How can I best describe the television landscape of the 2000s? The one word that comes to my mind is “iconic.” While there were some shows that were better off left on the cutting room floor, the decade of translucent electronics, the War on Terror, and pop culture evolution provided us with shows that will forever remain an iconic staple of the time, and help shape the modern television landscape of today.
Not only were the storylines of these iconic shows memorable, but the casts were equally iconic, from the star-studded soldiers in Band of Brothers to the dysfunctional family dynamic of Malcolm in the Middle. The following casts are memorable and legendary, and help set the stage for one of the most dynamic decades of television.
10
‘Criminal Minds’ (2005–)
Before the turn of the new millennium, crime shows ran on a basic premise. The good-guy cops always took out the bad guys in traditional cop show fashion using tried-and-true cases involving drugs and murder. However, Criminal Minds flipped the traditional cop procedural on its head, focusing on FBI profilers who used their unique skills to catch criminals.
One thinks that they could cast a show like Criminal Minds with traditional cop show characters, but you would be wrong in that assessment. For a unique series such as this, you need unique characters, and Criminal Minds certainly had some unique characters, from the rough-but-brilliant Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) to the assertive Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore). These characters made FBI profiling look cool, and, in doing so, made Criminal Minds cool.
9
‘Malcolm in the Middle’ (2000–2006)
Until the 2000s, family comedies centered on dysfunctional families didn’t stay too far off of the sitcom beaten path. Even if you had a family that didn’t always get along, you know that, by the end of the episode, the family would come together and learn how to love each other while solving that episode’s issue in one neat, 30-minute time-limit. That was not the case for Malcom in the Middle, a sitcom that took the dysfunctional sitcom and ran with it.
The family that made up this underrated sitcom were some of the most dysfunctional characters you’d ever see in a sitcom, with no lesson being learned after each episode, and the family in more disarray than the episode before. In an ironic twist, Malcolm in the Middle re-invented the family sitcom, which allowed future shows like Modern Family to thrive in its wake thanks to relying more on its characters than wacky subplots.
8
‘How I Met Your Mother’ (2005–2014)
As influential as Malcolm in the Middle was with its character-driven plots, How I Met Your Mother took this to another, more iconic level. Essentially telling the show’s story backwards, How I Met Your Mother followed Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), a father telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. The show is shot in a flashback fashion to 2000s New York City, with a younger Ted hanging out with his friend group.
It was the quirky characters that made How I Met Your Mother such an iconic sitcom of the 2000s, and featured a mix of stars from past shows (Neil Patrick Harris) and actors who would become household names thanks to this show (Jason Segel). That cast was “legen–wait for it–dary”, and made How I Met Your Mother a much-remembered comedy of the new millennium.
7
‘Scrubs’ (2001–2010)
Before Scrubs premiered on NBC in 2001, medical dramas did not stray into comedy. These were serious shows, with the focus on doctors saving lives. Scrubs looked at this concept and decided to do something very different: inject a healthy dose of humor into the traditional medical show, and this worked thanks to the memorable characters that made up the series.
Led by Zach Braff as John “J.D.” Dorian, Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, and Donald Faison as Christopher Turk, the cast of Scrubs really brought the slapstick comedy to a sophisticated level that wasn’t out of reach of providing heartfelt moments. The Scrubs cast could do it all, and that made them one of the best casts of the 2000s. Change my mind.
6
‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)
If you’re an avid reader of Collider, you know that we have added the HBO war miniseries Band of Brothers to any “best” lists if it’s applicable, and it’s definitely applicable here. Widely known as one of the best miniseries of all time, Band of Brothers earned this distinction not just for its near-accurate portrayal of the D-Day invasion of World War II, but the star-studded cast that brought this gritty, violent world to life.
We’re talking about the biggest names in the business, from Donnie Wahlberg as Second Lieutenant Harry Welsh to Michael Fassbender as Technical Sergeant Burton Christensen. The iconic actors who brought Easy Company to the small screen, and these characters are forever embedded in our hearts.
5
‘Supernatural’ (2005–2020)
We didn’t know it at the time, but when Eric Kripe created a little-known CW show about brothers fighting evil spirits and demons, he created a fantasy horror masterpiece, in addition to two iconic leading characters. That show was Supernatural, and those cool-cat monster hunters were Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) Winchester.
Today, when you speak of the Winchesters, you’re speaking of the grandfathers of fantasy horror. They were enthralling on the screen, and we were truly sold on the brotherly dynamic between these two. Supporting the Winchesters were the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) and the conflicted demon Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard), one of the best antagonists and anti-heroes of the decade.
4
‘Gilmore Girls’ (2000–2007)
Ah, Gilmore Girls, the ultimate comfort TV show. The comedy drama, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, follows a mother-and-daughter who live in the cute, quaint town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut and the everyday dilemmas they go through.
Graham as Lorelai and Bledel as Rory shined the brightest as their chemistry was simply off the charts, and brought a homey, good-natured feeling to the screen. The rest of the cast surrounding Rory and Lorelai were just as iconic, and to this day, they make Gilmore Girls a great show to watch, especially around the holidays.
3
‘Bones’ (2005–2017)
One of the most underrated crime procedurals of the 2000s, Bones is one of my favorite shows thanks to the tremendous cast that brought this drama to life. Starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, Bones, much like Criminal Minds, took an unconventional route to tell its crime story, with the main crime-fighting cast not made up of cops or federal agents, but lab technicians from the fictional Jeffersonian Institute.
While some have forgotten about this cast, those (like me) who love this show know that this cast is iconic for its time, and elevated the show to a level where it should be more celebrated than it is. For your next binge-watch, stream Bones, and you’ll see what I mean. This show is a 2000s classic, thanks in large part to this stellar cast.
2
‘The Wire’ (2002–2008)
The HBO urban drama The Wire is widely known as one of the best television series ever made, and the reason for this is the character-driven storyline that was grounded in powerful performances. Those performances told the story of a major city in which its institutions didn’t always work in the best interest of its people.
Everyone who has watched The Wire has their favorite character, from the shot-gun-totting Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), to the dedicated but deeply flawed Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West). These characters have etched themselves into the fabric of today’s pop culture landscape. The cast of The Wire would be number one if it wasn’t for a famous crime boss and his everyday dealings with both his regular family and his crime family.
1
‘The Sopranos’ (1999–2007)
Was there any question that The Sopranos would top the list of best casts of the 2000s? When you think about TV in the 2000s, The Sopranos will often come up as one of the main shows that defined the decade. This is thanks to its legendary cast of characters, led by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey Mafia boss who deals with panic attacks thanks to the stress put on him by both his crime family and his regular family.
But Tony isn’t the only iconic character here, as his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco) and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) are just as memorable. You get a common theme here when you read this list, as most of the shows here were great thanks to their character-driven storylines, and The Sopranos’ set the tone for this.
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