All Stories FeedThe Greatest TV Shows Of The Noughties?
Lists, lists and more lists emerging as the year and the decade draw to a close.
There are many opinions about which shows have shaped the last ten years of television.
The Sunday Age on the weekend noted: The Sopranos, The Office, Australian Idol, Big Brother and Lost.
“Big Brother debuted in the Netherlands in 1999. By 2001 we had our own version, and we could not believe our eyes. For the first time we were seeing not just real people on television, but real people like us. Despite furious denial in some quarters, the young folk of the Big Brother house lived in every street in Australia. Traditional audiences – and television executives – liked to pretend they didn’t, but reality television brought the awful, shocking, hilarious, poignant truth home: this is what Australia looked like,” wrote Melinda Houston.
Over in the US, the Dallas-Forth Worth arm of NBC gives its list as:
1. American Idol
2. Survivor
3. The Sopranos
4. Sex and the City
5. Lost
6. Family Guy
7. The Office
8. Grey’s Anatomy
9. Desperate Housewives
10. Two and a Half Men
11. 24
12. Arrested Development
13. Six Feet Under
14. Battlestar Galactica
15. The Daily Show
Variety asked the Television Critics Association to nominate their best. In drama they chose Friday Night Lights, Lost, Mad Men, The Sopranos, The West Wing and The Wire while in Comedy they picked 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Office.
Meanwhile the San Francisco Chronicle promises a list on January 1st but notes that some argue the decade doesn’t actually end on Dec. 31, 2009, but on Dec. 31, 2010.
“Ratings were never a factor in deciding on the Best Series of the Decade. Neither was a show’s social impact – it’s ability to influence the zeitgeist. I think that’s why you’ll see the lack of some very big reality/unscripted series. (As an aside, I have an admitted bias toward scripted series. A reality show can be entertaining, but in my mind it can never be brilliant. A concept – or a contest, for that matter – pales in comparison to writing, to the development of a nuanced character.) What I wanted was very simple: greatness. I found that most often in scripted series,” writes Tim Goodman.
In the UK they’ve packaged together an entire TV special on the subject (think 20 to 1?), The Greatest TV Shows Of The Noughties which airs this week. It promises Doctor Who, The Wire, Planet Earth, The Apprentice, Big Brother, Friends amongst its ranks. Top Gear was named Britain’s favourite television programme of the decade.
And as for me? I’ll narrow it down to most influential Reality: Survivor and most influential scripted series: Lost.
And for what it’s worth, the latter was famously inspired by the success of the former.
Source: The Age, NBCDFW, SFGate.com, Variety
- Previous post: Returning: 24
- Next post: July 09: MasterChef triumphs, THIS afternoon, Chaser’s War ends.
Best show of the decade – Survivor.
Totally agree with you that it was the most influential.
“The Office” UK and, sadly, “Big Brother” both have to be up there with for the most influential programs.
For mine, “The West Wing” must be the best series of the decade, even if it did start in 1999 in the US.
The return of “Doctor Who” was, personally, the most welcome moment in television since the aborted return in 1996 (via the horrendous telemovie).
For Christopher – The Wire. The Wire. The Wire. The Wire. The Wire. The Wire.
Although I think that The West Wing edged it. Really looking fwd to the final season of Lost too – Season 5 was awesome.
Big Brother was definitely the greatest and most influential of the decade in Australia. It brought TEN ratings it hadn’t seen in years, and brought a new genre to Aussie TV. It was compelling viewing – it was new, it was extravagant, exciting, shiny. It introduced a fresh-faced host with a penchant for outrageous fashion and an undoubtable talent for live TV. It is responsible for more controversy than most shows would want or get.
We can all say it’s a crap show (which yes it very much dwindled down to) and we didn’t watch it but even in it’s fifth and sixth seasons it was getting fantastic ratings, and arguably peaked in terms of ratings in its third.
Other shows I would nominate are Kath & Kim (for bringing back the sitcom to Australia), Border Security (even though I hate this show, it was one of the first and certainly most popular of Seven’s current factual-o-rama), and Desperate Housewives (reviving both ABC in America and Seven here) as well as Lost.
Dexter FTW!!
@mark, I fail to see how liking shows that feature murderes and criminals in lead roles makes one more intelligent. Perhaps that’s my lack of intelligence.
Agreed Chris, people have no taste or intelligence
My top 5
The Wire
Sopranos
Dexter
Deadwood
Top Gear
Discuss………..
34 comments so far and only two say The Wire (and one hasn’t even watched it). What is wrong with you people?
I’d love to see an Australian top 10…
Glad that Grey’s made the list. Its first 2 seasons were awesome and the past 2 seasons have got back to the Grey’s roots. It is one true drama. Lost has changed the way we look at TV and i love it. Despite what people might say i think Alias was an awesome show and sure it wasnt as popular but i think it changed tv just a bit. Look at when it was launched, just after Sept 11. CSI i will admit changed everything we knew about forensics and more. Despite not watching for 4 years the show in its hey day was fantastic. Now i dont watch it.
