The 15 Most Important TV Shows Of The Decade

The 00’s were a great decade for television. It was a decade that saw important changes to two genres that had long grown stale - drama and comedy. Dramatic series were often ensemble-driven, with cop shows dominating the pack, while comedy tended to be of the laugh-track, family-friendly sitcom variety. But the 00's were filled with series that subverted these conventions, making for some of the most exciting and important television of all time.

On the dramatic end, you had The Sopranos, with its focus on mob boss Tony Soprano, and a slew of other cable shows that followed in its path like The Shield and Breaking Bad. And in the comedic realm, the days of hearing the studio audience applaud were over, and the rise of single-camera comedies like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm soared by aiming for a more culturally hip audience.

More importantly, television in the 00’s responded to the events of the day, like terrorism and the culture wars, better than any previous decade. Here are a list of the 15 most important shows from the last decade.

1) The Sopranos (1999-2007)

David Chase changed the game. He crafted a brilliant series around a depressed mobster with Freudian issues that proved to be complex, tragic and often funny. The Sopranos was Shakespeare for our time. It made the anti-hero popular in American television, and subsequent TV dramas would do their best to ape its formula, but none could match its brilliance. From the moment Tony Soprano entered his psychiatrist’s office for the first time, we knew we were in for something completely different and original. Hands down the most important show of the last decade.

2) The Wire (2002-2008)

While America was transfixed on its foreign policy this decade, things on the home front kept getting worse and worse. The Wire was a reminder to America that it needs to clean up its own backyard before it goes cleaning up someone else’s.

Although the war on drugs was its focus, creators David Simon and Ed Burns still managed to provide a rich, multi-layered profile of a dying city. Each season looked at a different institution and the effect of its decline, from labour unions, to city hall, to education, and the media. It was a shocking indictment of American capitalism and its treatment of the underclass, and a necessary reminder of what life is like for the other America.

3) 24 (2001-Present)

Fox made a balsy decision to air its prime-time terrorist drama 24 only two months after 9/11. It was a gamble that worked. 24 went on to capture the post-9/11 climate brilliantly. With Americans more willing than ever to sacrifice their civil liberties in favour of security, they made it clear that terrorism had to be stopped at all costs, and if George W. wasn’t exactly the most capable person at handling it, Jack Bauer was. Bauer would electro-shock, drown, shoot and basically fuck up anyone with any potential information on a terrorist lead. While Arabs were usually the enemy, so were Russians, Serbians, Mexicans, even a fictional African ethnicity, not to mention the always reliable home-grown terrorist (remember Kate’s blonde, blue-eyed sister from season two?).

Spawning catch phrases like “Where’s the target?” and “Who are you working for?” Jack Bauer and CTU did more to make Americans feel safe than Bush and his cronies ever did.

4) and 5) The Daily Show/The Colbert Report (1996-Present/2005-Present)
 
It’s ironic that Comedy Central would make a better news network than CNN and Fox News combined this decade, but better it was. While the big 24-hour news networks were content with just repeating the Bush Administration’s line on everything, Jon Stewart and co. were great at keeping both in check, giving us brilliant satire that informed as much as it entertained. While Steven Colbert was the mirror reflecting the grotesque image of the right-wing cable and talk-radio personalities – an image that Glen Beck seems to be taking literally.

6) Sex and the City (1999-2004)

Before anyone accuses me of selling out the male gender, I want to point out that women watch as much TV as guys do and Sex and the City had some of HBO’s highest ratings, netting a cool ten million viewers for its series finale, so not to include it on a list of most important shows isn’t just ignorant, it’s dishonest.

Sex and the City was the girl’s guide to everything this decade – from fashion to dating to sex – SATC touched on everything women are supposedly into. For better or worse, it clearly defined women’s interests within the realm of shopping, fashion, and how to get a man. Politics were never touched on (even 9/11 wasn’t mentioned, except in one episode where Carrie compares her love of New York to having a long-term love affair with a man). Shallow, yes. But on the whole entertaining, and sometimes enlightening.

7) The Office (UK: 2001-2003; US: 2005-Present)

Both the UK and US version of The Office used the mockumentary to great effect in order to look at life in a not-so-ordinary office, showcasing Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell respectively as bosses with no idea how stupid they are. Along with dimwitted co-workers, and the two love birds that want to be together but can’t express how or why, these characters felt all too real even if they were sometimes too hard to believe.

