Back in my day, your small screen crushes were on at a set time during the week and if you missed them, oh well! Then came Tivo and soon enough even that seemed like an antiquity as streaming legal and illegally grew, as did the rise in them there educated TV sets. Which only meant that our small screen crushes could be binge-watched over and over again. So of course the 2010s was a time where there was an abundance, but I managed to get it down to one crush for every year of this decade of watching whenever the fuck you wanted.
2010: John Krasinski, The Office
Jim and Pam were pretty much Must-See TV’s it couple after NBC said adios to Ross and Rachel, and the network made sure to milk it for just the right amount of time because really…how long could we have truly believed Pam wanted to be with Roy when Jim was right there? Jim and Pam wound up everywhere in the fall of 2009 when they finally got married, but all that love of Jim helped people continue to hold John Krasinski on a high pedestal into the next year (and beyond).
2011: Emmy Rossum, Shameless
I think we can all agree that Emmy still deserves an Emmy for the WORK she put into that role that first season. She took the idea of strugglin’ and made it an art form.
2012: Norman Reedus, The Walking Dead
‘The Walking Dead’ will forever be one of the most revered shows of the 2010s, hands down. And while every character that came (and went) on the show drew their own fandom, it was Norman Reedus’ that was a little more rabid than others.
2013: Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
I still feel like this show came out of nowhere one day and then was suddenly EVERYWHERE, and leading them was the Mother of Dragons.
2014: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Don’t you love when people shit on a show just because it’s popular? Yeah, me either. Love it or hate it, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was a fucking force and that was in part due to Jim Parsons’ neurotic Sheldon Cooper.
2015: Taraji P. Henson, Empire
While ‘Games of Thrones’ sort of just popped up after being low key for a bit, ‘Empire’ stormed in the room and made its presence known. People immediately watched and overnight those who didn’t know Taraji well, maybe still didn’t know her name because they were so deeply obsessed with Cookie.
2016: Pearson Men, This Is Us
So fine, all three men who are part of the Pearson pack had to be grouped together because how does one even choose between them? Sterling K. Brown and his on-screen brother Justin Hartley have amazing physiques, as does their patriarch Milo Ventimiglia. Plus, all three played the fucking shit out of those roles, so much so that fans made its debut season a top 10 hit.
2017: Cole Sprouse, Riverdale
Absolutely no one would’ve guessed two things in 2017…1. A show based on the ‘Archie’ comics could be so dangerously addicting and 2. One of the kids from ‘Big Daddy’ would grow up to be a bonafide heartthrob. ‘Riverdale’ may’ve hit some low points since its debut but that first year or so, Cole Sprouse was IT.
2018: Maya Rudolph, Big Mouth
Okay, so we never actually see Maya Rudolph on the Netflix animated series but she’s so amazing voicing the Hormone Monstress that many have declared their love for the character, and some have even gotten the furry crush tattooed on them.
2019: Gillian Anderson, Sex Education
If Gillian Anderson is on a show, it doesn’t matter the decade – she’s going to make the list, but I will say her and those pantsuits are top-notch.
Crushgasm 