Squid Game makes Rolling Stone's 100 greatest TV shows list

Netflix original South Korean drama "Squid Game" has been selected as one of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time by US music and pop culture magazine Rolling Stone. 

Squid Game ranked 95th, according to Rolling Stone coverage on Sept. 26. The Korean drama series, in which a group of financially desperate Koreans compete in a deadly series of children’s playground contests with a huge winner-takes-all cash prize, is a gripping thriller and ruthless socioeconomic satire, the magazine reported.

The drama series is the only non-English show and the newest on the list, according to the magazine. The drama is a great showcase for actors like Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae, it said.

The show's star Lee Jung-jae and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk respectively won trophies for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Directing at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 12 in Los Angeles. The Korean drama was the first non-English TV series winner in the 74-year history of the prestigious US TV industry awards.   

The new list of the 100 greatest TV shows comes six years after the previous list. Rolling Stone said it reached out to TV stars, creators and critics to vote for the most game-changing, side-splitting, tear-jerking, mind-blowing, world-building and genre-busting programs in TV drama history.

At the top of the list was “The Sopranos,” a 1999-2007 drama series centering on Italian-American mafia head Tony Soprano’s struggles to manage his family affairs, the story largely revealed through his psychiatric consultations with Dr. Jennifer Melfi.

The second to the top was the animated comedy series “The Simpsons,” which has been on air since 1989. “Breaking Bad,” a 2008-2013 drama series depicting high school chemistry teacher Walter White’s journey into the drug-making business as a means to pay for his cancer treatment, ranked third.

Write to Joo-Yeun Park at grumpy_cat@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.