Survivor is the king of Reality if you like it or not. Sure Idol is there and i think American Idol is the best in the world of its format but Survivor singlehandedly gave us reality tv. Desperate Housewives gave us something we havent seen in ages and it is still something i never miss. I havent missed an episode season 1 was just brilliant. I also loved the last season. 24 was another influential and very controversial show and i think has changed the face of television.
One not on that list is Dancing With the Stars. It changed the way we watch Dance. In Australia in particular it helped Seven single handedly return to the top along with the US imports. It took time but when Seven returned to the top it was the #1 show on the network and still rates very very well. Then PTTR came along and well what a show that is. You look at it from an American point of view and particularly ABC’s 4 shows changed the way we watched. Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost. The same 4 shows which helped Seven.
Sorry its a bit long but heres my top 5:
Lost
Grey’s Anatomy
Survivor
Dancing With the Stars
CSI
Survivor should win because Survivor started the whole reality TV phenomenon. A whole lot of shows would not have even been commissioned if it wasn’t for the success of Survivor.
Thanful that Grey’s made the list.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Dexter yet!
Lost, 24, How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Family Guy, House and Monk are some that come to mind for me.
The Amazing Race anyone?
The first season of 24 was also incredible in terms of storytelling in ‘real time’.
Australian tv- panel shows seemed to dominate (at least on ABC) Spicks and Specks did it best, but The Gruen Transfer also got people talking. Did Denton begin in the ‘noughties’? Can’t remember (short memory!)
Reality TV errr a myth…..most ‘reality tv’ was just an extended form of the traditional game show revamped and located in a different environment. The TV execs always had controls of the boundaries and the prizes.
Take the amazing race….if it was ‘real’ they would have different teams all over the world as the slackers would fall way behind amd the smart folk be way ahead….it is just a game show.
My top 3 are Top Gear, The Office &……………Desperate Housewives series 1
The West Wing was not just the best programme of the decade, but one of the best programmes ever produced. The writing, acting and production values all took television to a whole new level, but it was the humour that made me love it so much.
The spirit of reality TV did die, I think it did, it continues to exists in a sort of zombie form with less interest and fascination. As for other great shows of the noughies, I thought, Hells Kitchen, Big Bang Theory & maybe How I Met Your Mother to a lesser extent would certainly be up there with the rest of them. In terms of reality tv, I thought The Amazing Race was a well produced & entertaining show, & probably on par with Survivor even though it probably didn’t receive as many viewers.
From the UK, there was Little Britain and Extras, Balls of Steel as well as The Office with honorable mentions going to Dragons Den & The IT Crowd. As for Australian content there was Chasers War On Everything, Thank God You’re Here, Spicks & Specks, The Glasshouse, The Gruen Transfer, Kath & Kim, Enough Rope and honorable mentions going to The New Inventors. There are probably some other great shows of the noughties but that’s what I could recall. I wait with anticipation as to what will come in the next decade, possibly titled the teenties, twenty-O’s, twenty teens etc.
aznfratboy, I didn’t say all of them changed the tv landscape – but Sunrise certainly did. Today, for some time was the only breakfast news/chat show on tv, until Sunrise came along and after a while it overtook Today, extending into morning television.
Big Brother Australia was the probably the largest and most expensive television show which very much changed the television landscape. It was the launch of this format that saw reality become a major part of Australian television, even earning its own category at the Logies.
Underbelly saw a move back to less than conservative attitudes towards sex and nudity, something not seen since the 70’s.
Spicks and Specks was the start of an explosion of music/trivia related game shows.
The 00s was certainly the decade of “reality”.
Saying reality TV has died really depends on your definition. True reality – at least the first time I heard the term used in the UK in the mid-late ’90s – was observational-style documentary serials, like Sylvania Waters (there was a period where Channel 4 seemed to be filming everyone from council workers to bankers). Big Brother is a heightened version of that, and Survivor then mixed reality and game show with challenges, etc (if one considers It’s A Knockout a game show).
I think it is fair to argue that shows that are closer to talent, game or variety shows are not actually reality shows at all. Or is the news a reality show? I think it is more about exposing people’s real lives or personalities on camera rather than any show that features non-professionals.
Idol is called reality but is actually a talent show. Is Master Chef reality? It has real people in it, but it’s really a prolonged game show. The Biggest Loser is a bit of a grey area. But I think true reality are shows such as Find My Family, Border Security or Cops and to varying degrees – given the “casts” are often put in staged situations – shows like The Kardashians, The Hills and My Life On The D-List et al.
@ Stevie G: The up and coming decade will be known as the Ten’s.
Queer As Folk
Jason: Reality TV died? Ummm…..
More generally, I am confining my picks to shows that actually began in the Noughties, which rules Friends and The Simpsons out.
@ Earthquake none of the shows you have mentioned have changed the television landscape.
CSI should be up there, single handedly took down NBC’s Must See Thursday at the turn of the millenium, granted NBC was stupid in never picking up a good comedy, CSI not only took down NBC, it spawned crime procedurals every which way across the world.
Raymond, Frasier and Friends have GOT to be there, they were the last of the quality sitcoms, two and a half men and big bang theory rank nowhere near the quality of the sitcoms of the 90s. How I Met Your Mother imo made their modernised version of Friends and Cheers.
