Ask anyone what they remember from the 2000s TV landscape, and you’ll get the same five answers every time. People will mention Lost, The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and maybe Glee (if the person grew up belting out show tunes in their bedroom). These TV shows never left the conversation because streaming kept them alive. They also got reboots and reunions, and they became synonymous with an entire decade of television.
But I grew up watching a lot more than the shows that people still talk about. For every Lost, there was a brilliant TV show that ran for a couple of seasons and then vanished from the conversation, even though plenty of people tuned in every single week. Some of them made actors stars before they became household names, and a few were ahead of their time. I picked nine shows from the 2000s that are worth going back to. These shows mattered, and they’re worth remembering for reasons that have nothing to do with nostalgia.
Why You Should Trust Me: I’ve spent the last six years covering sci-fi, fantasy, romance, action, drama, and TV shows professionally, with the last three and a half of those years at MovieWeb. I have written well over 1,500 list articles, and I don’t put a show on a list like this unless I’ve actually sat with it. The 2000s mean more to me than just another TV decade to cover. Those were my formative years, and much of what I know about storytelling I learned from watching this era unfold in real time through the eyes of characters I adore.
‘Dead Like Me’ (2003 – 2004)
A Dark Comedy About Death That Feels Like a Warm Hug
Showtime’s Dead Like Me took the most overused metaphor in fiction and made it feel fresh. George Lass dies on her first day at a temp agency, gets recruited as a grim reaper, and discovers that the afterlife runs on the same soul-crushing bureaucracy as every dead-end job she’s tried to escape. Bryan Fuller, who created the series and was only around for five episodes, planted the tone of morbid whimsy and heartfelt grief. It carried on for two seasons before maturing into Pushing Daisies. However, I love George the most. She remains a brat for most of Dead Like Me‘s entire run, and you like her anyway. Her family’s slow unraveling after her death runs parallel with her own reluctant growth, and it’s beautiful to watch.
Watch This If: You’re the type of person who finds dark humor comforting. You want a show about death to shrug at the big stuff and get soft about the small stuff.
Skip This If: You need to root for your main character right away. George takes her sweet time becoming someone you actually like, and if that’s going to bug you, it’s fair to sit this one out.
‘Everwood’ (2002 – 2006)
A Classic Family Drama That’s Honest About Grief
Everwood gets buried in the shadow of every other WB drama from its era, and that’s a shame because it was of the most honest shows on the network. Andy Brown gives up his career as a top Manhattan neurosurgeon after his wife dies and drags his kids to a small Colorado town. The show could have coasted on teen romance and stunning backdrops. Instead, it centers on a father who has no idea how to parent and a son who has every reason not to trust him. The show also refuses to let Andy’s good intentions solve everything. He gets things wrong constantly. Ephram holds grudges the way real teenagers do: messily and for too long. I’m truly surprised people aren’t watching it in 2026 because it’s so relatable.
Watch This If: You want a show to let you feel the difficult feelings instead of rushing you toward a lesson. This is the one to put on when you want to cry a little and feel better after, not worse.
Skip This If: You’re in the mood for something fast-paced. Everwood takes its time, and if you want a show’s plot to move quickly, it’s going to feel like it’s dragging its feet.
‘Southland’ (2009 – 2013)
A Cop Show That Cared More About Truth Than Plot Twists
NBC canceled Southland after seven episodes, and then made one of the strangest moves of its era by reversing the decision two weeks before its second season premiere… only to cancel it again a month later. TNT picked up the pieces, slashed the budget, trimmed the cast, and ended up with a show that got better every single season. Southland sets itself apart from every other cop drama of the decade because it refuses to dramatize anything. There’s no serialized villain, no season-long conspiracy, and no romantic subplot. It just follows patrol officers and detectives through the actual rhythm of the job. It explores the boredom next to the horror and the burnout that creeps in.
Watch This If: You’re burned out by cop shows that feel like they were written by someone who has never actually met a cop. Southland is the gritty antidote to that.
Skip This If: You need a big case or a season-long villain to keep you invested. This show isn’t interested in giving you that.
‘Agatha Christie’s Marple’ (2004 – 2013)
A Cozy Mystery Series That Wasn’t Afraid to Bend the Rules
Agatha Christie’s Marple never got the reverence that Poirot did, largely because it takes more liberties with the source material by inserting Miss Marple into stories she never actually appeared in and rewriting the endings of those stories. While purists never forgave that, I wanted to judge it on its own terms and realized it’s a clever piece of British mystery TV that understands the atmosphere is just as important as the plot. Geraldine McEwan played Marple for the first three series with a mischievous energy, and Julia McKenzie took over for the second half with a colder version of the same woman. They’re both fascinating.
Watch This If: You’re in the mood for a cozy mystery marathon and don’t mind the show taking creative liberties with the source material to get there. Think of it as a series of well-dressed, slightly mischievous riffs on Christie rather than a faithful adaptation.
Skip This If: You’re a Christie purist who is irritated when a story is rewritten. This show will test that patience more than once.
