Only one Canadian TV show ranked among the 100 best of the 21st century
We are living in the golden age of television and, with so much content out there at our fingertips, it can be hard to decide what to watch.
The New York Times recently released its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century (so far), and wow, is it ever dividing the internet.
TV connoisseurs have been very vocal on TikTok about the top three: Mad Men in third place, The Wire in second, and Breaking Bad at number one.
âWhere is The Sopranos?â âGirls is terrible, and doesnât deserve to be ranked so high.â âThe OA? Seriously?!â are some of the thoughts currently floating around social media.
To answer the first question â since it might be what youâre thinking, too â the newspaper says The Sopranos premiered on HBO in January 1999, meaning it technically belongs to the 20th century and therefore was omitted from the list.
TV lovers online have also raised some good points, particularly about how “whiteâ the list is, especially as you get closer to the top 10. Only Atlanta and The Wire are among the highest-ranked series that prominently feature or were written and produced by people of colour.
As for Canada, we have just one show on the list to claim as our own: Schittâs Creek at number 34.
CBC
The sitcom, created by Toronto-born actor and writer Dan Levy alongside his father, the incomparable Eugene Levy of SCTV fame, ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2020.
The show centres on the uber-wealthy Rose family, who suddenly lose all their money and are forced to rebuild their lives in a small, quirky town in the middle of nowhere.
Throughout its run, which originally aired on CBC in Canada and Pop TV in the U.S., Schittâs Creek picked up numerous prestigious awards, including more than 30 Canadian Screen Awards, two Critics’ Choice Television Awards, nine Emmys, and two Golden Globes â Best Television Series and Best Actress for Catherine OâHara, who passed away earlier this year.
Equal parts hilarious, heartwarming, and wonderfully weird, Schittâs Creek quickly became a pop culture phenom and a goldmine of catchphrases (ew, David!) and GIFs.
And there are a few Canadian-adjacent shows on The New York Times list, as well.
Some may argue Nathan For You (number 56) is a Canadian show because it stars Vancouver-born comedian Nathan Fielder. However, the satirical docu-reality comedy was, for the most part, filmed in Los Angeles and aired on the American cable network Comedy Central.
The Emmy Award-winning The Handmaidâs Tale (number 67), meanwhile, is an adaptation of Canadian author Margaret Atwoodâs classic novel. The series was filmed entirely in Ontario throughout its six-season run, which concluded in May 2025.
Station Eleven (number 93) is another adaptation of a novel by a Canadian author, Emily St. John Mandel. While the book is set in Toronto, where some parts of the show were also filmed, the acclaimed post-apocalyptic series primarily takes place in Chicago. Its cast does include a few Canadian actors, including Mackenzie Davis in a lead role.
If and when The New York Times updates its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, we can only hope it takes another look at some of these Canadian shows: Heated Rivalry, Orphan Black, Kimâs Convenience, and North of North.
Do you agree with the list? Let us know in the comments below.