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Genres

Drama Comedy Animation Action Crime Adventure Romance Reality-TV More genres →

Decades

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s 1920s 1900s

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Genres

Drama Comedy Animation Action Crime Adventure Romance Reality-TV More genres →

Decades

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s 1920s 1900s

Tags Search My ratings Sign in

Best Drama TV Series of 2016

Top 500 most popular Drama series that started in 2016

All Drama series All series from 2016

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Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Action 106 Adult 3 Adventure 44 Animation 60 Biography 28 Comedy 257 Crime 186 Documentary 17 Drama 1338 Family 32 Fantasy 61 Game-Show 0 History 63 Horror 40 Music 16 Musical 6 Mystery 99 News 1 Reality-TV 7 Romance 213 Sci-Fi 33 Short 9 Sport 11 Talk-Show 2 Thriller 73 War 16 Western 3

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

2020s 15153 2010s 12095 2000s 6142 1990s 3041 1980s 2162 1970s 1372 1960s 637 1950s 386 1940s 31 1930s 5 1920s 2 1900s 0

Specific year

2026 1449 2025 2989 2024 2392 2023 2296 2022 2211 2021 2019 2020 1797 2019 1714 2018 1552 2017 1490 2016 1338 2015 1194 2014 1082 2013 1003 2012 966 2011 929 2010 827 2009 801 2008 771 2007 784 2006 715 2005 646 2004 559 2003 513 2002 463 2001 476 2000 414 1999 384 1998 355 1997 371 1996 326 1995 292 1994 291 1993 292 1992 238 1991 250 1990 242 1989 262 1988 238 1987 238 1986 230 1985 232 1984 221 1983 203 1982 179 1981 182 1980 177 1979 188 1978 183 1977 155 1976 156 1975 128 1974 143 1973 106 1972 129 1971 97 1970 87 1969 94 1968 74 1967 77 1966 68 1965 65 1964 58 1963 56 1962 44 1961 44 1960 57 1959 59 1958 43 1957 40 1956 37 1955 49 1954 36 1953 29 1952 34 1951 25 1950 34 1949 21 1948 5 1947 2 1946 2 1945 1 1938 2 1937 1 1931 1 1930 1 1929 1 1928 1

Tags

Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Fumbled the Finale 1 Stuck the Landing 1 Grew the Beard 1 Rock Solid 0 Past Its Prime 0 Roller Coaster 0

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood

Bleak 7 Gritty 23 Dark tone 49 Feel-good 10 Cozy 4 Wholesome 5 Melancholic 10 Tense 47 Unsettling 12 Whimsical 1 Campy 5 Cynical 9 Hopeful 5 Sentimental 12 Nostalgic 5 Bittersweet 16 Chaotic energy 3 Deadpan cool 3

Pacing & structure

Slow burn 15 Fast-paced 5 Episodic 5 Serialized 49 Procedural 4 Mystery box 16 Anthology 8 Cliffhanger-driven 8 Sprawling saga 1 Tight limited run 17 Puzzle plot 7 Vignette style 5

Humor style

Dry humor 3 Absurdist 5 Satirical 2 Cringe comedy 1 Slapstick 0 Witty banter 11 Dark comedy 6 Warm humor 12 Raunchy 0 Parody 1 Ironic & meta 2

Themes & subject matter

Criminal underworld 13 Detective mystery 21 True crime 4 Heists & cons 4 Legal 7 Medical 4 Political intrigue 14 Espionage 5 War & military 5 Family saga 18 Coming of age 11 Workplace 2 School & campus 6 Love story 28 Friendship 5 Found family 8 Survival 11 Post-apocalyptic 1 Dystopia 3 Supernatural 14 Space & sci-fi 1 Near-future tech 4 Time travel 9 High fantasy 2 Urban fantasy 2 Monster horror 5 Psychological horror 4 Addiction & vice 3 Mental health 5 Faith & religion 4 Sports 3 Music scene 5 Food & cooking 1 Nature & science 1 Real history 12 Royalty & aristocracy 7 Small town 7 Big city life 4 Rural & frontier 3 Suburban underbelly 1 Class divide 3 Immigrant experience 0 Queer stories 3 Female perspective 10 Social commentary 13 Philosophical 3 Existential dread 3 Revenge 3 Redemption 4 Secrets & lies 38

