Best TV Shows of 2016
Best TV Shows of 2016
About the author
This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.
Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.
Kendra Syrdal is a writer, editor, partner, and senior publisher for The Thought & Expression Company. Over the last few years she has been personally responsible for writing, editing, and producing over 30+ million pageviews on Thought Catalog.
Chip Baskets wants to follow his dream of being a French clown—however, reality keeps interfering. Saddled with financial difficulties and facing an impenetrable language barrier, he moves back home to Bakersfield with high hopes. There, he is forced to c
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Network: | FX |
Created By: | Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis, Jonathan Krisel |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.1 / 10 (57) |
A high concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and e
Genres: | Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | FX |
Created By: | Guillermo del Toro, Carlton Cuse |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.6 / 10 (440) |
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has been occupied by a force of outside intruders. While some people have chosen to collaborate with the au
Genres: | Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Network: | USA Network |
Created By: | Carlton Cuse, Ryan Condal, Wes Tooke |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (260) |
Two teenage boys secretly meet up in a cabin, bear witness to a shooting and barely escape with their lives. Desperate to keep their relationship a secret and in fear of being found by the perpetrator, they remain silent but soon learn that what has been
Genres: | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | USA Network |
Created By: | Adi Hasak |
Status: | Canceled |
User Score (votes): | 7.5 / 10 (22) |
Join RuPaul, the world's most famous drag queen, as the host, mentor and judge for the ultimate in drag queen competitions. The top drag queens in the U.S. will vie for drag stardom as RuPaul, in full glamazon drag, will reign supreme in all judging and e
Genre: | Reality |
Number Of Seasons: | 10 |
Networks: | Logo, VH1 |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.7 / 10 (68) |
The most celebrated competitors from RuPaul's Drag Race vie for a second chance to enter Drag Race herstory. This drag queen showdown is filled with plenty of heated competition, lip-syncing for the legacy, and, of course, the All-Stars Snatch Game.
Genre: | Reality |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Networks: | Logo, VH1 |
Created By: | RuPaul |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 8.6 / 10 (19) |
Comedy about the life and times of William Shakespeare as he starts to make a name for himself in London, whilst also trying to balance life as a husband and father for his family in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Network: | BBC Two |
Created By: | Ben Elton |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.5 / 10 (11) |
Hank and Dean Venture, with their father Doctor Venture and faithful bodyguard Brock Samson, go on wild adventures facing megalomaniacs, zombies, and suspicious ninjas, all for the glory of adventure. Or something like that.
Genres: | Animation, Action & Adventure, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 7 |
Network: | Adult Swim |
Created By: | Christopher McCulloch, Doc Hammer |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 8.2 / 10 (79) |
Squidbillies is an animated television series about the Cuylers, an impoverished family of anthropomorphic hillbilly mud squids living in the Appalachian region of Georgia's mountains. The show is produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim pro
Genres: | Animation, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 11 |
Network: | Adult Swim |
Created By: | Dave Willis, Matt Maiellaro, Jim Fortier |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.6 / 10 (27) |
No Activity is a unique and hilarious comedy that follows the nightly exploits of our boys and girls in blue, and their shady criminal counterparts, through an unfolding kidnapping investigation. Truth is, being a cop or a crook is nowhere near as exciti
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Stan |
Created By: | Trent O'Donnell, Patrick Brammall |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 8 / 10 (6) |
In his funky California beach enclave, Chip's the go-to guy for personal insights. But he isn't quite as enlightened when it comes to his own baggage.
Genres: | Drama, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Netflix |
Created By: | Will Arnett, Mark Chappell |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (27) |
A fast-paced reality show that follows several incredibly busy and ambitious Manhattan women. Watch as they balance envious social calendars, challenging careers, and motherhood, with the hustle and bustle of the big city all around.
Genre: | Reality |
Number Of Seasons: | 11 |
Network: | Bravo |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 4.9 / 10 (20) |
In a docuseries set at one of NCAA football's most fertile recruiting grounds, guys with red flags seek to prove their worth on the field and in class.
Genre: | Documentary |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Created By: | Greg Whiteley |
Network: | Netflix |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7.7 / 10 (16) |
After breaking up with his girlfriend, Josh comes to the realization that he is homosexual. With the support of his now ex girlfriend Claire, and his best friend and house mate Tom, Josh must help his mother with her battle with depression and the rest of
Genres: | Drama, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Created By: | Josh Thomas |
Networks: | ABC, ABC Comedy |
Status: | Ended |
Origin Country: | AU |
User Score (votes): | 7.9 / 10 (44) |
Comedian Billy Eichner, unfiltered and unapologetic, hits the streets of New York City to test unsuspecting strangers on their knowledge of music and pop culture. With microphone in hand and money in tow, Eichner gives contestants the chance to win cash b
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 6 |
Networks: | Fuse, truTV, funnyordie.com |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 5.5 / 10 (8) |
Amy and Raquel attempt to navigate their way through the choppy waters of their early twenties whilst simultaneously kicking the ass of some seriously gnarly demons. What could possibly go wrong?
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Created By: | Howard Overman |
Network: | E4 |
Status: | Ended |
Origin Country: | GB |
User Score (votes): | 6.9 / 10 (36) |
Set nearly a decade after the finale of the original series, this revival follows Lorelai, Rory and Emily Gilmore through four seasons of change.
Publisher: | Warner Bros. Television, Paragon Studios |
Genres: | Drama, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | Netflix |
Created By: | Amy Sherman-Palladino |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7.5 / 10 (57) |
Lenny Belardo, the youngest and first American Pope in the history of the Church, must establish his new papacy and navigate the power struggles of the closed, secretive Vatican.
