When TV magic strikes, it’s brilliant. You can’t stop watching a show. If it’s a weekly release, you anticipate every weekly episode and re-watch once it’s all over. Over the last 20 years, there have been more than a handful of TV dramas that fit these criteria, absolute gems that I might even go so far as to call perfect.
These TV dramas have been spread out over the last two decades. Some kick things off with a 2006 release, others launching in the late 2010s or early 2020s, and a brand-new one that is worthy of making the ranks.
10
‘The Pitt’ (2025–Present)
The Pitt managed to reinvigorate a genre that didn’t even need invigorating. Yet it somehow resuscitated the idea that medical dramas could be gritty and real and didn’t have to skew too much to the soapy drama or comedic side. The procedural is told in a unique way, every 15-episode season taking place during a real-time 15-hour shift. There’s nothing flashy about the show: it’s just like walking around in a teaching hospital’s emergency room and watching the doctors, nurses, and other staff do their thing.
The Pitt focuses more heavily on the patients and common, devastating, heartbreaking, and silly accidents, illnesses, and tragedies. When the lens shifts to the staff as well, it’s not to showcase illicit affairs and love triangles, but the true, raw and honest toll the job takes on those who dedicate their lives to saving others. There’s good reason The Pitt is praised by real-life medical professionals, who call it one of the most, if not the most, accurate medical dramas ever to grace the small screen.
9
‘The Americans’ (2013–2018)
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys make a wonderful pair in The Americans as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two KGB officers posing as a typical suburban American family while spying and reporting back to their country. They must balance this complicated secret with their fake personas, including raising their two American-born children, Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry (Keidrich Sellati).
The period spy drama takes you deep into the complex situation, uniquely exploring it from the perspective of both sides. Adding even more intensity is that the Jennings’ neighbor is FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), who happens to work in counterintelligence. Not only is The Americans perfect through its six seasons, it’s also widely considered to have one of the best series endings ever, making it worth the investment even now, eight years after it ended.
8
‘Friday Night Lights’ (2006–2011)
Lauded for its accurate depiction of typical American small-town family life, Friday Night Lights centers around Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), a high school football coach, and his wife Tami (Connie Britton). Residing in a close-knit town, everyone knows everyone else’s business and football is everything. The series frames the show around family values and underfunded schools, and tackles tough subjects like racism, addiction, abortion, and economic uncertainty throughout its seasons.
Friday Night Lights is a sports drama that any fan of the genre will love, especially football fans. But even if you’re not a football fan, it’s a family and community drama like any other with compelling characters you want to get behind. Watching, you feel like you’re part of the community.
7
‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–2019)
Is there anyone who hasn’t watched Game of Thrones? The fantasy drama is based on the novels by George R. R. Martin, though it went off into its own stories for the latter seasons, Game of Thrones takes place on the fictional continent of Westeros. The king has died, and several families and individuals are fighting for a seat on the Iron Throne to lead the Seven Kingdoms. Everyone has a reason to believe it’s theirs, and they are willing to fight to the death to get it.
Featuring warring factions, vicious battles, supernatural events, and, of course, the Night King, the series is a masterclass in world-building. Having spawned two prequel series, the ending and really the entire final season, might have been polarizing. But there’s no denying the series is among the best dramas of the last 20 years, maybe even longer.
6
‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
A drama miniseries based on the real-life catastrophic nuclear plant disaster in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Chernobyl is a chilling account of the clean-up efforts after the reactor exploded. The series highlights some of the heroes of the time, even if it has been criticized for some historical inaccuracies and incorrect depictions of key characters involved.
The show, one of the darkest HBO shows ever made, is universally praised for its depiction of the period, including the scene made to look like the Soviet Union in the 1980s and some of the attitudes. Bringing to light the biggest disasters of this generation, Chernobyl reopened the conversation and answered key questions that, if nothing else, encouraged viewers to research and learn more about it. Just five episodes long, it’s an emotional, riveting, tense, and gripping story.
5
‘The Crown’ (2016–2023)
If you’re into the history of the Royal Family, The Crown is praised for its accuracy (though also criticized for some depictions), acting, and costumes. While it’s a historical drama that takes liberties, it chronicles the real-life rise to power of Queen Elizabeth II, starting with her marriage to Philip Mountbatten and the death of her father, right through to the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. With different actors playing members of the Royal Family, politicians, and other notable figures from one season to the next, there’s a sense of realism and careful attention paid to the events that occurred throughout this almost 60-year period of the queen’s reign.
