story - at times the plot was entirely secondary. At a high level, Breaking Bad was highly plot driven - which is not bad, but Season 3 was the closest it got to showing story, showing a world, and it did it incredibly well.
1.) Fargo - Season 1 (2014 - FX)
I probably only did my rankings in 2014 because I wanted to extol just how incredible Fargo was. That show should have never hit the air. But Noah Hawley had an idea, to set a show with the tone and vocabulary and style of the Coen Brothers most beloved property, and damn did it work.
I also do want to mention I think Fargo is underrated in its overall impact. Before Fargo, the idea of a few 'film' stars coming together to film a limited series seemed ludicrous aside from a HBO prestige project every few years. Fargo re-invented that fully with its show prescribing Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton into lead roles. Fargo was such a monstrous hit it swept the 'miniseries' awards in the Emmys, something that quickly became the most hotly contested category year after year (e.g. People v. OJ or Big Little Lies). Fargo set a tone that so many others would try to copy for the rest of the decade: trying to find a perfect balance of follow-able plot, and so much verve and magic.
Fargo's first season was perfect storytelling, really. The world it built almost immediately, through the eyes of the monster of Lorne Malvo, the middling husband of Lester Nygaard, and of course the eyes of the viewer, the daring Molly Solverson (played brilliantly by Allison Tolman). The mythology and nuance they added was so special. The side-plots were perfectly Cohen-esque without ever seeming to outright copy what they did - no better example than the endlessly fun sideplot of the 'King of Supermarkets' and Glenn Howerton's dumb-putz gym trainer Don.
Fargo was probably simultaneously the most influential show of the decade, the most impactful, and when viewed in isolation, the best as well. It changed tones enough for its second season, and dropped enough in quality in its third, that it probably won't get the legacy it deserved. That said, for a show that most people thought never should have been made, there is a reason it got universal critical aplomb, set the stage for a solid half-decade of mini-series being pushed down our throats, and to showcase that a big-stage cast in a small-screen world can work magic.-
I'm not going to lie, I struggled with the question of it this was a better season than Bojack Season 3, but ultimately, I think the fourth season excelled at a few things that the third was slightly less good at: namely, focusing the psychology lessons and character studies on a larger set of people. This season had a stronger Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane plot with their marriage breaking over his attempt to run for governor. You had a truly great Princess Caralyn plot around her romance with a mouse and miscarriage, leading to a truly heart-wrenching episode told from the perspective of Princess Caralyn's mis-carried child had she been born and grown up. You had great Todd episodes. You had everything. The focus went more away from Bojack which was needed to push the show further. The creation of Hollyhocck and Bojack realizing what it means to be a father was also a great season-long arc that took the focus away from his career for a year. Bojack crested with its most daring season yet, and truly cemented its place as a Pantheon-level comedy.
9.) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 7 (2010 - FXX)
It's amazing to think of given we are now closing in on the end of Season 14, but at the start of the decade, the show was old enough that co-creator Rob McElhenney felt they needed to mix things up, so he went out and decided to gain 60 pounds. Given how the seasons have more and more started to blend into each other, this one will always be known as the 'Fat Mac' season, but even outside of the humor they mined out of Mac's weight, the shows 7th season was so good. It was the final season to have 13 episodes (they would go to 10 starting in Season 8). It produced a handful of incredible episodes that showcased the show's shift towards larger storytelling than hijinks at a bar.
Admittedly, the show was smarter and more nuanced than that early on, even as far back as Season 3 with episodes like 'The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation' but they leaned into it heavily in Season 7, looking at the misgivings of Social Media ('The Anti-Social Network'), child peagents ('Frank's Little Beauties') the unfairness of the civil rights movement (the much debated 'Frank's Brother') to how media creates controversy ('The Storm of the Century'). The show was at its best that year, and while the satire and smarts would get even more pointed, for Mac gaining 60 pounds alone and the show starting its now decade-long pivot into Social Commentary, this season gets all the plaudits it so heavily deserves.
