So 2009 is coming to a close, which means that not only is it end-of-year list season, but it's end-of-decade list season as well. And since I'm a Rob Fleming/Gordon wannabe, The Shit Haus will hopefully be lists a-go-go in the next few weeks.
First cab off the rank is best TV shows, 2000–2009. I think sometimes TV doesn't quite get the same respect as film, but television has the distinct advantage that an average TV season can be upwards of 12 hours, whereas film is far more limited for time. For drama, that means characters can be fleshed out to a point not possible in any other medium, and for comedy that means more time for dick jokes.
1. The Shield (FX, 2002–2008)
As will be a recurring theme in this list, Andrew Saltmarsh tried for months to get me to watch The Shield before I finally took the plunge. I'd seen two episodes on Channel 10 when they aired the second season on Saturday nights in 2003 and thought it was a little cliched and hammy. But when I finally got around to watching all of the first three seasons in a marathon a year or two later, I came out the other side an unabashed Shield fanatic.
The best thing about the show is that you can both love and hate each and every character, depending on the focus of the story at the time. In the first two Vic Mackey-focused seasons Captain David Aceveda is hell-bent on bringing Vic's Strike Team down, making Aceveda the major villain in the show and a very unlikeable character. But by the last few seasons, after his character has been fleshed out a lot more, he demands as much of the viewer's sympathies as any of the Strike Team, even as he is trying to bring Vic to justice.
The last two seasons of The Shield are as heart-wrenching and difficult to watch as any season of any other TV show, ever. They make the first few seasons seem childish and shallow as Vic's relationship with right-hand-man Shane Vendrell breaks down, and as a Shield fan who feels actual emotional attachment to the Strike Team "family", the series finale was completely heartbreaking.
At more than one point in the span of the series, I got depressed in real life due to events in the show, and I genuinely grieved two characters' deaths. The Shield also stands as the only TV show which has made me literally shout at the screen, whether in frustration at Aceveda, Claudette Wymms or Jon Kavanaugh, or yelling "FUCK YEAH GO DUTCH!" when Holland Wagenbach breaks down a serial killer or rapist. For a TV show to have that effect on someone's emotions, it's gotta be good.
2. Extras (BBC/HBO, 2005–2007)
Again, it took months before I finally took Salty's advice and sat down to watch Extras. I had been a fan of The Office already (see #5), but out of either laziness or stupidity I didn't jump on the follow-up straight away.
The first thing that stuck out is Darren Lamb, probably the funniest character in any show on this list, played surprisingly well by the goggle-eyed freak Stephen Merchant. But the real draw of the show is the way it can explore some serious emotional drama and not have it seem out of place.
In the Christmas special episode there is a montage which follows Maggie Jacobs vacuuming hallways, washing dishes and cleaning toilets just to be able to afford a one-room flat which is smaller than Andy Millman's living room, and it's just about the saddest scene I think I've seen in a comedy. And when Millman realises what a jerk he's been (while in the Big Brother house, natch) and begs for Maggie's forgiveness, rather than feeling cliched or obvious, the climactic scene of the entire series is just beautiful.
3. Deadwood (HBO, 2004–2006)
Another Salty recommendation, Deadwood could very easily sit at the number one spot in this list, if it wasn't so draining to watch. I saw a video interview with creator/writer David Milch once, and the amount of depth to each character is mind-blowing considering he was constrained by the reality of what really happened in the formation of Deadwood. And even though most of that detail is never actually explored in the show, it's amazing to know that such fine-grained backstories have been developed.
For example, there is a line, literally one line, in which Al Swearengen mentions that he was raised in an orphanage run by an abusive woman who sold the girls in her care to prostitution. This one line explains a lot of Al's personality: his relationships with women, the fact that he is so abusive to the prostitutes working in his saloon even while he protects them as though he were their father, the fact that he keeps Jewel in his employ despite her obvious disabilities, etc.
If one line can have so much weight behind it, you can imagine how difficult it is to watch the series' three seasons and attempt to fully grasp all of it.
But having said all that, Seth Bullock is just a bad-ass motherfucker.
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000–)
Seinfeld is held in such high esteem in my household that we watch upwards of 10 episodes every single day. Even as I write this, Carmen is watching it in the kitchen while making cupcakes. So it's fair to say I hold Larry David in pretty high-regard. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty high.
The first five seasons were great, but the sixth-season arrival of the Black family into Larry's house was a turning point. My buddy Rhys says that he will put season six of Curb up against any part of any other TV show in history, and Curb will come out on top. I have to say it's hard to disagree with him.
The recently-completed seventh season, which follows the Seinfeld cast as they work on a reuinion special with LD, was fantastic as a Seinfeld fan but great in its own right as well. But I can't help but think that LD's losing sight of what made the show great to begin with (i.e. no story arc, just following Larry in his day-to-day business), just like how Seinfeld began as a show about nothing and eventually became more like a conventional sitcom. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but now would be a great time to bring the series to an almost-perfect close.
5. The Office (BBC, 2001–2003)
I know a lot of people who literally cannot watch Ricky Gervais as David Brent because they get embarrassed for him, and can't stand to watch him humiliate himself in all of his socially awkward situations. I guess it's similar to how some people find it difficult to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. But me, I could watch Gervais make a fat little fool of himself forever and never get tired of it.
As with Extras, there is a lot of hilariously subtle and nuanced dialogue in The Office ("we are the most efficient branch, cogito ergo sum, we'll incorporate Swindon") but it's more than just laughs. The up-and-down romance between Tim and Dawn really felt real, and the payoff in the Christmas special could warm anyone's heart. To be able to make the dramatic parts of a comedy just as good as the comedy is a pretty rare achievement, and Gervais and Merchant have done it twice now. And although I liked Extras better, The Office is the original and deserves credit for proving that smart comedies can become popular.
Honourable mentions
Weeds (Showtime, 2005–): Based on what I've seen so far this would definitely be a contender, but I haven't seen the entire series and it would be unfair to include it in the list.
Ed (NBC, 2000–2004): In high school I was massively into Ed, in a guilty-pleasure kind of way. Deserves a spot on this list just for how much I loved it at the time, but having watched it again just this year it doesn't really hold up.
Summer Heights High (ABC, 2007): One of the crowning achievements of Australian TV comedy.
Chappelle's Show (Comedy Central, 2003–2006): I can only imagine how good this could have been if it didn't implode after two seasons.
Black Books (Channel 4, 2000–2004): Two seasons of genius, but the third is nowhere near as good.
There are also a lot of shows that I haven't watched in full yet. If I watch an episode of a TV show and enjoy it, I tend to stop myself from watching any more of it until I can go back and watch the series as a whole. These series are waiting to be watched:
The Sopranos, Boston Legal, Dexter, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, Oz, Six Feet Under, The Unit, Damages, Underbelly, Life on Mars, Mad Men, Rescue Me, Heroes, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Skins, Chuck, Jeremiah, Kings, and many more.
Carmen
Posted 2 months ago.You need to also add Buffy to your to watch list =P. I really want to watch it again but I want to do so with you.
Also Oz and Boston Legal. J.K. Simmons, William Shatner and James Spader FTW
Nick
Posted 2 months ago.But seriously
The Sopranos
The Wire
Weeds
Oz
Breaking Bad
Big Love
Rome
