The 7 Best Anthology TV Series Of All Time
Like their network cousins in sitcoms or reality shows, TV anthologies serve as a dependably entertaining format within the larger entertainment industry.
Rather than focusing strictly on a set cast of characters over the course of an entire series, anthology series opt for a more self-contained story that could last upwards of a single season or the span of a 30-minute episode. Creatively exploring the vast storytelling potential uniquely attached to television, anthology shows can and often do maintain viewers’ interest with the same narrative complexity as a long-spanning drama series or fan-favorite sitcom. From nightmarish horror series to darkly comic social satires, here are some of our absolute favorite anthology series we’ve seen so far, ranked in order from worst to best.
American Horror Story
Nowadays, it’s easy to bemoan the fate of American Horror Story’s so-so later seasons. But in its earliest inception, AHS captivated mainstream audiences the same way The Twilight Zone had in the 1960s, terrifying viewers throughout the 2010s with its massive ensemble casts, period settings, and eerie supernatural plotlines. Whether set at a ‘60s mental institution or a school for witchcraft in modern-day New Orleans, American Horror Story always found a way to incorporate tried-and-true horror archetypes into its various seasons, including brutal serial killers, opportunistic demons, outcast circus performers, and enough vengeful spirits to populate the Haunted Mansion.
True Detective
Shaky second season aside, True Detective has managed to reinvent the typical police procedural drama from the ground up, infusing it with enough layered intrigue to keep viewers guessing throughout. Recruiting numerous award-winning actors in each of its four seasons, True Detective’s layered balance between morally ambiguous lead characters and a central mystery that consistently veers into the unknown leads to drama unlike any other in HBO’s history. Dark, disturbing, yet anchored by agreeable themes and performances, it’s a neo-noir anthology that’s sure to be studied, closely analyzed, and religiously rewatched for decades to come.
Black Mirror
Often described as the 21st century equivalent to The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror consistently finds a way to dramatize socially relevant subject matter in each and every one of its standalone episodes. Whether espousing on the dangers of A.I., social media, or technological innovation at the cost of human safety, Black Mirror always paints its topics in a new and dazzlingly fresh manner, be it through macabre Christmas specials, claustrophobic Star Trek parodies, or gritty post-apocalyptic survival stories.
American Crime Story
After redefining the horror anthology with American Horror Story, showrunner Ryan Murphy turned his attention to true crime cases with his ambitious FX follow-up, American Crime Story. Spanning three equally impressive seasons, each entry in American Crime Story delivers a fascinating portrayal of its criminal narratives, each of which received significant media coverage at the time the story originally unfolded. From the eventful O.J. Simpson trial of 1995 to the Monica Lewinsky White House scandal of the late 1990s, Murphy hands in yet another masterful anthology series with his work on the award-winning American Crime Story.
Fargo
In theory, it would take an exceptionally well-written series to measure up to the Coen brothers’ universally praised 1996’s neo-noir dark comedy, Fargo. Fortunately, showrunner Noah Hawley proved to be up to the challenge, ushering in a riveting anthology series every bit as good – if not better – than the Coens’ Academy Award-winning film. Spread across five equally entertaining seasons, Fargo recaptures the Coens’ overarching propensity for sharp writing, constant plot twists, and more than a few fantastical elements (raining fish, UFOs, sin-eating immortals – you know, the usual Coens-esque shenanigans).
The White Lotus
One of the comparatively newer anthology series to debut on HBO, The White Lotus has established itself as one of the hottest TV series of the 2020s. Drawing on a biting sense of humor openly satirizing the wealth inequality between vacationers at a luxury resort and the people tasked with caring for them, The White Lotus never fails to leave audiences with a wide grin on their faces and a queasy feeling in their stomach. As the show enters its third season, it’s only worth crossing our fingers and hoping Mike White’s incredible dark comedy maintains the same top-tier storytelling as its first two breathtaking seasons (although it’s safe to say that it will).
The Twilight Zone
There’s a reason people still view The Twilight Zone as the high watermark for TV anthologies over six decades later. At the time it aired in the early 1960s, no viewer had ever seen a series as thoroughly engrossing and unfailingly shocking as Rod Serling’s revolutionary TV show. Alternating between science fiction, horror, and fantasy, Serling used these previously kitschier genres to explore real-world fears and anxieties, from the ominous state of Cold War politics to the threat of nuclear annihilation, genocide, racism, and authoritarianism. Though he always managed to make viewers afraid, Serling also forced them to think, reflecting on the deeper implications of his episodic plotlines, whether related to greed (“The Masks”), vanity (“Eye of the Beholder”), or stress-induced paranoia (“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”).
