Last year, I made the decision to read the IMDb Top 250 Movies list and rank each movie according to my personal opinions. I had so much fun not only completing this exercise, but realizing all of the incredible movies that I have yet to see. This year, I’ve decided to do the same thing for TV shows. I honestly expected to have watched far more of these when I set out, but I’m hoping the number will only steadily increase in the coming years.

According to IMDb: “The Top Rated TV Shows list only includes TV series and TV mini series. The list is ranked by a formula which includes the number of ratings each show received from users, and value of ratings received from regular users. To be included on the list, a series or mini series must receive ratings from at least 10,000 users, and a TV series must also have aired at least 5 episodes”

When I list my personal ratings, there is no algorithm, nor do I take into account how many people watched each series, and I expect that may be the discrepancy in many cases!

My Ratings

1. Pose (#163)

Season 3 Review

I absolutely loved Pose from start to finish. The plot was incredible, all of the actors were so talented, and it managed to make me both cry and laugh, sometimes within the same episode. I loved getting to experience NYC ballroom culture through this show, and the depiction of AIDS was incredibly powerful.

2. Game of Thrones (#13)

I’ve only made it through the first two seasons of this show so far, but I already know it’s one of my favorites of all time. The big-budget episodes and battle scenes are fun to watch, and all of the characters are perfectly cast.

3. Seinfeld (#40)

I was so shocked by how well Seinfeld holds up in the modern era. That’s not to say there weren’t some incredibly problematic portions; the show is still overwhelmingly white and thin and straight and cis, and uses characters who are not as a punchline far too often. Still, it did a better job at portraying all of these things than similar shows from the same time period, and it doesn’t hurt that I am now deeply in love with Julia Louise Dreyfus.

4. Friday Night Lights (#108)

This show was so good! I had no idea what to expect going on, convinced by my mother that I had to get to know “coach” at some point in my life. Despite my hatred of small towns and football, I was drawn into this show immediately.

5. The Queen’s Gambit (#170)

Anya Taylor Joy was truly a breakout star in this Netflix original limited series, and I’m so proud of her. While I don’t know much about chess, this show simultaneously made me want to learn and made me feel like I’d never be smart enough to even make it worth trying.

6. Heartstopper (#151)

Season 1 Review

These are the heartwarming queer shows we need more of on television! Adapted from the graphic novels by the same name, Heartstopper is a high school drama that’s 100% worth the watch.

7. Crash Landing on You (#168)

While I haven’t watched many K-dramas, this one made love the genre! The love story is so incredibly sweet and the element of adventure is there. Plus, I cannot help but love a high powered woman who learns what it’s like to not be in control for the first time. I would highly recommend to all of my hopeless romantics.

8. Black Mirror (#68)

By now you’ve all heard of Black Mirror. While some of these episodes still haunt me to this day, I’m impressed by the show writer’s abilities to predict the future in a way that feels a little bit too real.

9. The Rehearsal (#184)

Season 1 Review

Nathan Fielder is such a unique character, and that’s never been more true than in The Rehearsal, a documentary that may or may not be a mockumentary. I’m still hoping that there will be a reveal regarding the scriptedness of this show, but either way I’ll keep watching.

10. Friends (#50)

I liked this show when I first watched it at 18, but since then I’ve had no desire to go back to it. Ross sucks, Monica is a great character except she’s occasionally written as a parody of OCD, and while the jokes are funny there’s not that much else interesting about it.

11. Impractical Jokers (#177)

While absolutely hilarious in earlier seasons, this unscripted show about four friends making a fool of themselves in public loses points for the fact that in later seasons, there’s no chance that the people around them didn’t recognized them immediately.

12. One Piece (#73)

I will admit that I’ve only watched the first 5 episodes of this show. It’s the only anime I’ve ever tried to watch, so the low rating on this list is primarily due to my lack of interest in the genre. The show was interesting enough, but I could not find it in myself to get invested in an animated series.

Unwatched IMDb Top 250

The following are listed in order of appearance from #1 to #250, with shows that I’ve watched removed. As of February 2023, I have watched 12/250 of the shows present on the list.

