The Best 3 Television Shows of the Naughties

Being a particularly lazy student, with a lot of time on my hands, I tend to go through TV shows with the speed and attentiveness that your average Twilight fan may afford to a box of Mars Bars and AA batteries. .This then is my guide to the shows that have captured my attention and stood out to me as being the best Television shows of the Naughties.

#1. Deadwood
If you missed this, as I did, when it first aired in 2004, then I cannot recommend enough that you acquire all three seasons as soon as you possibly can and glue yourself to your television screen until all three, fantastic seasons have been burned irreplaceabley into your mind, and your vocabulary, fashion sense, respect for history and most of all, the way you view and judge television shows has been altered forever. Al Swearengen, with the exception of Dr Gregory House may be the finest character to ever grace a small screen, but it is not only the outstanding performance from Ian McShane that brings the character so vividly to life, it is the environment, the brilliant supporting cast and possibly the finest work of screenwriting ever to reach our television sets.

#2. The Wire
Watching The Wire can be a chore, it is not an easy show to follow, but once you are hooked, you are hooked for good. If you plan to take on this challenge, then it's heavily advise that you invest in the DVD box sets as opposed to trying to follow a television airing, as if you miss an episode you may find yourself lost and struggle to play catch up. The character development throughout all the series is unsurpassed in terms of it's competition. The shield was the height of gritty realistic cop dramas until The Wire came along, and although it (The Shield) still shines as a highly entertaining series, it appears about as realistic as a slapstick cartoon next to this mastodon of raw, unforgiving truth.


#3 House
This is definitely the more accessible of the three shows I've listed here, it does not require nearly as much concentration from it's audience, but that's not to say that it's not as enjoyable and rewarding to watch. Hugh Laurie has developed the protagonist in to what I view as probably the most in-depth and attentive character portrayal in the history of television. The supporting cast are excellent, and although towards the sixth series, some things begin to get a little obvious, the writers still manage to keep the formula very fresh and manage to insert wild plot twists and story lines that will keep you shocked, amazed and interested right up until the final moments of any episode.