Six Feet Under (TV Series 2001–2005) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error A drama series that takes a darkly comical look at members of a dysfunctional California family that runs an independent funeral home. Creator: Nate and Brenda's daughter Willa is born, but 2 months early and at only 2 lb. 4 oz., requiring a prolonged hospital stay. Nate is convinced she won't make it and insists that he can't accept it if ... 9.9 The family prepares for the worst funeral of their lives. Ruth makes things worse on David by taking out her pain on him until he stands up for himself, and Nate makes things worse for Brenda by ... 9.1 Lawrence Hall Matheson chooses the wrong moment to check his pulse while jogging in a California "ecotone" - a cougar mauls him. Hospitalized following his seizure, an unconscious Nate dreams he ...

9.0 a list of 44 titles created 04 Jul 2011 a list of 25 titles created 25 Dec 2013 a list of 35 titles created 17 Aug 2014 a list of 24 titles created 29 Aug 2015 a list of 27 titles created 7 months ago Title: Six Feet Under (2001–2005) 8.8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 54 wins & 162 nominations. See more awards » Videos New Jersey mob boss, Tony Soprano, deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life. Stars: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco Dexter Morgan is a Forensics Expert, a loyal brother, boyfriend, and friend. That's what he seems to be, but that's not what he really is. Dexter Morgan is a Serial Killer that hunts the bad. Stars: Michael C.

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With the prodigal elder son (Nate) returning home for the holidays to shattering news, the family must learn to deal with a death of their own, while figuring out how to go ahead with the business of the living. A funny and emotional look at a grieving American family...that just happens to be in the grief management business. Written by <Laffz00@aol.com> Your whole life is leading up to this... See more » Genres: 3 June 2001 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Dva metra pod zemljom See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia Set in Los Angeles because, according to series creator Alan Ball , LA is the "world capital of the denial of death". See more » Quotes Nate : There's something weird about twins, about these twins anyway. [shows picture to Brenda] The Complete First Season Review - Superb 2 November 2005 | by morphion2 (Australia) – See all my reviews Screenwriter Alan Ball is most well-known for his 1999 film debut American Beauty (directed by another first-timer, England's Sam Mendes).

His first work was a stunning success, captivating audiences all over the world and winning five Academy Awards. In 2001, the pilot for Ball's first television series Six Feet Under aired. While being considerably darker than audiences might have expected, the series soon found its fan base and secured a place in the list of all time greats. The show revolves around the Fishers, a rather isolated and dysfunctional family who run their own independent funeral home, and whose eldest son Nate (Peter Krause) is reunited with them in the wake of his father's untimely death. Once he is home, Nate learns that he has inherited the family business with his gay brother David (Michael C. Hall) and he has to learn how to again become a part of this bizarre family. Meanwhile, David, we learn, is struggling to reconcile his homosexuality with his home-taught Christian values, while his younger sister Claire (Lauren Ambrose) is forced to battle the hell of adolescence and the children's mother Ruth (Frances Conroy), a deeply devoted mother and wife, has to learn to face life without her husband.

The complete first season sees the growth of the Fisher family as they slowly begin to disband their isolation and seek comfort, support and love from one another in the face of hardships and tragedy. Six Feet Under is what every show should strive to be  it is intelligent, witty, sincere, realistic and completely unashamed to show the dark, painful side of life, without being depressing or nihilistic. It deals with an unfathomable amount of very significant issues, but on such a personal and relatable level that it doesn't even begin to feel preachy or self-important. It explores society's position on gays, women, young people, the elderly, the mentally ill and looks very openly at religion and death. A series of this standard is a surprise even from the production company that brought us Angels in America and The Sopranos. One of the most fundamental principles for engaging an audience is to present engaging characters. Six Feet Under is a prime example: each character we're introduced to does take some getting used to, but all are wonderfully rich and complex and three-dimensional, balanced nicely by each other.

Not only the Fishers but all their friends, acquaintances and lovers are well-developed, highly-involved and important to the show in its many layers. Nate's girlfriend Brenda (Rachael Griffiths) and her manic-depressive brother Billy (Jeremy Sisto), David's boyfriend Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and the Fishers' Puerto Rican employee Rico (Freddy Rodriguez) are all fantastic characters that do far more than just complement the show's funeral home family. Alan Ball is a truly gifted writer and an even more amazing artist; his ability to create such a delightfully unique environment and then to build on that environment to such incredible heights is nothing short of genius. His signature style of dark humor is one of the best things about Six Feet Under; even in a show about such somber and sometimes even morbid material, laughter is not uncommon, as he is able to recognize that there is more to life than pain. Ball has, within 2 short years, proved that he is one of Hollywood's most talented minds, and we can all look forward to further work from him.

More than any other television series in history, Six Feet Under is able to connect with its audience on a raw and emotional level that makes the sentimental soap operas of prime time television look like badly acted school plays. Joining the ranks of the most intelligent and heartfelt shows of today, it can rest assured that it will be remembered in the world of tomorrow as one of the most innovative and poignant shows of all time. 62 of 68 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The 25 Best HBO Original Series, Ranked The 25 Best HBO Original Series, Ranked Share Comment In 1999, HBO fired the first shots of the TV revolution. With The Sopranos, the premium cable network kick started the golden age of television and left traditional network programming in the dust. The life and times of Tony Soprano then led to an olympic run of smash hits. Across the early 2000’s, HBO was home to heavy hitters like The Wire, Six Feet Under and Deadwood, all while lighter fare like Sex and the City and Entourage balanced out the drama.

If binge-watching had been possible in 2005, HBO subscribers might have crashed the American economy. Viewers truly had their pick of the litter, and for the first time in TV history, they were inundated with movie-quality television in the comfort of their own homes. Today, the greatness continues. After six stunning seasons of Game of Thrones, an unforgettable first showing of True Detective, miniseries like Show Me A Hero and the upcoming crime drama, The Night Of, HBO continues to outpace the competition. We’ve already published a ranked list of Netflix series , but let’s take a look at the first cable channel to offer high-quality TV series that you couldn’t find on the networks. Here’s Screen Rant’s take on the Top 25 HBO Original Series, Ranked. 25. Ballers After the success of Entourage, HBO sought to replicate the formula by retrofitting Hollywood glamour into NFL stardom. From the perspective of financial manager, Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson), Ballers takes you behind the scenes of juicy gridiron drama. Though Spencer is retired and nursing his many pro-football injuries, he manages the exorbitant wealth of current football stars alongside his business partner Joe (Rob Corddry).

