2000
CSI
Originally a single series set in Las Vegas, Crime Scene Investigation spawned two spinoffs set in Miami and New York.
While each features its own cast, the core premise remains kind of the same. The members of each CSI group examine crime scenes, sifting through fingerprints, hair, fibre, bloodwork and witnesses, harassing just about every city resident till they catch their guy, girl, dog, toaster .
Survivor
The godfather of all reality TV, Survivor has spawned various international incarnations. The basic idea: Take 20 or so strangers of various race, gender, colour, sexual preference and age, split them up into four "tribes", dump them like the turds they are onto a deserted island with few supplies and plenty of ego, subject them to a multitude of tasks designed to test their ability to survive the island and each other, and watch as the back-stabbing begins.
Malcolm in the middle
Frankie Miniz plays the title role of Malcolm, an angst-ridden adolescent having to deal with teen griping and groping as well as his (very) dysfunctional family. The sitcom proved to be poignant and hilarious, popular among SA families and a great example of the geek, which, frighteningly, was on the rise.
Curb your enthusiasm
Our generation's Woody Allen, Larry David, who co-wrote and co-created Seinfeld, decided to have a show focusing on his life. The mockumentary was one big paranoid trip, with guest actors playing somewhat slanted versions of their real personas. Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Wanda Sykes, Mel Brooks and the cast from Seinfeld are among the many faces that appeared over the seasons.
The weakest link
Which village is missing its idiot? Who is one tit short of an udder? This is pure British quiz. With its acerbic host (Anne Robinson) and pure simplicity of play it gained a massive following. Nine contestants have to take turns at answering general knowledge questions. The aim is to make money. However, if someone answers incorrectly the entire team loses all its cash and has to start again. One person is voted out each round. If you're the weakest link then, er, goodbye.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING Big Brother, Soul Food, James Cameron's Dark Angel along with Girlfriend and The District
2001
Scrubs
This is the kind of medical series that deals with flatulence as a fart joke not a chronic gastric disorder. Narrated by Dr John Dorian (Zach Braff), it follows the residents of Sacred Heart Hospital as they deal with the insanities of the ICU and each other. There were best friends with god complexes, a neurotic love interest, a malignant boss and a nemesis in the form of a Lurch-like janitor. Just about every actor in Hollywood had a walk-on - even Miss Piggy. Bless.
Smallville
This wasn't so much Superman as Supertwink but, hey, it didn't stop us from tuning in to Clark growing up, going to high school and saving his town from the plotting of a prematurely bald Lex Luther. The shy, awkward boy, who secretly loved Lana Lang, started a whole new kryptonite craze and shot Tom Welling's career into . nowhere, really.
24
Unique. All events in this series happened in "real time", but let's not get quantum physical about it. Each episode runs for approximately 44 minutes (including ad breaks) and it takes the entire season to make up the "24" hours for the whole story. The hot-headed Kiefer Sutherland heads up the cast as Jack Bauer, an agent for the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit which attempts to thwart various terrorist attacks on the nation each season.
The Office
Written by and starring Ricky Gervais, this intensely dry-humoured mockumentary showed the downright embarrassing antics of an inefficient boss and his lax staff at a fictional paper printing depot in some middle-of-nowhere UK town. Cringeworthy, crass and as addictive as crack.
Six feet under
Six Feet Under focuses on the Fisher family who after the death of the family patriarch must now continue the family business, Fisher and Sons Funeral Home. Each of the family is in some way emotionally dead, which doesn't help as much as add that extra bit of tension as they tackle their own issues while dispatching the dead. Mortality, morality, sexuality and family values are all unearthed. It was created by American Beauty writer Alan Bell.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING
. My Wife and Kids, Fear Factor, The Amazing Race, The Guardian and Alias
2002
The Wire
Even though this baby didn't receive any of the major accolades, TV critics the world over are in absolute agreement: The Wire is "the greatest television series of all time". Set in Baltimore, it primarily follows the war on drugs, but it also spends a large amount of time looking at the microcosm that is Baltimore, from its port to its bureaucracy, an untrustworthy media and even its failed school system. The series painted a stark picture, but its punishing look at city life pushed many a boundary, broke some rules and buried most cop shows. Why? Because it wasn't just about cops, it was about life.