8) The Shield (2002-2008)

Vic Mackey is the best/worst cop in television history, a man who puts everything at stake for one final score, a man who’s crossed the line so many times that the words good and evil simply don’t exist for him anymore. Along with The Wire, The Shield broke the rules of the traditional cop drama and provided more excitement and holy shit moments than Hill Street Blues, Law and Order and NYPD Blue combined. There won’t be another cop show like it.

9) Chappelle’s Show (2003-2006)

Dave Chappelle reminded us all that before we were divided by terrorism, we were (and still are) very divided by race. He pushed our buttons with sketches like the black white supremacist, Rick James, and the racist pixie sketch. Chappelle was always great at blurring racial lines.

10) Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)

BSG may have had a confusing mythology, but its stories and characters were deeply-rooted in the events of the day, particularly season three’s Cylon-occupation of New Caprica storyline (Iraq, hint hint). The show was always good at delivering tense moments, but its heart was in the character-driven episodes, and Starbuck, Balter and Kavil were some of the most outstanding characters on the series. Although its finale was a letdown, BSG will always be a signature show of this decade.

11) Da Ali G Show (2003-2004)

Sacha Baron Cohen’s balsy, in-your-face series challenged viewers more than any other in the 00’s by forcing us to stomach uncomfortable interviews, round-table discussions, and other bizarre situations. No one was safe from Borat, Bruno or Ali G. Whether poking fun at politicians, intellectuals, southern rednecks, or bougie-fashionistas, Cohen’s brand of comedy was must-viewing, and will be near impossible to top.

12) Lost (2004-Present)

With its smoke monsters, time travel device, and often impossible to understand mythology, Lost kept viewers scratching their heads, and the upcoming sixth season will really determine whether or not it was all worth it. But it was The X-Files of this decade, and created a terrific amount of suspense and surprise along the way.

13) Arrested Development (2003-2006)

A subversive look at the traditional family comedy, Arrested Development was really good at being clever, almost too clever. You had to watch it from the first episode of season one in order to really get all the jokes, but it always paid off in the end.

14) Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-Present)

Curb Your Enthusiasm pushed the awkwardness of benign social situations to new levels, with star Larry David (co-creator of Seinfeld) getting involved in the pettiest of fights over the most trivial of things, like signing in at a doctor’s office, or bringing a water bottle into a movie theatre. It would often induce many cringe-worthy moments, but it was hilariously executed, and always came together well in the end.

15) Breaking Bad (2008-Present)

With its cancer-ridden, chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin at the lead, Breaking Bad took the anti-hero complex to new levels, largely due to the ordinariness of its protagonist. Everything about Walter White is normal – his house, his job, even his name – until a fatal diagnosis forces him to take drastic measures to secure his family’s financial well-being. And when the stakes get even more dangerous, Walter’s conscious starts to dissolve in ways you wouldn’t believe. A shocking series that broke down the barriers between right and wrong every time.

And the most underrated shows of the decade were….

Sleeper Cell (2005-2006)

Sleeper Cell was a thinking man’s 24, a show that was influenced by the events of 9/11 and after, but more intelligent in how it addressed the issue. If 24 was Fox News, Sleeper Cell was BBC. Although it wasn’t a hit with audiences and only had two seasons, it was a very powerful look at a small group of Muslim terrorists, led by the charismatic Faris al-Farik, intent on creating the next 9/11, and Darwyn Al-Sayeed, an undercover FBI agent (himself a Muslim) bent on stopping them. The show wasn’t only a tense thriller and well-crafted drama, but a great analysis of the war on terror and the war within Islam. Darwyn and Farik were polar opposites, reflecting two very different strands of Islam – one progressive the other extremist - and their climatic battle in the show’s finale was the most exhilarating I’ve seen on TV.

Brotherhood (2006-2008)

Could be considered by some to be the bastard step-son of The Sopranos and The Wire, Brotherhood molded both shows two prevailing themes, corrupt political institutions and criminal enterprise, into a terrific family drama. Focusing on two Irish-American brothers on opposite sides of the law in Providence, Rhode Island and how their worlds share more in common than either would realize, Brotherhood had no heroes or villains really, just people caught up in the muck of their very small worlds, desperately searching for a way to the top.