10 Best TV shows of the 00s

Let’s just get right to it.

1. Freaks & Geeks

Admittedly, this show is barely a contender.  The short-lived, critically beloved series began in 1999.  But I’m including it on my list under the rationale that the majority of its 18 episodes did air in 2000.  The show’s creator, Judd Apatow, went on to be the biggest “new”  filmmaker of 2000, pretty much co-opting the entire romantic comedy genre and dude-ifying it with movies like The 40-year-old Virgin and Knocked Up.  But the reason I even cared about any of that (or about the subsequent careers of Spiderman’s James Franco, Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Jason Segal, or Nurse Samantha Taggert) is because when I love a show this much, I am freakishly loyal to those who helped make it.

As the show’s promos said, Freaks and Geeks was what high school was like for the rest of us.  It nailed it — the cringe-inducing drug assembly (actually, it nailed cringe-inducing everything), awkward dinner conversations with the parents, bad self-penned love songs, gigs as the school mascot, and other torture devices inflicted on school-attending youth.  And though I say “for the rest of us,” I’ll admit that I never attended a drunken party in the suburbs with non-alcoholic beer, as Lindsay did in “Beers and Weirs.”  But, awkward high school crush on a guy who was just too cool for me?  Yup, been there.  And, thanks to Apatow, I can re-live it on DVD anytime I want, only, thankfully, with a lot more perspective.

2. Gilmore Girls

Funny, heart-breaking, witty, unapologetically girly, and, most importantly, smart.  (It’s not for nothing that the show spawned its own book club.) Pop culture wisdom dictated that the women of Sex and the City were the women we all wanted to be, but who needs Carrie’s repeated Big-related humiliations when I can watch Luke grudgingly attend to Lorealai’s daily coffee intake?  And, frankly, I’d rather crash a Stars Hollow town meeting than get a table at Nobu any day.

3. Arrested Development

One word – Anyang.  Oh!  Here’s two more: Banana stand.

Wait!  I’ve got another -  Hermano.  No, wait, here’s three more for you – Justice is blind!

Oh, man, and how can I forget this one?  Analrapist!

Analrapist!

Okay, dissolving into giggles now. Lost train of thought.  If you’re reading this straight-faced, I’m totally sorry you missed the best TV sitcom of the past decade, and really sorry for the “analrapist” thing, cause I’m thinking what you must think I’m saying, and that’s. . . .unfortunate.  Perhaps you should discuss it with your analyst+therapist.  And then pick up the series DVDs and call in sick tomorrow.

4. Veronica Mars

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it’s incredible that Rob Thomas‘ 2004 series about a teenage high school detective lasted as long as it did.  Really, the very premise sounds like it was supposed to air on ABC Family, tucked in between Greek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Who knew it was TV noire with the only female teenage protagonist who could live up to the awesome-ness standard set by a certain vampire slayer?

5. The Wire

Wow, what a moving show.  So gripping, so honest, such great drama.  You know, with the cops.  And the teachers.  And the . . .social workers, right?  You know, the compelling characters in a true-to-life, inner-city environment.

Okay, fine, I never watched it.  But I feel really bad about it.  So I’m putting it on the list, cause I believe all the people who told me over the years that I should watch it.  Unlike those people who tell me that I really should have watched Battlestar Galactica.  Those people are just science fiction geeks. (Kidding!  Can’t I tell a frackin’ joke?)

6. American Idol

If you’re the kind of person that likes your music obscure and your TV on pay cable, then I know I just lost a lot of credibility. But I stand by this choice because the simple fact is that although my children’s grandchildren will probably only have the vaguest knowledge of phenomena like Sex and the City and CSI, I feel pretty confident that they’ll be able to hum the chorus of “Since U Been Gone” or “Before He Cheats.”  Moreover, through a decade that included hanging chads, 9/11, two wars, economic depression, and Sarah Palin, wasn’t it comforting to know that from every January to May, we’d all agree with Simon Cowell?

7. The Daily Show

Some call the constant battering of overbearing blowhards on FOX, CNN, and MSNBC the logical results of a 24-hour news cycle.  I call it the most shameful part of the circus we call the media.  Thank you, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show Correspondents, for paying attention to it so that I don’t have to.

8. Lost

I began watching it because I knew I liked the guy who created Felicity and Alias, and I loved the premise of watching a bunch of strangers figure out how to trust each other when everyone had their own demons and agendas.  Then a smoke monster showed up, we found out a bunch of people already lived on the island, and the storyline wreaked havoc on my sense of time and space.  In other words, it got weird, and I stopped watching two seasons ago.  But I’ll be watching this last season, cause I want to know how it all ends up.  Actually, it’s more than that — I want to know if the finale will come anywhere close to its fans’ expectations.  This show is responsible for all the sci-fi-type serial dramas that debuted after it.  Remember Nine?  Still watching Heroes?  FlashForward? V? Then thank (or blame) Lindelof and crew for your experience.

9. Skins

I’m pretty sure that I’m the only one stateside watching this show.  It’s just too dirty for the rest of you.  But this gem (on BBC America) about teenagers sorting themselves out while buzzing and boozing, getting high and getting off, is not only the best show you’re not watching, but the best show you don’t even know about.  This is the show that Gossip Girl, 90210, and the new Melrose Place want you to think that they are.  Don’t believe me?  In Season One, to break up his ex’s relationship with nice guy Josh, Tony (no longer just the cute kid from About A Boy) texts the town naked pictures of his recent conquest, Abigail, from Josh’s phone.  The catch?  Abigail is Josh’s sister.

What Josh did in revenge was truly the sickest mind game I ever saw anyone attempt on television, teenager or adult (Season 1, Episode 8, if you’re curious.  Warning: Do not watch with an opposite-sex sibling).  And you guys think Chuck Bass is vindictive? Puh-lease.

10. The Office

Yes, 30 Rock has been more consistent, more original, and has Alec Baldwin.  But I dare you to name a couple that’s been more of a joy to watch than Jim and Pam.  When they sealed the deal with their wedding in ‘09, it was the perfect end to the decade and to the show. And yes, I know it’s still on.

That’s it.  As for what I’m watching now?  I admit to being in love with Jersey Shore, because I didn’t know there were people willing to be on reality television anymore who could be so guileless.  Also, Parks and Recreation got better while no one was watching, and Friday Night Lights really should be on this list, but I’m still carrying the hope that I can classify it as a great show for the next decade under the same criteria I used for Freaks and Geeks above (same with Mad Men).  And when I get tired of Ellen’s jokes and Randy’s dawgs on AI this season, I’ll watch one of the 4 episodes of So You Think You Can Dance stored on my DVR (each one with a Sonya Tayeh routine).  And any season now, the contestants on The Amazing Race might just get interesting.

Happy New Year!

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Photographs courtesy of BBC America, The CW, Comedy Central, and IMDbPro.