As with Ari Gold in executive producer Mark Wahlberg’s Entourage (who also produces Ballers alongside Peter Berg), the show is ultimately about damage control in highfalutin situations. If you haven’t seen Ballers, don’t expect particularly challenging material. The show is as easily consumed as a can of Pringles, and to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The NFL lifestyles are alluring, the women are beautiful, and the supporting cast will keep you in the game. With Andy Garcia on deck for the upcoming Season 2 , Ballers may prove an even stronger presence in the second quarter. 24. Sex and the City Without Sex and the City , brunch would still be an activity reserved for holidays like Easter. Thanks to the posh lifestyle of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her retinue, Sex and the City helped make “brunching” a weekend activity while defining the metropolitan culture of the early 2000s. Indeed, Michael Patrick King’s beloved show succeeded in part because each of the four women held such unique world-views. Their differences helped define the show’s trademark conversations about sexuality, friendship, dating and more while living in the Big Apple.

Though two-big screen showings of Sex and the City left many fans disgruntled, the series lives on. For better and for worse, the HBO series perpetuated the highly fictionalized concept that life in New York City is best traveled in Jimmy Choos. While the show set high expectations for countless New York City migrants, it remains a fixture of the conversation. Just imagine if Tinder had existed in 1998. 23. True Blood In the height of the vampire craze , True Blood descended upon audiences. Based on Charlaine Harris’ novels of the same name, True Blood explored the Gothic mysteries in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. A viscera-soaked soap opera, True Blood followed Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a small-town waitress with telepathic talents. Her friends and lovers are equally gifted, like the shape-shifter Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), and the 1,000 year-old blood sucker, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard). Led by creator Alan Ball, who previously worked on HBO’s successful Six Feet Under, True Blood presents a clear allegory for the marginalized and underrepresented in society.

With the theme of vampires “coming out of the coffin” in the Great Revelation that frames the series, True Blood shares similar themes with mutants in X-Men who either integrate with the world or spend their days warring against it. 22. Big Love Not only did this solid drama clean up at awards shows and earn critical praise, it also managed to infuriate the church of Latter Day Saints . Big Love depicts the polygamous life of Bill Hendrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives, Barbara (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) and Margie (Ginnifer Goodwin). Showrunners Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer infuse the show with gravitas by never mocking the Hendrickson’s alternative lifestyle, instead portraying them as if they were a typical suburban family in the Midwest. Big Love premiered in 2006 as The Sopranos entered its own sixth season (along with The Wire in its prime). This may have been the apogee of HBO’s premium cable reign, with three distinct programs portraying vastly different lifestyles and communities. The performances in Big Love were consistently enthralling, particularly with Bill Paxton front and center.

By the end of the show’s five seasons, you may find yourself accepting polygamy more than you imagined possible. 21. Entourage As the guy’s answer to Sex and the City, HBO’s Entourage delivered seven seasons of the life of a Hollywood movie star. Modeled after Mark Wahlberg’s own experiences with his east-coast crew, Entourage follows the ups and downs of Queens-born actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier). Alongside his best friends, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Eric (Kevin Connolly), and his has-been half-brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), Vincent steadily climbs his way up the Hollywood ladder. While “E” becomes Vince’s manager, Johnny and Turtle ride their superstar friend’s coattails for as long as possible. Though the four friends always kept us coming back for more, Vince’s agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), was the real driving force of the show. An undeniable force of nature, super-agent Ari lives and breathes for success. The more ruthless he became, the harder we laughed, especially whenever he fired his employees .

With 96 episodes to its name (and a feature-length movie), Entourage may have ended in 2011, but its memory will never die. 20. Getting On Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer hit a home run with Big Love, and in 2013, they got back on base with Getting On. Though the setting could not be more distant from Mormon polygamy, Getting On follows the ridiculous antics of the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit in southern California. Based on the BBC show of the same name, Getting On had the comical cinema verite trappings of The Office situated in a somewhat depressing hospital. Though the morbid undertones of the show can’t be avoided, particularly with elderly patients knocking on death’s door, Getting On is a black-comedy of the highest order. The cast of Laurie Metcalf, Alex Borstein, Niecy Nash and Mel Rodriguez light up the room, particularly when they try to phonetically interpret a Cambodian patient’s plea for help. The show is filled with ridiculous scenes that always manage to feel rooted in reality, no matter how absurd they become. 19.

Silicon Valley Though creator Mike Judge set the series in the tech jungle of northern California, Silicon Valley is basically a buddy-comedy with an app-design backdrop. Led by Thomas Middleditch, TJ Miller and Zach Woods, three titans of the sketch comedy circuit, Silicon Valley absolutely nails the vibe of the tech industry’s hysteria and the kooky characters inhabiting it. While the show occasionally descends into bland exposition, Silicon Valley succeeds because of its talented cast. In addition to scene-stealer Erlich Bachman (Miller,) Bertram Guilfoyle (Martin Starr) is the lovably cynical Satanist that complements his coding co-worker, Dinesh Chugtai (Kumail Nanjiani). When the whole Pied Piper team unites for a common purpose (like the time they used a phallic algorithm to fix their app), the show is at its best. When the plot turns circular and loses its narrative footing, as happened in the early episodes of Season 3, Silicon Valley starts to stumble. 18. Oz HBO has long enjoyed the lack of FCC regulation on its content. To be sure, Home Box Office is a far cry from the run of the mill shows on basic cable.

Yet, no matter how graphic Game of Thrones may be, no show can rival the brutality in Tom Fontana’s prison drama, Oz. The first hour-long drama in HBO’s history, Oz follows the struggle for power in the Oswald State Correctional Facility, a level 4 maximum-security prison. In the “Emerald City,” men of all races and backgrounds coalesce to create a truly diverse world. In prison as in society, however, rival factions form. From the “Homeboys,” to the Muslims, the Latinos, the Aryan Brotherhood and more, this correctional facility is a high-octane cultural melting pot waiting to explode. As the show’s title and tagline clearly state, riffing off Frank L. Baum’s Wizard of Oz, this prison is “no place like home.” 17. John Adams Long before he directed The King’s Speech, Les Miserables and The Danish Girl , Tom Hooper led the charge for John Adams. Alongside executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the British-born Hooper helped create one of the most enthralling recreations of early American life.

With Paul Giamatti filling John Adams’ shoes, this seven-episode miniseries did wonders to increase our understanding of this crucial period in western history. Rather than glorifying the Founding Fathers as demigods, however, John Adams shows Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson), George Washington (David Morse), Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) and the eponymous hero as honorable men that carried all of the insecurities and doubts of regular citizens. Though dressed to the nines, riding in stagecoaches and wearing wigs, each of these men move away from historical caricature and approach something much more authentic. John Adams showcases HBO’s dedication to preserving our past, as they will do once again with their upcoming series, Lewis & Clark . 16. The Newsroom It’s a shame The Newsroom isn’t still in HBO’s lineup. Though Aaron Sorkin’s most recent TV venture accrued many fans, it failed to establish the loyal audiences The West Wing once conquered. Following the happenings of the Atlantis Cable Network (ACN), The Newsroom centered on the hot-tempered news anchor, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels).

