# List your 10 favorite TV shows of the last 10 years. What common themes do you see, if any? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665 "2010-10-28T15:26:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/41 "2010-10-29T03:11:24Z")
Breaking Bad Lost Dexter Fringe The Sopranos Always Sunny in Philidelphia Community Flight of the Concords Curb Your Enthusiasm BSG Big Bang Theory Darker side of humanity, sympathetic characters of ambiguous morality, irreverence, science, absurdity, intrigue, mythology and quality writing/acting/production. (runners up for being too early to tell, but I like where it’s going: Stargate Universe, The Event, and “V”) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/42 "2010-10-31T22:19:11Z")
Dexter Castle Buffy Chuck NCIS Mock the Week Countdown (UK quiz show) Black Books Malcolm in the Middle Firefly Frasier and the X-Files are both too early, really. I’ve just started watching Life, and I love that. Common themes: Being named after the main character (7 of them are, and two of the others are quiz shows). Dark humour. Great dialogue. Detectives and scifi. I automatically thought only of the proper dramas and comedies, not remembering to include panel games and the like, but I do love them too and they are TV shows, so they count. The next ten would pretty much all be American genre fiction plus How Clean is Your House. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/43 "2010-10-31T22:22:11Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Dexter > Castle > Buffy > Chuck > NCIS > Mock the Week > Countdown (UK quiz show) > Black Books > Malcolm in the Middle > Firefly > > Frasier and the X-Files are both too early, really. I’ve just started watching Life, and I love that. > > Common themes: Being named after the main character Which, if you think about it, implies having a clear main character rather than being an ensemble. Though Malcolm rather puts the lie to that. I was tempted to count _Frasier_, as I rarely watched it early in the run. I don’t know why I forgot Pushing Daisies, which is demonstrably my true favorite after _Mad Men_ (given that I’ve actually popped for the DVDs, unlike most anything else.) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/44 "2010-10-31T22:24:49Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Which, if you think about it, implies having a clear main character rather than being an ensemble. Though Malcolm rather puts the lie to that. And Buffy and Chuck both have very strong ‘secondary’ characters. I forgot to include Leverage - I really do love that show. I think I’d have to take out Mock the Week for that, because given a choice of watching either at the same time, I’d go for Leverage. So that means that all but two of my shows are American too. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/45 "2010-10-31T22:28:29Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > And Buffy and Chuck both have very strong ‘secondary’ characters. I’ve never watched an entire episode of _Chuck_, as I simply don’t get it, but my impression is that the concept pretty much requires that character and no other to be the focus. If that’s true, it’s more single-protagonist-driven than even _Buffy_. It wasn’t inconceivable, towards the end of that shat show, that they could retool it with Eliza Dushku (or even the young girl who played Dawn) without it seeming either extraordinarily in or a complete abandonment of the premise. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/46 "2010-10-31T23:36:41Z")
At least half of each episode of Chuck is about other characters. It would work for a different character too, though not as well; mind you, same goes for Faith, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/47 "2010-11-01T00:15:36Z")
In no particular order: \* Arrested Development Buffy the Vampire Slayer\* (started watching around 2000 and did catchup on DVD) \*Big Bang Theory Dexter 30 Rock Community Big Love Deadwood Rome \*(HBO) _Ugly Betty_ Some jumped the shark before the end, but in their prime I liked them. If I answered this a week ago or if I answered it a week from now there might be some changes, but at least the majority would stay the same. Common themes: good writing, presume the audience has some intelligence, unpredictable and yet to some degree believable, unique situations and settings and characters. Probably not a coincidence that- save for BBT- none of the comedies had laugh tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/48 "2010-11-01T00:56:56Z")
In alphabetical order, since I don’t want to rank them: 30 Rock Big Bang Theory Burn Notice Community Dexter Firefly Futurama Reno 911! The Office The Wire Common themes? Must have well-written, likeable\* characters. I prefer comedies and I dislike TV dramas in general, though I make exceptions for exceptionally good dramas like Dexter and The Wire. I hate the contrived, drawn-out plots of most network dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/49 "2010-11-01T01:11:35Z")
The Office (UK) Extras Futurama Curb Your Enthusiasm Dexter Breaking Bad Freaks and Geeks Oz Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Colbert Report Common threads: either darkly cynical or cheerfully naive, with some geek appeal, usually. I don’t go for the dry, atmospheric TV. Deadwood and Mad Men left me cold, for example. Whedon also aggravates me. This leaves me an outsider somewhat when in geek circles. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/50 "2010-11-01T04:36:16Z")
Firefly (My first Whedon series. I watched it first run. I only checked out Buffy and Angel after, on DVD) Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel Breaking Bad The Shield Chuck Freaks and Geeks Babylon 5(An old coworker recommended it to me about 4 years ago. I watched all five seasons quickly. Same guy also recommended Terry Goodkind. I couldn’t finish Wizard’s First Rule, although I did like Legend of the Seeker, but not enough for this list) Spartacus: Blood and Sand Better Off Ted I would say good writing is a common theme. ---
**Author:** ![Troubles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Troubles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troubles)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/51 "2010-11-01T05:29:50Z")
My list, in no particular order: [ul] [li]The Venture Brothers[/li][li]Firefly[/li][li]Parks and Recreation[/li][li]Avatar: The Last Airbender[/li][li]American Dad[/li][li]Futurama[/li][li]Better Off Ted[/li][li]Battlestar Galactica[/li][li]Seinfeld (began watching this 2 or 3 years ago)[/li][li]House[/li][/ul] The shows that nearly made the cut are Good Eats; Frisky Dingo; Family Guy (original run only!); 30 Rock; Kim Possible; The Big Bang Theory; Scrubs; Nova; and America’s Test Kitchen. I seem to like animated series a lot - no surprise there. All but two of the shows (Battlestar Galactica and Firefly) are comedies or dramedies, and even Firefly had a pretty strong comedic element. Many of them have compelling and complex story lines. All of them have strong, sharp writing. So, I really like comedy, animation, and tight writing. Epic plots are preferred but not necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/52 "2010-11-01T07:51:31Z")
Big Bang Theory Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Firefly Frasier How I Met Your Mother Hyperdrive Star Trek: The Original Series Supernatural The Librarians Torchwood Some of these are old, but I assure you I watched them all within the last ten years. Within the last five years, come to think of it. Common threads … well, I really like fantasy and sci-fi. And humour that’s simultaneously clever and silly. And imperfect yet likeable characters who interact with each other in interesting ways. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/53 "2010-11-01T12:02:04Z")
It’s amusing how tastes appear to have changed since [Your Top Five Most Preferred TV Shows (Final Poll)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=567279) went up on 06-15-2010, 01:24 PM and _The Simpsons_ racked up 78 votes for 27.86% of the total. This thread has seen _The Simpsons_ on three lists: Posts # 13, 16, 17 thus far. Maybe a poll for this thread’s shows would show marked differences from 4 1/2 months ago? In any case, it’s good to know that some of the other shows in that old poll have solid support in this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665.md?page=2)