Top 10 TV Shows (From 2000 Onward)
I love TV (and lists), so I decided to really get to the nitty and gritty of my favorite series of all time. That is, my favorite TV series that I've seen and only from 2000 and onward, because while the original Doctor Who might be a tour-de-force of brilliance and originality, I've never seen it and it's plainly too outdated for me to care at this point. I'll take your word for it, though.
Anyway, if you're here you're probably bored and looking to start a war with me over what constitutes a good show. So, without further adieu:
Best episodes: E04 An Alchemist's Anguish, E47 Emissary of Darkness, E61 He Who would Swallow God
Best character: King Bradley
It's rare for me to get into a show from the very first episode, much less the first few minutes or so of watching it. And that's still the case with Fullmetal Alchemist, a show I reluctantly started because one of my exes couldn't stop putting it on a pedestal at the summit of Mt. Everest.
I've never been a huge fan of anime in general either, except for when I was younger and watching muscley alien men charge up their powers for 27 episodes (Dragon Ball Z, looking at you) seemed to really get me worked up. Of course, when you grow older, shows like Dragon Ball Z and Rugrats are only enjoyable for their nostalgia once you realize how stupid you were when you were too high on Surge to pay any real attention.
Fullmetal Alchemist is the sole reason that I started giving anime another shot. I've Netflix'd quite a few since my re-entry into the vast genre, but even since I was a child, I've never see an animated show so wildly original and captivating without pandering to the ADD in me. The story starts off (somewhat) simply enough, when two brothers who engage in "alchemy" attempt to bring back their dead mother, resulting in one brother's soul being trapped in a suit of armor for eternity and the other losing an arm and a leg in the process. The plot revolves around them trying to restore their bodies and unlocking the true potential of alchemy by chasing a macguffin, the "philosopher's stone."
That's the breakdown, but when you get multiple episodes in and start meeting other characters, the show truly starts to shine. Every single character (and there's plenty) is multidimensional, their goals and ambitions explained, none of whom are traditionally "evil" or "good." My reason for loving the show is because it doesn't fall to some more conventional anime gimmicks that would turn most people off, but instead gives us an original setting and storyline with incredibly layered characters, suspense at every turn and absolutely STUNNING animation. Fullmetal Alchemist is great for the anime-lovers and just TV-lovers in general, providing the thrills and laughs of any outstanding show.
You should watch if: you like anime, OR if you don't. If you like a great plot with multiple characters, solid themes and beautiful animation, definitely watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Best episodes: S2E11 Judge, Jury, Executioner, S3E3 Walk with Me,S3E12 Clear, S3E13 Arrow on the Doorpost
Best character: Hershel Greene
The Walking Dead is a show that has polarized its audience. It's half soap-opera, half zombie massacre. People expecting more of one over the other seemed to be turned off; however, it has certainly picked up steam over the years as can be observed by the 16.1 million viewers for the premiere of season 4. I like to describe the show as an intense character drama where zombies just so happen to be co-existing.
I'll be honest, the first season took a long time to hook me in. So long, in fact, that it didn't hook me at all. I fell into that group that expected more zombie madness than "RICK CAN NEVER KNOW," followed by crying. I watched two episodes, thought it was neat, then read the synopsis of the season on Wikipedia. Then I heard people talking about how incredible it had gotten and I was floored; I kept saying "really? That show?" How shallow of me, I guess. I started Season 2 being a little lost, but slowly started to understand why The Walking Dead was so great: its characters. Yes, the show had great pacing, build-up and tongue-in-cheek humor here and there, but I started to really hate a lot of people. The Walking Dead, much like Game of Thrones, leaves no character safe from very abrupt murder. The end of season 2 gave me a very satisfying death in one of my most hated characters, but that was the whole point.
It's very good at keeping you torn on people; one second, you'll eat cereal out of their bath water knowing they are pure and perfect, the next... well, you'll want to drown them because oh my god what the fuck are you thinking? While you may not agree with things, The Walking Dead puts this alternate future-reality in a grim-yet-realistic scope, and you find yourself pulling your hair out disagreeing yet understanding a lot of the characters' decisions. It's one of the few things on TV you'll find yourself having a one-sided conversation with, other than a sports game... I guess. I don't know, I don't keep up with sports.