The Bachelor
It was our obsession with good looks, status and materialism that spawned this popular reality series. It didn't wag a finger at shallowness as much as glorify it. Premise? A wealthy bachelor has to date 25 nominated golddiggers, sorry, women. Each episode ends with the handing out of roses to the lucky women he wants to seduce, while one gets the boot. At the end of the season, the Ken doll picks his Barbie and they live happily ever after.
American idol
Insanely trendy. Completely trivial. American Idol is the country's most popular show. Its aim: to discover America's next great pop singer. Every week the talent pool is whittled down via judges' votes, as well as viewer input through telephone and SMS. There is a reason every entertainment magazine has it on their best-of-the-decade list. We concur.
Top Gear
Top Gear isn't just a motor show, it's car pornography.
Jeremy Clarkson. You would have to be born right now, this very instant, not to know that name.
There's loads of oohing and ahhing, drooling and sweating, embarrassing moments, fun times, in-and-outs, around-the-blocks and the usual threesome: Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
It also features a mysterious and anonymous helmeted driver called "The Stig", celeb guest stars, car themed events, excellent editing, controversial themes, edgy remarks and Hammond almost dying. Nuff said.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING . The Shield, The Osbournes, Everwood, Firefly, Without a Trace, Monk
2003
NIP/Tuck
The partners of the McNamara/Troy plastic surgery practice couldn't be any more different from each other. Dr Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) is a devoted family man whose marriage is on the rocks and he is struggling to cope both professionally and personally. Dr Christian Troy, on the other hand, is a sex-starved, shady businessman whose questionable antics and ethics cause long suffering partner Sean to play constant clean-up. Throw in illegitimate children, adultery, drug dealers, serial rapists, explicit sex and violence, lots of surgical procedures . and you get a series with a bit of everything. Now, who said TV dramas are only skin deep?
Two and a half men
Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer play Charlie and Alan Harper, two polar opposite brothers. Alan and his son are forced to move in with Charlie after he and his wife get divorced. This obviously cramps Charlie's hedonistic bachelorhood. The sitcom setup is all too obvious and vanilla, but Middle America, like Middle-of-the-road South Africa, has a thing for routine comedy. Remember Full House? The Nanny? Feeling nauseous?
O.C.
OMG! It's, like, the first, totally Gen-Y series. It's, like, set in Newport Beach, Orange County California, and, like, follows a tall, handsome teen, Ryan Atwood (Benjamin Mckenzie), who is taken under the wing of, like, this public defender guy, or whatever and, like, how Ryan gets along with this new family and the upper class residents of Newport, and, like, hooks up with Marissa (Mischa Barton, pictured). There's, like, tons of snogging, angst and very little real drama.
Arrested development
Short-lived but genius. Arrested Development is more cultish than classic. The story revolved around a formerly wealthy family by the name of Bluth. Jason Bateman (whose acting career got back on track after this) played Michael, the long-suffering centre of his very dysfunctional family, while Michael Cera (of Superbad fame) played his son.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING
. Joan of Arcadia, Cold Case, Mythbusters and the Battlestar Gallactica remake
2004
House
Debuting in 2004, distributed to 66 countries, by 2008 it was the "most watched" TV drama. Incredibly entertaining, this hospital show sports copious amounts of dry wit, gallows humour and unpronounceable medical jargon. Twice-Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie plays the title character of Dr Gregory House, a man whose brilliant mind and keen instincts are equalled only by his dismissive and often abrasive treatment of his patients, colleagues, friends and employer. Suffering from constant pain, almost constantly high on meds, House and his elite team of diagnostic medicine specialists tackle the cases no one else can, often resorting to extreme, reckless and often illegal methods to accomplish this.
