What was the best and worst decade for American television (live-action, western cartoons and anime altogether) respectively?

The current decade is definitely the worst. As for the best I'm not sure, 70s or 80s maybe.

Ed.

The 2010s are awful for Televesion. So many dreary and negative shows.

As for the best decade , I'd go with the 60s

Best is probably 60s. They had creative and funny sitcoms if nothing else.

Worst is maybe 00s. From what I've seen they're mostly bland and cringey.

Haven't seen much of 10s shows but maybe I should. They're saying it's a new golden age but I'm not so sure.

Because I was a child/teenager in the 90s, that to me is the best decade.

Worst us definitely the current state that we’re in.

In my opinion, by a wide margin the best decade for TV was the 1960's. I don't like every show from that decade, but I like the majority of them.

Worst decade? I'd say just about everything from the 1980's and forward.

Best: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s & 1990s

Worst: 2000s & 2010s

Best: Late 60's through early 90's

Worst: 2000's through now. There's hardly anything on TV these days I don't want to watch. Current British TV seems a lot more appealing.

I like a lot of current programming, I think 2000-2009 was the worst. The 1980s/ 90s was the best though.

I'd be interested to compare the ratings for popular shows in pre-satellite dish and pre-internet days to now, where the choice has been so diffused that there doesn't seem to be one primary focus of an evening. As for the quality of shows it was definitely superior in the 1960s and 1970s to the diet of drivel we are offered nowadays.

Best: the 1960s and 1970s. The worst is easily the 2000s and 2010s.Really most TV made over the past 20 years or so is unwatchable.

I think each decade had their worst and their best shows, and I know 99% of this board is going to say that the current decade is the worst for TV shows, but I'll have to disagree as the quality has actually gone up, especially with shows that are original to streaming services. They have cinematic quality to them. That was hard to come by prior to streaming and satellite services like HBO. However, TV has definitely gotten darker, there's more shows about murder and crime than I can stand! So yeah, 2010s is not my favorite decade, but definitely not the worst, and there's more variety to choose from compared to oh say, the 20th century.

My favorite decade for TV was the 1970s, the shows were really on the cutting edge, innovative, fresh, and they really hit a stride in this decade, mainly because of Norman Lear and Aaron Spelling. My least favorite decade would have to be the 1960s, a lot of these shows I thought were too wholesome, too silly or too out there, or just plain hokey (rural shows, mostly). I know that's a lot of generalizing, but that's just my opinion.

Best: 1980s or 90s. Shows started becoming edgier without being over-the-top. Leaning more towards 80s.

Worst: 2000s, at least by network standards. There were a lot of really generic, cookie-cutter shows in the first half of the decade, mainly sitcoms. I think this was the decade where cable started putting out better quality, esp. networks like HBO.

I'm surprised no one said the 1950's. I realize it was the early years and production might have been limited but there were many fine shows. Being a baby boomer, I hardly look at tv programs from the last 25 years and from what people are saying, I haven't missed much.

Best decade would probably be the 80's and 90's for me. There were so many shows I grew up with from those times.

Worst decade is this one. I used to have so many shows to watch years ago. Now Supernatural and Mom are the only two shows I'm interested in seeing. Everything else isn't appealing to me. Mainly because a lot of shows get prematurely canceled these days without a chance to build an audience.

I don't think there is a best decade for TV. Most decades had some good stuff, but I think the 70's were the worst for comedy. The move toward "edginess" is not always a good thing for comedies. I couldn't stand all that Norman Lear stuff, I hated MASH, and I never liked the MTM show. The 70's did have some decent dramas; Hawaii Five-O and Rockford come to mind. The 80's had great dramas, but was weak on comedy; and the 90's had some excellent comedies, but was weak on dramas. The current decade is absolutely awful for comedy, too.

I'm surprised no one said the 1950's. I realize it was the early years and production might have been limited but there were many fine shows. Being a baby boomer, I hardly look at tv programs from the last 25 years and from what people are saying, I haven't missed much.

The 50s were also a very good decade for TV. However for various reasons there is quite a lot of 50s TV that has hardly ever been shown in reruns, so it is a little hard for me to fully judge that decades TV.

The Best: The 1970's; most of my favorite television shows are from this decade-Barney Miller, Sanford and Son, Emergency!

The Worst: 1980's-present; modern television sucks so bad I do not even watch TV anymore (mostly DVDs).