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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 TV Series of 2016

Top 500 most popular series that started in 2016

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Genres

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

Action 329 Adult 78 Adventure 304 Animation 489 Biography 73 Comedy 1628 Crime 361 Documentary 752 Drama 1338 Family 220 Fantasy 171 Game-Show 128 History 189 Horror 145 Music 104 Musical 19 Mystery 176 News 84 Reality-TV 593 Romance 395 Sci-Fi 112 Short 88 Sport 103 Talk-Show 254 Thriller 139 War 33 Western 9

Decades

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

2020s 40410 2010s 48704 2000s 24492 1990s 11139 1980s 6467 1970s 4272 1960s 2491 1950s 1251 1940s 163 1930s 34 1920s 9 1900s 1

Specific year

2026 2911 2025 6438 2024 6061 2023 6198 2022 6411 2021 6430 2020 5961 2019 5621 2018 5440 2017 5665 2016 5306 2015 5111 2014 4727 2013 4716 2012 4479 2011 4160 2010 3479 2009 3298 2008 3064 2007 2994 2006 2987 2005 2586 2004 2285 2003 2059 2002 1872 2001 1799 2000 1548 1999 1489 1998 1411 1997 1314 1996 1169 1995 1120 1994 1037 1993 987 1992 879 1991 871 1990 862 1989 838 1988 735 1987 718 1986 648 1985 677 1984 641 1983 626 1982 554 1981 495 1980 535 1979 535 1978 496 1977 471 1976 486 1975 421 1974 424 1973 386 1972 423 1971 332 1970 298 1969 339 1968 315 1967 300 1966 290 1965 252 1964 240 1963 213 1962 159 1961 188 1960 195 1959 188 1958 135 1957 154 1956 147 1955 143 1954 110 1953 92 1952 107 1951 74 1950 101 1949 74 1948 42 1947 18 1946 14 1945 1 1944 5 1943 2 1941 4 1940 3 1939 2 1938 5 1937 3 1936 7 1934 1 1931 11 1930 5 1929 4 1928 3 1927 2 1908 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 2 Grew the Beard 2 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 8 Gritty 27 Dark tone 53 Feel-good 12 Cozy 4 Wholesome 10 Melancholic 12 Tense 54 Unsettling 13 Whimsical 5 Campy 12 Cynical 13 Hopeful 7 Sentimental 12 Nostalgic 6 Bittersweet 17 Chaotic energy 11 Deadpan cool 9

Pacing & structure

Slow burn 15 Fast-paced 8 Episodic 26 Serialized 56 Procedural 8 Mystery box 17 Anthology 8 Cliffhanger-driven 9 Sprawling saga 1 Tight limited run 20 Puzzle plot 8 Vignette style 5

Humor style

Dry humor 14 Absurdist 20 Satirical 6 Cringe comedy 3 Slapstick 1 Witty banter 21 Dark comedy 16 Warm humor 25 Raunchy 0 Parody 8 Ironic & meta 3

Themes & subject matter

Criminal underworld 16 Detective mystery 22 True crime 5 Heists & cons 4 Legal 7 Medical 5 Political intrigue 15 Espionage 6 War & military 6 Family saga 19 Coming of age 15 Workplace 8 School & campus 12 Love story 35 Friendship 11 Found family 12 Survival 13 Post-apocalyptic 2 Dystopia 3 Supernatural 20 Space & sci-fi 2 Near-future tech 4 Time travel 10 High fantasy 2 Urban fantasy 4 Monster horror 7 Psychological horror 5 Addiction & vice 3 Mental health 6 Faith & religion 7 Sports 4 Music scene 6 Food & cooking 1 Nature & science 2 Real history 15 Royalty & aristocracy 8 Small town 11 Big city life 5 Rural & frontier 5 Suburban underbelly 1 Class divide 3 Immigrant experience 2 Queer stories 4 Female perspective 14 Social commentary 18 Philosophical 4 Existential dread 5 Revenge 5 Redemption 5 Secrets & lies 42

Characters & perspective

Antihero lead 17 Morally gray 33 Villain's POV 0 Ensemble cast 31 Central duo 8 Strong female lead 21 Child's perspective 0 Outsider lead 4 Genius lead 4 Working class 4 Elites & privilege 9 Unreliable narrator 3 Character study 31 Banter chemistry 10

Emotional payoff

Tearjerker 8 Adrenaline 12 Intellectual challenge 2 Comfort rewatch 9 Romantic yearning 26 Cathartic 0 Wonder & awe 2 Mounting dread 3 Warm glow 7 Gut punch 9

Craft & style

Dialogue-driven 14 Visually striking 13 Stylized direction 9 Naturalistic 9 Big-budget spectacle 5 Lo-fi charm 0 Atmospheric 26 Distinctive score 4 Experimental 3 Deep worldbuilding 3 Tight writing 2

Format & audience

Sitcom 14 Adult animation 3 Anime 19 Kids & family 7 Young adult 5 Soap & telenovela 5 Event miniseries 9 Reality competition 0 Lifestyle reality 1 Docuseries 10 Sketch & variety 2 Game & quiz show 1 Talk & panel 6 Period piece 28 Contemporary life 10 Long-runner 2 Built to binge 0

Viewing-culture clusters

British TV 25 Nordic noir 5 K-drama 15 Turkish drama 3 Indian TV 5

Intensity & content character

Graphic violence 12 Disturbing 9 Sexually explicit 2 Family-safe 13 Emotionally heavy 22 Easy watching 35

Sort

500 series (top 500 shown)

Stranger Things

1.7M 42 2016–2025

Nostalgic · Monster horror

Westworld

560K 36 2016–2022

Big-budget spectacle · Puzzle plot

Lucifer

395K 93 2016–2021

Supernatural · Witty banter

The Crown

283K 60 2016–2023

Royalty & aristocracy

Fleabag

250K 12 2016–2019

Female perspective

The Good Place

223K 50 2016–2020

Philosophical · Redemption

The Night Of

198K 8 2016–2016

Legal · Bleak · Gritty

Planet Earth II

176K 6 2016–2016

Nature & science · Wonder & awe

This Is Us

176K 106 2016–2022

Tearjerker · Family saga

Luke Cage

149K 26 2016–2018

Criminal underworld · Gritty

The Night Manager

141K 13 2016–present

Espionage · British TV · Tense

The OA

128K 16 2016–2019

Experimental · Mystery box

11.22.63

125K 8 2016–2016

Time travel · Event miniseries

My Hero Academia

125K 183 2016–2026

Anime · Hopeful · School & campus

Billions

119K 84 2016–2023

Elites & privilege · Morally gray

Designated Survivor

116K 53 2016–2019

Political intrigue · Serialized

Legends of Tomorrow

115K 110 2016–2022

Time travel · Campy

American Crime Story

103K 29 2016–2021

True crime · Anthology

Atlanta

99K 41 2016–2022

Experimental · Absurdist

The Grand Tour

95K 47 2016–present

Banter chemistry · Witty banter

Preacher

87K 43 2016–2019

Faith & religion

Shadowhunters

77K 55 2016–2019

Urban fantasy · Young adult

Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World

76K 110 2016–present

Anime · Time travel

Erased

76K 13 2016–2016

Anime · Tense · Time travel

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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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