Lost
A passenger flight goes off course and crashes on a mysterious island in the South Pacific. The survivors, each with their own dubious pasts, find themselves reluctantly working together as they discover the island has many secrets and that they are not alone. Twilight Zone-ish, paranormal, heavily detailed and complex, fans across the globe are going to get very peeved when this one comes to an end in 2010.
Desperate Housewives
The ultimate morality tale about being "kept", Desperate Housewives is a view askew of well-off couples coming apart at the well-stitched seams due to utter boredom in suburbia. Housewife Mary Alice Young narrates the series, despite the fact that she is dead, having killed herself at the start. From the great beyond she tells us about her four best friends - Susan (Terri Hatcher), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Bree (Marcia Cross) and Gabrielle (Eva Longoria Parker) -their lives, loves, struggles, infidelities and more.
Boston legal
One of the greatest spin-off series ever made. Following on from where The Practice left off, Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner, pictured) along with some other nutters, er, attorneys, now form the Crane, Poole and Schmidt law firm. Quirky, self-deprecating and strangely deep this series finds a good way to balance serious law issues with black comedy to give each episode proper reverence. Special mention: Shatner, whose performance alone is worth the entire series box set.
Extreme makeover: Home edition
How can we not close out 2004 without a chat about this one? This is a reality show with heart, focusing on families who, through illness, death or financial difficulties, are unable to live properly in housing that's detrimental one way or another. The Home Edition team sets about refurbishing and upgrading the lucky family's home within seven days, while they enjoy an all expenses paid holiday. Sweet.
2005
Prison Break
Lincoln Burrows is on death row at Fox River Penitentiary, framed for a crime he didn't commit. His brother, Michael Scofield, a structural engineer who just so happens to have helped design the very prison his brother is in, ends up purposely fumbling an armed robbery just so he can end up inside with his bro. Michael's plan: for the two of them to break out and find out the truth behind the framing.
Grey's anatomy
This is a slightly alternate hospital drama, and it's huge in South Africa. HUGE. It plays more like a soap opera without the weird facial expressions and extended pauses. Dealing more with the personal lives and loves of the residents of the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, it laughs in the face of serious medical cases and that boring thing called surgery. Yawn. Grey's has also firmly established the nicknames "McDreamy" and "McSteamy" for actors Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane in the annuals of pop culture. McDaft? Not at all.
So you think you can dance?
No more laughing at Z-list celebrities pussy-footing it on our screens. At last there was a reality show that had a true Fame angle to it. Just like the American Idol formula, dancers audition for a chance to show off their skills in the form of salsa, hip-hop, street dancing, ballroom, ballet, jazz, just about everything to become the US's next big boogyman. The show's won four Emmy's for Outstanding Choreography. Need we continue?
Weeds
Eye-opening glamorisation of marijuana with all its highs and lows. On the surface, Weeds was nothing more than a stab at suburbia, the banality of the middle class and the desperation faced by many whose other halves die leaving them in the lurch financially. However, by season five, things were getting hectic with Mary-Louise Parker's main character in jeopardy throughout, ducking and diving from gangsters wanting to put her very lucrative weed-selling business to rest. Parker won a Golden Globe, the drama brought to a head the controversial conversation about dagga and with one episode alone, raked in 1.7 million viewers. Go put that in your bong and smoke it.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING .
Deadliest Catch, The Tyra Banks Show, My Name is Earl, Ghost Whisperer and The Boondocks
2006
Dexter
Based on the best-selling novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Linsday, Dexter Morgan is a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department. He's also a serial killer, in other words, your average nice guy. Thanks to his adoptive father, a former police officer who recognised Dexter's sociopathic tendencies at an early age, he was able to teach Dexter to use his bloodlust to kill criminals. He keeps the façade of normality with his day job, while hunting victims at night.