You should watch if: you're looking for a deep drama that poses challenging scenarios in an alternate modern-day reality.
Best episodes: S1E16 Fears, S2E7 Chirp, S4E11 New Year's Eve, S5E12 Under Pressure
Best character: Claire Dunphy
Ah yes, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of every day family life in three different-yet-connected households. What a gold mine of societal commentary!
And indeed it is; Modern Family has one of the most boring show titles in the history of anything, but while the seemingly normal premise might seem cute for a few episodes, you'll get hooked on the inner workings of the Pritchett family. Three different sub-groups of the American family are shown: the traditional family (2 parents, 3 children of differing ages), the non-traditional family (woman and man both divorced then re-married, step-son, ethnic, old man with young woman), and the very non-traditional family (gay male couple, adopted Vietnamese child).
The show certainly took some risks with the gay-centric family, but it also pulls it off fantastically, pulling humor from easier, typical gay themes AND ALSO from the sarcastic indifference towards them. Every actor gives outstanding performances, with characters like Claire, Jay and Mitchell showing their affinity for perfect comedic timing. Each one is so varied and different, and considering the show is an ensemble piece about 10 main characters each getting significant screen time, that's no easy feat; they somehow made a middle-child character archetype just as interesting as everyone else.
The show draws most of its humor from simple, every day nuisances and how the quirky personalities of each family member responds to them; each episode also has three separate plots that each tie into each other and have a common theme among them, usually with some sort of heart-warming message accompanied by smooth acoustic guitar. What's not to love?
You should watch if: you love a good comedy that tries to progress society's standards and if you can relate to bad relationships with in-laws and annoying smoke detectors.
Best episodes: S1E23 Modern Warfare, S2E19 Critical Film Studies, S3E6 Advanced Gay, S3E20 Digital Estate Planning
Best character: The Greendale Human Being
You would think a show about a bunch of school rejects at community college would be funny. And you would be right.
But you wouldn't expect how deep and detailed such a show could be, and that's where you'd need to hop off that high horse and start riding the humble donkey because Community is a show that demands you take it at more than face value. At its core, it's a comedy, a sitcom without a laugh track where its characters get into ludicrous and hilarious predicaments, but the first season makes you think it's all about Greendale Community College and its hijinks; it's not, and once you see the secret garden episode or the paintball episodes, you'll discover that Community makes a name for itself and differentiates itself from other network comedies by being weird, original and critical of other genres.
It parodies action movies, old-school sitcoms, horror films, documentaries, B-movies and everything else you can imagine. While its being funny, it's providing smart commentary on a range of subjects and the entertainment industry as a whole, and you won't even realize you're forming an opinion while watching "Trey and Abed in the Morning!"
Community was such a delightful surprise of a show and continues to be suspenseful, hilarious and heartfelt all at the same time. For a TV show, that's hard, especially for one that shamefully lost its showrunner for a whole season before bringing him back. Its characters are so diverse and retain their own brand of comedy and the storylines are always so much more intricate than what you first expect.
You should watch if: You're sick of typical sitcoms and you're ready for something to turn your view of TV and film on its head; also if you enjoy Joel McHale's body.
Best episodes: S2E24 Freddy Spaghetti, S3E11 Jerry's Painting, S4E6 End of the World
Best character: Ron Swanson
If you've seen The Office, chances are you've at least heard of Parks & Recreation, a show that exists in its spirit. Similarly, the show retains a lot of what made The Office great: a handy-cam/cinema verite cinematic style, varied characters, juxtaposition of the mundane worklife against zany antics, etc. But Parks learned from any of the mistakes The Office made, which is why it replaces it on my list of the best shows: it's essentially The Office 2.0.
It follows the story of Leslie Knope, head of the Parks & Recreation department at her local government office of Pawnee, Indiana. The show starts by following her lead a rag-tag group of ill-informed government employees from the pop culture-obsessed, materialistic Tom to the apathetic, lazy intern April. Although one of the real stars here is Ron, Leslie's boss, a man who prides himself on being ruggedly conservative in social values and a man who doesn't take shit from anybody. But like many of my favorite shows, each character isn't just a two-sided coin; rather they evolve into Rubik's cubes, each having multiple values and reasons for those values. They each also add their own flavor of humor to the show, and I'm honestly beyond impressed with how varied each character is. Other than focusing primarily on Leslie, you could argue that Parks & Recreation is a pseudo-ensemble with the other characters getting their fair share of attention and screen time.
