2000s TV The Best Television Shows of the 2000s  

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List Rules Only TV series that aired between 2000 and 2009

List of the best shows that aired from 2000-2009, as ranked by television fanatics and critics. Television has been steadily evolving over the past few decades. What used to be simply an entertaining way to spend a half hour with the family has transformed into an elevated art form. Movies have been usurped by the television medium due to a continued rise in content quality. Starting in the 2000s, when cable networks like HBO and Showtime were introduced, the focus moved to quality in writing, directing, and acting more than ever before. People in the entertainment business who used to focus on movies began to move into television.

In the '00s, there were more quality television shows on the air than ever before. Cable networks introduced shows like Six Feet Under, Dexter, and The Sopranos that revolutionized the way television was made. Other shows, like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and Supernatural, changed the way people watched television, by including fan involvement and discussion as part of the experience. Comedies like Arrested Development and The Office and reality shows like American Idol also reigned supreme in the television universe.

What are your favorite TV shows from 2000-2009? This list includes the top shows from the 2000s from a variety of genres from sitcoms to science fiction.

list ordered by

1
1,003 398
The Office is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Office 2005-2013 The Office is an American television comedy series that aired on NBC from March 24, 2005 to May 16, 2013. It is an adaptation of the BBC series of the same name. The Office was adapted for ...more

2
430 479
House is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
House 2004-2012 House is an American television medical drama that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004 to May 21, 2012. The show's main character is Dr. Gregory House, a ...more

3
728 388
Friends is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
JenAnistonFriends added Friends 1994-2004 Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which originally aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004. It lasted ten seasons and is now in ...more

4
637 357
Breaking Bad is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Breaking Bad 2008-2013 Breaking Bad is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show originally aired on the AMC network for five seasons, from January 20, 2008, to ...more

5
387 474
Lost is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Lost 2004-2010 Lost is an American television drama series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 ...more

6
545 382
How I Met Your Mother is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
How I Met Your Mother 2005-2014 How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014. The series follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in ...more

7
333 390
The Sopranos is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Sopranos 1999-2007 The Sopranos is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. Revolving around the fictional New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano, the show portrays the ...more

8
345 307
Malcolm in the Middle is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
datrlykewlfreekinguymandood added Malcolm in the Middle 2000-2006 Malcolm in the Middle is an American sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000 and ended its six-year run on May 14, ...more

9
357 391
Dexter is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Dexter 2006-2013 Dexter is an American television drama series. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for Miami Metro Police Department who also leads a secret life ...more

10
408 286
Family Guy is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Family Guy 1999-present Family Guy is an American adult animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; ...more

11
404 287
Modern Family is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Modern Family 2009-present Modern Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009, which follows the lives of Jay Pritchett and his family, all of whom live in suburban Los Angeles. ...more

12
410 200
The Simpsons is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Simpsons 1989 The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by the ...more

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13
502 342
The Big Bang Theory is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Big Bang Theory 2007-present The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head ...more

14
354 294
Scrubs is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Scrubs 2001-2010 Scrubs is an American medical comedy television series created by Bill Lawrence that aired from October 2, 2001 to March 17, 2010 on NBC and later ABC. The series follows the lives of employees ...more

15
352 197
That '70s Show is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
That '70s Show 1998 That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that originally aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focused on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in ...more

16
190 335
Mad Men is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Mad Men 2007-2015 Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on July 19, 2007 on the cable network AMC and is produced by Lionsgate Television. The ...more

17
293 254
Law & Order: Special Victims U... is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 1999-present Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. In the style of the ...more

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18
436 240
Parks and Recreation is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Parks and Recreation 2009-present Parks and Recreation is an American television sitcom starring Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created ...more

19
259 236
Futurama is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added Futurama 1999 Futurama is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the ...more

20
339 269
South Park is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
South Park 1997-present South Park (Comedy Central, 1997) is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In the small town of South Park, four boys get caught up in all sorts of bizarre ...more

21
220 210
Psych is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Psych 2006-2014 Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network with syndication reruns on ION Television. It is produced by Franks and Tagline ...more

22
188 282
Monk is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added Monk 2002 Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the eponymous character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to ...more

