BoD: Best TV series [50-31]

It’s been one hell of a decade for television. The past 10 years saw the explosion of reality programming, the rise of cable and the deterioration of NBC.

With an embarrassment of riches to choose from, we decided to rank the top 10 programs and then separate the next 40 in four distinct tiers of descending quality.

We also picked programs based on their representational value for the decade. So you won’t see the likes of “Buffy,” “Friends,” “The X-Files” or “Dawson’s Creek” on this list because they’re clearly “’90s shows.” 

Here's the bottom two tiers, numbers 50 to 31.

Fifth tier [in no order]

“Burn Notice”: USA rose to prominence this decade by producing light but completely entertaining procedurals, and “Burn” is absolutely the best. The program feels like a product of the ’80s with quirky-but-dangerous situations and creative spy stuff – and that’s a good thing.

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show”: Oprah still dominates, but Ellen has provided a younger, slightly-hipper alternative to younger viewers – even with the dancing.
“Gossip Girl”: Pitch-perfect in its portrayal of teenagers in the text message, gossip-heavy generation, “Girl” also deserves some credit for the handful of stand-out performances that go sadly unnoticed among the dramz (Ed Westick and Leighton Meester especially).

“Carnivale”: This cult favorite was surprisingly successful at being both a period piece and an epic fantasy. Inspired as much by pre-Raphaelite paintings as the look of the Dust Bowl, “Carnivale” had visual style to burn. It was a dark, twisting exploration of love and hate, good and evil and fate and free will without obscuring its characters or its story.

“Scrubs”: This is the kind of show that one can highly appreciate without commitment. Unlike many dramas, “Scrubs” can be watched by almost anyone at any point in the show, and still be effective. It’s hilariously funny, and the characters are people that you’d want to be friends with. Not to mention the incredibly short, yet insanely catchy theme song.

“Alias”: “Alias” established the J.J. Abrams formula as we understand it today: a kick-ass female lead, a conspiracy-laden, mythology-heavy plot, mid-season storyline reboots, time jumps aplenty, and Daddy (or Mommy) issues galore. Sure, it fell apart once its creator left to work on bigger and better things (Lost), but that shouldn’t diminish its impact on television, particularly in paving the way for more serialized programs.

“The Real World/Road Rules Challenge”: Though its parent programs dominated the ’90s and even into this decade, the constant barrage of competitions between the most popular and most vilified cast members entertained us every second – even if we felt much dumber for watching.

“Gilmore Girls”: Though easy to overlook, the seven season saga “Gilmore Girls” brought to the screen a snappy mother-daughter duo that epitomized the coming of age story for two generations and captured the essence of cozy re-watchability. Free-spirited mother and daughter, Lorelai and Rory, possessed an idyllic friendship as well as quippy one-liners, clever pop culture-isms and an almost admirable caffeine addiction. It is a show that generated a can-do “girl power” attitude that transcends all generations, no matter how many times you watch it.

“The Soup”: Though it is just a simple half-hour clip show but it’s must-see TV if you want to be in the know about the dregs of our pop culture – namely anything on VH1, E! or pertaining to Tyra, Lindsay Lohan, or “The Hills” crowd.  Host Joel McHale mocks everything with childish glee and has brought us household names like Mankini and Dancing Maxipad.

“Project Runway”: It might not be quite as good as its Bravo sibling “Top Chef,” but “Runway” has provided a number of entertaining challenges and compelling contestants over the years.

Fourth tier [in no order]

“Pardon the Interruption”: People might not think of it, but “PTI” is the most innovative non-scripted program of the decade, as the format now powers not only ESPN, but all the cable news networks. Of course, none of the retreads have come close to this one, mostly because T.K. and Wilbon have money-in-the-bank chemistry.

“Supernatural”: After a solid first season, this CW program has quietly become one of the sharpest-written genre series on all of television. If Whedonites weren’t too busy crying about “Firefly” being canceled and talking themselves into “Dollhouse,” they’d realize this is the decade’s “Buffy.”

“Survivor”: We all have this one to thank for every single reality program that’s aired on television since late 2000, but television has never been the same since naked Richard Hatch connived his way to a million bucks. Nineteen iterations later, it’s still one of the best.

“Sons of Anarchy”: Two seasons in and this growing-in-popularity FX drama has a lot of people buzzing. As a deep character analysis of a tight-knit motorcycle group, this is a perfect hard-hitting replacement for “The Shield.”

“Big Love”: “Love” takes a somewhat controversial topic – polygamy – and makes it only a portion the story, as the interactions between the characters take precedent over any gimmick. 

“How I Met Your Mother”: An aberration in the age of “Arrested Development” and “The Office,” this multi-camera sitcom with a laugh track has earned its comedic stripes by creatively playing with time, being heartwarming and making Doogie Howser one of the industry’s most sought-after performers.

“South Park”: This Comedy Central animated product is still chugging along, delivering controversial and hilarious episodes at the same consistency that it did in the late ‘90s.

“Top Chef”: You would think that a reality show centered on a product the audience cannot fully appreciate (we can’t taste the food!) would fail to catch on. But “Chef” gained steam as audiences realized that it offers a perfect combo of high drama, incomprehensible jargon (seriously, just try to pronounce some of these recipes), intense competition and outlandish personalities, along with the some of the most knowledgeable judges in reality-TV-dom.

“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”: He’s moved on to purportedly “better things,” but Conan’s unique personality shined through more in his 12:35 a.m. timeslot. While Letterman devolved into shtick and all the crap he used to mock in the 80s, Conan’s offbeat and earnest approach helped charm anyone who came of age over the last 10 years.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”: The aughts’ more inconsistent, vulgar version of “Seinfeld” in the sense that it’s about nothing. However, the ridiculousness of “Sunny” is what makes it so damn funny.