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the best TV shows snubbed by the New York Times’ 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century list
We have been living in the Golden Age of Television for the past quarter century. I have said this many times here at BroBible.
Pinpointing the exact moment it all began is tough. You could point to The Sopranos on HBO from 1999-2007 and/or LOST from 2004-2010 as a time when the shift in television really began in earnest and the quality started rivaling film, which led to Hollywood’s A-List film actors being siphoned off into the TV industry over the past two and a half decades.
We must give credit where credit is due. TV has the Emmy Awards along with countless other awards shows, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes rankings, and now the New York Times has released a ‘100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century’ list which has everyone talking. Lists like these exist merely to get people talking, to debate, but when the paper of record releases a definitive ‘100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century’ list and fails to include some of the best TV shows of the past 26 years while including faaaaarrrrr too many shows that only ran for one season as a mini-series, I think it is worth discussing.
Ranking the Best TV Shows Snubbed By The New York Times ‘100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century’ List
First up, here is the NYT list. They released a printable version of their ‘100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century’ list here and I’ve included it below:
the New York Times’ 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century Printable list
First impressions: the list is not all that dissimilar from IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes rankings, at least at the top. This is most likely reflective of the fact that the highest-rated TV shows across those sites are rated highly for a reason. However, there are some MAJOR holes in the list!
Let me go item by item real quick before we get to the shows that were snubbed… At #16 is the U.K. version of The Office which ran for 3 seasons. Why do we have to act like that show was a masterpiece? Ricky Gervais was funny and that’s about where it ends. The greatest gift of that show was it leading to the U.S. version of The Office.
Then at #’s 18 and 19 we have I May Destroy You and Chernobyl, two masterpieces, but each were 1-season mini series. Yes, they aired on television but why are we comparing those shows to series like Barry or The Bear which ran for multiple seasons and stayed perfect throughout?
Other shows that ran for just a season included on the list are, oddly, True Detective Season 1 as if the other seasons somehow didn’t exist, Watchmen, Adolescence, Station Eleven, Twin Peaks: The Return, Normal People, Mare of Easttown, Beef (season 1), The Queen’s Gambit, Planet Earth, and Baby Reindeer. How can we possibly say that these shows which ran for a single season are qualitatively better than the numerous shows that ran for years on end and were fantastic?
The TV Shows That Got Snubbed
1. Mr. Robot
A perfect example of complex storytelling woven over multiple seasons and a show that could stick the landing. Everything else side, Mr. Robot should have been on the list for Season 3, Episode 5, titled eps3.4_runtime-error.r00 alone.
That was the infamous one-take episode, a 44-minute episode of television that was shot and edited to appear as if it was one continuous take. It was a masterpiece. The show won 3 Primetime Emmy awards and had 86 awards nominations throughout.
2. Fargo
If the Times is going to cherry pick True Detective Season 1 for their list how do they then opt to overlook Fargo, a show that follows a similar format of a completely fresh cast and storyline for each season, but which has proven to be significantly better than the True Detective franchise over time?!
3. Avatar: The Las Airbender
Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender
How many of the TV shows on the NYT’s ‘100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century’ list won a Peabody Award for accurately depicting the perils of war in a way that can teach the future generations of the world the importance of taking global conflicts seriously?
Sure, Avatar: the Last Airbender might have been an anime show on Nickelodeon but it is one of the highest-rated TV shows in history and it broke viewership records when it aired. It is an absolute disgrace that Avatar did not make the list of the 100 best TV shows but all these series with 1 season did.
4. Mind Hunter
The story of two FBI agents investigating America’s first serial killers, taking place in a world half in reality and half in fiction. Netflix deserved lashings for canceling this show prematurely. Jonathan Goff put on a masterclass as Holden Ford over the 19 episodes. 10 out of 10. A better series than The Night Of which only lasted a season.
5. Derry Girls
There were so many incredible comedies left off the NYT’s list. They included some, to be fair, but there are so many fantastic comedies including Derry Girls which ran from 2018-2022, has 20 awards show wins, and is amongst the most celebrated comedies in the past 10 years by people who know ball.
6. What We Do In The Shadows
Another perfect comedy that was snubbed from the list is FX’s What We Do In The Shadows. This Primetime Emmy winning series has received a total of 212 awards show nominations. It’s quirky. Hilarious. Irreverent. Refreshingly different from all the drivel on the major networks.
Faced between choosing the better series, all things considered, between What We Do In The Shadows versus The Queen’s Gambit (ranked #81) which was one season and filmed to trick viewers into thinking it was based on a true story when in reality it was just a moderately entertaining story with no proper plot twists…there’s only one correct decision.
7. The Righteous Gemstones
It is absolutely laughable that The Righteous Gemstones did not make the cut on the New York Times’ list. This series checks every box with its only drawback being that it is a comedy and they seemed to favor mini series over comedies.
The Righteous Gemstones had an A-List cast, some of the quickest and funniest writing in years, a premise that we had never seen before in a series, each season was a standalone plot that took viewers to hilarious new places, and it won a Primetime Emmy. Enough said.
8. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
B99 was so good that when it got canceled the entire world revolted and the show got picked back up. That alone should have put it on the Times‘ list. Sure, the list could not be overrun by Comedy series but the disproportionate amount of one-season mini series is laughable.
9. Silicon Valley
Another foundational Comedy that didn’t make the cut is HBO’s Silicon Valley which in its prime was amongst the best there ever was. The NYT clearly favors HBO productions in their rankings but somehow this one got overlooked?! Make it make sense!
10. Last Man on Earth
Okay, not everyone will agree with me here but Will Forte’s The Last Man on Earth was a proper masterpiece. It was canceled too early, and after one of the biggest cliff hangers in TV history. If the series didn’t get the axe the same day as Brooklyn Nine-Nine I am certain fans could have saved this one but as things stand, the networks only had enough energy to revive one series that day and thus we were all robbed of a final chapter in masterful writing.
11. Yellowstone
Taylor Sheridan’s writing and TV empire is not for everyone but surely nobody can deny the cultural impact his shows have had. Yellowstone received 52 awards nominations, launched prequels, spin-offs, and was so successful that Hollywood basically handed Taylor Sheridan a blank check to go make whatever he wants (ie, Lioness) because he has his finger on the pulse of what audiences love to see.
Not including Yellowstone on their list of the 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st century seems very, very deliberate, and political
