1) The Sopranos (1999 – 2007)
This decade was the greatest in television history, and The Sopranos was ground zero. The realm of the TV drama had never ventured far from the cop/doctor/lawyer format, and though there were previous anomalies (Twin Peaks, The Prisoner, I Claudius), they were flashes in the pan that never threatened the status quo. But the commercial and critical success of The Sopranos changed the fabric of TV forever, clearing the way for every other show that followed it by assuring execs that an audience exists for challenging fare and raising the bar creatively for everyone working in television. And even if it wasn’t for all that trailblazing and making the world safe for everything from Friday Night Lights to Mad Men, The Sopranos would still be one of the decade’s best shows. Its characters and writing are unparalleled, and it revolved around the irresistible premise of a weekly psychological analysis of Tony Soprano, TV’s most complex and intriguing character, who despite being a lying, cheating murderer, was endlessly funny, fascinating and even sympathetic. The lovable scumbag was closer to us than we’d like to admit, struggling with problems at work and home that we could easily relate to (paying his overachieving daughter’s tuition at Columbia, backbiting at the office) and a few we couldn’t (a mother who literally tried to kill him, backbiting at the office that ended with decapitation). – Scott Howard

2) Friday Night Lights (2006 – present)
When writing about a show, it’s easy to fall into cliches like “tour de force” or “triumph” or “full of heart”. It’s hard to explain in just a few hundred words why something that has existed for over 50 hours is great. And so, in struggling with words, the best one I came up with for Friday Night Lights is full. Full of emotion. Of beauty. Of truth. Of harshness. Of forgiveness. Of sympathy. Of character. Full because no stone is left unturned, plots rarely going away easily. When a character succeeds you have been there through all their hard work and it feels so very earned. Friday Night Lights is a love letter to parts of the country, to people, to stories that so often get ignored. It’s not everything those areas, communities, or lives encompass, but it treats them as nothing more than totally human. There are few heroes who don’t have flaws, few villains who don’t have good. There are just people, doing the best they can to live the best life possible. Clear eyes. Full heart. Never have four words been more apt. – Zoe Holmes

3) Lost (2004 – 2010)
A show about survivors of a plane crash who land on an island—that might also be inhabited by monsters and other squirrelly folk—sounds like yet another bad idea from some crazed network executive, but with a dedication to building well-rounded (and sometimes frustratingly ambiguous) characters and introducing sci-fi elements in bits and pieces, Lost took hold of audiences daring enough to see how far the rabbit hole went. Hindered with the ups and downs of a writers’ strike, cast changes and a constantly-moving timeslot, Lost has at its worst been confusing and languorous but at its best been totally intriguing and heartbreaking. No one could’ve predicted powerful moments like Charlie’s defining selfless act, Locke’s evolution from naive everyman to rugged mystic and, well, Desmond’s entire story arc, but they’re key to Lost’s success. As the saying goes, the journey is the reward with Lost, and although it can get tricky when things start to dawdle, the show proved that a heavily serialized format can pay off for anyone willing to hang in there. In fact, Lost has also given so many a nerd (myself included) a new obsession, inspiring a dedicated community of fans to research every element and examine every episode in hopes of cracking the show’s labyrinthine mysteries. With its sixth and final season fast approaching, it’s far too late for casual TV viewers to get on board, but for those interested, the top-of-the-line DVD/Blu-ray sets deliver the goods without all the frustration of waiting between episodes. – Robert Cortez

4) Deadwood (2004 – 2006)
I first tried to watch Deadwood the year it was canceled. I ordered the first disc of the first season from Netflix, grudgingly watched it, and never ordered the subsequent discs. I gave it another try earlier this year and became completely and totally obsessed with it. So yes, it’s an acquired taste that must be approached in the right frame of mind (westerns written in iambic pentameter aren’t for everyone). But for the right person, it just doesn’t get better than Deadwood, a timeless, elemental look at the bloody roots of our nation and how bad guys slowly morph into good guys to fight the worse guys. It’s a show to be savored, so richly textured with hard-fought wisdom and pitch black humor that you’ll rewind scenes immediately after watching them for the sheer pleasure of watching them again. It might’ve taken me a while to get into it, but now Deadwood isn’t just my favorite TV show of all time, it’s one of my favorite things of all time. – SH

5) Arrested Development (2003 – 2006)
The words “narrated by Ron Howard” would hardly make anyone think “best comedy of the decade” and yet, here we are. Arrested Development is a show I have watched and rewatched and rewatched and rewatched again. More than any other show on our list, Arrested Development was the model of consistency. Even the worst episodes were still funny, and it never once did it turn in an entry that wasn’t worth watching. There’s a lot of lamenting about it being canceled too soon, but I think it was a bit of a blessing. Rather than languish in network hell, we got three seasons of some of the best comedy ever. More importantly, we have DVDs of it, so we can watch and rewatch and rewatch some more. – ZH

