Ranking television shows is awful, let’s just get that out of the way. What’s the difference between No. 7 and No. 9 on a ranked Top 10 list? Don’t ask me, I have no idea. There was some kind of logic when I wrote it, but it’s wholly my own, and therefore, wholly indefensible.

But somehow, assembling the best television of the decade felt easy. It’s been a decade rich with television—and markedly, a decade where what “everyone” was watching has progressively mattered less than ever. There are glaring omissions in my viewing history for the decade—such as the Real Housewives spin-off Vanderpump Rules, whose fans swear that it is the best show on television. But my decade was still full of good TV—great TV—that I’ve watched and rewatched on DVR, streaming device, laptop computer, and even, occasionally, real live TV. The following is not indicative, necessarily, of the TV that caused the most conversation, or even the TV shows that I thought or wrote about the most. But they’re the shows I look back on and see a complete vision, an honest reckoning, a joyful romp.

The 2010s began with ’00s holdouts carrying a lot of the critical heft: Mad Men and Breaking Bad on the drama side, 30 Rock, Community, and Parks and Recreation in comedy. I’ve decided to ignore any show that debuted before 2010, to better showcase the decade in TV.

10. The Great British Baking Show

Besides teaching Americans the crucial importance of a well-baked sponge, The Great British Baking Show—you know, The Great British Bake Off, sans the Pillsbury trademarked phrase—brought something kind, cozy, and cooperative to cooking reality television, which alone accounts for a huge subset of unscripted TV. After the show debuted to great success in 2010 in the U.K., PBS and Netflix imported the show to the U.S., where its gentle, cheery disposition took the country by storm. GBBO is a show where the drama centers entirely around a moist crumb, an even rise, and a jammy filling—not, say, what one chef said to the other during an immunity challenge. Things have changed: After seven seasons on the BBC, the production switched studios two years ago, jettisoning much of the onscreen talent—including the beloved 84-year-old Mary Berry, whose pronunciation of “scone” and “self-saucing pudding” will forever be missed. The Channel 4 GBBO has drawn criticism for its increasingly obscure recipes and occasional TV stunts. At least we had seven glorious seasons of Mel, Sue, and Mary and the earnest competitors that made this yeasty show dominate a decade with sweetness. (Stream on Netflix.)

9. Broad City

It was a great decade for alternative comedy, from Key & Peele to I Think You Should Leave. But Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer’s Broad City, when it arrived in 2014, built on the raw messiness of contemporaries Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer for a coming-of-age sitcom that centered two usually broke, often clueless, generally stoned women and let them be as dumb, horny, and messy as they wanted to be. The result is a warm, goofy, sharply observant series that weathered some of the strangest years of the decade, spinning comedy out of blinkered preelection optimism and bitter, postelection despair. In a pretty weird decade, Broad City has been like a survival handbook, offering a road map for a different kind of girlhood—knowing, cavalier, and daring, but vulnerable and open too. Whatever it takes to smuggle that turd out of the bathroom. (Stream on Hulu.)

8. Fleabag

Nobody breaks the fourth wall like Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This imported half hour debuted in 2016, but its second season in 2019 is what turned the show into a global phenomenon—and turned Waller-Bridge into a star, recently seen gracing the cover of Vogue. The hype is deserved. Sardonic, deft, sexy, and hilarious, Fleabag seduces the viewer into falling in love with Waller-Bridge’s pert take on grief and single life in London. There’s only 12 episodes of this sitcom in the world, but all 12 are so sharply made—and together, pack such an emotional wallop—that the sitcom stands head and shoulders above nearly every other comedy of the decade, becoming an indispensable touchstone for the mess and chaos of life. (Stream on Amazon.)

7. Rectify

Rectify isn’t just a shattering character drama; it’s a spare and lucid excavation of guilt, forgiveness, and redemption. The Sundance drama is about the remaking of Daniel Holden (Aden Young), who spends 19 years in solitary confinement for committing a rape and murder before being unexpectedly released from prison. Guilt still hangs over his head; DNA evidence has freed him from prison, but not exonerated him of the crime. Reentering his close-knit hometown in Georgia, where the crime occurred—and reestablishing his relationships with his family, including mom Janet (a pre-Succession J. Smith-Cameron) and sister Amantha (Abigail Spencer)—is a fraught, isolating journey. Showrunner Ray McKinnon transforms the difficulty and tragedy of Daniel’s story into a wryly funny, luminous journey through both depths of despair and sporadic, precious moments of soaring joy. (Stream on Netflix.)