After he blows a gasket at a public event and exposes his true political beliefs, McAvoy’s gig as an unbiased anchor disintegrates. Thus begins his transition into full-on commentary assisted by ex-girlfriend and current producer MacKenzie (Emily Mortimer). The rest of the news team stars John Gallagher Jr., Allison Pill, Olivia Munn and Dev Patel, all of whom prove more than capable of handling Sorkin’s verbal flourishes. Most of the twenty-five episodes (across three seasons) deal with real news events, like the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, sarin gas attacks and NSA spying. Though some found The Newsroom to be heavy handed with its social and political diatribes, it remains a solid entry in the HBO canon. 15. Boardwalk Empire When news broke that Martin Scorsese would be directing the pilot, Boardwalk Empire became an instant sensation. With a first episode price tag of over $18 million, expectations for the series reached the stratosphere. For the most part, the Prohibition-era drama cashed in on its promises, netting 57 total Primetime Emmy Awards across its five season-long stay.

As with the lifestyle of central character, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), Boardwalk Empire presented a thoroughly lavish take on Atlantic City in the Roaring Twenties. Buscemi’s performance as Nucky, the corrupt, but even-keeled politician, laid the groundwork for the supporting cast to add dramatic contrast. From Bobby Canavale’s hot-tempered gangster, Gyp Rosetti, to Michael Shannon’s tightly wound Prohibition Agent turned bootlegger, Nelson Van Alden, Boardwalk Empire created a compelling show with cleverly drawn characters by creator Terence Winter. Behind all of the niceties and propriety of the seductive era are the same temptations and shortcomings of every other generation. Guys like Nucky were just better at hiding it. 14. The Pacific As the follow-up to HBO’s now legendary Band of Brothers, The Pacific turned west to a new theater of war. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg reunited to produce The Pacific, which follows the experiences of three men in different regiments of the 1st Marine Division.

While their individual stories remain separate for the first few episodes, Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello), Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale) and Jon Basilone (Jon Seda) eventually converge at the attack on the Peleliu airfield, one of the worst battles of World War II. While The Pacific doesn’t fully recapture the emotional impact of Band of Brothers (perhaps due to the lead characters’ separated story lines), it still remains one of HBO’s strongest productions. The performances are fantastic, particularly those of James Badge Dale, Jon Seda and a young Jon Bernthal at the start of his career. Though the European theater of war is often best remembered in history books, The Pacific shines a light on what many consider to be the more brutal battle between the Allies and Japan. 13. Rome Prior to Game of Thrones, Rome held the title as the most epic show on the premium cable network. For every fantastical detail of Westeros in George R. R. Martin’s adaptation, Rome applied real history and actual characters to the plot. Though its crippling price tag limited the show to just two seasons, Rome packs a visceral viewing experience with an sexy history lesson in one fell swoop.

John Milius (writer of Apocalypse Now and Conan the Barbarian) helped produce the show, focusing the first season on the rise of Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds) from 49 BC to his death on the “Ides of March” in 44 BC. While Julius Caesar enjoys his apotheosis, Rome steadily builds the rise of Augustus for season 2, as he battles against Marc Antony in the wake of Caesar’s assassination. According to co-creator Bruno Heller, additional seasons would have expanded their focus to Egypt, the rise of Jesus Christ in Israel, and more. If only. 12. Togetherness Though recently canceled after its second season, Togetherness enjoyed a highly devoted fan following. Created by brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, along with their high-school friend, Steve Zissis, Togetherness explored the stories of four frustrated Angelenos seeking to reinvent their lives. Brett and Michelle Pierson (Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey) have hit a low point in their marriage, while Brett’s best friend and struggling actor, Alex (Zissis), has nearly given up on his career.

To round things out, Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet) is mired in a mid-life crisis and moves in with the Piersons to seek rehabilitation. Togetherness embodied the modern dark comedy with its themes of melancholy, exploring life’s purpose and finding love. When alone, none of these people are particularly happy. But when together, they help set each other on the right path. Through the show’s highs and lows, Togetherness presented a very realistic look at life and relationships. 11. Six Feet Under Only Alan Ball, the screenwriter of American Beauty, could turn a concept about a family-run funeral home into something as mesmerizing as Six Feet Under. Though each episode of the beloved HBO series began with a death, Six Feet Under somehow always managed to make audiences laugh. Indeed, for a show surrounded with death, the performances and acerbic writing always made audiences feel acutely alive. In addition to Alan Ball’s vision for the show, the enduring appreciation for Six Feet Under is equally due to the talented cast of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home. Peter Krause, Michael C.

Hall, Frances Conroy and Lauren Ambrose, among many other actors, took the incisive scripts and distinct characters and truly brought them to life. Though the show ran five seasons and has been off the air since 2005, the unforgettable finale of Six Feet Under continues to linger in the memory of those who experienced it. 10. In Treatment Art imitates life. For HBO’s In Treatment, the full meaning of the phrase came to bear. With a total of 106 episodes over just three seasons, the psychology-centered show consistently aired five episodes a week for two months at a time. Talk about a demanding shooting schedule. Still, In Treatment quickly became the easiest way for audiences to seek therapy for themselves — minus the hassle of actually paying for a doctor. Based on the Israeli series, Be Tipul, creator Rodrigo Garcia put legendary actor Gabriel Byrne in the lead role as Paul Weston, the empathetic psychologist dedicated to helping his patients. Due to the formatting of the show, audiences had a unique opportunity to commiserate with Weston’s patients on a regular basis. The ability to watch them grow (or regress) over a series of sessions built an increasingly strong following.

With strong performances from Dane DeHaan, Debra Winger, Amy Ryan, and Mia Wasikowska, among others, In Treatment offered meaty roles for hungry actors eager to work opposite Gabriel Byrne. 9. The Leftovers Damon Lindelof’s rapture drama, The Leftovers , depicts a world where 2% of the world’s population has vanished. The fallout from this apocalyptic scenario sees the destruction of the world’s leading religions, the evolution of cults, and the eruption of widespread chaos as people seek answers for the disappearance of over 140 million people. While the first season was based off of Tom Perrotta’s eponymous book, the second season forged new and wholly original material. With principal photography underway for the third and final season of The Leftovers, the show remains as schismatic as the “Sudden Departure” event it depicts. Though many critics and fans have heaped praise on the show , some have found it too grim to be enjoyable.

