A-List: Best TV Shows of the 2000s
By Josh Spiegel
December 10, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This is my last Best Of The Decade list, as I've already covered movies, and I've unfortunately not read enough new books or listened to enough relatively new CDs (though if I had to highlight any books or music, I'd mention "Pictures at a Revolution" by Mark Harris, the latter chapters of the Harry Potter series, "Funeral" by Arcade Fire, and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" by Wilco) to make two top ten lists. Last week, I mentioned my list of honorable mentions of TV shows; for a quick refresher on the bottom half of the list, my choices for 10-6 were "Friday Night Lights", "Veronica Mars", "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", "Mad Men", and the British and American versions of "The Office." Let's get to the rest of my list.
5. Battlestar Galactica
It took me a long time to get into this re-imagining of the 1970s science-fiction series of the same name. The four-hour miniseries, which serves as some kind of prologue to the overall program, was a bit dull, and completely disappointed me. However, with some strong convincing from a family member, and the praise being heaped on it by TV critics such as Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger and Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, I tried this series out again, right around the time that its final ten episodes were airing. Good thing I did. Much like "Friday Night Lights" isn't really about football, "Battlestar Galactica" isn't really about robots attacking humans. Sure, the main plot of this SciFi Channel series, in which the survivors of a universal attack by manmade robots called Cylons attempt to outrun these villains, is chock full of sci-fi tropes.
Still, the show's developer, Ronald Moore (of "Carnivale" and "Star Trek" fame), was more interested in asking questions about what makes us human, the true meaning of religious faith, the subtle differences between good and evil, and other heady existential issues. There were certainly episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" that were pretty crappy, much like another show further down this list, but when it was good, it was great. Moreover, this show was way more awesome than terrible; what with that, the phenomenal performances from actors such as Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and James Callis, and technical aspects (the Bear McCreary score is particularly noteworthy), this recently-ended series is, as the humans on the show would say, frakking brilliant.
4. Freaks and Geeks
Okay, this one may be close to cheating, as "Freaks and Geeks" premiered in the fall of 1999. However, the series did end in 2000, which means that it counts as being part of this decade (at least going by the standard of me producing this list in 2009). If you've not seen "Freaks and Geeks", what are you waiting for? This 18-episode, one-season cult classic took place in 1980 in Michigan, following the lives of Lindsay and Sam Weir, as they try to survive the war zone that is high school. Although part of the fun of the show, created by Paul Feig (though Judd Apatow also worked heavily on the program), is the constant hilarity that is 1980s pop culture, what made "Freaks and Geeks" so truly special was how real it felt, whether you were a freak like Daniel Desario, into smoking weed by the cafeteria; or a geek like Neal Schweiber, a little too into "The Jerk" and "Star Trek". Yes, some of the joy of the show is firmly planted in 1980s nostalgia, it's hard not to relate to these kids' foibles.
Of course, what makes the disappointing failure of "Freaks and Geeks", which didn't even get to have all of its episodes air on NBC, much sweeter is how successful a majority of the show's actors and producers have now become. Apatow is wildly famous, even if some people are a bit tired of his humor; Feig is a frequent director of "The Office" episodes, among other shows; Linda Cardellini found success on "ER"; Seth Rogen is about as famous as Apatow, and a frequent leading man; Jason Segel got his start here, as the pathetic Nick, lovelorn to the very end; James Franco would go on to star in the Spider-Man series. The list goes on. "Freaks and Geeks" was a uniquely painful show sometimes, mostly because of how accurate it was. The pain of having a crush on a girl who's not only out of your league but completely uninterested in you as anything but a dorky friend; the awkwardness of having to be friendly with people you don't want to know; the excruciation of finding out your family's not as perfect as it should be: "Freaks and Geeks" was and still remains a perfect picture of American life.
3. Lost
By this time next year, who knows? "Lost" may not be so high on the list. I say this only because the show is only weeks away from premiering its sixth and final season. What happens if, God forbid, the show's writers screw the pooch here? Don't get me wrong: for the last couple of years, "Lost", the buzz-worthy ABC sci-fi series about a group of plane crash survivors on a very mysterious island, has been the best show on television. Just before it introduced, at the end of Season 3, the very idea that some of the castaways managed to get off the island and into the real world, the series was running full throttle. Seasons 4 and 5 kept the streak going, with the last season's finale leaving everyone hanging. Still, I remain only cautiously optimistic. Why? I still remember episodes such as "Stranger in a Strange Land", which is still the worst episode of "Lost", and one of the worst episodes of a TV show I've seen in a long time. Just like "Battlestar Galactica", this show has the potential of being very awesome or very, very bad.