Heroes
This series proves yet again that the world loves superheroes . and villains, of course. This one - about a group of ordinary people who discover that they have extraordinary abilities - has all the classic features of a comic book, while remaining grounded in the everyday drama of people going about their lives. Sure, it hasn't got great scripting, but the plot devices and styling keeps it terribly compelling and addictive - it even made the cover of Wired magazine. Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) is the unofficial outright hero of the series with the ability to assimilate any other "hero" power by osmosis (or something like that). In direct opposition is the enigmatic and menacing Sylar (Zachary Quinto), who can also tap into other "hero" powers, but has the messier task of doing so by harvesting their cranial matter. Then there's Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka, pictured) who, with the ability to bend space and time, seems about the only character who truly loves having his abilities. The show, narrated by geneticist Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), follows the exploits of this group of people as they battle a mysterious organisation desperate to control them. Every episode ends with the classic cliffhanger, making the audience wait as desperately as a housewife until the next episode.
30 Rock
Written and starring Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live fame, this series smells like SNL: The True Story. The sitcom focuses on inexperienced network executive Jack Donaghy, played by the surprisingly funny Alec Baldwin, whose constant meddling with the goings-on of the show TGS causes Fey's long-suffering character Liz Lemon (head writer of TGS) to do constant damage control. The series has had widespread appeal and phenomenal success, with it being nominated for 22 Emmy awards for one year alone.
Ugly Betty
"Mince when you walk, not when you talk." Ugly Betty is currently the funniest series on TV. One-liners come thick and fast in the story of Betty Suarez, a girl from Queens, New York, who, although being clumsy, fashion pathetic and not quite the picture of conventional attractiveness, is bright, cheerful and enthusiastic and has a heart of gold. She winds up as the chief editor's assistant of the reasonably well-known fashion mag Mode. Betty's sheer charm wins over most, but not all, of the magazine's staff. All three seasons so far feature an astoundingly delicious-vicious performance from Vanessa Williams as the creative director who is out to gain control of the publishing empire.
Brothers & Sisters
The very upper class Walker family patriarch, William Walker (Tom Skerrit), dies at his daughter Kitty's (Calista Flockheart ) birthday party. This sets off a series of events for the rest of the family as many deep dark secrets suddenly come to light, threatening to rip them apart. Starring Academy Award winner Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters was the first TV show to feature a gay civil union and the first to portray homosexuality as an average lifestyle, not an abomination.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING .
Big , Hotel Babylon, Men in Trees, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Jericho
2007
Mad Men
Comedian Bill Hicks had this to say about advertising: "If anyone here is in marketing or advertising . kill yourself. Thank you. No joke here, really. Seriously, kill yourself, you have no rationalisation for what you do, you are Satan's little helpers." Obviously, Hicks has a point, and that's probably why this great series sets itself up in New York during the early '60s, a time when advertising was at its golden peak. Don Draper, creative director and soon to be partner of Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency, is an exceptionally good businessman with a wife and three kids. He has it all, but his shady past and constant infidelity threaten to ruin him. This drama has to be watched if only as the perfect example of its time, with all its social vices, the silent but prevalent undercurrent of segregation, of staunch conservatism and rampant sexism.
Californication
Truly adult. Californication features David Duchovny (of X-Files fame) as Hank Moody, an alcoholic, sex obsessed, habitual drug-using novelist with writers block, who struggles to keep his vices in check long enough to repair his strained relationships with his long-time girlfriend Karen (Natasha McElhone) and 13-year-old daughter Becca. The show has more than enough sex, drugs and attempts at good relationship values.
PS: The show's writers were sued over the title Californication by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (case still pending).
Damages
Glenn Close is downright dirty as Patty Hewes, a lawyer without scruples. Ruthless and brilliant, the series kicked off with her getting up the nose of an ex-corporation CEO (played brilliantly by Ted Danson). She also unknowingly managed to make an enemy of her own protégé, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), leading to all kinds of shady plot developments. One of the only shows to really make use of the "season-long story line", its abundant story arcs and superior cast made it the dark horse of 2007.
The Tudors
Ye olde English history turned into soap opera.
Based on the UK's most famous king, Henry VIII, The Tudors may not be entirely historically accurate but its steamy, sumptuous and visually stunning look at the period makes for sheer Protestant pleasure, and there's loads of head, or rather, heads rolling.
