# List your 10 favorite TV shows of the last 10 years. What common themes do you see, if any? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665 "2010-10-28T15:26:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/1 "2010-10-28T15:26:41Z")
A couple of notes: 1. When I write _of the last 10 years_, I mean _shows you started watching since 2000_, not \*shows that \*\*premiered \*_since 2000_. If you’re 25years old and never saw an episode of _Star Trek: The Original Series_ before you were 15, you can count it if you love it. 2. Ten years is just an approximation for the sake of convenience. I just want to winnow out shows you love out simply from childhood nostalgia. Thus my list includes both _Angel_ and _Gilmore girls_, though I think those both premiered in 1999. That said, I’m not allowing myself to include _Xena_ or _Deep Space Nine_, as those are closer to 20 years old than 15. The number of shows is also arbitrary; if you can’t make it to ten, or can’t stop yourself before fifteen, you can still play. 3. Common themes means whatever you want it to mean. You can use whatever criteria you wish to define favorite as well. It can be the first 10 that come to mind, or the first ten you’d buy on Blu-Ray if available, or whatever. Anyway…that’s it. Make your list, and tell us what commonalities you see. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/2 "2010-10-28T15:41:04Z")
In no particular order… The Sopranos Six Feet Under Deadwood The Shield Sons of Anarchy Justified Breaking Bad NCIS BSG Firefly Burn Notice In Plain Sight Common thems: violence, darkness, dark humor ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/3 "2010-10-28T15:45:45Z")
House Arrested Development Firefly Coupling (British version) Dr. Who (new version – though I was a fan of the original series) Community Castle My Name is Earl CSI Pushing Daisies All have great writing and characters. Also a lot of weirdness and humor. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/4 "2010-10-28T15:47:45Z")
1. The Wire 2. The Shield 3. Deadwood 4. The Sopranos 5. Arrested Development 6. Curb Your Enthusiasm 7. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 8. Extras 9. 30 Rock 10. Community Don’t know what they have in common, except that I would appear not to appreciate network dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/5 "2010-10-28T15:50:33Z")
Buffy Firefly Angel Weeds Dexter Scrubs 30 Rock Freaks & Geeks Characterization and humor, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/6 "2010-10-28T15:53:48Z")
Arrested Development Family Guy Numb3ers Food Tech America’s Test Kitchen Monk Law & Order I can’t think of three more. I don’t know if they have anything in common, except that they entertain me. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/7 "2010-10-28T15:55:19Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Arrested Development > Family Guy > Numb3ers > Food Tech > America’s Test Kitchen > Monk > Law & Order > > I can’t think of three more. That’s cool. What commonalities do you see? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/8 "2010-10-28T16:04:43Z")
The Sopranos The Wire The Shield Breaking Bad The Good Wife Dexter Deadwood House Justified Mad Men Common traits: Strong characters Compelling writing Humor Violence Intrigue ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/9 "2010-10-28T16:08:53Z")
Oh, shit! Forgot AMC! Replace “Community” and “Extras” on my list with “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men”. Crisis averted. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/10 "2010-10-28T16:16:32Z")
Six Feet Under Mad Men Deadwood Buffy Dexter **Being Human** The Office **Criminal Minds L&O: Criminal Intent The Soup** I have four not previously mentioned! Common theme: Excellence. (Some a little less than others.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/11 "2010-10-28T16:17:49Z")
Firefly Angel Castle Big Bang Theory Battlestar Galactica Survivor (some seasons) Two and a Half Men (Don’t judge me!) Good Eats Eureka Community The Food Network in general Several commonalities: witty writing, pretty people, entertaining plots. There are, of course, a couple of glaring exceptions to these. Too bad. I am large - I contain multitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/12 "2010-10-28T16:25:51Z")
The West Wing Mad Men Firefly Futurama Archer Chuck Psych Boston Legal South Park Good Eats (Futurama is the only one of those that I watched any of more than 10 years ago, and 1999 is well within the spirit of the question, I think. West Wing and South Park, I didn’t really get into 'till college, and everything else is more recent.) Well written, in wildly different ways. Usually some elements of humor. Well acted with characters that are strong/cool/interesting. Really just the appropriate combination of Entertaining and Good. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/13 "2010-10-28T16:30:51Z")
West Wing Curb your Enthusiasm The Office Six Feet Under The Simpsons The Daily Show ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/14 "2010-10-28T16:54:43Z")
Sopranos The Wire Firefly Buffy the Vampire Slayer Angel West Wing Breaking Bad Mad Men The Shield My So Called Life Trends: Flawed main characters, brilliant writing, and well developed characters. Each show does a good job of exploring what it means to be human. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/15 "2010-10-28T16:55:24Z")
1. Arrested Development 2. Futurama 3. The Wire 4. The Shield 5. Angel 6. Dexter 7. Monk 8. Scrubs 9. Community 10. Curb Your Enthusiasm A lot of strong characters and quirky humor (dark humor for the dramas). Other than Monk, all consistently intelligently written shows. With Monk I guess I was just a sucker for the OCD humor. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/16 "2010-10-28T17:46:10Z")
1. Simpsons 2. Community 3. 30 Rock 4. The Office 5. Party Down 6. Arrested Development 7. Futurama 8. Dr. Who 9. Warehouse 13 10. Torchwood Community is quickly becoming my favorite show, subplanting the Simpsons. I like humor and sci fi, but I don’t feel like I have a lot of “appointment” shows that I watch. I wind up watching much of it online. I also just recently re-watched Arrested Development and am working my way through Futurama via Netflix. Great shows. I’m going to miss Party Down, that was another good one that got the plug pulled too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/17 "2010-10-28T17:48:48Z")
House Big Bang The Simpsons NCIS Without a Trace Criminal Minds Bones Family Guy 2 1/2 Men Law & Order SVU Trend: 6 are mysteries (counting House) and the other 4 are comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/18 "2010-10-28T18:13:29Z")
House Lie to Me CSI Frasier (discovered this one late) Kitchen Nightmares Daria Kim Possible The Emperor’s New School Cupid (the first one) Joan of Arcadia I don’t watch a lot of TV, really. House and CSI are the only ones on the list that I make a point to watch every week. It was hard coming up with 10. Commonalities: Snarky smart guys (Brits or otherwise) (House, Lie to Me, Kitchen Nightmares, Cupid, Frasier, Emperor’s New School); gore (House, CSI, Lie to Me); mysteries (House, CSI, Lie to Me); smart writing (House, Daria, Cupid, Joan of Arcadia, Frasier, Emperor’s New School); well written animation (Kim, Daria, Emperor) Honorable mentions (a little more than 10 years ago): Father Ted Dweebs MST3K ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/19 "2010-10-28T18:22:10Z")
Battlestar Galactica House West Wing Buffy Dr. Who Big Bang Theory Criminal Minds Mad Men Really strong stories (well, most of the time) with compelling characters. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665/20 "2010-10-28T18:32:11Z")
The Sopranos OZ Mad Men Arrested Development The Practice Malcolm In the Middle The Middle Modern Family Monk West Wing In common - I think they’re good and they’re the only shows I’ve watched all the way through. Not just sitting through a single episode, but the entire season. A few on the list I’ve always watched the repeat episode; usually the next day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-10-favorite-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years-what-common-themes-do-you-see-if-any/558665.md?page=2)