The so-called “Golden Age” or “Peak TV era” of television is broadly (and roughly) defined as the running from the debut of The Sopranos to the finale of Better Call Saul. This isn’t a perfect description, as there are still some really amazing shows that continue part, like, say, Severance, just to name one. But, for this article, we’re going to stick to those parameters. Without further ado, here is our list of some of the truly great shows from the Peak Era of television.
Game Of Thrones
We certainly couldn’t make this list without the grand dragon on them all, HBO’s Game of Thrones. Though the ending made a lot of people mad and you can argue that the show declined greatly in its last couple of seasons, it doesn’t diminish the greatest of the show’s early years. With some of the most shocking moments in TV history, the show was must-watch TV for all eight seasons.
Atlanta
Creator and star of Atlanta Donald Glover proved yet again that he is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Over six years and four seasons the show and its star were showered with acclaim and industry awards, including multiple Golden Globes and Emmys. Not only did Glover win an Emmy for acting on the FX series, but he became the first African-American to win Best Director at the Emmys in the show’s first season.
The West Wing
There aren’t a lot of network TV shows on this list, but one that simply has to be is The West Wing. For seven seasons in the early 2000s, the NBC hit was one of the best shows in network history. Featuring a long list of stars that included Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, and many other cast members, The West Wing gave us all a look into all that government can be if we want it to be.
Lost
Pardon the pun, but it’s fair to say that ABC’s Lost lost its way towards the end. A confluence of events, including a writer’s strike, left fans more than a little annoyed with the show’s final couple of seasons, but those first few years were simply incredible. The show, which debuted in 2004, was one of the first shows that was ever described as “bingable” and with good reasons, the cliffhangers were amazing.
Mad Men
In a lot of ways, AMC’s Mad Men kind of came out of nowhere. Set in the 1960s, it was unlike anything on TV at the time and the longer it went on, the better it got, which is rare for any show. It made a star out of Jon Hamm and fascinated viewers each week both with its wonderful storytelling and its look back at one of the most turbulent and interesting decades in American history.
The Office
In an era when sitcoms were evolving and struggling to keep up with their dramatic counterparts, The Office was one of the biggest shows of all time (that’s what she said). Steve Carell’s performance as the worst boss in the world became one of the most quotable and memed shows ever. It’s true the NBC show did suffer some when Carell left after Season 7, the legacy of the show was well-established by then.
Downton Abbey
If you had bet on a period piece set on an opulent estate during Edwardian England would be a massive hit, most of the time, you’d lose. If you placed that bet on Downton Abbey, however, you’d have won big. There are no action sequences, stunts, or special effects. It’s simply a wonderfully told story with fantastic characters played by excellent actors.
Better Call Saul
As a spinoff to another Peak TV era show, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul found its own place in television history. It’s a very different show from the show that birthed it, as it’s a little more surreal and, frankly, funny. In some people’s eyes, the AMC’s show’s finale in 2022 marks the end of an era.
The Wire
Famously, The Wire was never a monster hit for HBO. Certainly not on the level of The Sopranos, which ran during roughly the same few years. Still, it has maintained a spot at the top or near the top of almost any list of “Best TV Shows in History.” The Wire plays out like a 60-hour movie or a great book. The character development is unrivaled and the storytelling is heartbreaking, uplifting, and frustrating (in a good way). There is no doubt that the show will be remembered as one of the best for a long, long time.
Breaking Bad
What can we write about Breaking Bad that hasn’t already been written. Widely considered the best (or close to the best) TV show of all time, the Bryan Cranston-led show was wildly popular with both fans and critics alike. It is one of the darkest shows in history, but that never diminished the love for it.
Narcos
Netflix landed itself a massive hit with Narcos in 2015. Wagner Moura, who played the kingpin Pablo Escobar stole the show with his uncanny and incredible performance as the notorious drug lord and Pedro Pascal found a new level of fame as one of the DEA agents trying to bring Escobar down. The show’s third season, which shifted away from the Escobar story after the character’s death wasn’t quite on the level of the first two, but the show was popular enough to launch a spinoff, Narcos: Mexico, which ran for three seasons as well.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos’ debut on HBO in January of 1999 marks the unofficial beginning of the Golden Age of Television – or at least the modern Golden Age. The production value, storytelling, and acting on the show were unlike anything anyone had ever seen. the characters were fully formed almost from the moment they first hit the screen and the story that unfolded, about a mafia boss played by the late, great James Gandolfini trying to keep both his crime family and his actual family together was simply unparalleled. Right down to the end and the show’s much-talked-about finale.
Grey’s Anatomy
As one of the longest-running prime-time shows in history, Grey’s Anatomy has run for almost the entire era of “peak TV.” Since its debut in 2005 and over more than 20 seasons and 400 episodes, the show has just kept chugging along with a devoted fanbase who stayed with it over the decades and though the endless cast changes can be frustrating, the show is remarkable.
24
One of the very first “bingable” shows would have to be 24. The Kiefer Sutherland-led action show from Fox kept viewers on the edge of their seats for nine seasons, one TV movie (24: Redemption), and a couple of spin-offs. It all made 24 one of the most bankable franchises of the era.
Six Feet Under
The early 2000s were an incredible era for HBO. Along with The Sopranos and The Wire, the network had another one of the best shows of the era with Six Feet Under. The show told the story of the Fisher family and their trials and turbulations running the family business, a funeral home. Mix in some supernatural elements and HBO had a unique hit on their hands.