6) Battlestar Galactica (2003 – 2009)
When creator and executive producer Ronald D. Moore took on the task of re-imagining Battlestar Galactica in 2003, he made no bones about separating the wheat from the chaff. The basic premise and characters remained, but the new Battlestar Galactica played out like Greek tragedy of the highest order, with fallible human characters, conflicting moral dilemmas and villains like that bartered in good and evil at every turn. As the calculating Cylons pursued their human prey across the galaxy, viewers became privy to every hardship and struggle no matter how bleak. I can’t think of too many series that played so heavily in shades of grey and never apologized for when it veered into nearly total darkness. Through the catharsis of it all, the show’s commentary on hot-button topics like terrorism, war, occupation, treason and religion was rewarded with dozens of awards and accolades including a 2006 Peabody Award. When it was all said and done, the finale of Battlestar Galactica was a controversy all unto itself because in the end, I suppose a lot of viewers wanting more trite resolution like total annihilation of the Cylons by the ragtag fleet. For my taste, what we got was something far more profound and inspired and unlike anything else on television. – RC

7) The Office [UK Version] (2001 – 2003)
I’m just going to come out and say that the world of TV comedy wouldn’t be what it is today without the Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant creation, The Office. When you think of every successful comedy series on TV today, you can probably trace back some glint of inspiration to the BBC series that first showed us the everyday mundanity inside the offices of the Wernham Hogg Paper Company. Self-aggrandizing general manager David Brent and his subordinates serve up some of the most brutally uncomfortable situations without giving up an inch and every episode—all 14 of them—delivers laughs. When the show hit the States, the dry, uneasy wit of The Office had built just enough of a cult following to pave the way for the eventual American version to explode into a mainstream phenomenon—and in turn its star, Steve Carell, who then helped kick off Judd Apatow’s film career. Still, nine years and several imitators later, The Office holds up as one of the best comedy series of the decade. – RC

8) Mad Men (2007 – present)
I consider this our “promising new talent” pick for the decade. Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner’s period hourlong drama had everything going against it, with a cast of unknowns, the backing of a network known for late-night reruns and a setting where the most well-known changes to American life seem to be perennially going on outside the frame. Somehow, Mad Men not only became our must-watch of the week but also the show we were most burning to talk about as we cheered for Peggy and dissected Don. Exquisitely detailed down to the last lapel and song over the credits, Mad Men rewards re-viewing and discussion like little else on TV not involving time travel and polar bears. Unlike most of the shows on this list, this one had only a few years to ascend to this peak, but since it’s already been renewed for 2010, we assume the best is yet to come. – Ellen Wernecke

9) Pushing Daisies (2007 – 2009)
It might seem crazy to put a show that faced unceremonious and largely unnoticed cancellation after just 22 episodes on this list, especially a show like Pushing Daisies, which even though I adore it, I completely get if you don’t. I really do. It’s a show about a guy who makes pies and touches dead people that often involves music numbers, alliteration, and bright colors. I really get if that’s not your bag. But if it is, man, was this show great. The word “heart” gets tossed around with TV, but this had tons of it. Pushing Daisies had a sense of love and caring (largely helped by Lee Pace’s Big Sad Eyebrows) that most shows lacked. It fed the most romantic parts of you, making you feel the love and loss of two people who had barely kissed. It went beyond that, of course, to sad murder mysteries, sadder self-discovery, and wonderful parodies. Was it perfect? No, but it deserves to be remembered and treasured and, hell, the corpses alone earned it a spot on this list. – ZH

10) Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005 – 2008)
It’s funny—despite the ridiculous, overriding love I have for my pick for best TV show of the decade, I had to really think about it, simply because it’s been an absurdly great decade for television. But no, in the end, I had to go with Avatar: The Last Airbender, if only for the sheer improbability of both its incredible success and its very existence. An animated three-season, arc-plotted dramatic genre show? Preposterous. And yet it is good—it is so good. Despite looking on paper like yet another fantasy tale about The Chosen One Destined To Save The World, the story of Aang (the titular Last Airbender) is actually about choice and consequences, about characters who make decisions both good and bad, and who then have to live with the results of those decisions. It is about creating your own destiny, on your own terms. And it is also about magic kung-fu. What is not to love, I ask you? (Ignore the upcoming film adaptation, which is like the shambling, reanimated corpse of the show: all the parts are there, but the soul is gone.) – Paul Starr