Peter Falk of "Columbo" gives Jessica Walter of "Amy Prentice" a kiss after both won Emmys on May 19, 1975.
Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
This week, actor Jessica Walter passed away at her Manhattan home.
At 80 years old, Walter had spent most of her entire adult life — nearly 60 years — taking on prominent roles in TV and movies, from Dinosaurs, The Love Boat, and Flipper to The Alfred Hitchcock Story Hour, Clint Eastwood's Play Misty for Me, and the 1966 classic Grand Prix.
Jessica Walter on "The Alfred Hitchcock Story Hour" in 1964
As a young woman, she proved herself a versatile performer, capable of playing a witty paramour, an unhinged stalker, and a loving sitcom mother. But for many fans, Jessica Walter only got better with age.
While Hollywood has a bad habit of discarding its female stars at the first sign of crow's feet, Waler managed to find a niche that kept her working through her 70s. Exemplified by her Arrested Development character Lucille Bluth, and by Malory Archer — the slightly more vulgar, violent, and business-minded variation from FX's animated spy comedy, Archer — she transformed herself from a seemingly pleasant, kind person into an heartless and imposing matriarch.
In character, she's as clever as she is cruel, and so powerfully self-involved that the world sometimes seems to actually revolve around her. It may be strange to think of typecasting as a positive thing for an actor, but when a performer is this good at bringing a role to life, it's no wonder the part of Malory Archer was written with her in mind.
Now that she has passed, it's time to look back at some of the lasting contributions Jessica Walter made to the history of television.
The Insults
"Like you'd recognize a vegetable that wasn't wrapped in a Monte Cristo sandwich."
"If I wanted something your thumb touched, I'd eat the inside of your ear!"
While the writing staff on Archer and Arrested deserve a lot of credit for coming up with so many creative ways for Jessica Walter to put other people down, the poison in her voice and the ice in her eyes could sell these lines as no one else could.
The Rants
It's hard to imagine how someone so out-of-touch with reality — "it's one banana Michael, what could it cost? Ten dollars?" — could have so many passionate opinions about it. And yet, when Jessica Walter got a rant going in character, her commentary carried such force and certainty that you could almost believe that PBS was an evil money laundering scheme.
The Judgment
Nothing could ever be good enough for Jessica Walter's matriarch. From Malory Archer fat-shaming babies to Lucille Bluth radiating disdain on her first visit to a casual restaurant, she had a way of letting the world know when it didn't live up to her standards — and it never did.
The Drinking
A hallmark of Walter's characters on both shows was her constant drinking. She never seemed quite complete without a glass of top-shelf liquor sloshing in one hand. For the most part, the drinking was played off as a functional if excessive habit, perhaps responsible for her super-power of unfiltered speech and lack of self-awareness.
But now and then she played up the drinking for comedic effect — as when Lucille Bluth "mistook the 'drowsy eye' alcohol warning" on a bottle of pain pills "for a 'winking eye' alcohol suggestion." In those cases, she could play a sloppy drunk as well as anyone.
The Dominance
No one else was ever the most important person in the room when Jessica Walter was in character as the quintessential HBIC. She had a casual way of lording over the other characters in a scene that could almost make it feel almost normal for Tony Hale to be transporting her tobacco smoke outside in his mouth... Almost.
The "Mothering"
Speaking of her relationship with her children, as Lucille Bluth so succinctly put it, she "no longer [has] the milk of mother's kindness." And as Michael Bluth responded, "Yeah, that udder's been dry for a while though, hasn't it?"
Whether it's as Lupe or Woodhouse, she prefers to leave the childcare to someone else while she's off being a badass.
The Villainy
There's always been an element of villainy to Walter's matriarchs, but it was brought to the surface when she played Miss Heinous, AKA Meteora, in Star Vs. the Forces of Evil.
As the tyrannical headmistress of St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, Heinous is pure bad guy, devoted to stamping out individuality while stealing young girls' life forces and suppressing her own monstrous form. She also rocks out to heavy metal, which is a nice touch.