Despite dissension on the show’s ultimate appeal, praise for the performances has been unanimous, particularly for Justin Theroux’s struggling cop, Kevin Garvey, and Carrie Coon’s Nora Durst, who seeks solace in the disappearance of her husband, son and daughter. 8. Veep Given the plethora of dramas in HBO’s lineup, Veep is a more than welcome choice in comedic counter-programming. Led by the eternally-likable Julia Louis-Dreyfus, this political satire offers some of the smartest scripts on television. Jokes and witticisms fly by faster than Brian Williams in a helicopter under attack . Imagine if House of Cards turned down the seriousness and amplified the sarcasm. That’s Veep, more or less, but with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale in the driver’s seat, things get even more unpredictable. The supporting cast seals the deal, making Veep consistently watchable since it started in 2012 (having just wrapped its fifth season). Upright Citizens Brigade alum Matt Walsh brings the laughs, but it’s Sam Richardson’s Richard Splett who continuously steals the show. This 2016 election season in particular makes Veep more relevant than ever. 7.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Curb Your Enthusiasm is coming back . Needless to say, we’re mightily enthused. Larry David’s brilliant comedy has been home to some of the funniest scenes in recent memory, and when the show appeared to be finished, fans were despondent. Having run for eleven years (and now longer) with 80 episodes, Curb Your Enthusiasm could understandably be considered HBO’s most enduring show. From Larry unleashing almighty hell at a poor songstress, to him turning a black swan into a massacre of feathers , Curb is undoubtedly one of the funniest shows HBO has ever put on the air. Furthermore, Curb Your Enthusiasm was the sole reason for that legendary Seinfeld reunion that saw Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards all back under the same roof. And who knows, with season 9 around the corner, it could happen again. Even if our Festivus dreams don’t come true, we’ll eagerly anticipate Larry reuniting with Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines and the rest of the cast. 6.

True Detective If time is a flat circle, then perhaps we can forget the travesty of True Detective’s second season and only remember the first. Beyond the stellar central performances of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the incredible cinematography, and Niz Pizzolatto’s bullet-proof scripts, Cary Fukunaga’s overarching directorial vision made this deep-south story come to eternal life. True Detective may start slow and demand your ultimate attention, but the thrills and the ultimate payoff are well worth the early commitment. In the middle of the “McConaissance,” True Detective also solidified 2014 as the epicenter of the golden age of television. Rather than focusing on a variety of disparate story lines, True Detective excelled beyond similar procedural shows by hunkering down in one universe and a single dominating mystery. As a result, our affections were directed to the spellbindingly complex characters of Rustin Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Harrelson). With Fukunaga at the helm of all eight episodes, the uniformity of vision was consistent from beginning to end.

With season 3 reportedly in the works, let’s hope Pizzolatto hearkens back to the winning formula of the show’s maiden voyage. 5. Deadwood The western genre has been around for decades, but David Milch’s Deadwood did more than revive it. In this Greek-tragedy like retelling of the American west, Deadwood eschews the spaghetti western formula of Sergio Leone and John Ford for something more sinister and compelling. Indeed, the show is set in a mining town free from any legal subjugation under the Continental United States. As a result, lawlessness abounds, ruffians run rampant, and the carnal desires of men know no end. Deadwood is about finding order in chaos, and for Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), among others in this forsaken town, the opportunities for control are endless. Though set in post Civil War America, perhaps the most specific era of HBO’s menu of shows, Deadwood is no less compelling than any of its contemporary competition . Though it only lasted three seasons, there’s a reason the demand for a Deadwood movie remains at fever pitch. 4.

The Sopranos Before even enumerating the thematic success of The Sopranos , let’s examine the history of the executive producers who worked on the show. After David Chase gave birth to the project, there was Terence Winter, godfather of Boardwalk Empire and scribe for The Wolf of Wall Street. Then, there was Matthew Weiner, mastermind behind a little known AMC drama about men who worked on Madison Avenue in the 1960s and drank a lot. That’s the legacy of The Sopranos. As for the heroic yarn spun by the Italian mobster show, The Sopranos takes Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and updates it in modern New Jersey. The central question asks: how can Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) juggle his unruly home life with the neverending demands of his place in the mob? Widely regarded as one of the best shows ever made, The Sopranos left audiences hanging on Tony’s every word, right up until the controversially cliffhanger finale . 3.

Band of Brothers Created and executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg shortly after they completed Saving Private Ryan, HBO’s first venture into World War II used Stephen Ambrose’s eponymous book as its source material. From stateside training, to their D-Day jump above Normandy, to storming Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in the Alps, Band of Brothers joins the ranks of the heroic 101st Airborne Division in their fight against the Nazis. With Captain Dick Winters (Damian Lewis) in the lead, we follow the harrowing missions placed at the daring division’s feet (often from Dwight D. Eisenhower himself). This is where Band of Brothers separates itself from the WWII film and television pack. By staying with the same soldiers in each of the 10 episodes, you can’t help but build a connection with each of the men. In one particular episode, during the Siege of Bastogne, the division is forced to huddle up in frozen foxholes while the German’s unleash mortars from a distance. This hour-long episode will freeze you to the bone and make you grateful for peacetime. Band of Brothers is HBO at its very best. 2.

Game of Thrones Selecting the number one show out of HBO’s unbeatable canon is truly a modern Sophie’s Choice. At this level of small screen storytelling, there are only variations of “good” and “great.” Game of Thrones is a herculean achievement for HBO, and showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have essentially accomplished the impossible. By distilling George R. R. Martin’s impenetrably thick story, his abundance of unique characters, and the rich and detailed history of Westeros into a stunningly well-made show, Weiss and Benioff deserve enduring praise. Think back to 2011, when Game of Thrones first landed on the premium cable provider. To those who had never heard of Martin’s books , this show was potentially a tough sell. Fantasy stories don’t always breach the literary divide into the greater public’s conscience, making Game of Thrones an incredibly expensive risk for the network. But as it heads towards its seventh season as perhaps the most talked-about show in TV history, the great gamble has paid off and created a cultural frenzy unlikely to be eclipsed anytime soon. 1.

The Wire Though HBO has an army of top-shelf TV, nothing can surmount the legacy of David Simon’s The Wire . It may have eluded the Emmy and Golden Globe adulation of its peers, but The Wire has become the stuff of legend since its fifth season wrapped in 2008. Just as Game of Thrones effortlessly juggles the happenings of the Seven Kingdoms, The Wire portrays social, economic and political elements of Baltimore with remarkable precision. Beyond your typical urban procedural, The Wire accumulated increasingly profound insights with its target city in each subsequent season. As with a London-set Charles Dickens novel, The Wire made audiences feel as if Baltimore was their home, not some distant land without ramifications. Above all, the show’s multi-layered depiction of the city presents a deeply complex look at the way disparate lives and cultures intersect. Thanks to spot-on casting and Simon’s choice to favor realism over star power (a breakout performance from Idris Elba notwithstanding), The Wire feels less like TV and more like real life . That’s what great entertainment is all about. — The best TV series of the ’00s · Best of · The A.V. Club Share Tweet 1.