Publisher: | Canal, Mediapro, Haut et Court, Wildside, Sky Italia |
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Networks: | HBO, Canal+, Sky Atlantic |
Created By: | Paolo Sorrentino, Jude Law, Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.4 / 10 (103) |
An anthology horror drama series centering on different characters and locations, including a house with a murderous past, an asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, a hotel, a farmhouse in Roanoke and a cult.
Publisher: | FX Productions |
Genres: | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery |
Number Of Seasons: | 8 |
Network: | FX |
Created By: | Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.1 / 10 (981) |
The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.
Publisher: | Apatow Productions |
Genres: | Comedy, Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 6 |
Network: | HBO |
Created By: | Lena Dunham |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 5.6 / 10 (171) |
Jerry takes his comedy pals out for coffee in a selection of his classic automobiles. Larry David sums it up best when he says, 'You've finally made a show about nothing.'
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 10 |
Networks: | Netflix, Crackle |
Created By: | Jerry Seinfeld |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.1 / 10 (26) |
The Path explores the unknown and mysterious world of the cult-like Meyerist Movement in upstate New York. At the center of the movement lies Eddie, a conflicted husband; Sarah, his devoted wife; and Cal, an ambitious leader. We follow each as they conten
Genres: | Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Network: | Hulu |
Created By: | Jessica Goldberg |
Status: | Canceled |
User Score (votes): | 6.6 / 10 (84) |
Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
Genres: | Comedy, Animation |
Number Of Seasons: | 22 |
Network: | Comedy Central |
Created By: | Trey Parker, Matt Stone |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.8 / 10 (979) |
Before there was Batman, there was GOTHAM. Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie d
Genres: | Drama, Thriller, Crime, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Network: | FOX |
Created By: | Bruno Heller |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (954) |
The Daily Show is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central and, in Canada, The Comedy Network. Describing itself as a fake news program, The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recen
Genres: | News, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 24 |
Network: | Comedy Central |
Created By: | Lizz Winstead, Madeleine Smithberg |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (208) |
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the hear
Genres: | Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Networks: | ABC, Showtime |
Created By: | David Lynch, Mark Frost |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 8 / 10 (698) |
Set in present day Washington, D.C., House of Cards is the story of Frank Underwood, a ruthless and cunning politician, and his wife Claire who will stop at nothing to conquer everything. This wicked political drama penetrates the shadowy world of greed,
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 6 |
Network: | Netflix |
Created By: | Beau Willimon |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 8.2 / 10 (1034) |
Silent Witness is a British crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 21 |
Network: | BBC One |
Created By: | Nigel McCrery |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.4 / 10 (22) |
A drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases affecting military personnel in The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment and decadence.
Genres: | Drama, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Network: | CBS |
Created By: | Gary Glasberg |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.4 / 10 (143) |
Rick is a mentally-unbalanced but scientifically-gifted old man who has recently reconnected with his family. He spends most of his time involving his young grandson Morty in dangerous, outlandish adventures throughout space and alternate universes. Compo
Genres: | Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Network: | Adult Swim |
Created By: | Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 8.6 / 10 (1060) |
A family man struggles to gain a sense of cultural identity while raising his kids in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood.
Genre: | Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Network: | ABC |
Created By: | Kenya Barris |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.1 / 10 (98) |
This reality competition sees teams embark on a trek around the world to amazing destinations where they must compete in a series of challenges, some mental and some physical. Only when the tasks are completed will they learn of their next location. Teams
Genres: | Reality, Action & Adventure |
Number Of Seasons: | 30 |
Network: | CBS |
Created By: | Elise Doganieri, Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.6 / 10 (58) |
A vast international plot explodes when a beautiful Jane Doe is discovered naked in Times Square, completely covered in mysterious, intricate tattoos with no memory of who she is or how she got there. But there's one tattoo that is impossible to miss: the
Genres: | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | NBC |
Created By: | Martin Gero |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.3 / 10 (553) |
An emotional thrill ride through the day-to-day chaos of the city's most explosive hospital and the courageous team of doctors who hold it together. They will tackle unique new cases inspired by topical events, forging fiery relationships in the pulse-pou
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | NBC |
Created By: | Dick Wolf, Matt Olmstead |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (107) |
Life is hard on the Flemings' ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused or neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family. Debts abound and the bank is about to foreclose. Can they keep the ranch running?
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 12 |
Network: | CBC Television |
Created By: | Heather Conkie, Хезер Конки |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.6 / 10 (88) |
The hosts talk about the latest cars and its specifications. They review the performance of the car and also find out if it is as good as the manufacturers claim. The current hosts are Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc with The Stig.
Genres: | Documentary, Comedy |
Number Of Seasons: | 25 |
Network: | BBC Two |
Created By: | Derek Smith |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.5 / 10 (292) |
Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their cli
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 7 |
Network: | ABC |
Created By: | Shonda Rhimes |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (222) |
Families, friends, enemies and lovers experience life-changing events in the large upstate New York city of Port Charles, which has a busy hospital, upscale hotel, cozy diner and dangerous waterfront frequented by the criminal underworld.
Genres: | Drama, Soap |
Number Of Seasons: | 11 |
Network: | ABC |
Created By: | Doris Hursley, Frank Hursley |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 4.8 / 10 (132) |
Given superstrength and durability by a sabotaged experiment, a wrongly accused man escapes prison to become a superhero for hire.
Genres: | Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Netflix |
Created By: | Cheo Hodari Coker |
Status: | Canceled |
User Score (votes): | 6.9 / 10 (568) |
Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of Cooperman & McBride, the massive law firm
Genres: | Crime, Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Amazon |
Created By: | Jonathan Shapiro, David E. Kelley |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.9 / 10 (98) |