My top 5 most influencial shows of the noughties:
The Simpsons – Everybody draws a line from the Simpsons sometime or another
Sesame Street – Still the most watched kids show today… 40 years on
CSI – single handedly made crime procedurals the #1 thing to DVR
Survivor – It gave us reality TV, granted I hate reality TV, it’s still a huge part of primetime TV shows all across the world.
The Wire – Never watched it, but the reviews I’ve heard is that it’s one of the greatest shows ever. Also, there must be a reason if in some universities in USA you just have to watch all of The Wire and get a diploma…
The Wire was without doubt the best show this decade. Nothing comes close to the writing and the character development. On the comedy front Arrested Development was casted and scripted perfectly.
On an Australian front nothing really grabbed me like these shows but maybe Underbelly and Rove were two influential and (mostly) impressive programs.
even though i hated bb it did have a huge impact of television, i’m just Glad i can now watch ten without seeing ads trying to get to to care about which housemate goes this week.
That is one sad, sorry list of tv shows!
Only show I have watched with any semi-regularity in that list is Sex and the City, and I usually watch that so I can make disparaging remarks about Carrie (one of the mose unlikeable female characters I have ever come across).
And are we talking about the US Office? puh-lease!
It may not be correct technically but in general terms the Noughties were 2000 to 2009, just as the 90s were 1990 to 1999 and the 80s 1980 to 89 etc.
Question: If the first decade of the 2000s were called the rearley heard “Noughties”, what will the next decade be called?
I thought Big Brother was great viewing and was good while it lasted but it’s something that really belonged to the noughties though I won’t be suprised if ten years later, they are trying to bring it back a la Hey Hey It’s Saturday Facebook campaign.
But Big Brother and reality TV in general died because it was no longer representative of regular people once the initial seasons finished. You could go to a supermarket and see how average families behave and interact with other people. In the end, after the initial seasons, Big Brother became a lame popularity contest for the untalented and the subsequent fame never lasted i.e Sara Marie and her Bum Dance.
Mine would go some thing like this:
Buffy, Lost, Survivor, Friends, Sex & The City, Angel, Big Brother, Kath & Kim, Desperate Houswives and the one everyone seems to have forgotten to put on the list ( including tv week )
CSI !!!!, It was a sleeper hit when it premiered, with a fresh take on the crime solving genre and has spawed countless spin offs and variations on the theme.
With the programe guide littered with similar shows, I think a lot of people have forgotten how fresh it was when it just started.
“The West Wing” was one of the greatest drama series on television ever. i like it very much…
it has to be big brother as far as i am concerned
bring back big brother in 2010 please i dont care if it is on free to air or foxtel i just want it back
I admit, Survivour was the show that really kicked off Reality TV, but it only comes #2 behind Big Brother.
Big Brother is Australia & the UK’s #1
Survivour is U.S.A’s #1
Survivor has had a greater influence on television than Big Brother.
first season of prison break would have to be up there – that was amazing!!
I think Survivor would have to be my number 1 for sure!!! It’s such a great show and continually delivers great seasons!!!
Love it or loathe it, it was Big Brother that truly changed the shape of television for the entire decade, and forever more.
I can’t wait until we get Big Brother-on-steroids in some variation on the movie Series 7
Survivor
Whirlpool also has a count going:
forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1339825.html
Not sure how updated it is though
Easily that top 15 becomes a 3 horse race for me.Arrested Development was a rare gem,a show with perfect casting,wonderfully witty scripts & great cameos.Sex & The City was also consistently good,especially Kim Catrall,what a role.The Sopranos again displayed what a great ensemble cast & excellent writing can achieve.Lastly a mention to Six Feet Under…started off great but lost momentum when too many characters were brought in.
Aussie tv sadly as per usual lost its better programming in lieu of short lived & hyped shows.Always Greener is my pick for number one spot & second place would be Secret Life Of Us which only grabbed my attention in the last 2 seasons.Both shows surely deserved a longer life.
There’s no doubt in my mind. Survivor and Lost are the two most important TV shows of the decade (the SF Croncicle is right, though, the true ‘decade’ started on January 1 2001 and ends on December 31 2010).
Survivor kick-started the era of reality television, and is still at its forefront.
Lost was, and to me still is, the best scripted drama on TV.
“not just real people on television, but real people like us”
Like us? I rather think not.
It was a freak parade, pure and simple. All ‘reality’ TV is, that’s its sole appeal.
(to some anyway, the rest of us are still scratching our heads ten years on)
If we’d like most influential Australian shows of the 00’s I would say they would have to be All Saints, Big Brother Australia, Underbelly, The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, Rove [live], Kath and Kim, Summer Heights High, Spicks and Specks, Four Corners and Sunrise.
All of those have influenced headlines, caused outrage, won awards or changed the tv landscape.
So nothing from the WB/UPN (now THE CW) made the list?
I’d add Buffy, Angel, Smallville and Gilmore Girls to name just 4! Although Buffy and Angel started before 2000 so would they make the list anyway?