The Wire (HBO, 2002-08) Taking full advantage of the generous breadth of the television format—and HBO’s commitment to ambitious, form-expanding programming—The Wire unfolded like a great American novel, trusting viewers to pick up on the intricate connections between seasons, characters, and myriad details. Starting as an impressively scrupulous, evenhanded depiction of the Baltimore drug trade, the show opened up into an ever-expanding portrait of a city, one weakened institution at a time, from the unions to the schools to the newspaper business. At every turn, Simon and his crack team of writers (including crime novelists George Pelacanos, Richard Price, and Dennis Lehane) revealed how the corrupt and often grossly incompetent acts of the powerful consistently preyed on the city’s most defenseless residents. Rooted in Greek tragedy, this grim series was mitigated by moments of profound redemption, a penchant for gallows humor, and an abiding respect for the quietly heroic men and women who try to make a difference. Essential episodes: “Bad Dreams,” “Final Grades,” “Late Editions” 2.

The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007) The depiction of evil in storytelling has been complicated ever since Lucifer became the breakout character in Milton’s Paradise Lost. It would be a mistake to say all 86 episodes of The Sopranos are a commentary on the relationship between storytellers and their wicked characters, but that was definitely on the mind of show creator David Chase. Over the course of its six seasons, the series followed the misadventures of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a charismatic multiple murderer who uses psychotherapy to help him balance his relationships with his wife and children, and to deal with the stress of his position as a powerful figure in the New Jersey mafia. Chase and other writers used Tony’s dual life as means to examine consumerist culture, the lasting impact of violence, Italian-American identity, and dozens of other themes. With a strong cast anchored by Gandolfini’s brilliant leading turn, each season served up soap opera, mob intrigue, and surrealist digressions, all tied together by the main character’s quest for self-realization.

The dark inevitability of that quest’s end will be forever debated by fans, but one lesson is clear: having sympathy for the Devil doesn’t make him any less monstrous, no matter how much we might wish otherwise. Essential episodes: “Employee Of The Month,” “Whoever Did This,” “Made In America” 3. Arrested Development (Fox, 2003-06) As Ron Howard explains at the beginning of every Arrested Development episode, “This is the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” That’s a deceptively simple way of explaining Arrested Development, but the complexity of the show’s writing is what kept fans enamored. In short, AD not only makes viewers laugh, it makes them feel smart. What other TV comedy so richly rewarded a vigilant audience with inside jokes, subtle callbacks, and long-form farce? Of course the spoiled, obnoxious characters (especially those played by Jessica Walters, Will Arnett, and David Cross) are entertaining as they are, but the writing around them makes the show a classic.

Arrested Development’s gags run the gamut from puns (Sunday brunch places named “Skip Church’s” and “Miss Temple’s”) to the sweet (George Michael’s homage to Charlie Brown) to the nearly profane (the word “cunt” is referenced a surprising number of times for a network TV show) to the ridiculous (“Bob Loblaw’s law blog”), yet it all ties together. The series demands attention and repays it with bits that don’t even register until the second, third, or even fourth viewing. And the telltale sign of Arrested Development’s greatness: it looks like it was fun as hell to make. Essential episodes: “Pier Pressure,” “Mr. F,” “Righteous Brothers” 4. Freaks And Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000) The Judd Apatow juggernaut—surely the most understated, genial media movement ever to deserve the title—began with the one-season-and-out teen drama Freaks And Geeks, produced by Apatow and created by Paul Feig.

Following the varied outcasts of an early-’80s suburban Detroit high school, Freaks And Geeks features Linda Cardellini as a geek (a “mathlete,” to be precise) who migrates to the stoner crowd, and John Francis Daley as her nerdy younger brother, simultaneously worried about his sister’s future and fighting his own adolescent battles. The show not only captured in 18 scant episodes the miasma of heady freedom and sickening chaos that defines the high-school years, it also provided breakout roles for Sam Levine, Martin Starr, James Franco, Busy Phillips, Jason Segel, and Seth Rogen. NBC didn’t necessarily know what to do with this critically acclaimed ratings disaster, but rarely has a canceled show's brilliance been so immediately evident. Before the final three aired episodes were burned off in the summer of 2000, the cast and crew received a scholarly fête at The Museum Of The Moving Image; then Apatow went on to the almost-as-good sitcom Undeclared, and a huge movie career. Essential episodes: “We've Got Spirit,” “Looks And Books,” “Discos And Dragons” 5.

Mad Men (AMC, 2007-present) TV period pieces rarely work. The production design usually pales in comparison to period films, the characters are often only empty vessels through which to experience major historical moments, and a modern sensibility ultimately prevails, in spite of the era-specific trappings. Mad Men has turned that last weakness into an advantage with its deliberately cool, distanced look at ’60s advertising executives, unaware of the tidal wave of change soon to sweep them away. Matthew Weiner’s series apes films of the period, offering shots held for ages, moments of supreme quiet, and a glacial pace, even as the characters roil with emotions they barely knew how to express. Mad Men is about hanging out in a meticulously recreated bygone world with the handsome rogue Don Draper (played by the great Jon Hamm) and company, but it’s also about using our knowledge against us, and making us realize that the people who lived in the mythical ’60s were real individuals, struggling to comprehend just how thoroughly the world could be upended. Essential episodes: “The Wheel,” “The Jet Set,” “Seven Twenty Three” 6.

Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-present) Few shows have proven as skillful as Breaking Bad at stringing together memorable scenes. In fact, the show’s first pre-credits sequence is a flash-forward to a thundering chase scene so jaw-dropping, it’s amazing that the hour of television which follows earns every moment. Creator Vince Gilligan begins with the tale of a high-school chemistry teacher who turns to meth-dealing to provide for his family when he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, and stretches the story out so he can explore the quiet moments between its mind-blowing setpieces. Bryan Cranston perfectly inhabits the role of a man who chooses doomed action over helpless inaction, and he’s ably served by a terrific supporting cast, including Aaron Paul as his junkie partner, Anna Gunn as his suspicious wife, and—turning around a role that could have become mawkish—RJ Mitte as his cerebral-palsy-afflicted son. The actors help imbue the life and times of a dying man with the sort of powerful drama that keeps viewers rapt between big moments that can take a whole season to play out.

But as Breaking Bad showed with its masterful second season, it’s always worth the wait. Essential episodes: “Pilot,” “Cat’s In The Bag,” “ABQ” 7. The Office UK (BBC 2, 2001-03) When Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant first conceived a mockumentary about a gloriously self-deluded boss who fancies himself a “friend first, an entertainer second, and a boss third,” they couldn’t have imagined they’d concoct an international pop-culture phenomenon that would spawn adaptations around the world, including the rightly revered American version starring Steve Carell. Gervais and Merchant’s groundbreaking, wildly influential hit garnered huge laughs from awkward silence, tension, and the everyday humiliations and defeats of life as a wage slave. Underneath the comedy lay an unblinking take on middle-class ennui and frustration that bordered on tragic. Essential episodes: “Training,” “Motivation,” “Christmas Specials” 8.

