#‘TV’s Top 5’: How THR Critics Picked the Best Shows of the 21st Century

Welcome to the 233rd episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.

Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).

With the WGA strike having concluded, the industry now turns its focus to getting writers rooms up and running as all eyes remain on performers union SAG-AFTRA and its efforts to reach a deal with Hollywood’s streamers and studios.

This week’s episode takes a look at how THR’s three TV critics did the impossible: whittle down hundreds, if not thousands, of shows to select the best 50 programs of the 21st century.

Here’s how this week’s show plays out:

1. Mailbag

Why don’t streamers want to reveal ratings? And if broadcast shows are so popular on streaming, why don’t the platforms actually make broadcast shows themselves?

2. October TV preview

The broadcast fare that typically returns in late September/early October is MIA as this month’s picks range from Loki, Frasier and spooky fare.

3. Cancellation round-up

This week, a favorite of TV’s Top 5 — Max’s Sort Of — revealed it was wrapping its run after three seasons. Elsewhere, Paramount+ axed its iCarly revival. With that in mind, we review some of the big cancellations and shows/seasons that were outright scrapped during the past few months that we neglected to discuss because, well, the WGA strike took priority. And what’s more, this speaks to the larger trend of industry-wide contraction that began well before Hollywood’s labor unrest. Some of these were tied to the broadcast upfronts back in May, others happened more recently amid wholesale changes that came as a result of scaled back budgets and new priorities at networks and streamers. 

4. Best TV of the 21st Century

THR TV critics Angie Han and Robyn Bahr join the show this week to discuss how they — and Dan, of course — selected the best 50 TV shows of the 21st century. As it turns out, Mad Men was an easy pick for No. 1 but the rest of the list required hours of debate and discussion. Plus why shows like Friends didn’t make the cut.

5. Critic’s Corner

As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on Loki, Our Flag Means Death, Bargain, Found and more.

Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at [email protected].