10 Groundbreaking Shows That Changed How We Watch TV

A handful of shows are recognized as having changed the TV industry — not just in terms of what kinds of stories are told, but how people watch TV. These shows changed what people expect from TV and how they engage with what they are watching. The TV industry has witnessed the fall and rise of the TV event, the birth of internet fan communities when the necessary technology arrived, and the advent of streaming services.

Once the biggest innovations in TV included syndication and re-runs, allowing people more opportunities to watch their favorite shows. The reality TV boom of the 2000s led to some of the best reality TV shows today, while specific shows made the experience more cinematic than ever. However, the biggest changes in TV in the past 20 years are due to the rise of the internet and Netflix. Post-episode discussions are now a given for most shows, while Netflix and other streaming platforms have changed how TV is delivered to an audience.

10

I Love Lucy (1951-1957)

I Love Lucy became a weekly event, but also started TV syndication.

I Love Lucy is widely recognized for overcoming barriers in sitcoms by casting Cuban actor Desi Arnaz and showing a pregnant woman on-screen. It is also credited with establishing the use of three cameras to film sitcoms. The massive popularity of the show maximized its impact — according to The Hollywood Reporter, 11 million families tuned in to watch I Love Lucy every week, at a time when there were only 15 million TV sets in the country.

In addition to solidifying the idea of a weekly event, I Love Lucy was also a frontrunner for TV repeats and syndication. According to pbs.org, “Desilu Studios was the first independent studio to profit from off-network syndication.” This would change how people watched TV, with the hope of catching a missed episode on CBS or another network or just enjoying a chance re-run. Additionally, Star Trek happened thanks to Lucille Ball, with the iconic actress vouching for the sci-fi show when Desilu’s board of directors thought the pilot was too expensive.

9

Dallas (1978-1991)

Because of Dallas, TV fans are now prepared for end-of-season cliffhangers.

Regardless of whether the original Dallas series or the reboot is better, the Texas soap opera changed things for its genre and TV as a whole. Dallas legitimized the soap opera with its primetime spot, giving rise to other overly dramatic shows (via Business Insider). Dallas is characterized by its scheming and unsympathetic main characters and ludicrous plots. However, as Maz Marshall argues (via texasmonthly.com) “to criticize a nighttime soap opera for absurdity is to miss the point. Dallas leaned into its own absurdity, and in the process, it defined an era […].”

However, Dallas’ biggest contribution to TV in general is the creation of the end-of-season cliffhanger. “Who shot J.R.?” is famous for being the first obsession-inducing cliffhanger at the end of a season and guaranteed an audience for the following season’s premiere. Today, fans expect to be frustrated when the season ends and writers use cliffhangers to keep their audience engaged.

8

The Simpsons (1989-Present)

The Simpsons is a milestone for animated and comedic TV shows.

The Simpsons changed the family sitcom narrative as the follow-up to The Flinstones and the forerunner of Family Guy. It popularized technical aspects like removing the laugh track and story elements like expanding the supporting cast. However, of all the ways The Simpsons changed TV, one of the most significant is giving rise to pop culture referential humor. “Matt Groening’s iconic animated series turned hyper-referentiality into an art form, regularly packing in throwaway references to high and low culture right from the start,”​​​​​​​ said Darren Franich in Entertainment Weekly (via BBC).

The impact of this comedy style can be seen in everything from nods to other sitcoms in Friends to Phineas and Ferb’s best meta moments. Veep and Succession are a far cry from these light-hearted sitcoms and cartoons, but they are categorized as black comedies and are driven by political commentary and referential jokes. Storylines and comedy that allude to real-world events demonstrating the story’s relevance have come to be expected or are at least recognized as the mark of sophisticated writing.

7

Friends (1994-2004)

Friends is a landmark sitcom that established the friend group cast.

The very title of Friends nods to its impact, cementing the friend-group sitcom’s place in pop culture. Seinfeld came out before Friends, but the latter show’s more positive tone was perhaps better for popularizing the concept. Seinfeld is more or less at laughing at the characters continuously being terrible people. Clare Thorp argues (via BBC) that the core friend group in New York City with parents and traditional marriage nowhere in sight was groundbreaking. Thorp notes: “There was clearly an audience for TV reflecting a reality of young people’s lives: that they spent more time with friends than family.”

Therefore, Friends is the predecessor of shows like How I Met Your Mother and New Girl. Michael Rothman also notes (via GMA) the Friends’ cast precedent-setting move of demanding equal pay, as well as the possible influence on cinematic universes due to the show’s connection to Mad About You. However, in terms of how people watch TV, Wesley Morris’ words (via The New York Times) that “Friends was easy TV at an elite level” best describes it. Friends was fun to watch but had as big of an impact as stressful dramas, changing the status of the sitcom.

6

The Sopranos (1999-Present)

The Sopranos introduced the anti-hero to TV.

Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall claimed:

“Pre-Sopranos TV was widely dismissed as a medium for programs that didn’t ask the viewer to think about anything except what was coming on next, and preferred lovable characters who didn’t change and had no inner life” (via life.com).