6. Atlanta

The two scant seasons of Atlanta that aired in 2016 and 2018 landed like perfectly crafted gems. From the multitalented Donald Glover came a half hour that combined a portrait of a city and the hustlers who strive in it with a surreal frisson of racial horror. Anything might happen in Atlanta: A character may get hit by an invisible car, chance upon a house-trained alligator, or accidentally enter the personal drama of a black man attempting to pass as white. Fear is folded into the show’s barbed, dry humor, destabilizing the characters, but heightening their emotions. Atlanta dissects its characters’ reality, uncovering deep wells of unstable emotion underneath the slog of the every day. Glover’s costars Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz are stellar—as evidenced by how quickly they were snapped up for high-profile film projects. Stream on Hulu.)

5. Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul is so much more than what it seems to be. The Breaking Bad spin-off prequel series, from showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, looks at first blush like so many other efforts to milk existing I.P. for new profits. But in the story of how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman—portrayed with thrilling clarity by Bob Odenkirk—Gilligan and Gould have tapped an even richer vein of criminal temptation and human foibles, delving deeper into the mystery of how a good-enough person decides to become a bad guy. Better Call Saul doesn’t have nearly as many action sequences—being a corrupt lawyer is less violent than slinging blue crystal—but counters that with tense, ethically charged legal drama, as well as a web of long-standing relationships that deeply tie the characters to each other. The stellar cast includes Michael McKean and Rhea Seehorn as well as Breaking Bad alums Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito. In a decade that defined success through volume, Better Call Saul has remained a compact, considered, tightly executed drama, delivering on its promise to the audience with a studied care that too few shows even attempt. (Stream on Netflix.)

4. Steven Universe

Cartoon Network’s episodes run just 15 minutes long, but that didn’t stop creator Rebecca Sugar from turning the adventures of a boy named Steven into a universe-spanning saga about finding beauty, joy, and family in a cold galaxy ruled by…gemstones (it’s complicated). With infectious original songs, vivid palette, and youthful perspective, it’s totally kid-friendly. But the gravity of its interpersonal relationships, its lovable and unique adult characters, and Steven’s starry-eyed lust for life make a show entirely appropriate—and incredibly uplifting—for viewers of all ages. Add to all that a fantastic, generous, loving portrayal of a queer, adoptive family and the weird little beach town they call home, and Steven Universe becomes indispensably joyous viewing, a giddy monument to childlike wonder. (Stream on Hulu.)

3. Enlightened

Mike White and Laura Dern created this HBO half hour about Amy Jellicoe (Dern), a woman at the end of her rope. In the first episode, we see both her breakdown—influenced by an affair and a string of defeats, she creates a scene at work—and her return to her real life after a New Age-y wellness retreat helps her find herself. Amy moves back in with her mom—played by Dern’s real-life mom, Diane Ladd—and tries to apply the logic of self-improvement to the dispiriting particulars of post-recession capitalism. Humane, breathtakingly honest, and wrenchingly funny, Enlightened is a master class in the tribulations of everyday life, with a fresh, alert take on corporate America and the language of wellness that resonates even more with me now than it did in 2014. Plus there’s Dern’s Amy, in a performance for the ages—the patron saint of fed-up, well-meaning, horrifically awkward women everywhere. (Stream on Amazon.)

2. Twin Peaks: The Return

It’s some kind of gift that David Lynch and Mark Frost returned to television to make a follow-up to Twin Peaks, the 1990–1991 ABC series that married prime-time soap with auteur filmmaking. But that’s the gift of Peak TV’s nostalgia, which spent much of the decade trying to revive, reboot, or rehash any creative property that once grabbed the audience’s attention. Most were creatively bankrupt cash grabs. But Lynch and Frost—thanks to unprecedented flexibility from Showtime and dozens of original cast members willing to put in the work—produced a haunting, strange, thoroughly anti-nostalgic follow-up to the original show, while getting especially fantastic work from stars Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee. The experience of watching Twin Peaks: The Return wasn’t much like Twin Peaks—or, really, anything else on television: One episode was in black and white; others would end, for no apparent reason, with long live performances at the Roadhouse. The show balanced multiple versions of MacLachlan’s Dale Cooper with an eerie soundscape that thrums through the show with sinister portent. And by the end, The Return delivered the chilling, near-inexplicable finale that Twin Peaks always deserved. (Stream on Amazon)

1. Bojack Horseman

It’s an animated show about a talking horse—and oh yes, the horse is depressed. When BoJack Horseman debuted in 2014, I nearly overlooked it. I’m glad I gave it a second chance. By turning Hollywood into a zoo—and the antihero into an antihorse—showrunner Raphael Bob-Waksberg found a way to tell involving, complex stories about personal failure and celebrity worship, creative success and corporate sellout, the tense relationship between shame and narcissism, and the candy-coated circus of nonsense that is the media-entertainment industry. Over the course of six seasons—the final eight episodes will drop in January 2020—BoJack Horseman has constructed some of the most complex and relatable characters on television, who occasionally are swept up by ridiculous hijinks in the midst of working through divorce, recovery, or adoption. Thanks to Lisa Hanawalt’s production design, those stories take place in a vividly tinted world of glorious Los Angeles sunsets, crowded with pun-based visual gags, and many different kinds of animal-people (including a complicated ecosystem of sentient chickens). Gentle, daring, nuanced, and very funny, BoJack Horseman is the best show of the decade. (Stream on Netflix.)

