The 18 Best Limited Series of the 2010s

From nerve-shredding true-crime reconstructions to intimate character studies and prestige period dramas, the decade's self-contained stories packed a full arc into just a handful of episodes. Which one still haunts you?

1

Chernobyl

HBO's 2019 dramatization of the 1986 nuclear disaster, praised as one of the greatest limited series ever made.

1000pts

2

Feud: Bette and Joan

Ryan Murphy's 2017 series dramatizing the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

838pts

3

The People v. O.J. Simpson

The 2016 American Crime Story season chronicling the 1995 murder trial that gripped the nation.

778pts

4

Genius

National Geographic's 2017 first season dramatizing the life of Albert Einstein.

733pts

5

The Assassination of Gianni Versace

The 2018 American Crime Story season tracing Andrew Cunanan's killing spree.

733pts

6

Big Little Lies

HBO's 2017 mystery drama about wealthy Monterey mothers whose secrets unravel around a death.

733pts

7

Alias Grace

The 2017 Netflix/CBC adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel about a notorious 19th-century murderess.

733pts

8

Unbelievable

Netflix's 2019 drama following detectives and a survivor across a string of sexual assaults.

681pts

9

When They See Us

Ava DuVernay's 2019 Netflix series about the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five.

681pts

10

Fosse/Verdon

FX's 2019 series about the creative partnership of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon.

681pts

11

Patrick Melrose

The 2018 Showtime series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as an addict confronting his past.

681pts

12

The Night Of

HBO's 2016 crime drama following a Pakistani-American man accused of a murder he can't remember.

545pts

13

Escape at Dannemora

Ben Stiller's 2018 Showtime dramatization of the real 2015 Clinton prison break.

545pts

14

Show Me a Hero

David Simon's 2015 HBO series about a housing desegregation fight in Yonkers.

545pts

15

Top of the Lake

Jane Campion's 2013 detective mystery set in a remote New Zealand town.

545pts

16

Olive Kitteridge

HBO's 2014 four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's novel, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series.

545pts

17

Sharp Objects

The 2018 HBO adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel starring Amy Adams as a reporter probing hometown murders.

454pts

18

Godless

Netflix's 2017 Western miniseries set in a frontier town run mostly by women.

454pts