Best TV of the 2010s: The Shows, Moments, and Trends That Defined the Decade

It's opening night of the drama theater production on and that only means one thing: Not everything goes according to plan.

This decade has been momentous for Kate Middleton and Prince William.

The decade of 2010 to 2019 was a remarkable one for television, from who was making it, how we watched it, and the types of stories being told on it. Over the course of the last 10 years, Netflix changed from a DVD rental service to an industry-reshaping producer of content, HBO continued to make conversation-dominating television (including one of the biggest shows of all time), and The CW burst onto the scene with not one, but two prestige comedies, as well as an armada of superhero shows.

Genius was founded in 2009 as an online music encyclopedia, and it’s spent the last decade watching the music industry grow and change. As the 2010s wrap up, we’re crunching the numbers to determine exactly which artists, songs, album, and producers everyone was drawn to the most. The results tell the story of the decade, as careers rose and fell and the industry was reshaped by emerging market forces.

The decade is coming to a close this week, with Mariah Carey once more ruling the charts. 

Getting a songwriting credit is an accomplishment not many reach. For and, the young leads of Disney+'s , they'll add one more impressive skill to their growing resumes as they bop to the top.

Did anybody rise and shine better this decade than Kylie Jenner?

Genius was founded in 2009 as an online music encyclopedia, and it’s spent the last decade watching the music industry grow and change. As the 2010s wrap up, we’re crunching the numbers to determine exactly which artists, songs, album, and producers everyone was drawn to the most. The results tell the story of the decade, as careers rose and fell and the industry was reshaped by emerging market forces.

It's called fashion, look it up...

There's so much TV on in a single week (or even a single night!) that looking back on the best TV from this entire decade could feel like overwhelming — that is, if so much of the shows that aired over the past 10 years weren't so good! But fortunately, as we've transitioned from the Golden Age and into Peak TV, viewers have been gifted with so many great series that it's exciting, not intimidating, to look back at everything that made the past 10 years of TV so memorable.

"There's too much TV" is a common complaint these days. But the thing is, so much of it is also good TV. Yes, the number of shows debuting new episodes every year is overwhelming and, frankly, impossible to keep up with. But the only reason anyone even cares about keeping up with so many of these shows is because they are delivering moving performances, side-splitting jokes, shocking twists, provocative dialogue, and incredible world-building week after week.

Genius was founded in 2009 as an online music encyclopedia, and it’s spent the last decade watching the music industry grow and change. As the 2010s wrap up, we’re crunching the numbers to determine exactly which artists, songs, album, and producers everyone was drawn to the most. The results tell the story of the decade, as careers rose and fell and the industry was reshaped by emerging market forces.

It's almost time to start ringing in the New Year! Or, should we say New Decade?

So long, 2010s. It's been real.

Genius was founded in 2009 as an online music encyclopedia, and it’s spent the last decade watching the music industry grow and change. As the 2010s wrap up, we’re crunching the numbers to determine exactly which artists, songs, album, and producers everyone was drawn to the most. The results tell the story of the decade, as careers rose and fell and the industry was reshaped by emerging market forces.

Indulge us in a walk down memory lane.