Lost (ABC, 2004-present) No series risked more over the past decade than Lost, which has asked its viewers to be patient as the show’s creators have withheld information, killed characters, divided the cast and—in the ultimate potential deal-breaker—toyed with time travel. To some extent, frustration with Lost has become part of the pleasure of watching the show, as fans gather to grumble about dangling plot threads and conflicts that could be easily resolved if characters ever used some of the time they’re spending cast away on a desert island to, y’know, have conversations. But Lost’s payoffs have been well worth its head-slappers. Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have presided over a story that’s spanned continents and genres, all while crafting a dense mythology with a human core. Lost is a show about unexpected connections and the search for meaning in our shared cultural arcana. It’s also been a showcase for a sprawling cast of memorable characters, each learning the lesson that if they’re patient enough to wait out the changes, their tragic life stories just might have a happy ending. Essential episodes: “Walkabout,” “Greatest Hits,” “The Constant” 9.

Deadwood (HBO, 2004-06) The earliest TV-drama hits were Westerns, so when HBO unleashed David Milch’s Deadwood on the world in 2004, it seemed at first like the latest in the channel’s long series of TV genre-reclamation projects. Instead, the series quickly abandoned the Wild West archetypes of its first handful of episodes and turned into a show about how communities come to be, how civilization springs from blood and gold, and how chaos is imperfectly knit into order. Featuring grandly theatrical dialogue, at least five dozen major recurring characters, and an unforgettable lead performance from Ian McShane, Deadwood was the temperamental Milch’s love letter to such timeless virtues as common decency, free societies, and creatively deployed profanity. Though the series only lasted three seasons and never reached a natural endpoint, the seasons are so packed with Milch’s richly humanistic view of the world that they trump 10 seasons of more common shows. Essential episodes: “A Lie Agreed Upon, Pts. 1 and 2,” “The Whores Can Come,” “Boy The Earth Talks To” 10.

The Shield (FX, 2002-08) There’s never been a TV cop like Vic Mackey, who painted a blue uniform the most frustrating, vigorous, incredible shades of grey. In Shawn Ryan’s version of Los Angeles, the leader of an anti-gang unit—played expertly by Michael Chiklis—was a man to be admired, feared, loved, hated, and sometimes pitied. The Shield allowed viewers to cheer Mackey while he committed heinous acts in the pursuit of justice (and illegal cash for himself), but made us feel dirty by depicting the consequences, too. It didn’t hurt that Chiklis was surrounded by a cast whose stories got richer (and often more horrifying) as the series went on: His fellow Strike Teamers became the biggest part of the story in the series’ amazing, harrowing final seasons, when it seemed that in every episode, life truly was on the line. Walton Goggins, who at first seemed to be playing a stereotypical hick sidekick, proved himself an emotional lynchpin, and the side characters—other cops, plus terrific guest turns from Forest Whitaker and Glenn Close, among others—developed full personalities.

And those stories: Like The Wire, The Shield plays like a classic tragedy taken as a whole, a massive web of badness that made for incredible television. Essential episodes: “Cherrypoppers,” “Postpartum,” “Family Meeting.” [pagebreak]11. The Office US (NBC, 2005-present) America may always be imitating our British forebears, but the U.S. version of Ricky Gervais' astounding comedy of cruelty managed to make the original’s single-camera mockumentary premise its own. Key to the translation’s success: a more sympathetic boss played by Steve Carell, a more confident (and competent) relationship between co-workers Jim and Pam, and a divergence from the plots provided by its predecessor. By the second episode, when Michael Scott assigns each employee with an ethnic identity to teach a lesson about diversity—but leaves out “Arab” because “It’s too soon”—it was abundantly clear that creator Greg Daniels was pointing the show in its own direction. As the seasons have piled up, the writers have innovated to delightful effect; witness last season’s Michael Scott Paper Company arc, which revealed new facets of the main characters without throwing any of the show’s ample investments away.

Essential episodes: “Casino Night,” “Dinner Party,” “Dream Team” 12. Battlestar Galactica (2004-09) In traditional narratives, escape from disaster is about trying to return to the old life as quickly as possible. Once the worst has happened, rebuilding what was lost becomes the survivors’ main goal. That’s nominally the goal of the miserable remnants of humanity left in Battlestar Galactica, but one of the series’ most effectively subversive elements is how it questions just what it means to “rebuild.” In a more traditional show, humanity’s leaders (Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell) would’ve guided Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Katee Sackhoff and the rest to some haven where they could take cover and eventually defeat the Cylon race bent on exterminating them. Instead, creator Ronald Moore gave audiences the fumbling of two species bent on discovering grace, with all the confusion and terror that implies. The show’s often-tortured mythology doesn’t always work, especially in a final season that tried too hard to tie up threads that weren’t loose so much as irrelevant.

But the end result is still a powerful meditation on grief, loss, and the responsibilities of consciousness. Essential episodes: “Final Cut,” “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2,” “Unfinished Business” 13. 30 Rock (2006-present) It’s hard to believe that back in 2006, a future three-time Emmy-winner for Best Comedy would be considered a likely flop, doomed to languish in the long shadow of Aaron Sorkin’s high-profile inside-TV drama Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Instead, Studio 60 proved drippy and self-important, while 30 Rock is in the middle of its fourth season as a reliable gag-generating machine. Tina Fey’s look behind the scenes of a Saturday Night Live-like sketch-comedy series has almost nothing to do with what it’s actually like to throw together a TV show, and more to do with the ridiculousness that ensues when vain creative types and arrogant corporate lackeys try to collaborate. Mainly, 30 Rock is a sight-gag-and-punchline factory.

When Fey and company are on a roll, the show generates more quotable lines and memorable moments per 22 minutes than any sitcom since Arrested Development. Essential episodes: “The Rural Juror,” “Subway Hero,” “The One With The Cast Of Night Court” 14. Futurama (Fox, 1999-2003) Science fiction teaches that the future will either resemble the rainy misery of Blade Runner or the upbeat togetherness of Star Trek, without many options between them, but what happens if tomorrow is pretty much like today? That’s one of the driving ideas behind Futurama¸ the brainchild of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. Futurama posits a year 3000 in which the robots are surly, the suicide booths are plentiful, and the person with the clearest vision only has one eye. In its original run, the series walked the high wire of high-concept and slapstick humor, delivering gags based around Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle without ever talking down to its audience. That uncompromising standard led to an emotional depth that never took the easy road toward affecting an audience.