The Childish Glee
For all her tough exterior, there was one experience that could always reduce Lucille Bluth to a state of child-like glee — Gene Parmesan removing a disguise. A private detective hired to stay on top of various Bluth-family scandals, Parmesan never ceased to amaze Lucille with his ability to suddenly appear in the guise of a janitor, a fireman, a doctor, or a man in a bear suit.
She never seemed to question whether following his clients around in elaborate costumes really helped him with his detective work, but that's okay, because her reactions were always priceless.
The Class Warfare
No one could play an entitled aristocrat quite like Jessica Walter. Along with the ever-threatened luxury she's so accustomed to — to the point where she can't even imagine another way of living — she projects a clear sense that the workers must be kept in their place.
Who else could dig through a housekeeper's purse to interrogate her about an onion, or strip naked in an elevator to avoid giving her employees a raise?
The Bigotry
Another staple of Walter's characters is their near-constant allusion to various offensive stereotypes — about Lucille's Latina employees, and her adopted-Korean son, and Malory's one and only gay employee. If you wanted to put it gently, you would say that Lucille and Malory were "old school."
The more honest way to put it would be to say that they're horrible bigots, but in Malory Archer's case she's so old-school that she's even horribly bigoted against other kinds of white people — particularly the Irish.
The Raw Sexual Energy
Remember how Jessica Walter played lots of sexy characters when she was younger? Well, she didn't forget how. While her sexuality in character is generally played for laughs ("eww, an old lady likes sex!") she clearly has a powerful effect on the men in her life — from Archer's possible fathers who still pine for her, to twin brothers George and Oscar Bluth, to the general who held onto the memory of her touch for 30 years.
And, honestly, it's entirely believable — as her guest spot on The Big Bang Theory demonstrates.
The Honesty
But for all her talent as an actor bringing unforgettable roles to life, Jessica Walter's biggest contribution to the television industry came in 2018, when she wasn't acting at all. Following allegations of sexual harrassment and verbal abuse by Jeffrey Tambor on the set of Transparent, Walter spoke up in a cast interview with The New York Times about her Arrested Development co-star yelling at her on set.
The memory of the incident brought her to tears, but when other male cast members tried to downplay the seriousness of Tambor's outburst, Alia Shawkat pushed back, but so did Walter, saying of Jason Bateman, "Jason says this happens all the time — in like, almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set."
The fact that Walter had the strength to stand up for herself at 77, and call out misconduct — even when she was clearly emotional, and the men around her were dismissing her experience — speaks volumes about her character. In addition to all the contributions she made while bringing to life her awful yet hilarious characters as a performer, she should also be remembered for her real-life honesty and bravery.
Thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, it was suddenly possible to watch multiple episodes of a single TV series in one sitting without the interruptions of commercials. As the way we watched TV changed, so too did the kind of shows we watched. Gone was the overabundance of vapid, sugary-sweet sitcoms, and in came the era of political satire, dramatic comedies, and searing commentaries on everything from abortion to Hollywood. Summarily, the 2010s saw a golden age of television. Here are our 50 favorites, with the top 25 and bottom 25 listed in alphabetical order.
The Top 25 TV Shows of the 2010s
Atlanta
Atlanta first aired in 2016, with Donald Glover's Earn learning that his cousin Alfred has released a hit song under the stage name Paper Boi. Since then, the show has followed Earn's struggle to navigate different worlds as he takes over managing his cousin's burgeoning music career while also trying to be a good father to his daughter, Lottie, and to prove himself to Van, his ex-girlfriend and Lottie's mother. The show uses varying perspectives to flesh out the city of Atlanta and the complexities of being black in America with surreal touches that highlight the real-world absurdity. Yet despite the heaviness of much of its subject matter, it frequently manages to be among the funniest shows on TV.
Barry
For anyone who ever wondered whether or not SNL-alum Bill Hader could carry a serious TV show, Barry answers with an overwhelming "yes." To be clear, Barry is technically a dark comedy, or perhaps a crime comedy-drama, but Bill Hader brings a level of unprecedented seriousness to his titular character that oftentimes makes the show feel like a straight tragedy.
