Inside the NY Times 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century List

Key Points:

• The New York Times created an extensive list of the best TV shows of the 21st century by consulting over 1,000 industry insiders, including creators, showrunners, and stars, with about 500 participating and many sharing their picks on camera.
• The project aims to showcase that TV creators are passionate fans of the medium, providing unique insights and personal stories through video segments, enhancing the readers' experience beyond traditional written lists.
• Gilbert Cruz, recently appointed as the Times' "canon editor," oversees this initiative to build interconnected, ongoing franchises of curated cultural lists across books, movies, and TV, leveraging the Times' authority and access in these fields.
• The TV list is part of an experimental approach to create dynamic, multimedia content that lives beyond one-off publications, with plans to determine a sustainable cadence for future lists and features.
• Cruz emphasizes the challenge of maintaining relevance and continuity for these projects, aiming to avoid them becoming isolated releases and instead integrating them into the Times' broader cultural coverage.