From “Breaking Bad” and “Atlanta” to “Fleabag” and “BoJack,” these represent the finest scripted television series from 2015 to 2025.
Given the plethora of television programs available, it seems logical to establish stringent criteria to refine the selection. This was indeed a challenging endeavour that incited prolonged discussions and frustration. Ultimately, the stipulations to make the top list are quite simple: It must be a scripted television show produced between 2015 and 2025!
As we enter the midway point of the 20120s, let us judge and give flowers to the greatest TV of the last decade. What an era for television sofa sitters to exist!
Succession (2018-2023)
Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
IMDB Rating: 8.8
The plot seems like it would be boring on paper: a disgustingly wealthy family has to deal with arguing siblings and boardroom elections to choose an heir to the family business. But for the viewer as much as for Roy family members, author Jesse Armstrong’s tense story turns and heavily packed insults maintain allegiances on a swivel. And that may be the greatest gift of this great tragicomedy: its characters are essentially unlikeable and unreachable yet incredibly alluring.
Give the first few episodes of Succession a go, and I guarantee you’ll be hooked. You’ll be humming the theme tune throughout your day, trying to plan the next moment you have some free time to watch it!
Oh, and good luck narrowing down among Matthew Macfayden, Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, and Nicholas Braun as a standout performer. Literally, every actor in this cast delivers an A-plus performance!
Better Call Saul (2015-2022)
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Drama
IMDB Rating: 9.0
True demand for a Walter White slimebag lawyer spin-off among Breaking Bad fans? Though nobody asked for it, everyone was definitely happy they had it; it’s the uncommon prequel challenging the dominance of its predecessor while simultaneously succeeding on its own terms.
Remember also to give Rhea Seehorn her flowers, and offer credit to Vince Gilligan for his multi-layered storytelling and Bob Odenkirk for his multi-faceted acting. She is the show’s driving force as attorney Kim Wexler; she is also the sole thing holding the past and future Saul Goodman to his past, therefore his downfall is inevitable when she untethers him.
Poker Face (2023)
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Drama
IMDB Rating: 7.8
Poker Face is exceptional in this collection, as it is egregiously undervalued in the realm of television. The inaugural season premiered in 2023, and the much-awaited second season is slated to drop in 2025, and we cannot wait!
The program combines the intellectual allure of a mystery with the excitement of high-stakes poker. Conceived by Rian Johnson, the director of Knives Out, and featuring the ever-engaging Natasha Lyonne, the series centres on a detective endowed with an extraordinary talent for discerning deception, a capability that is crucial in the realm of poker. Each episode revolves around a distinct mystery, using poker as the backdrop, revealing intricate crimes and psychological confrontations.
For poker enthusiasts (look at this site), this transcends a mere criminal drama; it explores the methods, bluffs, and psychological tactics that render poker an enthralling game. The show’s style, which combines independent puzzles with overarching narratives, captivates viewers while also attracting those who like the cerebral challenge of poker. Featuring incisive prose, compelling characters, and thrilling plot developments, Poker Face is poised to captivate both mystery aficionados and poker fanatics.
Stranger Things (2016-2025)
Genre: Sci-F, Mystery, Drama
IMDB Rating: 8.7
Rarely has a performance combined its elements quite so expertly or shown them quite so freely. Stranger Things was the perfect program at the right moment, blending aspects of The Twilight Zone, Dungeons & Dragons, Stephen King, and a catchy, classic 80s score reminiscent of Back to the Future. This is a bit of clever, audience-servicing old-fashioned entertainment that arrived at a period when TV took great pleasure in being dark and difficult.
Is there any other program that could make a Kate Bush song that is over 30 years old go viral?
Better yet, the highly anticipated fifth and final season drops this year!
