The 25 Best TV Shows of the First 25 Years of the 21st Century
Moviefone counts down the 25 best TV shows of the first 25 years of the 21st century, including some you're expecting and some you're not expecting.
Moviefone's 25 Best TV Series of the first 25 years of the 21st Century.
With 2025 quickly coming to a close, so is the first 25 years of the 21st century!
While most consider that the modern golden age of television started with 'The Sopranos' in 1999, it really came into prominence in the 2000's with shows like 'The Wire', '24', 'Lost', 'Mad Men', 'Breaking Bad', and 'The Walking Dead', and eventually 'Game of Thrones', 'Stranger Things' and 'Succession'.
As we leave behind the first quester of this century, Moviefone is counting down the 25 best TV series of the first 25 years of the 21st century!
Let's begin!
Related Article: The 25 Best Films of the First 25 Years of the 21st Century
25. 'Stranger Things' (2016-2025)
(L to R) Sadie Sink, Noah Schapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Caleb McLaughlin in Netflix's 'Stranger Things.'
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl (Millie Bobby Brown).
24. 'The Walking Dead' (2010-2022)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan in 'The Walking Dead'. Photo: AMC Studios.
Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating zombies. He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way.
23. '30 Rock' (2006-2013)
(L to R) Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey in '30 Rock'. Photo: NBC.
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), the head writer for a late-night TV variety show in New York, tries to juggle all the egos around her while chasing her own dream.
22. 'Westworld' (2016-2022)
(L to R) Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden in 'Westworld.' Photo: HBO.
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
21. 'The Boys' (2019-2024)
Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander in Prime Video's 'The Boys' season 4. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
20. 'Justified' (2010-2015)
Timothy Olyphant in 'Justified'. Photo: FX.
A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father.
19. 'Sons of Anarchy' (2008-2014)
(L to R) Charlie Hunnam and Tommy Flanagan in 'Sons of Anarchy'. Photo: FX Productions.
The Sons of Anarchy (SOA) are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States and overseas. The show focused on the original and founding charter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, often referred to by the acronym SAMCRO, Sam Crow, or simply Redwood Charter. The charter operates both legal and illegal businesses in the small town of Charming, California. They combine gun-running and a garage, and involvement in porn film industry. Clay (Ron Perlman), the charter president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax (Charlie Hunnam), his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are done. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationship, especially when Jax goes on a personal quest to cleanse the SAMCRO name and image.
18. 'Arrow' (2012-2020)
(L to R) Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, and David Ramsey in 'Arrow'. Photo: Warner Bros. Television.
Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.
17. 'The Closer' (2005-2012)
(L to R) J.K. Simmons and Krya Sedgwick in 'The Closer'. Photo: Warner Bros. Television.
Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.
16. 'Billions' (2016-2023)
(L to R) Daniel Breaker as Roger “Scooter” Dunbar, Corey Stoll as Mike Prince, Toney Goins as Philip Charyn, Damian Lewis as Bobby "Axe" Axelrod, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, David Costabile as Mike ‘Wags’ Wagner, Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades, Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, Sakina Jaffrey as Daevisha ‘Dave’ Mahar, Dola Rashad as Kate Sacker and Jeffrey DeMunn as Chuck Rhoades, Sr. in 'Billions' Season 7. Photo Credit: Mark Seliger/Showtime.
A complex drama about power politics in the world of New York high finance. Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis) are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.
15. 'Mad Men' (2007-2015)
Jon Hamm in 'Made Men'. Photo: Lionsgate Television.
Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.
14. 'Yellowstone' (2018-2024)
Kevin Costner as John Dutton III in Paramount Network's 'Yellowstone' season 5. Credit: Paramount Network.
Follow the violent world of the Dutton family, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. Led by their patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), the family defends their property against constant attack by land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park.
13. 'Game of Thrones' (2011-2019)
Emilia Clarke in HBO's 'Game of Thrones.' Photo: HBO.
Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.
Game of Thrones
12. 'Breaking Bad' (2008-2013)
Bryan Cranston in 'Breaking Bad'. Photo: Sony Pictures Television.
Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.
11. 'Succession' (2018-2023)
Brian Cox in season 4 of HBO's 'Succession.' Photograph by Macall Polay/HBO.
Follow the lives of the Roy family as they contemplate their future once their aging father begins to step back from the media and entertainment conglomerate they control.
10. 'Prison Break' (2005-2017)
(L to R) Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Wentworth Miller, Peter Stormare and Dominic Purcell in 'Prison Break'. Photo: 20th Century Fox Television.
Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man (Dominic Purcell) is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother (Wentworth Miller), who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
9. 'Arrested Development' (2003-2019)
The cast of 'Arrested Development'. Photo: 20th Century Fox Television.
The story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.
8. 'Battlestar Galactica' (2004-2009)
The cast of 'Battlestar Galactica'. Photo: Universal Media Studios.
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
7. 'The Shield' (2002-2008)
The cast of 'The Shield'. Photo: Sony Pictures Television.
The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.
6. 'Lost' (2004-2010)
The cast of 'Lost'. Photo: ABC Studios.
Stripped of everything, the survivors of a horrific plane crash must work together to stay alive. But the island holds many secrets.
5. 'The Wire' (2002-2008)
(L to R) Wendell Pierce and Dominic West in 'The Wire'. Photo: HBO.
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
4. 'Luther' (2010-2019)
Idris Elba in 'Luther'. Photo:BBC Studios Drama Productions.
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
3. 'Life' (2007-2009)
(L to R) Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis in 'Life'. Photo: Universal Media Studios.
Complex, offbeat Detective Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis) returns to the force after serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Crews’ new lease on life has provided him with a Zen-like outlook, peace of mind and no need for vengeance, an attitude which can be challenging to maintain when someone he cares about is threatened — or when he is investigating the mystery surrounding the murder he was falsely accused of.
2. '24' (2001-2014)
Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in '24'. Photo: 20th Century Fox Television.
Counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) fights the bad guys of the world, a day at a time. With each week's episode unfolding in real-time, "24" covers a single day in the life of Bauer each season.
1. 'Bosch' (2015-2021)
Titus Welliver in season 4 of 'Bosch'. Photo: Aaron Epstein. Copyright: Amazon Studios
Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), an LAPD homicide detective, stands trial for the fatal shooting of a serial murder suspect. A cold case involving the remains of a missing boy forces Bosch to confront his past. As daring recruit Julia Brasher (Annie Wersching) catches his eye and departmental politics heat up, Bosch will pursue justice at all costs.
