The Top 10 TV Shows of the 2000s, Ranked

10. 24 (2001–2010)

Created by: Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran

No show defined the post-9/11 cultural anxiety quite like 24. Basically, it took our anxiety about possibly having this be the last day we have alive and put it on television.

Its central gimmick of a season unfolding in real-time over 24 hours was a revolutionary narrative device. It was so smart and kept people hooked.

The character of Jack Bauer became the decade's definitive action hero, one that transcended TV. The show's split-screen format and ticking-clock suspense changed the language of action thrillers on TV forever.

9. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-Present)

Created by: Larry David

After 9/11, we all got way more cynical, so it made sense that a more realistic version of Seinfeld would become a massive hit.

Larry David doubled down on his "no hugging, no learning" mantra to create the definitive comedy that capitalized on our cynicism and our need to laugh.

He played a fictionalized and disastrous version of himself who gets into wild situations.

Curb perfected a new style of comedy and proved that a show built almost entirely on social faux pas could be just as compelling as any high-stakes drama.

8. The Shield (2002–2008)

Created by: Shawn Ryan

I am not sure we talk about this show enough. It was like the tough-as-nails cop show that turned our heroes on their heads and made us root for a villain. Sure, The Sopranos may have lit the fuse, but The Shield was the explosion that put basic cable on the prestige TV map.

And it showed that FX was a real network with teeth. Its pilot episode ended with a shocking moment that announced this was not a typical cop show and that you were going to have to hold on if you wanted to keep watching.

Vic Mackey was a brutal and mesmerizing anti-hero who inhabited a morally grey universe that paved the way for a generation of dark cable dramas.

7. Arrested Development (2003–2006)

Created by: Mitchell Hurwitz

I remember watching this show live and wondering how the world was missing out on the funniest thing on the air. It became the definition of a "cult classic," which found a ton more viewers on streaming later, and got resurrected.

Arrested Development was arguably the most inventive and densely written comedy of the decade. There were times I was laughing so hard I could not breathe. Its single-camera format, along with its meta-humor, created a comedic language all its own.

6. Lost (2004–2010)

Created by: Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof

No other show on this list dominated the global conversation like Lost. In my high school, the halls would be jammed up with kids talking theories with teachers. It felt like the entire world had a take on the show. It was a rating behemoth.

It's hard to believe, but mainstream audiences tuned in week after week for a high-concept, serialized mystery that took them through time and space and had some of the most beloved characters to ever grace a TV screen.

The show brought the internet forum to the forefront as well, where you could look at screengrabs and theories and trade stories, and read leaks.

5. Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Created by: Vince Gilligan

Making a list like this is so crazy because all these shows were landmarks. They were so important.

The end of the early 2000s brought us such a good transitional show in Breaking Bad. It put AMC on the map as a home for prestige drama and gave us one of television's greatest character studies: Walter White's transformation from a mild-mannered teacher to a ruthless kingpin. It might have the best drama pilot ever.

4. Mad Men (2007–2015)

Created by: Matthew Weiner

I thought about making this and Breaking Bad one entry, because they were both these transition shows that took the early cynicism and capitalized on it with lessons on family and capitalism. And they were on the same network, fighting for the same awards; it was such an insane time to be a TV fan.

Starting in 2007, Mad Men was a quiet, subversive powerhouse of a show about existentialism and humanity. On the surface, it was a stylish period drama, but underneath, it was a profound, novelistic exploration of identity and capitalism.

3. The Office (US) (2005–2013)

Developed by: Greg Daniels

The show that changed TV comedy forever. Taking the "mockumentary" style of the UK original, the US version of The Office built a world of such warmth, humor, and heart that it became a cultural touchstone.

This was the watercooler show of the 2000s, just as big as Friends and Seinfeld, and somehow, a little more relatable with the visceral look at cubicle life at a place selling paper that was dying from day one.

More than just a workplace comedy, it perfected the art of the "cringe" while delivering one of the most beloved romantic storylines in TV history with Jim chasing Pam, and vice versa. It became a ratings juggernaut and the ultimate comfort-watch for a generation that still streams over and over.

2. The Wire (2002–2008)

Created by: David Simon

Look, I go back and forth on whether or not this might be the best TV show ever. And the only reason I don't put it as high is that I am a coward.

The Wire is less a TV show and more a Great American Novel. Each season examined a different failing institution in Baltimore—from the drug trade and the docks to the political system, the schools, and the media. It’s a sprawling, deeply human, and unflinching piece of social commentary that demands your full attention and rewards it with unparalleled depth.

The characters are all tragic and the lessons are just that was have many institutional problems in America and no one thing can solve them.

1. The Sopranos (1999–2007)

Created by: David Chase

Once we were introduced to the world to Tony Soprano—a mob boss struggling with panic attacks and therapy -- television was never the same again.

This landmark series shook the world. It changed what could be shown on TV, the language, the ratings, the kids of people we could follow, and it created the blueprint for the modern anti-hero. Without The Sopranos, there is no Breaking Bad, no Mad Men, and no "Golden Age of Television" as we know it.

It all came from this one show about the mafia, but also about America.

Summing It All Up 

These are the TV shows I think that defined the early 2000s and played a huge part in culture. I'm sure you have ones you think that need to be on here, and I'm all ears for it.