Clanker Lists
TV

The 10 Best Animated TV Shows of All Time

From Springfield to Amestris, a list that mixes sitcom institutions, anime landmarks and one gloriously sad horse, and nearly everyone agrees on the top two.

Ranked by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — models trained on just about every review, critic poll, fan forum and best-of list ever written. Ask them enough times and you get the internet's consensus.

What animated TV show should I watch right now?

Start with The Simpsons (1989–Present).

Already seen it? Try Avatar: The Last Airbender · Deep cut: Gravity Falls

Our pickGravity Falls — Two seasons, no filler, and an ending that sticks the landing. Ideal for a weeknight binge.

  1. 1.The Simpsons

    1989–Present

    Springfield's yellow family has been on air for over three decades and rewrote what a cartoon sitcom could be. Its golden-age run is unmatched comedy, and it was ChatGPT's and Claude's #1.

    ChatGPT#1Claude#1Gemini#2
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  2. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko anchor an epic with tight plotting, deep world-building and one of TV's great redemption arcs. Gemini had it as its #1, and it's barely behind The Simpsons.

    ChatGPT#2Claude#2Gemini#1
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  3. 3.BoJack Horseman

    2014–2020

    A washed-up sitcom horse stars in a comedy that turns out to be a devastating look at fame, addiction and regret. It is the rare show that is both hilarious and gutting, and it sits steady in everyone's top four.

    ChatGPT#3Claude#3Gemini#4
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  4. Dark deco Gotham, Kevin Conroy's definitive Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker made this a landmark. It treated a kids' timeslot like prestige drama, and Gemini rated it especially high.

    ChatGPT#5Claude#5Gemini#3
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗
  5. Cowboy Bebop

    5.Cowboy Bebop

    1998–1999

    Space-bounty hunters, a jazz soundtrack and cool to spare. Cowboy Bebop is the anime that introduced countless Western viewers to the medium, and it still feels effortlessly stylish.

    ChatGPT#4Claude#6Gemini#5
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  6. 6.South Park

    1997–Present

    Crude, fast and fearless, South Park turns around topical satire in days and has kept at it for decades. Few shows have skewered so many targets so reliably.

    ChatGPT#7Claude#7Gemini#9
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  7. 7.Futurama

    1999–2013

    Matt Groening's sci-fi follow-up mixes real science gags with surprisingly heavy emotion. Fry, Leela and Bender built a cult following, and episodes like "Jurassic Bark" still wreck people.

    ChatGPT#6Claude#8Gemini#7
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  8. Two brothers, alchemy and a war-torn empire, told with relentless pacing and a payoff that actually lands. Claude had it high, but ChatGPT left it off its list entirely.

    ChatGPTskipped itClaude#4Gemini#6
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  9. 9.Arcane

    2021–2024

    Set in the world of League of Legends, this series made stunning painterly animation and a gripping sister-versus-sister tragedy. It's the newest show here, and it earned its place in just a few seasons.

    ChatGPT#9Claude#10Gemini#8
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

  10. 10.Gravity Falls

    2012–16

    Twins spend a summer in a strange Oregon town full of mysteries and cryptograms. Funny, spooky and sincere, it wraps up in two seasons, and Claude kept it in its top ten.

    ChatGPTskipped itClaude#9Gemini#13
    Where to watch ↗Amazon ↗

Lone wolves

In one AI's top 10, never named by the others.

Questions

What animated TV show should I watch right now?
Start with The Simpsons (1989–Present). Already seen it? Try Avatar: The Last Airbender or, for something less obvious, Gravity Falls.
According to AI, what is #1 of the best animated TV shows of all time?
The Simpsons (1989–Present). ChatGPT and Claude put it first; the combined vote across all 15 answers made it #1.
Do ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini agree on the best animated TV shows of all time?
Partly. 8 of the 10 picks made all 3 AIs' lists. The biggest split was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: ChatGPT didn't list it, Claude #4, Gemini #6.
Which best animated TV shows of all time did only one AI pick?
SpongeBob SquarePants (only ChatGPT).
How was this ranking of the best animated TV shows of all time made?
We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini "What are the 10 best animated TV shows of all time? Rank them from 1 to 10, best first." 5 times each, every time in a fresh chat, in 2026-11. A #1 earns 10 points and a #10 earns 1; each AI's points are averaged over its runs and each AI gets an equal say.

Keep arguing

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The 10 Best Anime Series of All Time

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood takes the crown unanimously, with space-bounty jazz, time-travel thrillers and a certain pirate crew rounding out the list.

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The 10 Best Sitcoms of All Time

Seinfeld takes the crown unanimously, with Cheers and The Simpsons close behind, and a Golden Age of Hollywood classic, a British hotel nightmare and a mockumentary all fighting for the final spots.

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The 10 Best TV Shows of All Time

Four prestige-drama titans lock down the top, a sitcom and a cartoon crash the party, and a lone British farce squeezes in at #10.

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The 10 Best British TV Shows Ever

Twelve episodes of a hotel farce top a list that runs from sitcom classics and time-travelling Time Lords to rainforest wildlife and a corrupt-cop thriller.

Some links are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. It never affects the rankings — the AIs don't know.

How this list was made · image credits

We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini “What are the 10 best animated TV shows of all time? Rank them from 1 to 10, best first.” 5 times each, every time in a fresh chat, collected 2026-11-01. A #1 earns 10 points and a #10 earns 1; each AI's points are averaged over its runs, and each AI gets an equal say.