Characters & perspective

Antihero lead 14 Morally gray 30 Villain's POV 0 Ensemble cast 20 Central duo 5 Strong female lead 19 Child's perspective 0 Outsider lead 3 Genius lead 4 Working class 1 Elites & privilege 9 Unreliable narrator 3 Character study 27 Banter chemistry 5

Emotional payoff

Tearjerker 8 Adrenaline 6 Intellectual challenge 2 Comfort rewatch 4 Romantic yearning 20 Cathartic 0 Wonder & awe 1 Mounting dread 2 Warm glow 5 Gut punch 7

Craft & style

Dialogue-driven 7 Visually striking 10 Stylized direction 8 Naturalistic 7 Big-budget spectacle 3 Lo-fi charm 0 Atmospheric 25 Distinctive score 3 Experimental 2 Deep worldbuilding 2 Tight writing 2

Format & audience

Sitcom 2 Adult animation 0 Anime 9 Kids & family 1 Young adult 4 Soap & telenovela 5 Event miniseries 9 Reality competition 0 Lifestyle reality 0 Docuseries 2 Sketch & variety 0 Game & quiz show 0 Talk & panel 0 Period piece 24 Contemporary life 6 Long-runner 1 Built to binge 0

Viewing-culture clusters

British TV 17 Nordic noir 5 K-drama 12 Turkish drama 2 Indian TV 2

Intensity & content character

Graphic violence 7 Disturbing 6 Sexually explicit 1 Family-safe 3 Emotionally heavy 18 Easy watching 10

Sort

500 series (top 500 shown)

The Young Pope

52K 10 2016–2016

Faith & religion

Timeless

51K 27 2016–2018

Time travel · Real history

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

51K 4 2016–2016

Nostalgic · Dialogue-driven

Love

49K 34 2016–2018

Central duo · Love story

Shooter

45K 31 2016–2018

Revenge · Adrenaline

Colony

42K 36 2016–2018

Dystopia · Espionage

Marcella

41K 24 2016–2021

Detective mystery

Queen of the South

38K 62 2016–2021

Criminal underworld

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

38K 16 2016–2017

K-drama · Tearjerker · Bittersweet

Victoria

35K 25 2016–2019

Royalty & aristocracy

The Exorcist

34K 20 2016–2018

Faith & religion · Unsettling

Fuller House

31K 75 2016–2020

Nostalgic · Wholesome · Sitcom

3%

30K 33 2016–2020

Dystopia · Class divide

War & Peace

30K 8 2016–2016

Period piece · Real history

Descendants of the Sun

29K 19 2016–2016

K-drama · Love story

Frontier

27K 18 2016–2018

Rural & frontier · Period piece

Wynonna Earp

27K 49 2016–2021

Campy · Supernatural

Van Helsing

27K 65 2016–2021

Post-apocalyptic · Supernatural

Vinyl

26K 10 2016–2016

Music scene · Addiction & vice

Insecure

25K 44 2016–2021

Friendship · Female perspective

MacGyver

25K 95 2016–2021

Genius lead · Fast-paced

The Get Down

25K 11 2016–2017

Music scene · Stylized direction

Bull

25K 125 2016–2022

Legal · Procedural · Genius lead

Medici

25K 24 2016–2019

Real history · Period piece

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Action Adult Adventure Animation Biography Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Family Fantasy Game-Show History Horror Music Musical Mystery News Reality-TV Romance Sci-Fi Short Sport Talk-Show Thriller War Western

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Rating data from IMDb Non-Commercial Datasets.

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