Top 20 TV Shows of the Decade: #20 - #16

Smell that? The Teens are rapidly approaching. Now I quickly turn the page to television in my attempt to entertain myself and mark my territory in cyberspace to remind 50 year old me what 30 year me thought of society way back when Tiger Woods was getting the snot beat out of him by his wife.


Three simple disclaimers here:
1. To qualify, a show must not have had more than 1 full season completed by June 1, 2000. (Arbitrary date close to where a majority of seasons end). So such staples as The Simpsons and Family Guy will not be listed here.


2. It’s a pox on my house but I did not complete The Wire. Everyone I know that has claims it’s one of the best shows ever, so take that for what it’s worth.

3. Reality TV doesn’t qualify. Partly because it’s contributed so greatly to the Fall of the American Empire, partly because I don’t want to go on record with how awesome I thought Newlyweds was at the time.

So with that out of the way…

#20. BOSTON PUBLIC. Yes it was over the top. Yes it was very, very bad. But it was a pioneer. Think of all the bad TV these days: Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, 24. There’s none of that without Boston Public. Sure, it was a guilty pleasure. One week, a kid was bringing a human hand to school, the next week there was a school shooting, later a terrorist plot. All at the same Boston High School. But this Degrassi-With-A-Hotter-Teacher did just enough to keep me captivated each week. And you can’t tell me that Harvey Lipschultz wasn’t one of the best characters this decade.


#19. ENTOURAGE. One season away from dropping off the list completely as this show has become less and less stellar over time. However, it’s a testament to how good it once was that it still makes the cut. Ari Gold was one of the more fascinating and entertaining characters on TV in a long time – possibly the most enjoyable dickhead since Archie Bunker.

#18. MODERN FAMILY. While it’s only been 8 or 9 episodes so far, that’s more than enough time to declare this a home run. A unique and authentic sitcom, it’s like Roseanne minus the trailer trash. There hasn’t been a quality family-based sitcom since Roseanne it seems, and the likely reason for the high rate of failure for the family sitcoms is that there aint many families that mimic the Seavers, Keatons, or Cosbys anymore. MF doesn’t attempt to. It’s not going out on a limb to say the modern American family is diverse and hard to define, but to do so in such a hysterical but legitimate manner ain’t easy. Many have failed. This hasn’t.


#17. TRUE BLOOD. Yeah, um, I’m into a show about Vampires, Shape-shifters, Southerners, Werewolves and other freaky types. And I swear, it has very little to do with Ana Paquin’s boobs. Seriously. HBO just has a habit of hooking you in, and plus, it’s from the vision of Alan Ball, the man responsible for “Six Feet Under” and “American Beauty”. Christ, I’d trust him making a mini-series about snow shoveling in Hawaii with French subtitles.


#16. WEEDS. Much like Entourage, this hit its peak a while ago and keeps dropping, but Mary Louise Parker one of the most underrated actresses out there and the core cast of characters is one of the better ensembles currently on the tube. There’s no denying that the plots and story arcs have gotten more ludicrous and unbelievable as the seasons have gone on. However, what seems to be a recurring theme this decade is the “tragic hero” and Parker’s Nancy Botwin can hang with the best of them.