Political intrigue? Tick. Sex? Tick. Betrayal? Tick. Death? Everywhere, my lord, everywhere. (With Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Natalie Dormer)
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING .
Samantha Who?, Reaper, Big Bang Theory, Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies and Life
2008
The Mentalist
Simon Baker (pictured) plays Patrick Jane who used to use his extraordinary observational skills to make a living as a pretend psychic with paranormal abilities, until the tragic deaths of his wife and child at the hands of a serial killer. Now using his skills as a freelancer for the California Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence, Patrick has to juggle crime solving, not alienating himself from his colleagues with his quirky behaviour, while tracking down the aforementioned serial killer known only as Red John.
Breaking bad
What would you do if you found out that you were going to die of lung cancer, and that you don't have the means to pay for your treatment or take care of your wife and debilitated son? You take your knowledge of chemistry from teaching at high school and go into business with a former drug-dealing student manufacturing crystal meth to make ends meet of course . wait . what?
This is the exact position that Walter White finds himself in in this critically acclaimed series. Now, in addition to keeping his new and highly illegal profession a secret from his wife and son, he has to dodge his own Drug Enforcement Administration agent brother who is attempting to take down Walter's partner Jesse while being oblivious of Walter's part in the business, of course.
True blood
This black comedy horror is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. Set in a fictional small town in Louisiana, the premise is fairly unique in that vampires and humans co-exist amiably, whereas the main story focusing on a human woman falling in love with a vampire dude is less so.
Anna Paquin (X-Men) plays Sookie, a telepathic waitress who falls for attractive vampire Bill (Stephan Moyer) when he visits her diner. The reason for the ease of co-habitation worldwide between former predator and prey is a result of a Japanese-developed synthetic blood. Ironically, on the flipside, vampire blood forms the basis of a new human narcotic called V. A view askew and a lot of fun.
Fringe
From the guys that gave us Alias comes this sci-fi horror drama about Fringe Science that deals in the possible existence of all things mythical . and often terrible. What starts out as a routine case for FBI special agents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and John Scott (Mark Valley) quickly develops into something more out there, when they are called in to investigate an international flight that has landed at Logan airport and in which all the passengers and crew have been brutally murdered. After a series of bizarre incidents ensue, they attempt to enlist the aid of a scientific genius to help them.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING .
Eli Stone, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Lipstick Jungle
2009
The No. 1 ladies detective agency
The first major production to be filmed in Botswana, helmed by Richard Curtis (Mr Bean) and Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) and based on the series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. The series follows Precious Ramotswe, played by soul and R&B singer/songwriter Jill Scott (pictured), and her quirky assistant Mma Makutsi, played by Anika Noni Rose, as they establish Botswana's first and only Ladies Detective agency and embark on many comedic and entertaining exploits.
Flashforward
One day every single resident of Los Angeles suddenly blacks out for two minutes - regardless of what they were doing. They are given glimpses of what their future holds . six months from now. As everyone comes to terms with what they've seen and the possibility of affecting their future, a team of FBI agents, led by Stanford Wedeck (played by Courtney B Vance) and headed up by Mark Benford (Ralph Fiennes) attempts to solve the mystery of the blackout itself.
Lie to me
The Lightman Group: a team of psychologists and investigators which hires themselves out to various police forces, government agencies and federal task forces. Their services include, among other things, the ability to extract the truth from any witness or suspect. Tim Roth heads up the cast as Dr Cal Lightman, who in turn heads up the Lightman Group. He has the uncanny ability to detect a lie through the facial expressions and gestures of any person, an ability that is a boon to his profession as well as being a curse in his personal life.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING .
Dollhouse and Stargate Universe V
The little series that couldn't
Firelfy
A western set in space 500 years into Earth's future sounded like a doomed premise before it even began.
And it was. But that didn't stop it from becoming a solid cult classic and causing a massive outbreak in brown coat-wearing rabid fans. The show, which lasted only 14 episodes, had an excellent cast of characters, witty dialogue, quirky story arcs and an underlying dark human nature exploratory component - the usual fare from Buffy creator Joss Whedon.