‘Joan of Arcadia’ (2003 – 2005)
A Show About Faith That Never Feels Preachy
CBS took a real swing with Joan of Arcadia. Here’s the premise: a teenage girl starts seeing and talking to God, who appears to her as random strangers and gives her small, strange assignments with no explanation whatsoever. While it sounds preachy, it isn’t. Barbara Hall created the show around a God who won’t explain the deeper meaning of anything, who quotes Bob Dylan as if his lyrics are a sacred text, and who cares more about interconnected small acts than grand miracles. For a drama built around a premise this unusual, it’s surprising that it won so many awards. I believe it’s because the episodes handle even the quiet and unglamorous aspects of Joan’s life with care.
Watch This If: You like your faith-and-meaning shows to actually wrestle with hard questions instead of handing you easy answers wrapped in a bow. Joan of Arcadia is for anyone who wants something thoughtful without a sermon.
Skip This If: Loose threads drive you up the wall. Joan of Arcadia​​​​​​’s cancellation leaves a big one dangling, and you won’t get any closure.
‘South of Nowhere’ (2005 – 2008)
A Teen Drama That Was Years Ahead of Its Time
South of Nowhere deserves more appreciation than it gets. The show’s entire narrative centers around Spencer Carlin questioning her sexuality after moving to Los Angeles and falling for her new friend, Ashley Davies. The series aired on a network aimed at teenagers in 2005, years before mainstream television treated queer teen romance as something other than a tragic subplot or a punchline. The relationship gets to be messy, and the arguments, breakups, and reconciliations are all treated with the same sincerity as any straight teen couple would have gotten. The show also holds up because it lets Spencer and Ashley figure out who they are while tackling themes of addiction, family, and racism.
Watch This If: While we now have several TV shows that feature queer teen storytelling, if you want to see where a lot of it started, this is the show.
Skip This If: You can’t stand the rhythm of mid-2000s teen drama TV and don’t like it when the overlapping crises and melodrama are dialed up a notch. It’s very much a product of its network and era, for better and worse.
‘Yes, Dear’ (2000 – 2006)
The Sitcom Critics Hated, and Everyone Else Loved
Critics tore this show apart when it premiered in 2000, and CBS almost pulled the plug in its first season. Thankfully, Yes, Dear ended up running for six seasons and 122 episodes and became one of the network’s most dependable sitcoms while no one admitted that they liked it out loud. The same is probably true today because I hardly hear anyone talk about it. The show follows two mismatched couples related by marriage – one buttoned-up and status-obsessed, the other loud and unfiltered – as they are forced to share a house. The writing is so good that it lets both sides be right sometimes and wrong just as often. Also, Anthony Clark and Mike O’Malley’s chemistry as brothers-in-law who constantly annoy each other and still show up for one another when it counts is the heart of the show.
Watch This If: You want something to throw on in the background and still earn a laugh now and then. This is comfort-food television in the best sense, and it’s low-stakes but never lazy.
Skip This If: You’re chasing something clever or boundary-pushing right now.
‘Lizzie McGuire’ (2001 – 2004)
A Classic Coming-of-Age Story That Still Holds Up
Lizzie McGuire is a classic without question. The Disney Channel gave it a two-season order and let the show run for 65 episodes. It became the network’s flagship series during the 2000s and generated almost $100 million in merchandise by 2003. However, it’s on my list of nostalgic 2000s shows because of its format. Terry Minsky pitched the show as a series about a normal teenager’s inner thoughts made visible. The solution? A tiny animated version of Lizzie who breaks in to say what the live-action Lizzie is actually thinking. It was an inventive move for a kids’ network in 2001. It allowed the show to be honest about how humiliating and confusing being 13 is without an adult narrator. Almost every Disney Channel tween show that came after owes something to Lizzie McGuire.
Watch This If: You want to see where basically every Disney Channel tween show has been borrowing its best elements from. It holds up as more than nostalgia.
Skip This If: The idea of a tiny animated Lizzie popping in every few minutes to say what she’s really thinking sounds like it would become annoying quickly. While some people find it charming, others find it grating by Episode 3.
‘George Lopez’ (2002 – 2007)
The Sitcom That Was Funny First and Groundbreaking Second
George Lopez is at the top of this list because it deserves recognition as one of the most significant sitcoms of the 2000s. Sandra Bullock discovered George Lopez doing stand-up, spent three hours talking with him after the show, and was convinced there needed to be a sitcom built around a Latino family that wasn’t defined by stereotypes or clichés. The conversation turned into a 120-episode ABC sitcom, making Lopez the first Latino comedian to lead a network series into syndication. That’s not all. It stayed rooted in a real Mexican-American experience while portraying George’s relationship with his own neglectful mother and his blue-collar factory job. It’s a perfect 2000s series that is hilarious, filled with rapid-fire dialogue, and fast-paced.
Watch This If: You want a sitcom that makes you laugh out loud and also happens to touch on topics that matter. That rare combination of funny and groundbreaking doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.
Skip This If: The classic multi-camera, studio-audience sitcom format isn’t your thing anymore. That’s okay, but it’s your loss.
Which one are you adding to your watchlist tonight? Let us know in the comments!
