This particular poll is from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and their writers for the last decade~ Some strange picks according to my choices, but everyone has ther own opinions on TV shows. They are~
*CSI premiered in October 2000, and two more franchises transpired~
This drama was already a surprise hit when , with S/2, it emerged as a reassuring and anxieties of 9/11. The Las Vegas-based investigators functioned with a clinical detachment from evil and evildoers, while insisting that truth and justice await those who pursue it with keen-eyed devotion. That was just the sort of reminder viewers needed. And apparently still do, with CSI remaining a powerhouse, along with it's spin-offs CSI/MIAMI [it premiered Sept. 2002] and CSI/NY [Sept. 2004] where science, reason [plus blood and guts] prevail~
*THE DAILY SHOW, WITH JON STEWART [yes we know he came aboard in 1999] and "The Colbert Report" premiered Oct. 2005 > weeknights on Comedy Central this on-two satirical punch helps keep viewers abreast of all the foolishness they suffer at the hands of the media-and at the hands of newsmakers the media cover~
*SURVIVOR It premiered in May 200. It began with personailities such as Rudy Richard, Susan, and of course, host Jeff Probst, on a island near Borneo. Now 18-and counting edtions later CBS' "Survivor" doesn't just endure as the pioneer of TV reality-competition, it prevails as the gold standard~
*AMERICAN IDOL Premiered June 2002, on FOX. Its bigger than Simon Cowell's proudly brandished biceps. It's bigger than the audience' sigh of relief when Paula Abdul finally severed her ties. It's maybe not quite as big as it once was, but after 8 seasons "Idol" is bigger than almost anything else on TV, while continuing to transform pop-culture in a big way~
*HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL January 2006. If "AI" didn't get the nations singing, this shockingly popular Disney Channel did-that is, the nation's teens and in-betweens, who along with gorging on the original film and it's sequels [a 4th installment next year] have put on a high school musical themselves in seemingly every auditorium in the land~
*THE OSBOURNES 2002-2005. Poor addled Ozzy he didn't even know how to work a remote. Bute viewers wre able to operate theirs, and switching to MTV in droves, they made a huge hit out of this rock star's kooky fmily life [footnote Kelly, the daughter] went on the become a good dancer on another reality show "Dancing With The Stars"~
*THE SOPRANOS [1999-2007] Yes, it started before the millennium, but genius doesn't always arrive at a turning point, but instead, is one. Anyway, most of "The Sopranos" aired in 2000 and beyond-including the infamous maddening blackout finale, which itself guaranteed this HBO mob drama a place in pop-culture perpetuity~
*THE SHIELD 2002-2008. NO drama series reached furthur with a surer hand week after week. Consistently absorbing, exciting and disturbing this L.A. based cop show remade the image of it's network, FX, kick start the career of it's star Michael Chiklis, and proved that basic cable could compete not only with the premium channels, but alos with the best of cinema Thank's to "The Shield" viewers were given notice not to accept anything less~
*ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT 2003-2006. A send-up of human vanities, greed and corruption, this FOX, comedy about the unlikely Bluth clan stayed amusingly askew, pokerfaced and absurb. It could claim neither long-term nor widespread success, but there was something groundbreakingly demented about it. Charting new ground it prepared the way for oddball comedies to come along such as "The Office" and "30 Rock". The Bluths were comedically bent trailblazers~
*LOST Sept. 2004. From its first episode [the dreadful plane crash on the island] this ABC drama demonstrated an epic-mind bending sweep ghrough tyime and space, with a vast array of characters. It doesn't always make sense [though maybe it will with the news series finale] but "Lost" has made on thing clear. With serialized TV, nothing is too way out or ambitious~
Frazier Moore and Lynn Elber.. Associated Press writers~