But, as I said, this show has been very awesome in the last few years. Though it hasn't been honored with a Best Drama Emmy since its first season, Terry O'Quinn (as John Locke) and Michael Emerson (as Ben Linus) have both won Emmys for Best Supporting Actor, and they were well deserved. In general, the actors on "Lost" are uniformly excellent, as are the daring steps the writers have made to further the story. The twists come quickly, the pace has not let up in a while, and, most importantly, I still very much care about the answers to some of the big questions. What is the smoke monster? Why doesn't Richard Alpert age? What is the island? As bad as some episodes have gotten, I've never stopped caring about these answers, or these characters. With "Mad Men" off until the summer, "Lost" remains the best thing that TV has to offer right now.
2. Arrested Development
Here is my choice for, hyperbole be damned, the very best TV comedy ever. Better than "Monty Python's Flying Circus", better than "Fawlty Towers", better than "Seinfeld", better than "The Office". "Arrested Development", about an extremely quirky, self-involved family with only one truly sane person, was only on FOX for 53 episodes, 53 golden half-hours that you must discover if you haven't yet. More than any other show on this list, if you want to experience the funniest, most nutty, yet somehow heartfelt television series, this is it. Watch this show, please. Even now, three-plus years after its heartbreaking cancellation, "Arrested Development" remains as fresh as ever. Starring Jason Bateman (in the straight man role to end all straight man roles), Will Arnett, Michael Cera, David Cross, Ron Howard (as the narrator), and featuring guest turns from Carl Weathers, Liza Minnelli, Ben Stiller, Zach Braff, and many more, this show is consistently hilarious.
By the time the second and third seasons began, it was clear that the show's creator, Mitchell Hurwitz, and its writers were more interested in rewarding the viewers who'd stuck with the show from the very beginning, frequently referencing old in-jokes or building on them. Now, of course, with the magic of Hulu, iTunes, and cheap deals at various stores, "Arrested Development" isn't hard to find. Yet, despite the rises to fame some of the show's stars have had, it's still not as iconic to more people as shows like "The Office", which is still a shame. The day will come when I wear my "Annyong, Hermano" T-shirt and more people will smile than look at me oddly. Until then, I can only continue to beg you to check out the most hilarious TV comedy ever. As the final narration from Howard says, it was "Arrested Development".
1. Deadwood
And, at my top spot, is yet another show that got cancelled before its time. I hate that the majority of the shows I love are constantly being threatened with cancellation, but there you have it. This fantastic TV Western fell victim to failed negotiations between HBO and Paramount Studios, which distributed "Deadwood". After only three seasons and 36 episodes, the program was no more and, though there were constant rumors of TV-movies to end the series proper, nothing's ever come of it. What a shame. Of course, "Deadwood" never really hit the zeitgeist in the same way as "The Sopranos" or "The Wire" ever did, despite being as excellent as it was. The show never had any huge stars, though many of its actors have found work in more popular work (the showrunners of "Lost" seem to have a love affair with the show, as many "Deadwood" denizens have appeared on that show).
The story revolved around Deadwood, part of the Dakota Territory at the time the show picks up the action, and its slow march into being part of civilization. Timothy Olyphant plays Seth Bullock, who reluctantly becomes the sheriff; Ian McShane, though, steals the show as the uniquely vicious yet somehow awesome Al Swearengen, a profane, violent, yet extremely shrewd saloon owner and pimp. Swearengen is the real master of Deadwood, and rightly fears the oncoming onslaught of civilization, which will ruin the very profitable business he's been running. There were countless supporting roles, filled by sterling performers such as Garret Dillahunt (who played two characters in seasons 1 and 2), Gerald McRaney (yes, Major Dad), William Sanderson, and Powers Boothe. Created by David Milch, filled with some of the most proto-Shakespearean dialogue, and populated by the most colorful band of characters in any TV show I've seen, "Deadwood" is simply the most powerful piece of television I've laid witness to. It was one hell of a show, and, just like the other nine shows on my list, something you must see.