Published Aug 22, 2026, 12:04 PM EDT
Ryan Heffernan is a Senior Writer at Collider. Storytelling has been one of his interests since an early age, with his appreciation for film and television becoming a particular interest of his during his teenage years.
This passion saw Ryan graduate from the University of Canberra in 2020 with an Honours Degree in Film Production. In the years since, he has found freelance work as a videographer and editor in the Canberra region while also becoming entrenched in the city’s film-making community.
In addition to cinema and writing, Ryan’s other major interest is sport, with him having a particular love for Australian Rules football, Formula 1, and cricket. He also has casual interests in reading, gaming, and history.
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It is quite fascinating how a small box that sits in one’s living room can have such a dramatic impact on our culture. Well, it used to be a box, one with dials and knobs, a clunky antenna that always had to be adjusted, and a set channel guide of fixed programming. In today’s world, television drama is defined by the unbridled variety of streaming platforms and premium networks. In some ways, the physical design of the television set has evolved even more.
All this is to say is that television has evolved exponentially from its rise in popularization in post-WWII America to the era of prestige entertainment it enjoys today, and its greatest series range from modern masterpieces of crime drama to foundational classics of sitcom joy. To select just 20 that stand as the greatest of all time is no easy feat, but through their narrative brilliance, pioneering influence, and defining cultural impact, these series are the finest the medium has produced over its many decades of relevance in our lives.
No one will be surprised to learn that HBO features heavily on this list. The premium network has produced many outstanding series over the years, with one of the more recent being the satirical high-stakes corporate thriller Succession. It unfolds as the aging founder and CEO of a global multimedia and entertainment conglomerate signals his intent to step down, sparking a feud between his children as they scheme to put themselves in the best position to succeed him.
Blending its acidic comedy with a fiercely suspenseful look at the brutality of business politics and a poignant sense of Shakespearean tragedy as the siblings’ trauma boils to the surface, Succession is a multi-layered masterpiece of television drama. Whether it’s reveling in frightful immorality, skewering elitism and wealth, or addressing its most devastating thematic ideas, the four-part HBO series is ceaselessly brilliant across the entirety of its run.
Game of Thrones is not a flawless series. The infamous failures of its final season are evidence enough of this, and yet it will forever hold a place in the annals of television greatness courtesy of its awe-inspiring enormity, monumental pop-culture impact, and the utter perfection of its first six seasons, over which time it was unrivaled as the greatest spectacle small-screen entertainment has ever seen.
Based on George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novel series, the fantasy epic unfolds as war erupts in Westeros, seeing the noble houses entrenched in a brutal struggle for the Iron Throne. With political betrayals and violent twists a commonality, Game of Thrones is often as addictive as it is sickeningly intense, with its unpredictable and brilliantly subversive storytelling supported by its astonishing production value and impeccable ensemble cast. It was the defining pop-culture trend of the 2010s and will stand as the most ambitious TV show ever made for many years to come.
Western drama has been a pillar of television entertainment going as far back as the 1950s. Needless to say, the genre has evolved exponentially since its early days, a point that Deadwood makes abundantly clear in all its violent, gritty, and profanity-laden glory. It unfolds as masses of people flock to the South Dakotan town hoping to get rich amid the 1870s gold rush. Amid the population boom, crime and chaos run rampant as understaffed law enforcement grows increasingly helpless.
The vision of the Old West Deadwood depicts is utterly transfixing. Bereft of romanticism for the mythicized wonder of the era, it immerses viewers in a callous world of mud-soaked grime, candle-lit depravity, and festering immorality. Combining this arresting and realistic aesthetic with some of the greatest dialogue ever written for television and an ever-growing array of masterfully realized characters, Deadwood excels across every level and has endured as a quintessential triumph of television even with its abrupt cancelation after Season 3.
With its timeless charm and its pioneering impact, I Love Lucy simply must be viewed as a defining feat of sitcom entertainment. Coasting on Lucille Ball’s effortlessly endearing and committed lead performance, it follows Lucy Ricardo in her efforts to break into showbiz. While her ambition and enthusiasm are evident, her talent leaves something to be desired, and her knack for chaos often embroils her husband and her neighbors in her antics.
Its style, character dynamics, and comedy style are the epitome of accessible, harmless fun, ensuring it is every bit as enjoyable today as it was in the 1950s. However, I Love Lucy’s legacy may reside in its off-screen triumphs, with the series pioneering multi-cam recordings in front of studio audiences, establishing the financial model for syndicated reruns, and breaking cultural barriers by being the first major series to feature an intercultural marriage. It set standards for both production practices and on-screen entertainment that remain in place.