8.) Chernobyl (2019 - HBO)
Here's a weird take on Chernobyl - it actually is a damn uplifting show. In the face of such fascist, totalitarian rule (e.g. all the 'Soviets couldn't have built a bad reactor' stuff) a group of scientists, career politicians, and hundreds of poor volunteers worked together to save permanent global catastrophe. If anything, it showed the power of humanity if they can work together and sacrifice for the greater good.
The amazing characters the show painted was staggering, be it the spectacular casting, writing and performances of our three 'leads' in Valery Legasov, Boris Scherbina and Ulana Khomyuk (the only one not based on an historical figure). The career beaurocrats were swimmingly toxic. The workers who messed up to lead to the catastrophe were painted so unrelentingly beaten by the Soviet mindset. The whole show was so well constructed.
Ou of all the shows I';ve ranked #1 over the years (Fargo S1, Veep S4, People v. OJ, The Young Pope, Succession S1), this is probably the hardest one to rewatch, and the least 'entertaining' in teh traditional sense, but there is an argument that it is the best. It is a historical drama, but takes all the small moments - be it the people who didn't want to leave Chernobyl, the human trauma of using coal workers to pick up pieces of graphite one-by-one, to the mercy killing of dogs, to so much more. So much of TV in 2019 was negative and pessimistic - which led to a lot of great shows - and nothing came close to Chernobyl in its effectiveness.
7.) Veep - Season 4 (2015 - HBO)
This was the only comedy I ever ranked at #1 for an individual year, and as the best season of the best comedy of the 2000s, it was an easy choice. The 200s were defined by drama, but Veep was purely incredible in its seventh season, one that had Selina as President while also actively campaigning for it. The addition of Hugh Laurie as Tom James was perfect to mix it up a bit after we got used to the same people in the same roles. This season mixed it up completely, with Jonah trying to resurrect his career, Dan and Amy as lobbyists and Selina running around like mad.
The show did shine a cruelly beautiful light at what a president actually does - and of course while it is satire, it was probably showcasing a fake president who gave a lot more to the job than our current real one. What really set the show apart, and provided arguably its apex as a series, was that series of the episodes to end the season. First with B/Ill showing the true side of congressional lobbying, and the incredible game of politicking to get a bill signed. Then of course was maybe the shows best ever episode in 'Testimony' watching all of our favorites take part in a congressional hearing, with such brilliant moments as Mike pretending not to know how his notes app works, and of course the listing out of Jonah's many, many nicknames.
The season ends with the ridiculous convolution (based on real law) that the VP would take over the presidency because there was an electoral college tie - something that of course can happen. As with everything great about Veep, it exposed the stupidity of our government, in the funniest, sharpest, most cutting of ways.
6.) Succession - Season 1 (2018 - HBO)
Remember when I said about Stranger Things that few shows were more surprising to be hits. Well, Succession was one of those shows. HBO dropped it randomly over the summer. There's literally no headlining actor or actress, with just a few semi-known character actors thrown in. It even started somewhat slow, with an Arrested Development like opening of the old patriarch not giving up control of his company to his fake golden child son. Then Logan had a stroke. Then he woke up, and mustered the energy out of nowhere to stake his claim in full. Then his son tried to oust him and failed, and Logan shouted 'You Lose. I'm Trying to turn a FUCKING TANKER AROUND' and then we were treated to maybe the best five straight episodes of television in a standard TV series of any in the decade. From the moment Kendall lost the vote of no confidence, through the finale with tears streaming down his face while Logan calls him his 'number one boy' was about as good as television as you can have.
For a quick reminder, those episodes featured a whole lot of Cousin Greg and Tom (eating birds whole under a hood), a bachelor party in an underground club where Greg does a whole lot of coke, a trip to Connor's scenic desert retreat, a couple trips to Europe, and so much more. The corporate manuevering that was the plot was interesting, but so was watching this group of hilariously greedy, awful people interact and back-stab each other time after time. A lot of people couldn't get into teh show because of how terrible the people were, but much like its comedy counterpart Arrested Development (seriously, the similarities are jarring) watching terrible people be terrible is a whole lot of fun. More than anything else, the show oozed fun, it oozed entrapment, it oozed brilliance.