Indeed, The Sopranos can be seen as the beginning of the modern drama series, serving as the entry point into the prestige era of HBO. What followed was several series that can be counted among the best TV shows of all time. At HBO, this led to The Wire and eventually Game of Thrones. The trend also took hold at AMC with shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men.

However, The Sopranos is also credited with giving rise to the complex anti-hero in popular TV shows, prompting audiences to invest themselves in the inner turmoil of ethically ambiguous characters who might never change. While this is a facet of the shows mentioned before, it is also seen in more recent shows such as House of Cards, Veep, and Lucifer. Ultimately, The Sopranos changed how and why people might start a new TV series by turning a crime story into a long-running series.

5

The Bachelor (2002-Present)

The Bachelor contributed to investment in celebrity lifestyle via reality TV.

The Bachelor was a cornerstone and leading force in the increase in reality TV shows of the early 2000s. The Bachelor’s popularity has spawned several spinoffs like The Bachelorette and The Golden Bachelor and led to other reality TV shows focusing on dating and lifestyle. Critics seem to believe that The Bachelor’s success is due to fulfilling the fantasies of the viewer (via Bustle).

Since the show is a competition for love, the contestants must be very upfront about what they want out of the relationship. The idea of saying exactly what one wants and getting it has proven to be very enticing. Although they are mocked for their outlandish structures and impossibly luxurious aesthetics, shows like The Bachelor, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and Selling Sunset took off because they depict a fantasy lifestyle.

4

Lost (2004-2010)

Lost saw the rise of internet forums discussing theories about the show.

Lost revolutionized TV in several ways, from story to budget to reception. The storyline characterized by mystery can be traced back to Twin Peaks, but Lost can also be seen as another step on the path to Game of Thrones. At the time, Lost’s budget was astounding, paving the way for the traditional medievalist fantasy shows of the 2010s. It utilized more elements from other groundbreaking shows, such as cliffhangers and overarching stories.

However, Lost was truly a game-changer because it coincided with technological advances that, combined, created the modern fandom community. With the internet becoming more accessible and the birth of the podcast, fans were connecting from all over the world to discuss theories, fueled by Lost’s overarching mysteries. Online forums are now a part of almost every popular TV show, especially those of the sci-fi and fantasy genres.

3

Grey’s Anatomy (2005-Present)

Grey’s Anatomy became the romance drama of a generation.

Grey’s Anatomy drew upon the soap opera and medical procedural genres to create a show that is not quite either, but still one of the most successful series of all time. It has been praised for its diverse cast and open-minded approach to women’s sex lives (via Variety). Grey’s Anatomy’s romances and heartthrob doctors drew people in from the start and created a strange pop culture phenomenon around the inevitable character deaths, expressed on social media with #TearsofGrey.

As a result, Grey’s possibly connoted a more emotional TV experience than had ever been seen before. However, it is also recognized for its longevity. As different trends in TV have come and gone, Grey’s has adapted to them, contributed to them, and benefited from them. While the dominance of streaming services was still in the future, Grey’s Anatomy was one of the first shows to demonstrate the appeal of binge-watching.

2

Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)

Game of Thrones made fantasy more mainstream and changed TV show budgets.

Game of Thrones roped in people who did not consider themselves fantasy fans, possibly becoming the most far-reaching fantasy property ever. While The Sopranos may have brought cinematic storytelling to TV, Game of Thrones brought the spectacle through its fantasy setting, drastically altering audience expectations of what a show could be. An intense spoiler-ban culture also arose, due to the major character deaths.

The ways Game of Thrones changed pop culture also include giving rise to fantasy and book adaptations on TV. Some also argue that the show is the real starting point of the Golden Age of TV. Game of Thrones also revitalized the idea of event TV, which might have existed before but had long fallen into obscurity with re-runs and DVRs becoming more widely available. With spoilers and post-episode discussions circulating, it became necessary for people to watch the episode when it first aired.

1

Stranger Things (2016-2025)

Stranger Things was a major player in the rise of streaming services.

Series including Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead contributed to the rise of Netflix and binge-watching culture. The Netflix Originals Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards premiered in 2013 and were perhaps the first shows that demonstrated the true potential of streaming service originals to be incredibly popular and critically acclaimed. These two series were limited by their mature content, but when Netflix returned a year later with the more widely appealing Stranger Things, it would transform the TV industry. The Crown arrived a few months later, cementing Netflix as the leading force in this movement.

In the years following Stranger Things’ unprecedented success with audiences and awards shows alike, Netflix would break ground on more popular original shows and movies. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime and Hulu scrambled to catch up. HBO was no stranger to creating original shows but realized the need to make these shows available via streaming. TV today is dominated by streaming services — and it is possible to trace this transformative moment in TV back to Stranger Things.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, pbs.org, Business Insider, texasmonthly.com, BBC, GMA, The New York Times, life.com, Bustle, Variety