It’s no surprise that this standard also led to a premature cancellation; it’s more surprising that the show lasted as long as it did. Thankfully, fan interest and DVD sales restored the series to life, but regardless of what the future brings, the original 72 episodes remain impeccable evidence that there’s no such thing as too smart for the room. Essential episodes: “Roswell That Ends Well,” “Jurassic Bark,” “The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings” 15. Veronica Mars (UPN/The CW, 2004-07) The first season of the Rob Thomas-created Veronica Mars is one of the singular achievements of ‘00s television: a season-long murder mystery that doubles as an inquiry into the class divisions in and around a Southern California high school. The second season upped the ambition level, adding a denser plot that was often hard to follow, but which paid off brilliantly. And then the third season—set at college—aimed for shorter stories and a lighter tone, and suffered significantly from the creative compromise.

But throughout, star Kristen Bell grounded the twisty stories and soapy romances in a real character: a formerly popular teenager who uses her ability to slip between cliques to help make her classmates’ adolescences less confusing and unfair. Essential episodes: “You Think You Know Somebody,” “Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough,” “The Bitch Is Back” 16. Friday Night Lights (NBC, 2006-present) Proving that nepotism isn’t always a bad thing, Peter Berg parlayed a distant relation to H.G. Bissinger, author of the acclaimed non-fiction book Friday Night Lights, into a film and television adaptation. And as good as its source material is, the TV series has became one of the most distinctive hours on broadcast or cable. FNL’s well-deserved acclaim led to an unusual release strategy starting in the third season, with original episodes airing first on DirecTV, then months later on NBC. Anchored by the monumental yet understated performance of Kyle Chandler as the coach of a Texas high-school football powerhouse, the show has explored a sports-saturated culture on and off the field.

Its naturalistic style highlights the relationships between Dillon High’s jocks, their families and girlfriends, the team’s well-heeled boosters, and the football-mad community. Yet there’s a bleakness underlying Berg’s portrayal; when the spotlight fades, what’s left are struggling families, glass ceilings, and unclear priorities. Essential episodes: “Best Laid Plans,” “May The Best Man Win,” “New York, New York” 17. Firefly (Fox, 2002-2003) Like Joss Whedon’s other shows, Firefly sported some serious flaws. And like Whedon’s other shows, it fought to stay on the air long enough to address them. But unlike Whedon’s other shows, Firefly failed, and given how good it was apart from those flaws, it seems churlish now to focus on what could’ve been. Instead, let’s stick with what was: a clever, funny, exciting, original outer-space Western with an unforgettable cast of characters and a palpable sense of fun.

Whedon assembled what may be his best-ever group of actors, created a compelling (albeit unfinished) fictional universe, and wore his heart on his sleeve in creating one of the best science-fiction shows in a decade crammed with them. Buffy achieved its own Peter Principle, and Dollhouse bought itself a second chance; mourn Firefly as the great Whedon that wasn’t. Essential episodes: “Jaynestown,” “Out Of Gas,” “Objects In Space” 18. How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 2005-present) The traditional three-camera sitcom (with laugh track) may be considered a dead format—though they still rule the ratings, for the most part—but with How I Met Your Mother, creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have expanded its limitations while keeping the gags a-coming. Where most sitcoms hit the reset button on the same basic dynamics week after week, season after season, HIMYM has the continuity of a more novelistic series, and loves to play around with time, paying off jokes with flashbacks, asides, and wildly inventive structural trickery.

The immensely gifted cast helps: Neil Patrick Harris as an unrepentant skirt-chaser; Cobie Smulders as a woman whose conventional beauty is undermined by her gawky Canadian-ness; Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan as a teddy-bear-adorable couple; and Josh Radnor as the mildly douchey hero in search of the ever-elusive “mother” of the title. The show can do sitcom silliness like nobody’s business, but it has surprising emotional depth, too, and it rewards its fans for their close attention. Essential episodes: “Slap Bet,” “Showdown,” “How I Met Everyone Else” 19. Big Love (HBO, 2006-present) For a show that was originally marketed as a smirking, adults-only look inside a polygamist cult, Big Love has proved to be one of the most oddly clean-cut shows to air on HBO, and one of the most earnest studies of religion and morality ever to air on television.

In extracting relatable drama and comedy from the problems of a successful businessman with cult associations, Big Love deals smartly with the troubles faced by people of faith who try to seize their part of the American dream without being sullied by the secular. It’s an impossible situation, illustrated well by this not-so-sexy show about a man with three wives. Essential episodes: “The Baptism,” “Kingdom Come,” “Come, Ye Saints” 20. Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (Cartoon Network, 2007-present) It’s no exaggeration to claim that Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim have invented a completely new kind of television show: Their Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!—from that title on down—filters the idea of sketch comedy through public-access TV, Dadaism, and poop jokes. One minute, it’s a commercial parody poking at consumerism, the next a rabid commercial for rentable child clowns, the next a story arc about a kidnapped public-access singer. But every single minute bears the stamp of two really smart minds, unafraid to examine the outermost bounds of acceptability.

The surface begs to be scratched, and there’s real artistry to be found underneath. No wonder guest stars (John C. Reilly, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, the list goes on) have lined up to join in. Essential episodes: “Chunky,” “Missing,” “Forest” [pagebreak]21. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000-present) At first blush, it sounds like an easy show to get into: a comedy about the fabulously wealthy crotchety man who created Seinfeld. But what makes Curb Your Enthusiasm more than just an amusing sitcom is that it forces its audience to accept a reality not quite similar to our own. Curb Your Enthusiasm might be set in the real world with real people, but it isn’t a realistic show; its people are driven by their ids, saying what’s on their minds and feeling so constrained by social niceties that they rip them apart like petulant children. Via creator/star Larry David, we root for a guy we’d probably want to punch in real life.

Essential episodes: “Krazee Eyez Killa,” “Club Soda And Salt,” “Trick Or Treat” 22. Six Feet Under (HBO, 2001-05) It might be easy to magnify Six Feet Under’s occasional mid-run plot stumbles into worse flaws than they actually were, but the bumpy moments shouldn’t overshadow the real pathos that this five-season HBO drama delivered. Playing the unwilling heir to his family’s funeral home, Nate Fisher was often unlikeable, but the shitstorms that followed him around made him a hero just the same. Delicate performances from the many women in his life buoyed the show: Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Rachel Griffiths, and Lili Taylor offered some of TV’s most complex female characters. A nuanced gay couple (Dexter’s Michael C. Hall and Mathew St. Patrick) broadened the show, too. And though it could seem soapy at times, no other drama featured Six Feet Under’s depth of plot and talking dead people. Essential episodes: “Pilot,” “The Last Time,” “Everyone’s Waiting” 23.

