From Breaking Bad to 30 Rock: Top TV shows of the 21st century, as ranked by NYT

The New York Times has unveiled its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, with Breaking Bad taking the No. 1 spot. The Wire, Mad Men, Succession, Fleabag, Game of Thrones, Veep and 30 Rock round out the top eight.

• Storyboard18

|September 27, 2026, 16:03:01 IST

1/8

At No. 1, Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher in New Mexico who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and turns to manufacturing methamphetamine with his former student Jesse Pinkman. Created by Vince Gilligan and starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, the five-season AMC drama traces White’s transformation as his initial plan to secure his family’s finances draws him deeper into the world of drugs and crime.
2/8
At No. 2 is The Wire, David Simon’s HBO drama set in Baltimore. The series initially follows police investigating a drug-trafficking organisation, but its five seasons broaden the focus to institutions including the city’s government, schools and news media, while continuing to examine the people operating within Baltimore’s drug trade and law-enforcement system. The show ran for five seasons from 2002 to 2008 and featured an ensemble cast including Dominic West, Idris Elba, Michael K. Williams and Wendell Pierce.
3/8
Mad Men, ranked No. 3 by The New York Times, is set in 1960s New York and centres on the advertising industry on Madison Avenue. Created by Matthew Weiner, the AMC drama follows Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, and his colleagues as they navigate the competitive advertising business alongside their complicated professional and personal lives. The seven-season series also features Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, Christina Hendricks and John Slattery, and explores the changing social and cultural landscape of the period through the world of advertising.
4/8
At No. 4, Succession centres on the Roy family, which controls a major global media and entertainment conglomerate. Created by Jesse Armstrong, the HBO drama follows patriarch Logan Roy and his four children as they confront the question of who will eventually control the family business. Brian Cox plays Logan, with Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin and Alan Ruck among the principal cast. The series ran for four seasons from 2018 to 2023 and combines the family’s succession struggle with stories about wealth, power, corporate politics and personal relationships.
5/8
At No. 5 is Fleabag, the British comedy-drama created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also stars as its central character. The two-season series follows a woman known as Fleabag as she navigates relationships, family tensions, grief and everyday life in contemporary London. The character’s direct engagement with the audience is a defining feature of the series, which grew out of Waller-Bridge’s one-woman stage play.
6/8
Game of Thrones, ranked No. 6, is HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Set primarily in the fictional continent of Westeros, the series follows several powerful families competing for control of the Iron Throne while a larger threat emerges beyond the political conflicts of the Seven Kingdoms. Created for television by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the series starred an ensemble that included Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington. It ran for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019.
7/8
At No. 7, Veep is a political satire created by Armando Iannucci and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, a former senator who becomes Vice President of the United States. The HBO comedy follows Meyer and her staff as they deal with political crises, public appearances, internal rivalries and the everyday demands of Washington politics. The series ran for seven seasons and 65 episodes, using the fictional White House environment to satirise political manoeuvring, bureaucracy and the pursuit of power.
8/8
30 Rock, ranked No. 8, takes viewers behind the scenes of a fictional NBC sketch-comedy programme. Created by and starring Tina Fey as head writer Liz Lemon, the sitcom follows the chaotic production of TGS with Tracy Jordan, as Liz deals with network executive Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, and unpredictable star Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan.

SPOTLIGHT

Special CoverageGen Z is rewriting the media-to-commerce funnel, forcing brands beyond traditional cohorts

The conversation highlighted a fundamental shift underway in the relationship between audiences, platforms and brands. Rather than treating Gen Z as a uniform consumer segment, marketers are increasingly having to account for individual behaviours, fragmented content consumption and a stronger expectation

SAC 2026: Swiggy, Nestlé, HDFC, Flipkart, Puma, Lahori Zeera shine | Why Piyush Pandey remains India’s creative North Star

Storyboard18 brings you top five news updates from the world of advertising, marketing, and business of brands.