The 8 Greatest Shows With Fewer Than 50 Episodes

A new roundup highlights the “best TV shows” under 50 episodes, aiming at viewers who want a complete story without committing for months. The list, written by Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck for Collider, weighs factors such as fan opinion, pacing, originality, critical acclaim, directing, writing and overall quality, while using “fewer than 50” as the guiding threshold. It includes Black Sails (38 episodes, 2014–2017), set during the Golden Age of piracy as Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) battles the British Empire for New Providence Island. The entry also features Chernobyl (2019), a five-episode miniseries about the disaster and its response.