5.) Game of Thrones - Season 4 (2014 - HBO)
I underanked Game of Thrones at the time. I've done my ranking of Top shows in 2014-2019. The Top-eight in this ranking includes the six #1 shows I had, a show that was on in 2013, and then this one. Game of Thrones was the pinnacle of TV in terms of modern consumption in the 2010s (last season shenanigans excluded), and its best season to me was its 4th, where the main story focused almost exclusively on the political machinations in King's Landing, with the death of Joffrey, the Trail of Tyrion, and his final killing of his father. The stuff outside of King's Landing was interesting too, with the Watchers On the Wall, all the Baelish/Sansa/Lyssa stuff, and Dany's continued reign. But at its heart, to me Game of Thrones was best when it focused on the political stuff, and in that it was truly great.
Everything in King's Landing in Season 4 was note perfect. The memories of watching Tyrion's trail, and his final speech before being sentenced to death is still a highlight of Game of Thrones as a show. All scenes with teh Red Viper were special. Those last moments with Joffrey at his best/worst shocased a truly great young actor who sadly has been typecast into that role. Everything around Olenna Tyrell was amazing. The show was incredible at its best, and in its fourth season with the show about as large as it would ever be (few characters were introduced after this) it was as good as it would ever be.
4.) American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson (2016 - FX)
The first time I did a list like this was in 2014, when I put Fargo at #1. To me, that was an easy call. It was the show that best defined television in 2014, that best showcased the medium - and ultimately it was a wholly surprising given how hard it was going to be to pull off, to create a TV show in the same universe with the same tone as a beloved cult film. In many ways, The People vs. OJ Simpson was so similar. Nothing was more memorable about TV in 2016 than this, and nothing was more surprising. Unlike the other OJ piece, this was not a documentary, this was scripted, original material. This was a show with actors playing the part of real people - people that themselves became celebrities during the OJ ordeal. This was such a daunting task, I was skeptical from the start. The skepticism went away quickly, and was replaced by sheer joy.
One of the links between Fargo and The People vs. OJ Simpson (and so many other great shows including my #2 this year), was just how much fun they were to watch. I don't know if any show was as good as this in that regard. Like all shows it starts with the acting. Everyone was great. Few shows have such a star-studded cast, and, putting aside Travolta's Shapiro for a minute, while most of the big names got smaller parts they were all amazing, like Nathan Lane's F. Lee Bailey. Of course, the stars were Courtney B. Vance's amazing portrayal of Johnny Cochrane, and Sarah Paulson's great, complicated view of Marcia Clark. While the documentary focused on the larger picture, The People vs. OJ Simpson focused in on the trail and the main players, and did an incredible job. The courtroom scenes were great. The emotional arcs of Chris Darden and Clark were great. The infighting in OJ's circle was so well scripted and played. The largest flaw people seemed to have was Travolta's portrayal, but even that I thought hit the spot given how larger than life Bob Shapiro considered himself. My main takeaway from the show ended up being just how incredibly entertaining it was. The hours flew by, and after each one I left my chair with a large smile on my face. Nothing was better, few were even close, to The People vs. OJ Simpson in 2016.
3.) The Young Pope (2017 - HBO)
There are three distinct aspects to The Young Pope that I think they did better than any show I have ever seen. First is cinematography (or maybe lighting, not sure what the right term is). The airy way the show was shot fit so well into the almost heaven-like nature of the show. Some of those scenes were so airy, so dream-like, which fit so well with the show as a whole. Second, the music. Man that score, such a perfect mix of EDM to House to Folk. The star was probably 'Recondite' the synth-heavy track that was used so well, but all the music was perfect. Best example actually is the theme, with All Along the Watchtower setting the scene so damn well.
Finally, and it must be said, was Jude Law's performance. The smarm, the delivery, the charm, all of it was so damn on point from episode 1. Seeing him interact with various people was always such a brilliant experience. Most memorably was every interaction with bespectacled Cardinal Vieollo, but so good also were his interactions with the other Cardinals, the Prime Minister of Italy and the President of Greenland. Every moment was so good in that large, empty hall he sat in.