You should watch if: you enjoyed The Office, love Amy Poehler and love making fun of the government.
Best episodes: S1E1 Pilot, S3E22 Through the Looking Glass, S5E3 Jughead, S5E12 Dead is Dead
Best character: John Locke
Other than reigniting my passionate love for peanut butter, Lost is probably the show that got me hooked onto the 'serialized drama.' Lost was ambitious from the very beginning, setting up LOTS of questions that people still make fun of to this day, almost 4 years after it ended (seriously, polar bears, am I right?). Foremost, the show is about a group of people who crash land onto an island and have to survive. It's like that Tom Hanks movie but there's no volleyballs. Oh, but you'd be a fool to think the show was JUST about being stranded on a desert island, wouldn't you?
You would, because it tackles more thematic elements that I could shake a hatch door at: religion, time travel, physics, cults, medicine, societal hierarchy, life, death, existence it-fucking-self. There are plenty more, but each of those could be made into their own 6-season shows BY THEMSELVES. Many people criticized the show for spreading itself too thin with all these different angles, and I can't entirely disagree with them. After the 2nd season, the show started playing with more advanced ideas (like time travel and teleportation) and it all started to feel more and more gimmicky. Perhaps it was; but I admire the show for pulling in all these different ideas and evolving the base concept into far, far more; something that people still argue and debate over today (again, 4 years after its end).
The show kept you guessing in every single episode, so much so that certain fans created movie tie-in conspiracies. Lost's fans (including myself) would stay up all night rattling their brains, and typical thoughts usually went something like "Wait, if he made the plane crash, then how did she- oh right, isn't on the island. But that guy's dad is, or is he an illusion? Or is he alive? And if he is, what does he want with the peanut butter chick? Oh my God, HE LIT IT ON FIRE?!"
You should watch if: you don't already know major spoilers and love being a detective for 6 seasons and, also, you love deep conversations about existence and God.
Best episodes: S1E5 Honeypot,S1E10 Dial M for Mother, S2E10 El Secuestro, S3E8 El Scandolo
Best character: Mallory Archer
Anything that strikes me as inappropriate and non-water-cooler-friendly immediately grabs my attention because I like to make sure I alienate as many co-workers as possible. Archer is the kind of show that has that kind of humor. Lampooning James Bond and Mission: Impossible-style thriller movies and shows, Archer mixes silly cartoon banter and slapstick while still sticking to what its parodying. Sterling Archer works for his mother, Mallory at a CIA-style super-intelligence facility called ISIS. Sterling, along with his on-again off-again love interest Lana and a team of scientists, accountants and receptionists are tasked with assassinating political leaders, busting drug networks and taking care of an ocelot.
The show works primarily well because of the long-running jokes. While certain plot points carry over episode-to-episode, it wouldn't be necessary to follow the show in chronological order except for how most of the humor works. One-liners are funny on their own, but the real gut-busting comes from referencing a joke from season 1 in season 3. Many of the jokes are inside jokes, with no set-up or real way to explain it to a friend (should you have any) without having them see the episode for themselves. Yes, you'll be "that person" that tries to explain a "had-to-be-there" moment if no one else has experienced Archer, and it's incredibly difficult to pinpoint what works so well about this style of comedy. The animation is also usually very static, so combine the minimal movement of someone like Sterling with his over-the-top delivery and you've got a winning combination of originality. It's as if the show includes you in its circle of friends and only then will you begin to understand why everyone should be its friend.
You should watch if: you love big action set-pieces, sexy characters, ocelots, androids, nudity and perfectly timed banter among selfish people who don't know how to do their jobs.
