People don’t always tend to think of “watching TV” as a high-brow pursuit. Tell people that you have a deep interest in cinema, and they’ll agree enthusiastically. Tell people that your main hobby is binge-watching series on the telly while mainlining bourbons and they might silently judge you. But, hey, good TV – as in, – is better than anything. A well-written series, with characters that feel fleshed-out and believable, or else TV that pushes the culture forward, is entertainment at its peak.
But what are the TV shows that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime? Opinions vary, obviously. One person’s is another person’s . With that in mind, then, consider the below list just a few of the small screen’s eternal must-watches.
The best thing about Jesse Armstrong’s – which follows the four Roy siblings battling for control of their narcissistic father’s Murdoch-like media empire, Waystar Royco – is that it never once dumbs itself down for its audience. Its corporate-speak heavy script is smart and virtuosic, its plot-lines tight and Shakespearean and its character building layered and nuanced. Who knew that a TV show that basically just involves people moving from meeting room to meeting room would be so incredibly compelling? Easily one of the most well-written TV shows of the decade. I wish I could wipe my memory and watch it again from the start.
How they got Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård and Adam Scott on the same TV bill I do not know, but is a prestige thriller at its most indulgent and delicious. Toeing the line perfectly between dark comedy and psychological drama, will make you want to up and move to a Californian seaside town, wear long knit cardigans and stare broodily out to sea from your expensive home’s balcony. There’s mum drama, there’s murder and there’s top-tier acting from its A-list cohort (special mention here to Dern’s waspishly uptight Renata Klein). *Siri, play “Cold Little Heart” by Michael Kiwanuka.*
I remember watching for the first time – when it was released in 2020 – and being taken aback by how accurately it portrayed the lives of then-20-something millennial Londoners (nights out in Dalston! Pre-drinks at someone’s Hackney flat! Twitter hot takes!). Written, co-directed, executively produced and starring British cover girl Michaela Coel as Arabella (an example of how some of the best TV shows are the result of one person being granted full creative control) – a young writer in the public eye who attempts to rebuild her life after sexual assault – is the sort of taut and intense TV show that feels as though you’re living inside it. Hilarious, whip-smart and at times heartbreaking, everyone should watch Coel’s masterwork at least once.
It may have been over 35 years since the eery, flannel-clad, tree-lined world of David Lynch’s came to be, but his uncanny murder mystery lives on in everything – from the films and TV we consume, to the runway (everyone from Raf Simons to Khaite and Alessandro Michele’s Gucci have referenced Lynch’s weird Americana style). Set in the fictional Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks (though Lynch heads will know it was filmed around Snoqualmie in King County, Washington), the series follows an investigation led by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of local teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Weird, bewitching and totally influential, remains a cultural touchstone to this day.
Sterling Cooper might have closed its doors over a decade ago but the genius of AMC’s endures. Don Draper – a “pretty dismal, despicable guy” as once described by his portrayer Jon Hamm – is mostly our guide here, taking us through the good, the bad and the ugly of the advertising boom in postwar America. Plagued by his penchant for infidelity, brown liquor, Lucky Strikes, and lest we forget his daddy issues and PTSD, Draper is a mercurial man whose brilliance can only be understood through his work, not his personal life. The show – which aired from 2007 to 2015 – also serves as a vessel for the ills of the time period: social standing in gender and race; the pitfalls of fortune and fame (an episode is literally dedicated to Marilyn Monroe’s death); capitalism, consumerism, communism… Not to mention its stellar cast, costumes and intricate storylines. –
(1998 – 2004)
What is there to say about that hasn’t been said one hundred times on this very website? There’s so much to love about this eternal ’90s and 2000s classic: the oft-referenced fashion (read our rundown of Carrie Bradshaw’s most unforgettable outfits here), the four core characters (whom you love and become frustrated with in equal measure, as if they were your actual mates), its campy yet poignant script (some of the wisest lines, of course, belong to Samantha Jones) and its timeless exploration of dating in the big city as a woman in your 30s and 40s. It’s a show everyone needs to watch once, yes, but it’s also one to repeatedly return to every time you need a pick-me-up.
(2023 – 2024)
Emma Stone’s comedy prowess shines in this exquisitely uncomfortable satirical series from Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, which follows a newly married couple (Whitney and Asher, played by Stone and Fielder) as they try to launch a painfully tone-deaf home-renovation reality TV show called (a bit like , but for the uninterested residents of Española, New Mexico). Except, a kid has placed a curse on Asher, which he ruminates on for the rest of the series, while Whitney spirals into a hole of self-loathing and white saviorism, driven by an obsession with how she’s perceived. During an era in which TV has a propensity to play it safe, is clever and envelope-pushing. Only watch if you can handle cringing nonstop for it’s 10-episode runtime.
Released on Channel 4 back in 1999, – written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright – is a British sitcom which has gone on to amass a deserved cult following. Relatable, familiar and chockablock with throwback cultural references, follows two Londoners, Tim and Daisy, both in their 20s and living in a grotty North London flat, just trying to get by day-to-day. Watching it back now feels a bit like a time capsule: big fat skate trainers, having to peruse the newspaper for job ads, smoking a blunt on a slouchy sofa in front of a tiny box TV. paved the way for a certain kind of realistic yet offbeat British comedy – , and is still an incredibly fun watch today.
The Real Housewives Of New York (2008 – present)
If you think that Bravo’s The Real Housewives Of New York doesn’t belong on the same list as or , then I’d hazard a guess that you’ve not seen it, like seen it – specifically, seasons one through 12, which, and I’m not being superfluous here, are some of the best TV I’ve ever watched. With lines that comedy writers couldn’t conjure up (“To get an email is really upsetting”), and complex character development that plays out over multiple years and divorces, offers an engrossing portrait of rich New York women in their 40s and 50s living their best and worst lives. Imagine Sex and The City, but real and much messier ( creator Candace Bushnell can even be seen in the background of parties in some scenes).
Darker than but just as addictive and twisty, (which was nominated for a whopping eight Emmy Awards, and scooped a Golden Globe from three nominations), follows troubled crime reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) as she returns to her hometown to solve the murder of two young girls – and stays with her creepy mother and sister (played by Patricia Clarkson and Eliza Scanlen, respectively) in the process. More than that, though, its delectable Southern Gothic atmosphere, incredibly sinister family dynamics and genuinely shocking turns elevate it beyond your regular crime fare (the final episode will have you gasping). Also, it’s based on a Gillian Flynn novel, so you it’s good.
“I don’t want to freak you out, but I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice... of a generation.” So begins our entitled yet at times relatable protagonist, Hannah Horvath, played by then-25-year-old writer and creator Lena Dunham, who did end up becoming a defining millennial voice of sorts. Watching it back now, over a decade from its premiere, has only gotten better with age. With its masterful script (“I have work, and then I have a dinner thing. And then I am busy, trying to become who I am”), flawed and fully fleshed-out characters and sickeningly honest portrayal of being young and self-absorbed in the 2010s, was what was to the generation prior.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
No list of best TV shows can be without the most beloved Jane Austen adaptation of all time: the BBC’s glorious 1995 Pride and Prejudice. It has a razor-sharp Jennifer Ehle as our witty Elizabeth Bennet, a sopping shirt-wearing Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, big laughs, extravagant costumes, gorgeous landscapes and endless longing over its six-episode run – a more leisurely pace, which allows this central relationship to simmer and build for longer than its subsequent big-screen counterparts. When a series has been immortalised in Greta Gerwig’s , as Depression Barbie’s eternal binge-watch of choice? Well, that’s when you know that it deserves a permanent place in the canon. –
