Kit Harington in Game of Thrones season 7 "Eastwatch" (Macall B. Polay/HBO)

FALL 2017 TV SURVEY:
40 BEST TV SHOWS
OF THE PAST 20 YEARS

We asked TV fans, “What do you think is the best TV show of the past 20 years?” See which series our survey respondents chose, ranked by popularity, below. The winner took top spot with 11 percent of the vote, while second place got 7 percent, third and fourth place were separated by a mere tenth of a percent and rounded up to 5 percent, and fifth place got 4 percent. (Click here to see the full results by percentage.)

Disagree with the survey results? Tell us in the comments who you think should have made the list or have been ranked higher.

Deadwood (2004)
Tomatometer icon 92%

#40
Synopsis: "Deadwood" is set in a mining town that was not part of any U.S. state or territory in the post-Civil... [More]

Homeland (2011)
Tomatometer icon 85%

#39
Synopsis: When Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody returns home following eight years in captivity, CIA agent Carrie Mathison thinks he has turned... [More]

Supernatural (2005)
Tomatometer icon 93%

#38
Synopsis: This haunting series follows the thrilling yet terrifying journeys of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who face an increasingly... [More]

Six Feet Under (2001)
Tomatometer icon 81%

#37
Synopsis: Laced with irony and dark situational humor, the show approaches the subject of death through the eyes of the Fisher... [More]
Directed By: Alan Ball

Frasier (1993)
Tomatometer icon 95%

#36
Synopsis: Dr. Frasier Crane, a successful Boston therapist, moves to Seattle to get a new start on life; he has a... [More]

The Good Wife (2009)
Tomatometer icon 93%

#35
Synopsis: When a very public sex and political-corruption scandal lands her husband, Peter, in prison, Alicia Florrick (Emmy-winner Julianna Margulies) must... [More]

House of Cards (2013)
Tomatometer icon 77%

#34
Synopsis: U.S. Rep. Francis Underwood of South Carolina starts out as a ruthless politician seeking revenge in this Netflix original production.... [More]

Friday Night Lights (2006)
Tomatometer icon 97%

#33
Synopsis: "Friday Night Lights" centers on the rural town of Dillon, Texas, where winning the state football championship is prized above... [More]

NYPD Blue (1993)
Tomatometer icon 83%

#32
Synopsis: This Steven Bochco-produced series pulls few punches in portraying the day-to-day lives of cops in New York's 15th Precinct. Characters'... [More]

#31
Synopsis: Piper Chapman is a public relations executive with a career and a fiance when her past suddenly catches up to... [More]

Scandal (2012)
Tomatometer icon 93%

#30
Synopsis: "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes is the creative mind behind this ABC drama. Olivia Pope, a former media consultant to... [More]

South Park (1997)
Tomatometer icon 80%

#29
Synopsis: The animated series is not for children. In fact, its goal seems to be to offend as many as possible... [More]

Mad Men (2007)
Tomatometer icon 94%

#28
Synopsis: In 1960s New York, alpha male Don Draper struggles to stay on top of the heap in the high-pressure world... [More]

Modern Family (2009)
Tomatometer icon 85%

#27
Synopsis: Told from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, the series offers an honest, often-hilarious perspective of family life. Parents... [More]

#26
Synopsis: Michael Bluth finds himself forced to stay in Orange County and run the family real estate business after his father,... [More]

Sex and the City (1998)
Tomatometer icon 70%

#25
Synopsis: A sex columnist, Carrie Bradshaw, and her three friends -- Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda -- explore Manhattan's dating scene, chronicling... [More]

The Walking Dead (2010)
Tomatometer icon 79%

#24
Synopsis: Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, this gritty drama portrays life in the months and years... [More]

NCIS (2003)
Tomatometer icon - -

#23
Synopsis: Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads a group of colorful personalities in investigating crimes -- ranging... [More]

Stranger Things (2016)
Tomatometer icon 91%

#22
Synopsis: Mysteries unravel in a small Midwestern town in the 1980s, involving supernatural forces, secret experiments and one strange girl.... [More]

#21
Synopsis: This update of the late-1970s series takes a decidedly darker tone as what's left of humankind struggles for survival against... [More]
Directed By:

Lost (2004)
Tomatometer icon 86%

#20
Synopsis: The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were 1,000 miles off course when they crashed on a lush, mysterious island. Each... [More]

ER (1994)
Tomatometer icon - -

#19
Synopsis: Set in Chicago, this medical drama deals with the personal and professional crises of the doctors in the emergency room... [More]

The Office (2005)
Tomatometer icon 81%

#18
Synopsis: This U.S. adaptation -- set at a paper company based in Scranton, Pa. -- has a similar documentary style to... [More]

The Simpsons (1989)
Tomatometer icon 85%

#17
Synopsis: This long-running animated comedy focuses on the eponymous family in the town of Springfield in an unnamed U.S. state. The... [More]

24 (2001)
Tomatometer icon 87%

#16
Synopsis: Counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer fights the bad guys of the world, a day at a time. With each week's episode... [More]

The Wire (2002)
Tomatometer icon 94%

#15
Synopsis: This series looks at the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the eyes of law enforcers as well as the drug... [More]
Directed By:

Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Tomatometer icon 84%

#14
Synopsis: This high-intensity medical drama follows a team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who are faced with life-or death... [More]

The Sopranos (1999)
Tomatometer icon 92%

#13
Synopsis: Tony Soprano juggles the problems of his fractious family with those of a "Family" of a different sort - the... [More]

Sherlock (2010)
Tomatometer icon 78%

#12
Synopsis: In this contemporary version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, Dr. John Watson is a war vet just home... [More]
Directed By: Paul McGuigan

The X-Files (1993)
Tomatometer icon 74%

#11
Synopsis: In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known... [More]
Directed By: Chris Carter, Glen Morgan

#10
Synopsis: Sarah Michelle Gellar takes on the role of Buffy Summers in this TV version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," based... [More]

Doctor Who (2005)
Tomatometer icon 90%

#9
Synopsis: An eccentric yet compassionate extraterrestrial Time Lord zips through time and space to solve problems alongside companions from planet Earth.... [More]

The West Wing (1999)
Tomatometer icon 81%

#8
Synopsis: Cutthroat presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business... [More]
Directed By: John Wells

Downton Abbey (2010)
Tomatometer icon 88%

#7
Synopsis: This British drama series follows the lives of the Crawley family and its servants in the family's classic Georgian country... [More]

Law & Order (1990)
Tomatometer icon - -

#6
Synopsis: Lives hang in the balance as detectives and prosecutors pursue justice in New York City. In cases ripped from the... [More]

Seinfeld (1989)
Tomatometer icon 89%

#5
Synopsis: Four single friends -- comic Jerry Seinfeld, bungling George Costanza, frustrated working gal Elaine Benes and eccentric neighbor Cosmo Kramer... [More]

Friends (1994)
Tomatometer icon 78%

#4
Synopsis: Three young men and three young women -- of the BFF kind -- live in the same apartment complex and... [More]

The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Tomatometer icon 81%

#3
Synopsis: Mensa-fied best friends and roommates Leonard and Sheldon, physicists who work at the California Institute of Technology, may be able... [More]

Breaking Bad (2008)
Tomatometer icon 96%

#2
Synopsis: Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet,... [More]

Game of Thrones (2011)
Tomatometer icon 89%

#1
Synopsis: George R.R. Martin's best-selling book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" is brought to the screen as HBO sinks... [More]
Directed By: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss