Decade of the Aughts: Top 30 TV Shows (Plus one) (2000-2009)

1. The Wire
(Gritty, real, authentic, everything you want in a TV drama was here in this HBO classic. Unfortunately Emmy voters fawned over the very well written, but very unrealistic portrayal of a mob boss talking to a shrink than the real life social/economic, political, media and educational implications of the drug trade in Baltimore.)

2. Chapelle Show (This is the show that Richard Pryor wanted to do.... Dave where are you?)

3. 24 (No show kills off more characters, yet keeps you on the edge of your seat of your set every season than “24”.But could the show continue without Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)?

4. Girlfriends
(Much like the “The Wire”, “Girlfriends, never got their due from the Emmy voters. Sure, they might have started off as a sexy African American version of “Sex in The City”, but with each, the show and its cast (Persia White, Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Jill Marie Jones, Reggie Hayes) evolved into one of the most underrated programs of the decade (Psst..if someone knows Jill Marie Jones, tell her to Twitter me.))

5. Lost (Please don't have a St. Elsewhere/Seinfeld/Sopranos ending...Please!)

6. Soul Food

(Before Showtime was the home for “Dexter” and “Weeds”, the struggling cable outlet was home for fantastic niche dramas like “The L Word”, “Resurrection Blvd”, “Queer as Folk” and “Soul Food,” which is arguably one of the best family dramas of all time. Inspired by the film, “Soul Food” proved that dramas featuring African-Americans could work. Its a shame that Showtime has dropped their focus on minorities dramas, because the audience is still there... unfortunately the execs are not listening.)

7. True Blood (Sex , vampires ,crazy plot lines and a romance between Bill and Sookie, what more do you need?)

8. Nip/Tuck (Sex , plastic surgeons, crazy plot lines and a bro-mance between Sean and Christan, what more do you need?)

9. The Sopranos (Great show, but show wasn't the same after Big Pussy was killed off).

10. Scrubs
(“Scrubs” is a lot like the show “Wings” back in the 1980's. Never appreciated, yet it lasted for years favorite. While critics and the Emmy voters fawn over ratings challenged sitcom “30 Rock”, the bro-mance between Turk and JD continues to thrive.)

11. Everybody Hates Chris
(When “The CW” decided to focus their programming on teenage girls (Where are you “Beautiful Life”?) , they canceled one of the funniest shows on TV. Chris Rock's take on his growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980's was laugh out loud funny and gave viewers fond family memories of a break dancing era gone bye.)

12.Buffy/Angel (Holdovers from the 1990's, today' s vampire phenomenon started with these classic shows).

13. Alias ( I love Sidney Bristow!)

14. PTI
(a sports show on the list? Why not! The fast paced program on ESPN is sure delight for sports fans who want their info quick with a lot of humor. Journalists turned TV hosts Tony Kornhieser and Michael Wilbon are this decades' Oscar & Felix (The Odd Couple)...only with a lot less hair.

15. American Idol (The reality TV boom started here.)

16. Grey's Anatomy (Chandra Wilson (Bailey) deserves an Emmy.)

17. Arrested Development (Underrated cast, underrated show.)

18. Glee
(Nerds, band geeks, and show tune freaks unite! From the team that brought you Nip/Tuck, Glee is a perfect melding of melodrama, Hip Hop and Babara Streisand. Who knew a mash-up of Usher's “Confessions” and Bon Jovi's “It's My Life” would be so cool?)

19. The Simpsons (Consistently funny since the 1980's.)

20. Entourage (It's a shame that Turtle lost Jamie Lynn Sigler on the show AND in real life..sucks for you bruh.)

21. The Shield/NYPD Blue (Were there every two scarier, but endearing cops on TV than The Shields Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and Blue's Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz).)

22. Rescue Me (From the ashes of Denis Leary's failed cop dramedy “The Job” on ABC came one of the best shows on TV. Hey Emmy voters its time to give Callie Thorne (Sheila) an award!)

23. Dexter/Weeds (The aughts finally brought Showtime out of HBO's shadow.)

24. Boston Legal (The cast changed every year, but outside of the bro-mance of Sean & Christan on "Nip/Tuck" and Turk &  JD on "Scrubs", who was better than Denny Crain and Alan Shore.)

25. Friends (The show's finale in 2004 was watched by 52.2 million...those days are long gone.)

26. Mad TV (This laugh out loud show is now off the air, yet “Saturday Live Night” is still on the air....how is this possible? ??

27. Family Guy (Best story of the decade. Canceled in 2001. Found new life on cable and DVD's. Revived in 2004 and is now of the best shows on TV...but the jury is still out on the “Cleveland Show”.)

28. Tavis Smiley /Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

(The aughts brought a a slew of talking heads (hello Anderson Cooper and Keith Olberman), including Smiley who brought a needed ethnic voice to the talk circuit and Ferguson whose comedic timing and lewd advances makes late night a guilty pleasure.)

29. Kevin Hill

(Before Taye Diggs finally found a home on “Private Practice” and Christina Hendricks, sauntered her sexy bod to “Mad Men”, this lost law show on the WB, had a lot of heart and great looking clothes. Hey Taye, let me use your stylist!)

30. Passions/Port Charles

(These quirky soap operas are gone now, but there was point during this decade, where you could see vampires and werewolves on ABC and monsters, witches and midgets on NBC (Still miss you Timmy). While “Passions” was great for good slaps in the face a strong multicultural cast and over the top story lines, the blood sucking love story between vampire Caleb (Michael Easton) & everyday girl Livvie (Kelly Monaco) on Port Charles” was just as compelling to watch as Bill and Sookie on “True Blood” or anything you would see in the “Twilight” movies.)

31. Flavor of Love (Sure Flav's show was trashy, but was it any worse than “The Bachelor”?)