  • Planet Earth II
  • Breaking Bad
  • Planet Earth
  • Band of Brothers
  • Chernobyl
  • The Wire
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • Blue Planet II
  • Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
  • The Sopranos
  • Cosmos
  • Our Planet
  • The World at War
  • Rick and Morty
  • The Last of Us
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
  • The Last Dance
  • Life
  • Sherlock
  • The Twilight Zone
  • The Vietnam War
  • Bluey
  • Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
  • Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story
  • Arcane
  • Attack on Titan
  • The Blue Planet
  • The Office
  • Firefly
  • Human Planet
  • Frozen Planet
  • Death Note
  • Better Call Saul
  • Only Fools and Horses
  • The Civil War
  • True Detective
  • Hunter x Hunter
  • Clarkson’s Farm
  • Persona
  • Dekalog
  • The Beatles: Get Back
  • Fargo
  • Cowboy Bebop
  • Nathan for You
  • Gravity Falls
  • When They See Us
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
  • Africa
  • TVF Pitchers
  • Apocalypse: The Second World War
  • Monty Python’s Flying Circus
  • It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  • Taskmaster
  • Das Boot
  • The West Wing
  • Curb Your Enthusiasm
  • As If
  • Fawlty Towers
  • Leyla and Mecnun
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Freaks and Geeks
  • Blackadder Goes Forth
  • Twin Peaks
  • BoJack Horseman
  • Narcos
  • Succession
  • Dragon Ball Z
  • Chappelle’s Show
  • Dragon Ball Z
  • I, Claudius
  • South Park
  • Over the Garden Wall
  • Rome
  • Six Feet Under
  • Ted Lasso
  • Peaky Blinders
  • Kota Factory
  • Oz
  • Dark
  • Steins;Gate
  • The Mandalorian
  • Arrested Development
  • The Boys
  • Fleabag
  • The Simpsons
  • One Punch Man
  • The Shield
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • House
  • Gullak
  • Downton Abbey
  • Panchayat
  • Stranger Things
  • Invincible
  • Severance
  • Vinland Saga
  • Mad Men
  • Peep Show
  • Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
  • House of Cards
  • Beserk
  • The Grand Tour
  • Top Gear
  • 1883
  • Justice League Unlimited
  • The Thick of It
  • The Crown
  • Line of Duty
  • Aspirants
  • Father Ted
  • Deadwood
  • Mahabharat
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Behzat Ç: Bir Ankara Polisiyesi
  • Dexter
  • The X-Files
  • This Is Us
  • Atlanta
  • The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert Durst
  • Naruto: Shippuden
  • Code Geass
  • Primal
  • Blackadder II
  • The Bridge
  • Daredevil
  • It’s a Sin
  • Critical Role
  • Monster
  • Archer
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
  • Lonesome Dove
  • Adventure Time
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
  • The Return of Sherlock Holmes
  • Ramayan
  • Gomorrah
  • Yellowstone
  • Mindhunter
  • Yeh Meri Family
  • Young Justice
  • Blackadder the Third
  • Haikyu!!
  • QI
  • Anne with an E
  • Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War
  • Mr. Bean
  • Dopesick
  • Poirot
  • The Offer
  • Yes Minister
  • Making a Murderer
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Justified
  • The Newsroom
  • The Bugs Bunny Show
  • The Haunting of Hill House
  • The Eric Andre Show
  • Justice League
  • Formula 1: Drive to Survive
  • Dragon Ball (1986)
  • Flight of the Conchords
  • Homicide: Life on the Street
  • Dragon Ball (1995)
  • The Venture Bros.
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Coupling
  • El Chavo del Ocho
  • Spaced
  • The Bureau
  • Long Way Round
  • What We Do in the Shadows
  • Black Sun
  • Yes, Prime Minister
  • Samurai Champloo
  • The IT Crowd
  • Mr. Robot
  • Louie
  • I’m Alan Partridge
  • The Family Man
  • The Office
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway?
  • Through the Wormhole
  • Letterkenny
  • Samurai Jack
  • Shameless
  • Spartacus
  • Detectorists
  • Ezel
  • Mob Psycho 100
  • Westworld
  • Sons of Anarchy
  • Endeavour
  • Brass Eye
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Extraordinary Attorney Woo
  • Skam
  • North & South
  • Trailer Park Boys
  • Doctor Who
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
  • Twin Peaks
  • Silicon Valley
  • Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
  • From Earth to the Moon
  • Futurama
  • Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal
  • Mr Inbetween
  • Umbre
  • Hannibal
  • Schitt’s Creek
  • Happy Valley
  • The Expanse
  • Jujutsu Kaisen
  • Community
  • Regular Show
  • Cobra Kai
  • Chef’s Table
  • Generation Kill
  • My Brilliant Friend
  • The Angry Video Game Nerd
  • The Night Of
  • Wentworth
  • Derry Girls
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents
  • Your Lie in April
  • Avrupa Yakasi
  • Big Little Lies
  • Southland
  • House of the Dragon
  • The Knick
  • Chainsaw Man
  • Black Books
  • The Great British Baking Show
  • The Defiant Ones
  • Gintama
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