Drama TV · 2010s Ranked
Best Drama TV Shows of the 2010s, Ranked by IQ Score
The decade that completed prestige TV's transformation into the dominant register of long-form American narrative. Ranked by IQ Score.
The 2010s in TV drama is the decade prestige TV completed its transformation from cable-niche to dominant register of long-form American narrative. Mad Men's late seasons, Breaking Bad's finale, The Americans, The Leftovers, Better Call Saul's first half, Halt and Catch Fire, Justified, Game of Thrones, Fargo, the canonical entries cluster densely in the decade.
Anchor picks: Breaking Bad finished its run in 2013 with what's widely cited as the most-disciplined finale in the medium's history. Mad Men closed in 2015 with a finale that took the show's central character study to its philosophical conclusion. The Leftovers (2014-17) is the decade's most-formally-experimental drama. The Americans (2013-18) is the canonical Cold War spy drama. Better Call Saul began in 2015 as the decade's most-ambitious prequel.
30 titles · ranked by IQ Score
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Questions about this ranking
What is the best drama of the 2010s?
By IQ Score on TV Intelligentsia, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Better Call Saul, The Americans, and The Leftovers anchor the decade's canonical work. The Wire and The Sopranos technically span the 2000s into the 2010s but their decade-defining work was the 2000s.
How does TVI rank 2010s TV dramas?
Every 2010s drama is scored on the same TVI rubric: Cognitive Stimulation (40%), Educational Value (35%), Craft & Quality (25%). The rubric reads the decade as the period prestige TV completed its transition from cable-niche to dominant long-form register.
Which 2010s drama is most underrated?
The Americans (2013-18), Halt and Catch Fire (2014-17), and Rectify (2013-16) are the decade's three most-underrated entries, all scored highly by the rubric but received less cultural attention than their structural achievements deserved. The Americans' Russian-spy-couple Reagan-era drama is the canonical Cold War prestige work; Halt and Catch Fire is the canonical 1980s-tech-industry drama; Rectify is the catalog's most-meditative entry.
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