As recently as a decade ago, being a ‘TV actor’ was viewed as inferior to starring on the big screen, but as the era of so-called ‘Peak TV’ continues, the lines have become more blurred than ever as many of the industry’s highest-profile names are making the jump to the small screen with increasing regularity.
For instance, during his heyday, Al Pacino wouldn’t be caught dead appearing on television, and yet the acting legend showed up in a TV series for the first time since 1968 in Amazon’s Hunters, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With so much content available across so many platforms, which has only increased dramatically since the streaming wars kicked into high gear, there’s almost too many options to choose from as fans find their watch-lists constantly filling up, creating a huge backlog of must-see projects that they simply don’t have the time for.
And while the debate about which TV show is the greatest of all-time is one that will never have a definitive answer, a new poll has nonetheless seen Game of Thrones claim the honor this time around. Digital Spy recently named their Top 100 shows of the 21st Century, and despite fans not receiving the final season with much enthusiasm, the HBO smash hit still came out on top.
The publication only polled around 3000 people, meaning that the rankings come from a relatively small sample size, and you can tell just from looking at the Top 10 list below that the vast majority of votes were cast by British viewers.
- Game of Thrones
- Stranger Things
- Doctor Who
- Sherlock
- Breaking Bad
- The Great British Bake Off
- Killing Eve
- Gavin & Stacey
- Line of Duty
- Chernobyl
Both shows definitely have their fans, but it would be a pretty big stretch to say that James Corden’s Gavin & Stacey, which ran for just 21 episodes and ended in 2008, or The Great British Bake Off would end up in most people’s top ten when it came to naming the greatest TV shows of the 21st Century. Game of Thrones, however, would no doubt be part of the conversation about any such list.