Drive
A series that was cancelled after six episodes yet still got nominated for an Emmy is quite an achievement. Written by Tim Minear of Firefly fame and starring Nathan Fillion (Firefly again), the series focused on illegal road racing and featured some pretty spectacular driving sequences and camera work.
Futurama
From the guys who gave us The Simpsons came the excellent and ultimately doomed Futurama. A pizza-boy who was accidentally frozen, wakes up in the 31st century. With robots, aliens, one-eyed mutant love interests and the same dysfunctional humour that made The Simpsons so much fun, Futurama originally ran for three years before ending. But after syndication and being rerun on various other networks, four movies were spawned and there's talk of resurrection, albeit minus some of the original voice cast.
Painkiller Jane
This is based on a comic book about a law enforcement agent with the ability to regenerate tissue and heal from any injury, and who hunts other mutant humans. It stars Kristanna Loken from Terminator 3 fame. The series only lasted one season.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Set after the events of Terminator 2 and attempting to cut out Terminator 3 altogether, TSCC focused on Sarah Connor and her fabled future-saviour-of-humanity son John as they continue to avoid Skynet's repeated time-travel attempts to assassinate him. Throw in a reprogrammed female Terminator played by Firefly's Summer Glau (pictured) and based on one of the most successful sci-fi franchises of all time, this show should have been the business. But, instead, frequent budget cuts and too many slow, reflective and downright boring story arcs forced it to be Terminated.
A colourful decade of animated series
South Park
The animated adventures of a group of foul-mouthed boys who live in South Park, Colorado, is definitely not for children.
With violence, sexual innuendos and bad celebrity impersonations, South Park has firmly imbedded itself in popular culture with its scathing satirical view on current events as well as gross-out adult humour. Religion, celebrities, politics, movies, gaming. nothing is sacred and no one is safe from badly animated scrutiny. And if your sense of humour is anything as twisted as the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, you'll love every second of it.
The Simpsons
One of the longest running shows on TV ever, this animated sitcom featuring the daily adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the other residents of Springfield has had more viewers than Lady Diana's wedding and more celebrity guest appearances than the Academy Awards. And the fact that it's managed to make a beer-swilling, doughnut-dunking, brainless buffoon of a father a hero with the phrase "Doh!" a daily utterance for many is testament to the exceptionally clever scripting and its accessibility with universal themes of family and life.
Drawn Together
Arguably one of the most depraved, disgusting and downright delicious animated shows ever. Sex, drugs, foul language, this one has it all. The premise: A Big Brother-type reality show featuring different toon archetypes from across the board. Disney, Scooby Doo, Spongebob, Pokemon, Betty Boo and more are represented here, but these guys are nowhere near as cute and cuddly as their origins would suggest. Add to the fact that most of these mockeries are voiced over by famous voice actors from actual kid cartoons makes it that much funnier. The humour is extremely rude and crude without much point and purpose except to be extremely rude and crude. Twisted types will love it while others best stay away.
Family Guy
This one sometimes shares a friendly rivalry with South Park. The story focuses on the Griffiths, more than your common American dysfunctional family. Every character seems to focus on the extremes of the varied persona types of the US public. The jokes are exploitive, crass and a whole lot of fun. It was originally cancelled after the first three seasons but made a comeback after its phenomenal DVD sales showed the networks that people couldn't get enough of the Griffiths.
Robot Chicken
After being run over while crossing the road, a chicken is brought back to life in cyborg form by a mad scientist. The chicken is then forced to watch countless animated scetches which feature real-life action figures saying and doing rather untoward stuff to each other through the wonders of bad voice action and stop-motion animation. The show takes everything from popular culture and turns it on its head. Co-created by the kooky Seth Green, Robot Chicken is a firm cult fave.
The Boondocks
The brainchild of Aaron McGruder and based on his comic strip, The Boondocks focuses on the African American Freeman brothers as they have to adjust to their new life in the lily-white suburbs after living in South Central LA. It is a scathing, humorous and frank satire of race relations and politics in post 9/11 US.
SOURCE