Playing a hitman who wants to leave his life of crime behind in order to pursue a career in acting, Bill Hader imbues Barry with an earnestness that makes us as an audience truly want him to succeed. This likability serves to make Barry's violent acts all the more disturbing. Barry's greatest success is its ability to effortlessly fluctuate between the quirks of life as a struggling actor in LA and the violent inclinations of a man who murders for a living and can never really escape that truth. It's one of the best character studies currently on TV and is sure to cement Bill Hader as an extremely versatile A-list talent.
Baskets
Baskets premiered on FX in 2016, telling the story of Chip Baskets, an aspiring clown played by Zach Galifianakis, who is moving back to Bakersfield, California to live with his mother after a failed stint at clown school in Paris. Galfianakis' talent for melancholy slapstick makes the show by turns hilarious and touching, but it's his mother Christine Baskets—artfully portrayed by Louie Anderson—whose simple enthusiasm for small-town life makes the show one of the best of the decade. Watching Christine, Chip, and his twin brother Dale (also Galifianakis) heighten relatable family drama to exquisite absurdity never gets old.
Black Mirror
Nothing would be the same without Black Mirror. Though its later seasons have been inconsistent in quality, its earliest contributions were digital horror at its finest, with some of the episodes being downright visionary in terms of how accurately they predicted the near future. From the nostalgic visions of virtual afterlife in "San Junipero" to the eerie foresight of "Nosedive" and its digital ranking systems, Black Mirror made an indelible impact.
Bob's Burgers
Whatever you've heard about Family Guy or South Park, Bob's Burgers is the true successor to the golden age of The Simpsons. The Belcher family offers an update to The Simpsons' satirical view on middle class family life that reflects how America has changed since the 90s—slightly more urban, with less overt child abuse and a lot more economic precarity. And just as with the best seasons of The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers maintains a touching core of familial love and solidarity amid the absurd hijinks and veiled political commentary. Throw in the added value of the frequently hilarious, occasionally moving musical numbers, and Bob's Burgers easily secures a spot as one of the best shows of the decade.
Bojack Horseman
In terms of the quality of its writing, BoJack Horseman outdid itself season after season. What began as a parody of Hollywood's excesses quickly turned into a searing, and boundary-pushing meditation on depression, addiction, and what it means to change (or to be unable to). Increasingly self-aware and conscious of its hypocritical tendency to obsess over the misadventures of an evil but sympathetic celebrity, thereby glorifying them while criticizing them, BoJack Horseman is the political, devastating, timely, often hilarious show about an animated horse that none of us knew we needed. It's buoyed by the strength of its secondary characters, from the workaholic Princess Carolyn to asexual Todd to self-loathing Diane, and altogether the show takes deep-rooted fears that many share and refracts them in a funhouse mirror that's impossible to look away from.
Broad City
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson began producing an independent web series about their struggles to "make it" in New York City in 2009. Soon, Amy Poehler took interest in the series, and it moved to Comedy Central in 2014. The smash hit comedy was not only laugh-out-loud funny, but a beautiful portrait of a genuinely healthy, supportive female friendship—something TV has historically seen little of. Broad City can be credited for helping to usher in a new generation of female comedy creators and has become a cultural touchstone for millenials.
Catastrophe
Catastrophe, created and written by the show's stars, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, is one of the realest, grossest, and funniest takes on love and the mess of life. Two people entering middle age meet and hit it off, they spend a reckless night together, and when she gets pregnant, they decide to make things work—not realizing how complicated that will be. It's a simple enough premise, but the cutting dialogue and the absurd comedy that plays out as two near-strangers build a life together make Catastrophe one of a kind.
Fargo
Anthology series like True Detective and American Horror Story can be really hit or miss, but in the three seasons that have aired on FX since 2014, Fargo has been consistently great. Maybe it has to do with the leisurely production schedule, the all-star cast, or the near-perfect movie that forms the basis for its tone, but whatever the cause, Fargo delivers murderous midwestern tragicomedy better than any show on TV—and nearly as well as the original. Season three, which followed the rivalry of the Stussy brothers—as played by Ewan McGregor—deserves a particular call-out, with season four due next year and featuring Chris Rock, Timothy Olyphant, and Jason Schwartzman.
Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's stage-play-turned-two-season-TV masterpiece took the world by storm at the end of the 2010s. In the series, the viewer is made into the protagonist's (an unnamed woman played by Bridge) confidante as she uses sex to cope with grief and complicated family dynamics. As the show progresses, the closely protected inner life of the protagonist begins to reveal itself. Many consider the second season to be an essentially perfect season of television, in large part because of the hot priest (played by Andrew Scott). Fleabag is a funny, searing commentary on what it means to exist as a sexual, complicated being in a world with ever-changing expectations of women.
Grace and Frankie
70 is the new 30, or 20, or whatever arbitrary year of life we as a culture are deciding to glorify for no reason, because age is just a number. If you weren't aware that Jane Fonda glowed with money or that Lily Tomlin is our collective spiritual mother, then Grace and Frankie enlightened you. When two septuagenarian women are told that their husbands are gay and in love with each other, the best phase of their lives begins.
Haikyu!!
It's almost 2020, the world is upside down, and yes, an anime about high school volleyball is genuinely one of the best shows of the decade. Haikyu!!, literally "Volleyball" in Japanese, is about the trials and tribulations of the Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball Team. Unlike pretty much every other high school sports anime out there, Haikyu!! takes a relatively realistic approach to...well...high schoolers playing sports. In doing so, Haikyu!! translates the genuine passion that goes into high school sports and the real dynamics of teamwork, better than any other show I've ever seen.
The protagonist, Hinata, isn't a superpowered Volleyball God; he's an extremely short boy who can't reach the top of the net, but works his butt off because he loves the game. Likewise, all the other boys in Haikyu!! have realistic strengths and weaknesses (both on and off the court) that they work to overcome with help from their teammates. Haikyu!! is an exercise in wholesomeness––there are no villains, just other kids at other schools who love the same sport our boys do––and in a decade full of so much bitterness, it's a much needed dose of medicine.
Hunter x Hunter
For anyone who likes long-running shonen anime, Hunter x Hunter is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of the genre. While the original manga began publication in 1998, and a previous anime adaptation ran from 1999-2001, the 2011 adaptation re-started the series from scratch and, most importantly, covered the Chimaera Ant arc (or season––kind of––for you non-anime watchers).
The entirety of Hunter x Hunter is fantastic, featuring likeable protagonists, dastardly villains, and a brilliantly creative power system called "Nen." But there's a reason the Chimaera Ant arc is often considered the greatest shonen arc ever, and that's because it's a total deconstruction of the genre's tropes and conventions. Everything from the "always optimistic protagonist" to "the ultimate evil villain" is turned completely inside-out. The Chimaera Ant arc is intensely brutal and ultimately poignant, making us question the very nature of what makes us human.
Killing Eve
Phoebe Waller-Bridge can do no wrong, and even if she could and did, I'd probably still clap. The combination of Waller-Bridge's cutting wit and Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer's flawless performances makes for a TV show that never quite lets you find your balance before sending you spinning again. It's dark and surreal, while managing to still be deeply human.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Being a professional stand-up comedienne is hard, but being Midge Maisel is wrapping chaos in a designer dress. Created by the fast-talking husband and wife behind Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel created a stage for Rachel Brosnahan to showcase her comedic timing and Alex Borstein to be a solid, deadpan pillar within Mrs. Maisel's world of quippy, fast-talking, energy. Also Michael Zegen (Joel) is dead cute.
Mob Psycho 100
While One Punch Man might be manga artist One's best known series (and is fantastic in its own right), his other series, Mob Psycho 100,is profound in a way quite unlike anything else I've seen. The show revolves around Mob, an awkward, unconfident middle school boy with god-like psychic powers. Any other shonen anime would use this premise as a gateway to epic battles (and there are a few, and their animation is absolutely incredible), but Mob Psycho 100 focuses far more on the coming-of-age angle instead.
See, Mob doesn't like his psychic powers because they make him feel weird. So instead of focusing on the one thing he's innately talented at but doesn't like, Mob tries to improve himself in the ways he actually cares about improving––making friends, talking to girls, working out with his school's Body Improvement Club. If anything, Mob's incredible psychic powers are a backdrop for the show's larger message––that no person, no matter what natural abilities they may have, is better than anyone else. Mob Psycho 100 shows that everyone has their own struggles, and that the only person you should ever hold yourself up in comparison to is the person you were yesterday.