Told through six captivating, visually stunning seasons, The Crown is a show any fan of period pieces should watch, even if you aren’t especially intrigued by British royalty. Beautifully presented, wonderfully written and directed, with a talented cast that includes A-listers like Jared Harris and Olivia Colman, and relative newcomers (at the time) like Claire Foy, Josh O’Connor, and Emma Corrin, it’s a masterpiece of a show.
4
‘Person of Interest’ (2011–2016)
One of the most under-the-radar yet perfect sci-fi crime dramas, Person of Interest was made for the TV streaming world. Though it was a network show, it didn’t feel like it. The Jonathan Nolan series, which aired for five seasons on CBS, centers around reclusive billionaire Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who built a computer program that can predict terrorist attacks. Fearing it would get into the wrong hands or be used for the wrong purpose, he fakes his death and goes into hiding with it. He hires former special forces soldier and CIA operative John Reese (Jim Caviezel) to work alongside him in the shadows as his muscle.
The machine spits out two names, and it’s up to John to investigate and figure out who is the victim, who is the perpetrator, what’s about to happen, and stop it. The show gets deeper into the tech, AI, and sci-fi realms as it progresses, making it one of the smartest and most relevant shows, far ahead of its time. While Person of Interest initially presented like a procedural, it just kept getting better, maturing into something far more sophisticated than any other network show at the time, and arguably even since.
3
‘Dexter’ (2006–2013)
This crime drama about a vigilante serial killer who, ironically, lives by a strict and specific moral code, was so popular, it spawned a sequel limited series years later, followed by a prequel, and now a second sequel series that is filming its second season. Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) in Dexter will have you feeling oddly drawn to a man who stalks, murders, and dismembers his victims, only because they’re all vetted criminals and downright awful people. Hearing his witty inner narration so we know what he’s thinking in every moment adds to the charm.
The series is even better on a re-watch with compelling stories and cases as Dexter tries to manage his two lives: the masked one he lives around others as a socially awkward blood spatter analyst for the local police department in Miami, and the vicious killer with dark urges he really is. The way his job gives him access to find victims, even botch evidence so he can get to them first, is fascinating and engaging. What was once a show is now a franchise worth watching as Dexter’s story continues with Dexter: Resurrection.
2
‘Mad Men’ (2007–2015)
Ending just as perfectly as it started, Mad Men takes you inside the world of print and TV advertising back in the ’50s and ’60s. Ad agencies held a lot of power at that time, helping brands reach customers, shape narratives, even sell products they didn’t (or did) know at the time weren’t entirely good for you. The show is led by a team of creatives and corporate types, namely creative director Don Draper (Jon Hamm), who has a sought-after knack for tapping into what customers want. He can sell a concept in a pitch meeting that leaves the clients not just impressed, but with their jaws on the floor. Don’s personal life and complicated past, however, are anything but rosy.
The period drama dives into traditional gender roles, male stereotypes, and the fascinating world of advertising before the advent of the internet, social media, and advanced print ad campaigns. It was bare-bones advertising about selling through emotion. The world was a far cry from what it is today, and Mad Men depicts it fascinatingly. See them sell products and brands that were big at the time, from pantyhose to cigarettes, luxury cars, and cameras, in a way that would make you want to buy them even today. And watch Don sink deeper and deeper into a self-sabotaging version of himself while he does it.
1
‘Breaking Bad’ (2008–2013)
Widely considered to be one of the best TV shows ever, not just in the genre category, Breaking Bad defined the 2000s. The show had fans initially curious: how in the world would the dad from Malcolm in the Middle perform as a terrifying drug kingpin? As it turns out, what Vince Gilligan saw in Bryan Cranston paid off in spades, along with his foresight to pair the actor with relative newcomer (at the time) Aaron Paul.
Together, the two strike the perfect balance, both a comedic pairing and a tense duo that work together while Walter White (Cranston) slowly transforms from a pushover high school chemistry teacher to a don’t-mess-with-me crime boss. A rags-to-riches story of the worst kind, Breaking Bad will go down in the history books as an example of sheer television brilliance.
Breaking Bad
- Release Date
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2008 – 2013-00-00
- Network
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AMC
- Showrunner
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Vince Gilligan
- Directors
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Vince Gilligan, Michelle Maclaren