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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the New York Times’ list of the top 100 shows released since the year 2000.
As part of the feature, the paper asked people to submit their own top 10 lists. More than 100,000 readers responded (this one included), and the results are fascinating.
The new list shows a pretty strong fondness for network shows, especially comedies — Parks and Recreation and Modern Family both shoot up dramatically in the ranking, gaining 39 and 43 spots, respectively, and new entries include classic multi-camera sitcoms such as How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory, and beloved comfort-watch single-camera shows, including New Girl, Scrubs and Brooklyn 99.
Modern Family (ABC)
And while a lot of worthy British TV dropped off the list — including the brilliant, hilarious Catastrophe, which would be in my top 10, and the searing police drama Happy Valley — other non-North American shows, such as Irish comedy Derry Girls and the time-twisty subtitled German drama Dark, made their way on.
I was heartened to see my beloved Heated Rivalry crack the Top 100, as did Widow’s Bay, both shows that debuted late in 2025 or early in 2026, where the original list seems to cut off.
The NYT includes the top 500 shows based on reader votes and the main takeaway from this is: “Holy cow, do we ever live in an ongoing golden age of television.”
There are easily 100 shows beyond the top-ranked series that I absolutely adore, and still more not listed at all that might make my list of “favourite TV shows” (a distinct list from what I think is “best”).
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So it was with this giddy sense of being surrounded by a surfeit of wonderful art that I read with a sinking heart these words from Ynon Kreiz, the new co-CEO, with David Ellison, of Skydance, the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate formed by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
On the eve of the merger, Kreiz said in a statement: “Our goals as a team are to establish Skydance as the premier Hollywood content engine and home for the world’s leading storytellers, accelerate our integrated DTC platform with the best content, leading-edge technology and superior consumer experience, and optimize our highly profitable linear TV portfolio, reaching audiences globally across every entertainment vertical.”
As my co-worker remarked, “Nothing better than sitting down with the family around the ol’ entertainment vertical.”
Can a man who unironically engages in such a truly parodic level of corporate jargon really be the person charged with bringing us the next generation of Mad Mens, Breaking Bads and Gilmore Girlses?
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