TV that changed how we watch
There are some TV series from the past 10 years that are totally missable. There are some that are exquisite. And there are some that were vital to making TV what it is today.
What we define as television, how and when we watch it and who gets to create it changed dramatically in the 2010s as more networks and services created a vast increase in TV shows. And on the cusp of the 2020s, TV is set to change again as mega-corporations including Disney and Apple introduce streaming services to an alreadycrowded landscape.
As the decade draws to a close, we look back on the five shows that made the biggest impact on the industry in the past 10 years, from the start of the streaming age to the small superhero saga that paved the way for dozens more.
‘House of Cards’ (Netflix, 2013-’18)
The political drama was not Netflix’s first foray into original programming (that honor belongs to “Lilyhammer,” a drama about a mob boss who resettles in Norway). But “Cards,” a remake of a British miniseries, was the streaming service’s first zeitgeist hit, first Emmy nominee and the first show to prove that streaming could be a viable source for new television. It will not be remembered as the streamer’s best show, but as streaming is set to become the dominant form of TV viewing, it’s good to remember that none of it might have happened if “Cards” hadn’t set the stage.
‘American Horror Story’ (FX, 2011-present)
If “Cards” helped change how we watch TV, producer Ryan Murphy’s FX horror series changed how it was made. When the first season of “American Horror Story” killed off its main cast and set the stage for an entirely new story in Season 2, the era of the modern anthology officially was born. We’ve seen these types of shows pop up everywhere, from HBO’s “True Detective” to ABC’s “American Crime” to AMC’s “The Terror.” Some reuse the same cast in different roles, others cast new actors every year. The promise of committing only to one season has helped lure bigger stars, and the constant story shakeups has kept many of these shows fresh and exciting far longer than they might have lasted otherwise.
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ (Logo, 2009-’16; VH1 2017-present)
The journey of this reality competition for drag queens is exactly the kind the kind of story that wows the “Drag Race” judges when a contestant takes a similar Cinderella path to victory. The late 2010s saw the meteoric rise of “RuPaul” and her queens. What once was a cult series on LGBTQ network Logo has become a cultural force since its move to the more popular VH1, turning drag queens into household names and introducing the performance genre to a wider audience. The drag competition didn’t inspire many direct copycats, but it helped pave the way for such series as FX’s Emmy-winning “Pose.”
‘Arrow’ (CW, 2012-’20)
The superhero boom was as fast and massive as Superman on the big screen, but far slower (and smaller) on TV. Superheroes are not the big hits on TV as they are at the box office, nor do they star A-list actors or feature the most popular hero characters. The model for the modern major superhero series is CW’s “Arrow,” which launched the network’s DC Comics universe in 2012 that now includes “Supergirl” and “Legends of Tomorrow.” With its modest use of computer graphics, dark tone and character focus, “Arrow” paved the way for competitor Marvel to break into the TV realm, as well as supershows such as HBO’s “Watchmen.”
‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO, 2011-’19)
The past decade has seen not just an explosion in the number of series but an increase in their scale, thanks in to HBO’s fantasy juggernaut. “Thrones” kicked off a trend of supersizing all aspects of production: computer effects, sets, costumes, episode length and budgets. The trend is akin to the bombastic “Avengers” and “Star Wars” films that also were popular this decade, when more was always the answer. The series’ popularity and Emmy wins helped legitimize epic fantasy as a TV genre. (Many more will following, including Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series.)