Undeclared (Fox, 2001-02) Before Judd Apatow became the bountiful wellspring of Hollywood comedy hits he is today, he was the king of noble failures on television (see also Freaks And Geeks, above)—none more cursed than Undeclared, a half-hour campus comedy that Fox began airing two weeks after 9/11, when no one was in the mood to laugh. Sixteen episodes and repeated schedule changes and preemptions later, Undeclared was finally put out of its misery, but the DVD box set that followed makes a strong argument for a show that deftly balanced comic hijinks and pranks with a real affection for underclassmen trying to cope with the independence and uncertainty of being on their own for the first time. Jay Baruchel makes a winning nerd hero, Loudon Wainwright III steals scenes as his recently divorced and eager-to-party father, Carla Gallo and Monica Keena play wonderfully daffy objects of desire, Freaks And Geeks holdovers Seth Rogen and Jason Segel contribute big laughs, and it’s all delivered with the underlying sweetness that viewers have come to expect from Apatow.

Essential episodes: “Addicts,” “Truth Or Dare,” “The Perfect Date” 24. Dexter (2006-present) Though uneven, Showtime’s first genuine drama hit showed the dark flipside of the crime procedurals littering the TV landscape through most of the decade. Michael C. Hall’s riveting work as Dexter Morgan—a serial killer who kills other criminals—introduces queasy questions about just how far Americans are willing to go to feel safe, and just which crimes deserve which punishments. The series’ master plotting has rarely misstepped, especially in its first two seasons, which delved into Dexter’s backstory and the morality of his extracurricular activities. And always at the center is Hall, playing one of TV’s most fascinating characters: a bumbling everyman with a jack-o’-lantern smile that conceals more than anyone would ever want to know. Essential episodes: “Morning Comes,” “Resistance Is Futile,” “There’s Something About Harry” 25.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (The WB/UPN, 1997-2003) Heading into the decade in the middle of its fourth season, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was one of TV’s most acclaimed series, even after it left the high-school setting of its earlier seasons behind. In the first few years of the ’00s, though, Buffy and her friends wandered through dreamscapes, battled a god, lost people dear to them, and sang and danced. While more uneven in those seasons than it had been in high school, Joss Whedon’s series would still get at truths about the pain of growing up, the sheer struggle of mere living, and the formation of ad hoc families. And in its willingness to innovate stylistically, the series also proved itself a surprisingly adept chameleon: a ribald comedy one week, a musical the next, and a quiet art film the week after. Essential episodes: “Restless,” “The Body,” “Once More With Feeling” 26. The Venture Bros. (Cartoon Network, 2003-present) If The Venture Bros.

wasn’t the best show of the 2000s, it was at least the most unexpected: Debuting on a network best known for funny-but-dust-thin stoner comedy, it quickly evolved into one of the most emotionally involving shows on television, showing real character growth, genuine depth of feeling, and a hefty thematic obsession with failure and disappointment. Occupying territory alongside cheaply produced junk-store animation, Venture Bros. came through with gorgeous character design, a lovely array of color and movement, and some of the best original music on television. Even its humor transcended its origins; though still a source of immense geek-recognition laughter, the show goes beyond mere reference and invites viewers to contemplate what their nostalgia means, not just that it exists. Oh, and it’s also funny as hell. Essential episodes: “Tag Sale—You’re It!”, “Powerless In The Face Of Death,” “The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together” 27.

Flight Of The Conchords (HBO, 2007-2009) When HBO announced that it was building a sitcom around the New Zealand folk-comedy duo Flight Of The Conchords, many doubted whether what was essentially a musical act would translate well to filmed, scripted comedy. But the series has shown unique strengths: Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are able to play low-key in front of a camera, toning down their stage personas to a pleasantly awkward degree. And by arranging for support from a wide range of alt-comedy stars (Kristen Schaal, Aziz Ansari, Eugene Mirman, Demetri Martin and others), they concocted plenty of situation for their comedy. Flight is also delightfully New York-y, with lots of charming location shots to augment the scenes shot in the duo’s cramped pad. The show went a bit too broad in its second season, but even when the comedy faltered, there was always a winning song just around the corner. Essential episodes: “Bret Gives Up The Dream,” “Girlfriends,” “Unnatural Love” 28.

Eastbound & Down (HBO, 2009-present) HBO’s Eastbound & Down doesn’t entirely fit in with the “comedy of discomfort” scene epitomized by the British Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, nor is it as broadly farcical as other projects featuring its star, Danny McBride. Instead, it finds a sweet spot between outlandish and authentic. McBride plays a washed-up baseball player, Kenny Powers, who has none of the fans he once did, yet retains all of his swagger. He’s a chauvinist pig and the ugliest of ugly Americans, and Eastbound at first invites viewers to laugh mostly at him, but the six-episode first season—half of which was directed by indie auteur David Gordon Green, tellingly—also allowed audiences to feel a little sympathy. Even though Kenny Powers says things like “I’ve been blessed with many things in this life: an arm like a damn rocket, a cock like a Burmese python, and the mind of a fucking scientist,” he’s hard not to love. Essential episodes: “Chapter 3,” “Chapter 5,” “Chapter 6.” 29.

Wonder Showzen (MTV2, 2005-06) John Lee and Vernon Chatman’s “kids show for adults” Wonder Showzen started off dark, then grew increasingly bleak, until it wasn’t contemplating the void so much as plunging audiences inside it. Part kid-show parody, part Dadaist provocation, Wonder Showzen took the convention of children’s shows—puppets, cartoons, busy graphics, children interviewers—into evisceratingly dark places. The second season in particular dared audiences to turn away, most notoriously in the series finale, “Clarence Special Report On Compelling Television,” which featured 30 minutes of a hand puppet ambushing people in the park and challenging them to create compelling television, right there on the spot. (At the end of the episode/series, the puppet kills himself by leaping from a helicopter.) The show amply lived up to an opening crawl promising “OFFENSIVE, DESPICABLE CONTENT THAT IS TOO CONTROVERSIAL AND TOO AWESOME FOR ACTUAL CHILDREN.” Essential episodes: “Diversity,” “Patience,” “Cooperation” 30.

The West Wing (NBC, 1999-2006) Aaron Sorkin’s mixture of starry-eyed idealism and wit seems so suited for the fictional White House of The West Wing that’s it hard to accept that the show lasted three seasons after he left. Even more surprising is that those seasons weren’t a complete wreck. Still, the first half of the show’s run is undeniably its best, pitching lofty goals against the government grind, and seeing which came out on top. The aspirations of the staff, led by president Martin Sheen, didn’t always lead to victory, but that was one of the series’ strengths: managing, at its finest, to maintain its optimism without completely disregarding the endless compromise of politics. That strength even endured in Sorkin’s absence, with a depiction of a presidential campaign that eerily predicted the realities of 2008. West Wing had the occasional misstep, but at its best, it suggested a world where smart people could do dumb things, but still find the right way in the end. Essential episodes: “The Stackhouse Filibuster,” “The Two Cathedrals,” “Game On”

Question: Which American television drama series, that originally aired between 2001 - 2005, was set in 'Fisher & Sons Funeral Home'?
Answer: 'SIX FEET UNDER'