The plot also should be mentioned. While the marketing leaned heavy into the 'Hey, its a Pope, but he's young and HOT!' angle, teh show itself turned that around 180 degrees, with the genius idea to make Pope Lenny a staunch conservative Pontiff wanting to take the Vatican back centuries, a brilliant spin that gave the show life. It was a joy to watch the inner workings (however distorted they may be) of the Vatican, the politics, the intrigue, and, of course, the kanagaroo of it all.
2.) Breaking Bad - Season 3 (2010 - AMC)
Breaking Bad is forever lost to the same fate that espoused say Zinedine Zidane - a player who's peak was 1998-2006. Never really tied to any one decade. Breaking Bad started in 2007 and ended in 2013. It's third season that aired in 2010 just sneaks into eligibility here, which is great because it will remain my favorite season of the shows run, and the only one I would put up against the best season of The Wire Season 1 or 4 (or Arrested Development Season 2, or my show at #1 here). As a quick reminder, this season first peeled back the world's awareness to Walt's cruelty, with Skylar knowing about his meth-making. It also toed between the woebegone RV days (the RV was destroyed during the season), and the Super-Lab being built (the season ending with Gale being killed). It was the only season to showcase every part of Breaking Bad's brilliance, to the small-show buddy-cop comedy, to the high stakes of the Cartel. It was as wide as Breaking Bad would get, and could show it could explore a ton of areas, much like The Wire.
Outside of just seeing Walt's continued devolving mental state, the season had the best Hank storyline, with his PTSD making him unable to take the transfer to El Paso, and then beat up Jesse which put him the position to be ambushed by The Cousins - leading to maybe the best ever dramatic scene in TV history for pure excitement and drama. You had a great Jesse season as well, with him dealing with teh fallout of losing Jane and wallowing into madness. There was no bad storyline or even bad moment in the season.
Aside from the large storylines, the season also gave the show some of its most memorable episodes, if not the most memorable standalone episodes of the decade in The Fly, the bottle episode set in Gus's super-lab, which was a masterpiece in small, quiet but anxious storytelling. Vince Gilligan never seemed as much in control of his world as it did during Breaking Bad season 3. To me, there's always a difference between plot and story. Plot is getting from A to B, and story is showing C, D, E and F as well. The Wire was the best ever at showing story - at times the plot was entirely secondary. At a high level, Breaking Bad was highly plot driven - which is not bad, but Season 3 was the closest it got to showing story, showing a world, and it did it incredibly well.
1.) Fargo - Season 1 (2014 - FX)
I probably only did my rankings in 2014 because I wanted to extol just how incredible Fargo was. That show should have never hit the air. But Noah Hawley had an idea, to set a show with the tone and vocabulary and style of the Coen Brothers most beloved property, and damn did it work.
I also do want to mention I think Fargo is underrated in its overall impact. Before Fargo, the idea of a few 'film' stars coming together to film a limited series seemed ludicrous aside from a HBO prestige project every few years. Fargo re-invented that fully with its show prescribing Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton into lead roles. Fargo was such a monstrous hit it swept the 'miniseries' awards in the Emmys, something that quickly became the most hotly contested category year after year (e.g. People v. OJ or Big Little Lies). Fargo set a tone that so many others would try to copy for the rest of the decade: trying to find a perfect balance of follow-able plot, and so much verve and magic.
Fargo's first season was perfect storytelling, really. The world it built almost immediately, through the eyes of the monster of Lorne Malvo, the middling husband of Lester Nygaard, and of course the eyes of the viewer, the daring Molly Solverson (played brilliantly by Allison Tolman). The mythology and nuance they added was so special. The side-plots were perfectly Cohen-esque without ever seeming to outright copy what they did - no better example than the endlessly fun sideplot of the 'King of Supermarkets' and Glenn Howerton's dumb-putz gym trainer Don.
Fargo was probably simultaneously the most influential show of the decade, the most impactful, and when viewed in isolation, the best as well. It changed tones enough for its second season, and dropped enough in quality in its third, that it probably won't get the legacy it deserved. That said, for a show that most people thought never should have been made, there is a reason it got universal critical aplomb, set the stage for a solid half-decade of mini-series being pushed down our throats, and to showcase that a big-stage cast in a small-screen world can work magic.-
