The Greatest TV Shows of the Noughties

I really do think that some of the best television ever made has been in this decade, but most of it hasn't been on prime time BBC One or ITV. It's been on BBC Four, Sky1 and FX, or even on BBC Two or Channel Four. There have been the occasional great mainstream series such as Life on Mars or TV Burp, but most of the good stuff has been hidden away while the big audiences are gained by well-produced but derivative reality shows and dreary, formulaic prime-time dramas.

And STV dumped it. what is being said BELOW it might have been for the best!




Alas STV is running behide on a number of south bank episodes, I think about 3-4 so the episodes may not bee seen in scotland until next year

It seems since the 2000 or when everything went digital and we have millions of channels the rate of good programming went down

And just 2.2m people chose to watch it.


Another lazy snobbish attack. When you compare to the big shows of the late nineties (Generation Game, Noels House Party, Blind Date, Gladiators), The X Factor looks positively high brow. There will always be a genre of TV designed to appeal to the masses - and that shouldn't be seen as a bad thing.

And just think - at the beginning of the decade Saturday night TV had been written off and consigned to history - now it's stronger than ever. In the autumn at least!

Hidden away like...TV Burp for it's first 5 years or so!

Yes, just 2.2m chose to watch it. That says nothing about the quality of the programme, which received at least two favourable reviews, apart from Peter Tatchell, who sort of missed the point of the whole thing.

When you mention my 'lazy snobbish attack' I'd love to know why you use the term ''snob'' with such vitriol. It's no bad thing to be a snob - I just want quality television, I don't want manufactured crap. I want television that people have sat down in a room and thought about for a long time to come up with ideas for this week's show - television with effort, rather than telvision that's just had money thrown at it.

That's not snobbery. That's just decency. And while the masses cheered on their various favourites in the karaoke this year, while the stories about the dead mums and how this is their 'last chance' come around for the 4456th time, decency goes out of the window for ratings.

You can't argue with that, Brekkie Boy.

Oh I bet he can.

This is, if I may say, a ridiculous argument. One man's trash is another man's treasure - so you're not going to come to a consensus by shouting over each other.

I'm not a fan of X Factor, but I appreciate that many love it, and I can see that its got a nice little budget for what is, in essence, a talent show.

There's nothing wrong with talent shows, nor is there anything wrong with dredging up shows from yester-year and giving them a lick of paint. That's what happens in telly.

What is apparent is a lack of diversity of ideas. Its more true now than ever that once something gains a big audience then you're going to have to expect a dozen copies to hit the air within 4 months. But that was also true a decade ago, its just that the vogue was for gardening and makeover shows then.

All this "snob" talk is silly, just as it is for people to say shows they don't like are utterly without merit.

Neither is right - and neither is wrong.

Its all a matter of taste.

ITV has certainly been one of the channels this decade that has had it's highs and lows. Never has it been more evident that ITV has been struggling to find the right line between business purpose and entertainment. That is certainly one thing I've realised (for starters I think the collapse of ITV Digital was a wake up call) and I think they owe a lot to Simon Cowell for keeping them consistent. Whether you agree with his shows or not, they have certainly gained mass audiences/advertising and continue to do so.

The problem is, eventually once the audience are fed up with talent shows, Simon Cowell etc.. where does TV go next? And I think that is the major concern at the moment.

I'd love to see the justification for this tired old cliché -- quality equals quantity is the crux of your argument.

Since when has popularity in any way been a reference to the quality of anything?

Well many have said here you either love stuff or loathe it that is fine. What gets my back up, and I'm sure some others is when shows are described for people in the jobseekers line or those at the bottom. That is insulting to me, and millions off others (who come from vast different backgrounds) who watch those type of shows.

One thing I noticed about this decade is the declining popularity of soaps. Ratings have been steadily diminishing - Of course the mutiplicity of channels is a major factor, but I feel the quality has a lot to do with it. The quality being affected by the amount of times the soaps are now on. There was absolutely no need for a fifth episode of Corrie for example.

Agreed.

There is no need for personal insults, and I have not engaged in any -- questioning the consciousness of X-Factor viewers notwithstanding -- I draw the line at that Cowell p****; I have nothing against viewers but really, can't people see how they are being manipulated?

If I accidentally ran him down in my car I'd be back to finish the job, I really would.

That's fair enough.

I do think when you look at the ratings for the decade as a whole (and indeed individual years) they actually show a healthy range of programming, with a mixture of drama, sporting events and the odd surprising gem sitting alongside the usual soaps and talent/reality shows which dominate the ratings.


I never said it was - I'm just pointing out that broadcasters, especially ITV, don't get the rewards they deserve in terms of ratings when they put the effort in.