Best episodes: S1E2 Top Banana, S1E13 Beef Consomme, S2E16 Meet the Veals
Best characters: Lucille Bluth
A more perfectly-crafted comedy never existed. Arrested Development revolves around a family who owns a real estate company known as the Bluth Company and how absolutely crazily and idiotically each member treats the multi-million dollar establishment. Save for Michael Bluth, the show's primary protagonist, each character seems to suffer from some sort of social deficiency that results in each of them leading their lives astray from logic. Michael is tasked with keeping the company, and the family, together, but is tested to his absolute limits in nearly every episode. Much like Archer, the shows truly shines when it references things from other episodes, future episodes and even things in the same episode that may or may not have happened yet. There exists a ridiculous amount of foreshadowing, allusion and puns/word play that it would be easy to completely miss over half the jokes throughout your first viewing.
Yes, first. Arrested Development warrants at least 2 or 3 views of its 4-season run because, after having watched it 3 times or so now, I STILL find references and jokes that I never caught before. Once you start blue-ing your mind with all the foreshadowed events, you'll see why the show is so masterfully created and written. The humor often informs the plot rather than just being funny asides, such as the mistaken Spanish for "Hermano" or the way the devilish matriarch treats her children. Things evolve out of the jokes, and too many comedies don't understand how difficult and successful that can be.
You should watch if: you love dysfunctional families and playing with the English language (and appreciate a show you can re-watch with motivation).
Best episodes: Every
Best character: Walter White
I hate to build upon the hype because that often ruins things for people, but Breaking Bad is one of the very few things in the world that simply cannot be over-hyped. Okay, maybe it DOESN'T have fire-breathing tigers and machine-gun-laden dinosaurs, but it falls just short of those things in the "awesome" factor. In case you were recently born within the past day, Breaking Bad is a story about a high school chemistry teacher-turned meth badass who starts dealing so he can make money for his family once he dies of cancer and finishes dealing because, well, he is the one who knocks.
This is the ultimate anti-hero/redemption story, though. Writing a good character is hard; writing characters this good is near-impossible, but here you have a set of characters who shock you with every move but aren't unbelievable. The story is always so tightly told, with every loose end tied up in a perfect drug-laced bow, characters who act within their own parameters and pacing that never feels too fast or too slow. The writers seemed to have worked so methodically, even the tiniest details you never thought would be important turned out to be REALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT.
Breaking Bad pushed the boundaries of cable television and introduced a character we needed to hate, but couldn't. Throughout the show's 5-season run, we grew with Walter White, seeing him evolve (or, devolve, rather) and we can't entirely blame him for how certain events played out. Characters carry true weight, and when one dies, it strikes a powerful chord. And let's not forget the dark, dark, dark humor the show uses as both very slight dramatic relief but also as points of "..can I laugh at that?"
You should watch if: you like TV. At all. If you're a fan of good writing and an exceptional dual-life redemption story, Breaking Bad is for you.
Best episodes: S3E4 The Luck of the Fryrish, S5E18 The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings, S6E7 The Late Philip J. Fry, S7E10 The Prisoner of Benda, S10E10 Game of Tones, S10E12 Meanwhile
Best character: Professor Farnsworth
You've made it to my number 1 TV show of all time. Congratulations! You do care! ...Or you skipped just to see the list instead of reading my reasons, which is fine, whatever, you're a cunt.
If the tragedy and comedy masks had a child, Futurama would be that baby mask. The show is hilarious and smart, albeit pandering to the 5-year-old in our hearts at times. And I don't just mean smart like "what a great twist that was," I mean this is the show that made up and proved its own mathematical theorem. It's that kind of smart.
But to reference my allusion to the masks earlier, Futurama is like The Simpsons or Family Guy if those shows could make you cry. Episodes like the infamous, heart-wrenching, SERIOUSLY HAVE TISSUES READY "Jurassic Bark" all deftly mix humor with serious heart, and it's when you watch these episodes that you realize that Futurama is something special. It's far more than butt jokes and slapstick; it has pitch-perfect commentary on everything from politics and technology to big business and religion. It's the rare show that you can enjoy with your brain at low power or maximum power, being able to grab your attention with its bright colors and special effects and then hold it with it big, scientific words and explanations. While the setting has plenty of holes in logic, the year 3000 still feels real and tangible. The show is phenomenal at butchering other shows and genres and despite how far out it is, still remains relatable. Fry's undying love for Leela never gets old, and by the end of season 9, you're going to realize why.
You should watch if: you have a heart and a sense of humor.