Atlanta (2016-2022)
Genre: Mystery, Comedy, Drama
IMDB Rating: 8.6
Donald Glover, the creator and actor, described Atlanta as ‘Twin Peaks with rappers.’ The series first centres on Earn (Glover) as he oversees his cousin’s career, the rapper ‘Paper Boi’ (Bryan Tyree Henry), before diverging into eccentric, self-contained narratives. However, that assumption diminishes the Afro-Surrealist exhibition’s inherent unpredictability and its stark reminders of the ubiquity of anti-Blackness. Its effective balance between grim societal critique and absurdist humour attests to its boldness and artistry.
Shogun (2024-)
Genre: History, Drama, Action, Crime
IMDB Rating: 8.6
While they were certainly first-rate swashbucklers, James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shōgun and its 1980 television adaptation were far from masterpieces. Both took the sword-wielding internecine wars and dynastic clashes of 17th-century Japan and attached a white saviour narrative that appealed to a Western audience.
While this fantastic remake does manage to keep some of the original’s goofiness—what the heck is with Cosmo Jarvis’s accent?— overall, though, it is performed with great, epic seriousness. It creates a painstakingly detailed historical universe and provides much-needed agency and internal life for its Japanese characters.
The White Locus (2021-)
Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
IMDB Rating: 8.0
The first clue that Mike White’s outrageous and clever whodunits set in luxury hotels will turn the knife is an unsettling bop of a theme tune. The second clue is the finding of a body, a theme running across season 1 (Hawaii), season 2 (Sicily), and right now in Thailand.
Every character is an actor’s fantasy as sex and money-driven double-dealing play out in paradise, and wild discoveries are hinted at until a conclusion of absolute slaughter. All thanks to Jennifer Coolidge. Careers have been created and reenergised at The Four Seasons. Never has eating the affluent been such a pleasure.
Narcos (2015-2017)
Genre: Drug Crime, True Crime
IMDB Rating: 8.7
Since replaced by Narcos: Mexico, Netflix’s historical drug crime hit centres on the exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as well as the other drug kingpins that tormented the nation throughout time. Not least of all, Narcos shows more aspects of Escobar’s life than most of the films produced about him as well as the tales of the agents trying to bring him down.
While Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal form a strong tag team on the legitimate side of history, Wagner Moura gives Escobar depth. Although the narrative necessarily has to create some dramatic occurrences, it feels mostly real and is incredibly riveting from start to finish.
The Last of Us (2023-)
Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi, Survival, Action, Horror
IMDB Rating: 8.7
Amidst a sea of uninspired dystopian television and sluggish videogame adaptations, HBO’s The Last of Us stands out. The show is based on Naughty Dog’s breathtaking post-apocalyptic survival horror game for PlayStation, which was written by Craig Mazin of Chernobyl and Neil Druckmann, the game’s writer-director.
The chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey is electric as medical anomaly Ellie and former marine Joel, two very guarded individuals who learn to open up to each other and rediscover what it means to be human as they journey through a United States that is literally and metaphorically losing its humanity.
Even though the Clickers, who resemble zombies, and the Bloaters, who are infected with Cordyceps, a terrifyingly real fungal disease, are frightening, what’s truly horrifying is the sobering portrayal of the horrible things people will do to survive in this fractured world that Druckmann and Mazin present.
Masters of the Air (2024-)
Genre: War, Drama, Action, History
IMDB Rating: 7.8
With hour after hour of flying into enemy territory, flak assault, and likely death for most protagonists, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks finished their second World War trilogy.
Along with a terrifying plot, the story of the “Bloody 100th” bomb group—so called because so few pilots returned from missions alive—featured an incredibly attractive and youthful ensemble cast, including Ncuti Gatwa, Barry Keoghan, Austin Butler, and Callum Turner as best friends Bucky and Bucky, respectively.
It was overly patriotic—this is Spielberg—but it earned the right to be after we spent ten agonising hours in the pilot seat. There is one shame: It was hidden on Apple TV+, where significantly fewer people could see it than its epic sister programs Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
