Television Through the Decades

I Love Lucy helped pioneer the three-camera sitcom production format still used today.

Cheers was set almost entirely inside a Boston bar and became known for its widely recognized theme song.

Seinfeld, co-created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, became known as a show about nothing.

Friends followed six New York City friends and remains one of the most widely rerun sitcoms.

The American version of The Office adapted a British series into a mockumentary-style sitcom.

The Big Bang Theory centered on a group of scientists and became one of its era's most-watched sitcoms.

The Twilight Zone told self-contained science fiction stories often carrying social commentary.

Star Trek imagined an optimistic future in space and launched a decades-long media franchise.

The X-Files followed FBI agents investigating paranormal cases and popularized the phrase 'the truth is out there.'

The Sopranos followed a New Jersey mob boss and is often credited with launching prestige television drama.

The Wire examined Baltimore through the lens of its institutions, from law enforcement to street life.

Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, followed a chemistry teacher's descent into the drug trade.

Mad Men was set inside a 1960s advertising agency and was known for its detailed period design.

Game of Thrones adapted George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels into a globally watched HBO series.

Stranger Things blends 1980s nostalgia, supernatural mystery, and childhood friendship.

The Crown dramatizes Queen Elizabeth II's reign and recast its lead actors across each new era.

Sesame Street combined education with puppetry created in part by Jim Henson.

All in the Family broke sitcom convention by directly addressing contemporary social issues.

Saturday Night Live has aired live sketch comedy on NBC with a rotating cast since 1975.

Dallas popularized the season-ending cliffhanger in prime-time soap opera storytelling.

The Cosby Show centered on an upper-middle-class Black family and topped ratings through much of the 1980s.

The Simpsons has aired on Fox since 1989 and became the longest-running scripted primetime series.

ER was set in a busy hospital emergency room and helped define the modern medical-drama genre.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer blended horror with coming-of-age storytelling about a supernatural-fighting teenager.

Survivor stranded contestants together to compete and helped popularize modern reality competition television.

Grey's Anatomy is set at a Seattle teaching hospital and became one of television's longest-running dramas.

Black Mirror, created by Charlie Brooker, tells standalone stories about technology's darker possibilities.

The Mandalorian expanded the Star Wars universe into a Disney+ series about a lone bounty hunter.

Succession follows the Roy family's power struggle for control of their media empire.

Ted Lasso follows an American football coach leading a British soccer club, known for its optimistic tone.