Throughout the years, television has evolved tremendously. From the 90s, when we only had cable and had to wait until 8 p.m. on Sunday for the next episode of our favorite show — or hope that a rerun came on — to now, where we have a never-ending supply of shows available on various streaming platforms.
One thing that will never change is the quality of those shows and the impact they have on us and our society as a whole — more specifically, the impact they have on pop culture. There are shows out there that have helped define entire generations, influencing fashion, language, and countless other trends.
Nowadays, with shows being produced faster than we can watch them, it seems more difficult to find ones that make that kind of impact. But they do still exist. Here’s a list of the top five shows that have changed pop culture in our modern streaming era.
Game of Thrones
Before this epic fantasy series, fantasy was considered something of a niche, nerdy genre. When people thought of fantasy, many pictured someone staying up until 3 a.m. playing a mage in World of Warcraft, or dressing up as an elf for a Lord of the Rings convention. Then HBO adapted George R.R. Martin’s bestselling book series A Song of Ice and Fire, and suddenly fantasy went mainstream.
With its first episode airing in 2011, Game of Thrones landed right at the crossroads between the old era of cable TV and the new era of streaming — which meant that even those who streamed it still had to wait until Sunday night for each new episode. With social media now in the mix, a new problem emerged for anyone who hadn’t watched yet: spoilers. It got to the point where people knew to stay off social media entirely until they were caught up, or risk having the story ruined.
Its long-term cultural impact has been just as significant. To this day, nearly anyone in the world will recognize “Winter is coming” or “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” But beyond the catchphrases, the show fundamentally raised the bar for what audiences expect from television. Its massive budget brought movie-level visual effects, cinematic music, and giant battle scenes that made this show one that can never be forgotten—or topped. Honestly…I think we are all still waiting for something of this caliber to exist in the world of television again.
The Walking Dead
This zombie series took off in the early 2010s and, similar to GoT, it helped open up the horror genre and make it less of a “niche, nerdy” concept. Even I — someone who can’t even watch Scary Movie for fear of seeing horror characters — gave this series a chance. Before this, networks typically avoided anything extremely graphic. But this show proved that as long as it’s good enough, a TV series with gory zombies can become a worldwide phenomenon.
I think the reason for that is that, even though it’s a show about zombies, the real focus and the real reason millions became invested in it was the conflict between characters and their morality during such a crisis. But also, no show can be great without the right people behind the scenes and in front of the camera, and this show certainly had all of the right ones.
The show was so good that several spin-off series came from it, and to this day it’s still represented at conventions and events — not to mention it’s pretty much the number one reference most people reach for on the topic of zombies.
Stranger Things
This Netflix original series had the coolest impact on pop culture of any show on this list. It’s a series about a crazy otherworld known as the Upside Down opening up in a small town, with a D&D-playing group of kids as the heroes, and it takes place in the 1980s — but somehow, it works. Even better, once it became astonishingly popular, music and other trends from the ’80s made a huge comeback. I mean, most of us had never even heard of Kate Bush, but then suddenly we all had every version of “Running Up That Hill” playing on repeat (don’t pretend you didn’t).
A big difference with this show — released several years after GoT and TWD — was that it wasn’t one you had to wait a week between episodes for. Being a Netflix original, the entire season was available as soon as it dropped (except for the last season). This created an entirely different viewing experience because instead of weeks of waiting, it could all be enjoyed in one weekend. Culturally, binge-watch parties became huge, complete with Demogorgon cakes and creepy numbered lights on the wall.
Squid Game
Another Netflix original that changed the game for television and managed to impact cultures across the globe was this Korean horror show. Before this, non-English shows had trouble taking off — whether from the need for subtitles or differences in cultural tastes — they just never seemed able to make a truly global impact. But somehow, this series about a violent survival game broke that mold and opened the door for non-English shows to reach the very top. All of a sudden, “Red Light, Green Light” became something terrifying, and red tracksuits became the Halloween costume of the year.
But what was it about this show that allowed it to transcend different countries and cultures? Once again, it wasn’t the horror that drew most of us in — it was this lonely, gambling man who didn’t have enough money to support his daughter and sick mother, who unknowingly entered a set of games where he had to fight for his life. It wasn’t just a horror show — it was a show about capitalism, financial inequality, and the desperation that comes from it. That’s a concept that resonates with people across the world, regardless of where they’re from.
Bridgerton
Yes, this is indeed the third Netflix original on this list — but I mean, they have more than their fair share of diamonds. And this period romance was certainly one of them.
Before this captivating series, the period romance genre was considered old-fashioned, unrelatable, and well…boring. Obviously, there were a few other gems before it, mostly in the film world with movies like Pride and Prejudice — but this was the first series able to reach audiences of all ages.
I think what it came down to was the showrunners’ ability to take a historical romance and sprinkle it with a bit of modern reinterpretation. It was great because it wasn’t rigid in its historical accuracy — which I’m sure drew some complaints — but the truth is, if the characters weren’t speaking in ways we understood and instrumentals of Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande songs weren’t playing in the background, we probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with it the way we did.
The great thing is that this show gave networks the green light to create more romances — and as someone who is a sucker for a good romance…I couldn’t be more grateful.
All five of these shows changed the future of television, and they all did it in their own unique ways. But the one thing they all had in common is that they took something the world had considered “unpopular” or “uncool” and made it into something amazing. So for anyone looking to create the next global television sensation — start looking in the bin of cancelled genres, because apparently that’s where the magic happens.
