Of all the media that we’re covering in these best of the decade lists, TV shows possibly changed the most this past decade. Back in 2009, the zeitgeist still was driven by network TV, and to some extent basic cable. I’d argue premium networks like HBO and Showtime were still niche, it seemed like plenty of people caught up with shows like The Sopranos and Dexter by waiting for the DVDs. Obviously streaming has changed all that, and the industry is still figuring out how this new normal is going to work.
The other thing about TV is that it’s the most time-sensitive of all the media we’ll be writing about, in that historically, it’s been pretty uncommon for people to go back and catch up with shows that are off the air. That’s changing too, but it has the funny effect on making everything on my list make me nostalgic for the times in my life I was watching them. Certain shows are college shows, grad school shows, new career shows. Which makes me realize that I don’t have big set milestones for this next decade like I have had in the past, which is scary… Let’s not get existential, let’s just do this list.