A decade is not supposed to slip by so quickly. But we are in 2026, and looking back to a pile of TV shows that first aired in 2016, realizing how many of them still feel fresh in our minds. This is in part because streaming has altered the way we consume media, and in part because 2016 TV has generated a run of series that immediately became a part of our culture.
Every show below started in 2016, so they are all officially a decade old now. Some wrapped up years ago. Others you still hear about all the time, like they never really went away. And then there are those random gems that pop up in your feed out of nowhere, because someone just stumbled across them and can’t stop talking.
These 7 TV shows hit the decade milestone
Stranger Things (aired July 15, 2016)
It is insane to think that Stranger Things came in as a drop that summer, and then it soon became the pop culture engine. Season 1 of the TV show was available on July 15, 2016, and the sci-fi horror mixed with the small-town mystery, but big Spielberg energy basically reminded an entire generation about the nostalgia of the 80s.
Ten years after that, it is easy to understand why it seems like yesterday: it never left. The characters became household names, the iconography (the Upside Down, the Christmas lights, the bikes at night) became shorthand, and the TV show remained with us as we rewatched, created images and memes, and had endless conversations about each new season.
The Crown (aired November 4, 2016)
The Crown did not seem like a typical historical television series when it premiered in 2016. It was sleek, expensive, and deliberately contemporary. Netflix positioned real-life events in the rhythm and suspense of a political thriller and, as a result, royal history became less in the past and more an ongoing drama.
This TV show does not feel 10 years old since people are returning to it in waves, particularly when real-life royal news ignites a new interest online. Each key recast becomes a subject of conversation. The debates concerning the power, image, and the person who controls the story are reopened every new season. The Crown ceased to be a show as time went on and became rather a text of cultural reference, always being reinterpreted, never truly closed.
Westworld (aired on October 2, 2016)
Westworld debuted in 2016 and instantly became appointment TV in the most aggressive sense of the term. This wasn’t a show you half-watched. One had to tune in. If you missed a single detail, you could not make sense out of it. The experience included theories, timelines, Reddit posts, and weekly discussions.
A decade later, this TV show remains relevant since it was ahead of its time on conversations that have become ubiquitous: artificial intelligence, autonomy, identity, and narrative control. The big ideas never grew old; they grew forward. And since the show is twists-driven, viewers keep on revisiting it to discover how much they had set up without their knowledge. It rewards attention in a manner that remains rare.
This Is Us (aired September 20, 2016)
This Is Us, a TV show that debuted on NBC in 2016, immediately transformed the concept of network television into a shared emotional event. Each episode had a sense that it was meant to strike a nerve, sometimes with a tender touch, sometimes all at once. It turned into the type of TV show that people watched together and then talked about.
This TV show is not old since its emotional appeal has not diminished. The rewatches are even heavier when you know in which direction the story will go. More prominent are the chronological changes, the minor details, and the silent scenes with characters. Although the series ended years ago, it is still being discussed as something that people are still processing, not as something that they have completely outgrown.
Fleabag (aired July 21, 2016)
As soon as Fleabag came out in 2016, a shift in the tone of TV comedy took place. The fourth wall was not merely broken, but it was converted into a confession booth. The jokes were very sharp, uncomfortable, and painfully honest as they frequently landed the joke and an emotional gut punch at the same time.
This TV show seems like it was written recently since its impact is still omnipresent. The confessionalism, the direct contact with the audience, and the ratio between cynicism and vulnerability have become the usual points of reference in the comedy. The series is also bingeable to an infinite degree, which translates into new viewers finding the show and responding as though they have unlocked something significant. Short run, lasting impact.
Atlanta (aired September 6, 2016)
Atlanta debuted in 2016 and immediately reminded the audience that it was not playing by the TV rules. One episode might be humorous, the next profoundly disturbing, and the next nearly surreal. It trusted the audience could follow through without having to describe itself.
Ten years on, the TV show remains up-to-date since it never attempted to be light and docile viewing. Individual scenes stick in your head. Episodes are referenced as short films. Its combination of realism, social commentary, and dream logic became a template for a great deal of ambitious television that followed, but very few shows have matched its accuracy or authority.
The Good Place (aired September 19, 2016)
The Good Place came in 2016, appearing as a straightforward, high-concept sitcom, and soon revealed it was doing something much smarter. The TV show took elements of rapid storytelling, significant plot twists, and genuine moral philosophy, and remained humorous and approachable.
It is so fresh in memory since it has become a comfort re-watch for many viewers. The jokes still land. The twists still work. And the central concepts of the show, regarding ethics, responsibility, and the potential to become better, do not seem to be out of date. In fact, those themes are even more topical now, which does not make the series feel out of place in its time.
Edited by Sahiba Tahleel