These days there are thousands of shows available at the click of a mouse or the banging of a remote, but sadly so many of those are utter garbage.

Chances are they won’t be remembered in 10 or 15 years time, and they certainly won’t be picked by critics as the standout series of the year.

That honour belongs to some rather iconic shows, because if you use the reviews aggregated over at Metacritic you’ll find that class shines through.

Starting from the year 2000, let’s take a quick look at who comes out tops via Business Insider.

Yes, you should probably scribble some of these down for a holiday binge watch.

2000: “The Sopranos” (Season 2)

Critic score: 97/100

What critics said: “It’s difficult to single out any particular aspect of the show: It’s just plain brilliant.”

2001: “The Office: UK” (Season 1)

Critic score: 98/100

What critics said: “It takes a little while to get into it (episode two clinched it for me), but once you get used to the accents and dry humor, you’re hooked.”

2002: “The Office: UK” (Season 2)

Critic score: 93/100

What critics said: “The pleasure to be taken from ‘Office’ isn’t merely that of laughter — it’s the pleasure of watching a piece of entertainment so perfectly made and so delicately acted.”

Entertainer first, boss second.

2003: “The Office: UK” (Season 3)

Critic score: 98/100

What critics said: “Quite possibly the finest closing chapter ever for a TV series.”

2004: “The Wire” (Season 3)

Critic score: 98/100

What critics said: “If you do that rare TV thing of actually paying close attention, HBO’s complex, richly detailed crime drama will sweep you away like a fine novel.”

2005: “Deadwood” (Season 2)

Critic score: 93/100

What critics said: “Magnificently profane and entirely engaging, ‘Deadwood’ remains one of TV’s best character-driven dramas.”

2006: “The Wire” (Season 4)

Critic score: 98/100

What critics said: “Brilliant, scathing, sprawling, ‘The Wire’ has turned our indifference to urban decay into a TV achievement of the highest order.”

2007: “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Season 6)

Critic score: 89/100

What critics said: “It has become one of the most reliably amusing comedies on TV, taking little annoyances, indignities, and offenses, and worrying at them until they bubble into fantastically overblown debacles.”

Just a reminder that Larry David is back for another season of Curb. Trailer time:

Yes please.

Sheesh, this is going on a bit.

I’ll just skip ahead to 2013, because that gap is basically filled with Mad Men and Breaking Bad, if you don’t mind.

2013: “Enlightened” (Season 2)

Critic score: 95/100

What critics said: “The show’s must-see second season is one of the best stories I’ve experienced in a long time.”

That one really did come out left field.

2014: “Game of Thrones” (Season 4)

Critic score: 94/100

What critics said: “The acting is delightful, the visuals are sumptuous, the stories couldn’t be more surprising.”

2015: “Fargo” (Season 2)

Critic score: 96/100

What critics said: “The new season of ‘Fargo’ shows TV-making at its most impressive, with every single aspect — the writing, the acting, the directing, the cinematography, the music, the set design — spot on and in sync.”

Watch this. Watch every season. That catch up drink with a friend you don’t really want to see can wait.

2016: “Rectify” (Season 4)

Critic score: 100/100

What critics said: “It allows us to know and care for these characters even when they try to hold us at arm’s length, by embracing their truths in quiet moments that connect us to their loneliness, uncertainty, and ultimately their hope.”

2017: “The Leftovers” (Season 3

Critic score: 98/100

What critics said: “You’d be hard-pressed to name a work of art, let alone another TV show, that balances such enormity so playfully, without also being glib about the ponderous questions at its core.”

OK, I’m going to disagree with that one. I made it halfway through the third season and I threw in the towel.

Different strokes for different folks and all that.

Whatever you’re watching this month – whether it’s the soap opera that is real-life America or some local talent – I hope it hits the spot.

[source:businsider]