Just 32 years passed between the end of I Love Lucy and the premiere of Seinfeld, but the sitcom genre evolved dramatically in that time as it incorporated trending social issues and poignant drama into the fold. Under the command of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the NBC sitcom defied that trend resolutely. Instead, Seinfeld focuses on trivialities and the absurdity of social conventions while following four self-minded New Yorkers who never learn anything from their bizarre and often ill-fated ventures.
Dubbing itself “a show about nothing,” Seinfeld excels by finding universal appeal in incredibly specific experiences, be it the frustration of waiting for a table at a restaurant or the complexity of the argument revolving around the social acceptability of double-dipping food. Anchored in the brilliance of the four lead performances, Seinfeld’s nine-season run is a ceaselessly hilarious mockery of ordinary life, one that recalibrated sitcom entertainment by shirking the mushy sentimentality that had become commonplace in the genre.
Paving the way for television’s golden era that came into effect in the 2000s, the 1990s marked a time of boundary-pushing experimentation for network TV. The X-Files was at the forefront of this, with the iconic Fox series intriguing millions with its combination of police procedural case-of-the-week formula with paranormal horror and conspiracy thrills as it revolves around FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and their investigation of unsolved cases that could be inhuman in nature.
Imbued with a moody, almost cinematic aesthetic, a brilliantly balanced dynamic between the two leads, and an ability to tap into trending cultural ideas ranging from the fascination of the unknown to rampant distrust in the government, The X-Files fast became a must-watch phenomenon of ‘90s television. It also stands as a rare series that was capable of transcending generations, with its enduring popularity seeing the series return for Seasons 10 and 11, some 14 years after Season 9 concluded.
FX has produced many series in recent decades that earned high acclaim, from the gritty crime drama of The Shield to the historical scope of Shogun. The very best of them is the relentlessly suspenseful spy thriller The Americans, which stands as something of an underappreciated gem of 2010s television with its five-season arc following two KGB operatives posing as an ordinary American family in Washington, D.C., who carry out high-stakes missions while trying to raise their American-born children.
The Cold War angst of 1980s America is realized with palpable atmospheric tension and stunning period production, making for a viewing experience that immerses the audience in high-stakes spycraft while using espionage duplicity as a means to explore marriage, trust, and family. Bolstered by its exceptional performances, razor-sharp writing, and its engrossing sense of style and suspense, The Americans is a masterpiece of high-stakes television that should be revered as being one of the best series of the medium’s golden era.
Politics has always been a focal point of television entertainment, whether it’s in the form of satirical comedy or hard-hitting drama. Embodying the latter, The West Wing is the best of the subgenre that the medium has seen, thriving off the back of its exceptional ensemble cast and Aaron Sorkin’s magnetic screenwriting that combines razor-sharp drama with compelling character work, rousing thematic depth, fiery wit, and a beautiful balance of poignant realism and inspiring idealism.
It is undeniably the product of a more optimistic and politically relaxed America, but its tone and hopefulness are timeless, especially as it depicts its characters as competent professionals navigating a complex and morally nuanced world with unflinching conviction in their principles. With warmth and wisdom, The West Wing stands not only as one of the defining dramas of its era, but as an ageless ideal of decency and humanity in politics.
Possibly the most underrated show of the 21st century, The Leftovers is a hidden gem of meditative drama and richly empathetic storytelling that unfurls with spellbinding depth and complexity across its incredible three-season run. On October 14, 2011, two percent of the world’s population vanished in an event known as the “Sudden Departure.” Three years later, those who remain are torn between trying to move on and processing their lingering trauma as the world around them grows increasingly bizarre as religion declines and extreme cults emerge.
Standing in defiance of traditional television storytelling, The Leftovers doesn’t engage with the mystery of the Sudden Departure in propulsive depth or revel in the manic state of the world with an appetite for action thrills. Instead, it simply wafts as a gripping, slow-paced exploration of incredibly nuanced characters navigating their own feelings of guilt, grief, and loss. With a litany of astonishing performances, stunning world-building, and Max Richter’s evocative score, The Leftovers is a profoundly powerful triumph of television drama.
While it was based on the Robert Altman movie of the same name, MASH* fast eclipsed the 1970 movie—which won an Academy Award, mind you—to stamp itself as the defining series of its era and one of the greatest icons in television history. Not only a record-breaking cultural sensation when it was airing, MASH* has also achieved a timelessness with its ability to blend satirical anti-war punch with moments of profound dramatic depth, all while maintaining a sense of endearing comedic warmth.
Set during the Korean War, it focuses on the staff of a mobile army hospital, exploring the interpersonal relationships that develop as they use practical jokes and irreverent fun to distract themselves from the grim reality of their jobs. It never lost an ounce of its witty charm or nuance throughout its eleven-season run, with its enduring brilliance signified by the fact that its finale, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” remains the most watched episode of anything in the history of scripted television in the U.S.
Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don’t. That’s very much up to you.
Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.
You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.
You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.
You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.
You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn’t quite reach the eyes.