Honorable Mention—Drama

1. Halt and Catch Fire: The rare drama that gets better and better as it goes. (Stream on Netflix.)

2. The Leftovers: The first season drives me nuts, but the show makes up for it in seasons two and three. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

3. Game of Thrones: The biggest show of the decade frustrated me as much as it entertained me, but at its best, it soars. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

Honorable Mention—Comedy

1. Girls: Brilliant and maddening, Lena Dunham’s half hour delivered a handful of episodes that are stone-cold masterpieces and a bunch of plot arcs that make you want to hit your head against a wall. Weirdly, this is an endorsement. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

2. Kroll Show: A brilliant little sketch show about TV that reflects my own supremely busted attention span. (Stream on Comedy Central.)

3. High Maintenance: Heartfelt vignettes built around the life of a weed dealer, from Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

4. Veep: The wickedly funny political satire, by the end of its run, hit way too close to home (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

5. Better Things: Pamela Adlon’s half-hour parenting dramedy is a treasure trove of lushly imagined intimate moments. (Stream on Hulu.)

6. Schitt’s Creek: A Canadian sitcom starring Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy as formerly rich people who have to learn how to be nice to their new small-town neighbors. (Stream on Netflix.)

7. Rick and Morty: In general, has more vomit than I like in a show, but this animated series on Cartoon Network is one of the most fearlessly inventive shows on television. (Stream on Hulu.)

8. The Good Place: The ethics sitcom can never quite escape some network corniness, but Michael Schur attempting to redeem humanity makes for really fun TV. (Stream on Netflix.)

Honorable Mention—Limited Series

1. When They See Us: Ava DuVernay’s dramatization of the Central Park jogger case, based on interviews with the Exonerated Five. (Stream on Netflix.)

2. Alias Grace: Sarah Polley and Mary Harron adapted Margaret Atwood’s novel and cast Sarah Gadon as the lead; the results are spectacular. (Stream on Netflix.)

3. American Crime Story: Both seasons are good, but The People v. O.J. Simpson is really good. (Stream on Netflix.)

4. Sharp Objects: Rest in power, Amy Adams’s Emmy campaign. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

5. Top of the Lake: The first season is a masterpiece. The second season is fine. (Stream on Hulu.)

Honorable Mentions—15 Standout Episodes from none of the above shows

15. “The Power of Madonna,” Glee: Featuring eight covers in just one episode. (Stream on Netflix.)

14. “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer,” Inside Amy Schumer: A brilliant, hilarious remake of 12 Angry Men, starring John Hawkes and Paul Giamatti as two of the jurors. (Stream on Amazon.)

13. “Valerie Gets What She Really Wants,” The Comeback: Lisa Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish gets the award recognition she craves—and suddenly discovers where she needs to be. (Stream HBO on Amazon.)

12. “Finding Frances,” Nathan for You: An unscripted comedy takes an unexpected turn toward romance. (Stream on Amazon.)

11. “Queen of Jordan,” 30 Rock: Tracey Wigfield turns 30 Rock into a reality show for an episode. (Stream on Amazon.)

10. “Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes,” Review: Andy Daly plays a television host asked to review eating a bunch of pancakes, and also getting divorced. (Stream on Amazon.)

9. “A Few Words,” The Good Wife: Just an episode or two before before the show’s biggest twist, Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) is asked to give a speech. (Stream on Netflix.)

8. “A Scandal in Belgravia,” Sherlock: The modern spin on Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the detective, hit a series high with its suspenseful, twisty episode introducing Lara Pulver as Irene Adler. (Stream on Netflix.)

7. “White Bear,” Black Mirror: Crime, and punishment, in Charlie Brooker’s dystopian near-future. (Stream on Netflix.)

6. “Mother Daughter Laser Razor,” Bob’s Burgers: Tina learns to shave. (Stream on Netflix.)

5. “Parents,” Master of None: A scintillating half-hour meditation on being the child of immigrants. (Stream on Netflix.)

4. “START,” The Americans: The shattering final episode of this drama elevates the whole show that precedes it. (Stream on Amazon.)

3. “Modern Warfare,” Community: The original paintball episode. (Stream on Amazon.)

2. “Maya Rudolph, Sleigh Bells,” Saturday Night Live: This episode is gold from start to finish. It includes the instant classic “I Know Why the Caged Bird Laughs.” (Stream on Amazon.)

1. “The Suitcase,” Mad Men: The best episode of last decade’s best show happened to air this decade. (Stream on Amazon.)