Modern Family
Network sitcoms that enter the general cultural zeitgeist are few and far between these days. Certainly not like they were in their heyday of the 1970s and ’80s. There are still a few that break through though, like Modern Family. For a time, it seemed as those everyone in the country was watching the ups and downs of the most dysfunctional and wonder families in TV history. For 11 seasons, the ABC hit dominated the ratings and is still a hit on streaming years after airing its finale in 2020.
Orange Is the New Black
Orange Is the New Black wasn’t the first “prestige TV” show from Netflix, but it’s safe to say it solidified Netflix’s spot among the biggest players in the industry. For seven seasons over six years, the prison comedy-drama told the semi-autobiographical story of Piper Kerman, whose book of the same name was the basis for the show. Kerman spent a year in prison and many of the stories in the show reflected or told the experiences she had while in jail.
Deadwood
Many of the best Westerns on film came out many decades ago. On TV, there were big hits in the ’50s and ’60s like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, but the best Western television show of the 21st Century, Deadwood has almost nothing in common with any of those. The show was dark, crass, and unlike anything else on TV. The verbose language and insane moments made must-see TV at the time. Sadly it was never quite as popular as it should have been and that made for some herky-jerky starts-and-stops between seasons, but the show never dipped in quality.
Friday Night Lights
“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,” from a speech by Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) in Friday Night Lights has become part of the television canon, just as the show has. Based on the movie starring Billy Bob Thornton about the spectacle that is high school football in Texas, the show has outshined its source material in almost every way.
Veep
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is unique. She not only starred in the biggest sitcom of the 1990s, Seinfeld, but she’s followed it up with two more hot shows. First in the ’00s she won awards for The New Adventures of Old Christine and then in the 2010s had maybe her best performance as the hapless, power-hungry Vice President on HBO’s Veep for which she won an incredible seven Emmys in a row.
House Of Cards
In 2013 Netflix loudly announced it was ready to be a player in the Peak Age of TV with House Of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Based on a British show of the same name, the show highlighted the darkest corners of politics and despite the show losing some steam when Kevin Spacey got caught in the middle of a serious legal battle forcing him off the show and effectively ending his career, it still deserves recognition for all six seasons it ran for.
The Walking Dead
Over 11 seasons and 177 episodes, it’s fair to say that not every moment on The Walking Dead was peak TV. That doesn’t tell the whole story though, because when The Walking Dead was great, it was really great. The AMC zombie show was a ratings monster and cultivated one of the most dedicated fanbases ever, which led to multiple spinoffs that will seemingly run forever.
Boardwalk Empire
When Boardwalk Empire premiered on HBO in 2009, it came with a lot of hype as the mind behind it, Terrence Winter, had been of the key creative minds behind The Sopranos. While Boardwalk Empire never quite reached the lofty heights of The Sopranos, it was still one of the best shows on TV in its time.
Sons Of Anarchy
Like a few other shows on this list, FX’s Sons Of Anarchy isn’t a perfect show. There were some ill-advised plot decisions, like moving the gang to Ireland for a while, but like those other shows, when SOA was good, it was really, really good. The characters became our own dysfunctional family who we laughed, cried, and died with over the show’s seven seasons. A spinoff, Mayans M.C., wasn’t as good, but it also found a fanbase and lasted for five seasons.
The Americans
Of all the shows on this list, the one that maybe flew under the radar more than most has to be The Americans. The FX show was just… cool. It was a spy thriller that brought the Cold War back to U.S. television. Set in the ’80s and starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, the show ran for six great seasons and never really fell off as so many other shows do.
30 Rock
How do you follow up an incredible run as a star and head writer on SNL? Well, if you’re as talented and funny as Tina Fey, you create one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 21st Century with 30 Rock. If nothing else, the show left us with the important bit of advice that you should never go with a hippie to a second location.
Justified
FX’s Justified updated the Western for the 21st Century. Based on a book for Elmore Leonard and starring Timothy Olyphant as a 21st-century lawman with with his heart in the 19th Century, Justified was as noir as you’d expect from a story by Leonard and the acting is, across the board, fantastic.
True Detective
One of the darkest shows during the Peak Era of TV had to be True Detective, especially the first season. The unconventional storytelling was brought to life brilliantly by stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and while the show was still great for a couple of more seasons, it really was that first season that stood out and above the others.
Succession
On HBO’s Succession, the entire Roy family are all awful people. It’s a show entirely made of characters we love to hate. We hated them so much, we couldn’t wait to tune in each week to see what awful things they would do and it made the show unique and magical in that way.
Homeland
Showtime’s Homeland started with a bang in its first season, or rather, almost ended its first season with a bang that never happened. The spy thriller starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis was the ultimate nail-biter as no one really knew how the season would end. While the end of that first season was probably the pinnacle of the show, it ended up airing for seven more excellent seasons.
Battlestar Galactica
Interestingly, though there are some exceptions, Sci-Fi wasn’t a huge part of the era. One of those exceptions was Battlestar Galactica, a reboot of the old series from the 1970s. The new version was a mystery wrapped in a space adventure and featured some of the craziest twists of any show from the time.
Barry
It’s always cool to see an actor known primarily for their comedic talents take on a more serious role and Bill Hader in Barry is a perfect example. Sure, there is some dark comedy in the show of course, but, especially as the show went on, the character played by Hader was as complex as any character we’ve seen on TV and Hader is amazing.