The OA
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's labyrinthine show only ran for two seasons, but it managed to earn a cult following during that time. Deeply weird, profoundly earnest, and full to the brim with observations on the connections between the environment, parallel universes, and technology, the two seasons that we do have are irreplaceable and paradigm-shifting examples of what TV could become, if we let ourselves believe.
Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman's post-grad rebellious stage went from a felony to a cultural touchstone. As Netflix's most-watched original series, OITNB boasted a female-led cast and cutting commentary on race, class, and the industrial prison complex.
PEN15
Those who didn't have a gruelingly awkward middle school experience are, by scientific evidence, simply inhuman. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle tell it best in Hulu original PEN15, which co-stars the real-life BFFs (who also wrote and executive produced together) as 13-year-olds. Here, there's no sugarcoating the calamities of tweenhood, whether they're as trivial as thongs and AIM messaging or as weighty as race identity. All delivered with Erskine and Konkle's razor-sharp wit, it's absolutely hysterical to anyone who's lived past the seventh grade.
Rick and Morty
"To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head."
Okay, so first things first, we need to separate Rick and Morty from the Rick and Morty fandom. The Rick and Morty fandom is so annoying that memes making fun of them are barely distinguishable from the things they actually say. But, to be fair, Rick and Morty really is a great show full of smart writing, surprisingly deep characterization, and the exact kind of bizarre, abstract humor that lends itself perfectly to endless memes. No doubt, Rick and Morty will be the defining animated comedy of the 2010s.
Russian Doll
This tightly-wound and big-hearted thriller stars Natasha Lyonne as a jaded New Yorker who gets caught in a loop in time and has to relive the night of her 36th birthday party over and over again. A perfect blend of humor and seriousness, and riddled with quantum leaps and profound connections, it's as satisfying as it is provocative.
Shameless
We fell in love with the trainwreck family the Gallaghers when it debuted on Showtime in 2011. William H. Macy brought so much toxic charm to the abusive and neglectful father Frank Gallagher that we actually found him, if not likable, then good television. Emmy Rossum managed to cause tears and laughter within the same scene, and the entire cast was as impressive as their characters were appalling.
Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
After the first season of Attack on Titan premiered in 2013, it received so much hype that even people outside of the anime community were raving about it. The show featured an incredibly high-concept premise, following the last surviving humans as they tried to fight back against giant, man-eating monsters called Titans. Had Attack on Titan stuck to that premise, it would have been top-notch action-horror, albeit not necessarily one of the best shows of the decade.
But Attack on Titan turned out to be so much bigger than its initial premise. As the seasons progressed, Attack on Titan reshaped itself time and time again, leading viewers through an increasingly complex, expertly plotted narrative featuring some of the most compelling characters and intensely emotional moments that I've ever experienced in fiction. At its core, Attack on Titan is a deeply thematic contemplation on war, othering, and humanity's will to survive against impossible odds, alongside the moral sacrifices they oftentimes make to do so.
Shrill
It shouldn't be revolutionary for a show to feature a fat female lead, but it is. Shrill, the brilliant Hulu adaptation of Lindy West's memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, gave audiences a badly needed narrative about a woman who is actively seeking to change her life for the better, in ways that have nothing to do with her body. It's funny, it's heartfelt, and it shows a woman getting an abortion and finding it empowering. Woah. Hell yes.
Steven Universe
When Steven Universe first aired on Cartoon Network in 2013, it was a light-hearted and silly children's show with some super-powered action from the Crystal Gems and a lot of silly jokes from their sidekick—the childish titular character. Since then an entire galaxy has been fleshed out around the boardwalk of Beach City where much of the show takes place. Along with the alien gem creatures and their elaborate history, the show has introduced us to a cast of characters that have grown and changed—overcoming insecurities and facing complex questions of love and identity. While Steven matured and developed into a hero worthy of his last name, the show evolved to become one of the best of the decade.