Top 10 TV Shows of 2016

1. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

While other late-night comedy talk show hosts snatched the endless low-hanging fruit offered by the most absurd presidential election in modern history, John Oliver took advantage of the weekly format of “Last Week Tonight” to delve into enormously important issues that escaped the breathless 24-hour news cycle: special-purpose districts, police reform, and school segregation. He peppered his searing exposés with irreverent, absurd throwaway lines, creating possibly the funniest lectures of all time. Oliver may have concluded a segment titled “Fuck 2016” by blowing up the four digits, but this crazy year certainly gave him material—enabling “Last Week Tonight” to reach new heights of biting satire and razor-sharp insight. —Trevor J. Levin

By Courtesy of HBO

2. Game of Thrones

The sixth season of “Game of Thrones” brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “kill your darlings.” Cersei’s violent streak combusts in shocking levels of bloodshed, Sansa turns darker with every episode, and Daenerys continues to defy the impossible. As expected, the series keeps adrenaline running high as more characters die, more secrets are revealed, and more fan theories are put to rest. “Game of Thrones” soars past its own reputation, leaving a reason to continue watching in every episode. —Grace Z. Li

By Courtesy of Media Rights Capital

3. House of Cards

Netflix has consistently produced intriguing content, and “House of Cards” is no exception. Having left Frank Underwood both at a presidential campaign high and in a marital crisis in season three, “House of Cards” had a lot to handle in its fourth season. Perhaps spurred to raise the bar after the previous season’s suboptimal reviews, the showrunners succeeded in elevating “House of Cards” back to the engrossing drama that made it a household name. Underwood’s hold on the presidency—which some would argue is as dangerous as Trump’s—represents a fictional reprieve from real-life politics, but the stakes are just as high. —Mila Gauvin II

By Courtesy of 21 Laps Entertainment

4. Stranger Things

“Stranger Things,” a Netflix sci-fi extravaganza, is—well, strange. What starts as a typical lost child mystery turns into an elaborate saga featuring supernatural forces, government experimentation, telekinesis, and a rather creepy young girl. Creators Ross and Matt Duffer pull the whole thing off, though, and the final product proves to be simultaneously bold, bizarre, addictive, and touching. On a more meta level, “Stranger Things” functions as an excellent homage to Spielberg films and 1980s television, blending giddy nostalgia with careful historical reflection. —Charlotte L.R. Anrig

By Courtesy of Dundee Productions

5. Veep

The fifth season of HBO’s biting political satire “Veep” follows former Vice President-turned-accidental President Selena Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) as she lobbies for re-election with the help of—or perhaps in spite of—her jaded, bumbling team of egotists. Hilarious and unrelentingly cynical, “Veep” boasts one of the tightest, most joke-dense scripts in modern television. The cast's cutting barbs fly like bullets, tearing through egos and skewering insecurities at breakneck speed (a highlight: “Right now you’re about as toxic as a urinal cake in Chernobyl.”) Though Meyer's political aspirations are consistently hampered, "Veep," much like its insults, shows no sign of slowing down. —Shaun V. Gohel

By Courtesy of Lionsgate Television

6. Orange is the New Black

The fourth season of Jenji Kohan’s “Orange Is the New Black” delivers its usual bitter comedy and silly tragedy as its characters—imprisoned women—struggle to achieve and maintain power. This time around, though, all of the elaborate and multifaceted drama takes a particularly powerful turn: Nearly every character in the ensemble cast battles the prison’s painfully racist hierarchy, and for one woman in particular, the outcome turns out to be fatal. The show also addresses transgender rights, inadequate mental illness healthcare, and several other politically resonant issues in an unusual but ultimately moving display of ambition and social conscience. —Charlotte L.R. Anrig

By Courtesy of the Tornante Company

7. Bojack Horseman

By the Netflix original’s third season, it no longer feels strange that one of the bleakest shows on television is an animated dramedy set in a world where anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans. Perhaps encouraged by season two’s rave reviews, “BoJack Horseman” writers took bold risks in their third go-around, including a nearly dialogue-less underwater episode and another centered on a refreshingly honest portrayal of abortion. Along the way, viewers watch the titular movie-star horse sink deeper into existential despair and discover astonishing depths in the supporting characters (and, of course, laugh hysterically at visual puns and animal jokes). —Trevor J. Levin

By Courtesy of Endemol UK

7. Black Mirror

The conspicuously titled science fiction anthology “Black Mirror” returned for a tumultuous (and murderous) third season on Netflix. “Black Mirror” is somewhere between a modern day “Twilight Zone” and a technophobe’s fever dream. At its best the Charlie Brooker-helmed show portrays the death and rebirth of the human heart under the advent of (post)modern technology. At its worst, it’s a thoughtful (if overintellectualized) series of didactic morality tales, that portrays human emotion with glib amaurosis. Nevertheless, at least it tries to be thoughtful—placing it leagues ahead of most programs played on our own black mirrors. —Aziz B. Yakub

By Courtesy of 20th Television

7. Atlanta

Ever wonder how Childish Gambino got signed? Well, “Atlanta” isn’t that story—though the rapper is its star and creator. Earning rave reviews in its first season, “Atlanta” follows protagonist Earn (Donald Glover) as he manages his up-and-coming rapper cousin Alfred Miles (Brian Tyree Henry). Caught between his real-life responsibilities of raising a daughter with his best friend (Zazie Beetz) and the demands of street life, Earn is the instrument through which Donald Glover fine-tunes his signature sense of humor while providing insightful commentary on Atlanta’s rap scene—and, by extension, its racial climate.

By Courtesy of TBS Productions

10. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

It has Samantha Bee. It has Jo Miller. But most importantly, it has full frontal. After 12 years working for Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” Bee has started her own show, a late-night news comedy program featuring her often awkward, always hilarious field reports. She interviews Trump voters, visits Syrian refugee camps, and travels to Moscow. Luckily for Bee (but perhaps unluckily for us), 2016 shaped up with just enough hot mess for fresh material each week. —Tianxing V. Lan