What TV Shows Best Represent American Life Today?
Voting Rules
Vote up the television shows that most accurately portray contemporary American life; vote down the ones that don't.
Is there such a thing as "the" American experience? If so, where can a person see it? In novels? Films? Television? If it's the last of these, which television shows come the closest to portraying real life as it exists for Americans now?
The television shows on this list, none of which qualify as "reality TV" and all of which ran sometime within the last decade, depict contemporary American life, both comedically and dramatically. But how close do they come to representing the real thing? Do any of the following offer quintessential, lifelike windows into what day-to-day life in America looks in the present moment?
Vote up the shows that do the best job of representing real American life as real Americans live it day to day.
Ranked by
- 1Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell
- Premiered: September 23, 2009
- Genres: Comedy
A diverse clan bridges cultural and generational gaps. - 2Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski
- Premiered: March 24, 2005
- Genres: Comedy
Workers plod along at Dunder Mifflin's paper-supply company. - 3Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown
- Premiered: September 20, 2016
- Genres: Drama
The Pearsons' emotional story of love, life and family unfolds with unexpected revelations. - 4Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi
- Premiered: September 24, 2014
- Genres: Comedy
A black husband and father tries to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family. - 5William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan
- Premiered: December 12, 2010
- Genres: Comedy,Drama
An addict looks for ways to beat the system and feed his habits while his kids fend for themselves. - 6Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Stanfield
- Premiered: September 6, 2016
- Genres: Comedy,Drama
Two cousins enter the Atlanta music scene to better their lives and the lives of their families.