The Best 2000s Medical TV Shows

23
268 183
SpongeBob SquarePants is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
SpongeBob SquarePants 1999 SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. The series chronicles the adventures and endeavors of ...more

24
301 276
Arrested Development is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Arrested Development 2003-present Arrested Development is an American television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz, which originally aired on Fox for three seasons from November 2, 2003 to February 10, 2006. A fourth season of ...more

25
258 282
Supernatural is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Supernatural 2005-present Supernatural (The CW, 2005) is an American fantasy horror television series created by Eric Kripke. Two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), follow their father's ...more

26
220 182
Criminal Minds is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Criminal Minds 2005-present Criminal Minds is an American police-procedural television program that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based ...more

27
189 212
Everybody Loves Raymond is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added Everybody Loves Raymond 1996 Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom starring Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett, and Monica Horan. It originally ran on CBS from September ...more

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28
165 229
Frasier is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added Frasier 1993 Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, premiering on September 16, 1993, and concluding on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David ...more

29
192 224
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 2000-present CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series that premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. ...more

30
187 205
Sons of Anarchy is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Sons of Anarchy 2008-present Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter, about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in ...more

31
212 159
Boy Meets World is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Boy Meets World 1993 Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom that chronicles the coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cornelius "Cory" Matthews. The show follows Cory and his friends ...more

32
141 255
24 is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
24 2001-present 24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each ...more

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33
242 248
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1997-2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series which aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. The series was created in 1997 by writer-director Joss Whedon under his production ...more

34
203 200
Gilmore Girls is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Gilmore Girls 2000-2007 Gilmore Girls is an American comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on the WB to widespread ...more

35
172 204
The X-Files is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added The X-Files 1993 The X-Files is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by Chris Carter. The program originally aired from September 10, 1993 to May 19, 2002 on Fox, spanning nine ...more

36
117 204
Chuck is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
WarrenMitchell added Chuck 2007-2012 Chuck (NBC, 2007) is an American action-comedy/spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. When a twenty-something computer geek (Zachary Levi) inadvertently downloads ...more

37
191 148
Drake & Josh is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Drake & Josh 2004 Drake and Josh are two guys with different personalities. REALLY different. Going to the same school is about the only thing they have in common. But that's about to change--in a BIG way. See, ...more

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38
157 245
The Wire is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Wire 2002-2008 The Wire is an American crime drama television series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the ...more

39
119 257
Six Feet Under is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Six Feet Under 2001-2005 Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001, and ended on August ...more

40
167 116
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch 1996 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name. The show premiered on September 27, 1996, on ABC to over 17 million viewers in its ...more

41
161 141
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody 2005 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series was first broadcast on Disney Channel on March 18, 2005, with 4 million viewers, ...more

42
164 192
Prison Break is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Prison Break 2005-2009 Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on Fox for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has ...more

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43
133 112
The Fairly OddParents is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
The Fairly OddParents 2001 The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around the everyday adventures of Timmy Turner, a boy who is granted ...more

44
152 172
Chappelle's Show is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
looksharp added Chappelle's Show 2003 Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in the majority of its ...more

45
158 118
Rugrats is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Rugrats 1991 Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently ...more

46
115 216
Fringe is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Fringe 2008-2013 Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. It premiered on the Fox Broadcasting network on September 9, 2008, and concluded ...more

47
160 118
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is listed (or ranked) 47 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Whose Line Is It Anyway? 1988 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (The CW, 1998) is an American improvisational comedy show adapted from the British show. Hosted by Aisha Tyler, the show features Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Wayne ...more

48
199 201
Grey's Anatomy is listed (or ranked) 48 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
Grey's Anatomy 2005-present Grey's Anatomy is an American medical soap opera television series that premiered on American Broadcasting Company as a mid-season replacement on March 27, 2005. The series has aired eleven ...more

49
151 189
30 Rock is listed (or ranked) 49 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
30 Rock 2006-2013 30 Rock is an American satirical television sitcom that ran on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013, and was created by Tina Fey. The series, which is loosely based on Fey's ...more

50
146 146
My Name Is Earl is listed (or ranked) 50 on the list The Best Television Shows of the 2000s
My Name Is Earl 2005 My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was ...more