Best Drama Shows of the 2000s (Ranked)

All genres Action Adventure Romance Animation Crime Drama Comedy Mystery Thriller Fantasy Reality-TV Sci-Fi Family Documentary Horror Music

All time Still airing 2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s

Breaking Bad

★9.5Ended(2008–2013)

#1Score 9.502.7M IMDb votes

A high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to secure his family's future.

Band of Brothers

★9.4Ended

#2Score 9.39609.5k IMDb votes

The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.

The Wire

★9.3Ended(2002–2008)

#3Score 9.29442.1k IMDb votes

The Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

★9.1Ended

#4Score 9.09260k IMDb votes

Two brothers search for a Philosopher's Stone after an attempt to revive their deceased mother goes awry and leaves them in damaged physical forms.

Firefly

★8.9Ended(2002–2003)

#5Score 8.89305k IMDb votes

Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Death Note

★8.9Ended

#6Score 8.89503.2k IMDb votes

An intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering a notebook capable of killing anyone whose name is written into it.

Cowboy Bebop 1998

★8.9Ended

#7Score 8.88174.4k IMDb votes

The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners.

Berserk

★8.8Ended

#8Score 8.7684.1k IMDb votes

Guts is a skilled swordsman who joins forces with a mercenary group named 'The Band of the Hawk', lead by the charismatic Griffith, and fights with them as they battle their way into the royal court.

House MD

★8.7Ended(2004–2012)

#9Score 8.70602.5k IMDb votes

An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way using his crack team of doctors and his wits.

Mad Men

★8.7Ended(2007–2015)

#10Score 8.69295.5k IMDb votes

A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.

Naruto Shippuden

★8.7Ended

#11Score 8.69233k IMDb votes

Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition, as well as to become Hokage, who is acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village.

Rome

★8.7Ended(2005–2007)

#12Score 8.69207.9k IMDb votes

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Battlestar Galactica

★8.7Ended(2004–2009)

#13Score 8.68188.9k IMDb votes

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.

Six Feet Under

★8.7Ended

#14Score 8.68171.3k IMDb votes

A chronicle of the lives of a dysfunctional family who run an independent funeral home in Los Angeles.

Shield

★8.7Ended(2002–2008)

#15Score 8.6798.9k IMDb votes

Drama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the LAPD unit under his command.

Friday Night Lights

★8.7Ended(2006–2011)

#16Score 8.6680.8k IMDb votes

A drama that follows the lives of the Dillon Panthers, one of the nation's best high school football teams, and their head coach Eric Taylor.

Dexter

★8.6Ended(2006–2013)

#17Score 8.60959.7k IMDb votes

He's smart. He's lovable. He's Dexter Morgan, America's favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them. Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall stars in the hit SHOWTIME Original Series.

Deadwood

★8.6Ended

#18Score 8.58130.7k IMDb votes

A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.

Modern Family

★8.5Ended(2009– )

#19Score 8.50549.5k IMDb votes

Three different but related families face trials and tribulations in their own uniquely comedic ways.

Doctor Who 2005

★8.5Ended

#20Score 8.49264.5k IMDb votes

The further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer known as the Doctor and their companions from planet Earth.

Sons of Anarchy

★8.5Ended(2008–2014)

#21Score 8.49361.4k IMDb votes

A biker struggles to balance being a father and being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club.

The Office UK

★8.5Ended

#22Score 8.48134.3k IMDb votes

The story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager David Brent as they continue their daily lives.

Fullmetal Alchemist

★8.5Ended

#23Score 8.4787.5k IMDb votes

When a failed alchemical ritual leaves brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric with severely damaged bodies, they begin searching for the one thing that can save them: the fabled philosopher's stone.

Justice League

★8.5Ended

#24Score 8.4658.3k IMDb votes

Seven of the most formidable heroes form arguably the most powerful team ever.

Samurai Jack

★8.5Ended

#25Score 8.4667.9k IMDb votes

A samurai, sent through time, fights to return home and save the world.

Boston Legal

★8.5Ended(2004–2008)

#26Score 8.4554.4k IMDb votes

Boston Legal is a spin-off of the long-running David E. Kelley series The Practice (1997), following the exploits of former Practice character Alan Shore (James Spader) at the legal firm of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt.

The Boondocks

★8.5Ended

#27Score 8.4443.5k IMDb votes

Adventures of two boys, Riley and Huey Freeman, who undergo a culture clash when they move from Chicago to the suburbs to live with their grandfather.

North and South

★8.5Ended

#28Score 8.4438.7k IMDb votes

North and South is a four part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.

Southland

★8.5Ended(2009–2013)

#29Score 8.4335.4k IMDb votes

The lives of Police Officers working for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Supernatural

★8.4Ended

#30Score 8.40551k IMDb votes

Two brothers follow their father's footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.

Queer as Folk US

★8.5Ended

#31Score 8.4024.3k IMDb votes

The lives and loves of a group of gay friends living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Scrubs

★8.4Ended(2001–2010)

#32Score 8.39288.2k IMDb votes

In the unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital, intern John "J.D." Dorian learns the ways of medicine, friendship and life.

24 - Live Another Day

★8.4Ended

#33Score 8.39208.6k IMDb votes

Counter Terrorism Agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.

Fringe

★8.4Ended

#34Score 8.39273.2k IMDb votes

An F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.

Entourage

★8.4Ended(2004–2011)

#35Score 8.39185.8k IMDb votes

Film star Vince Chase navigates the vapid terrain of Los Angeles with a close circle of friends and his trusty agent.

Psych

★8.4Ended

#36Score 8.38122.2k IMDb votes

When a novice sleuth convinces the police he has psychic powers, he and his reluctant best friend are hired on as consultants to help solve complicated cases.

Generation Kill

★8.4Ended

#37Score 8.3765.9k IMDb votes

A Rolling Stone reporter, embedded with The 1st Recon Marines chronicles his experiences during the first wave of the American-led assault on Baghdad in 2003.

Pushing Daisies

★8.4Ended

#38Score 8.3662.7k IMDb votes

A pastry chef with the power to bring dead people back to life solves murder mysteries with his resurrected childhood sweetheart, a cynical private investigator, and a lovesick waitress.

John Adams

★8.4Ended

#39Score 8.3440.7k IMDb votes

The life of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, its second President, and his role in the nation's first 50 years.

Heartland

New

Heartland

★8.4Ongoing(II) (2007– )

#40Score 8.3122.9k IMDb votes

A multi-generational saga set in Alberta, Canada and centered on a family getting through life together in both happy and trying times.

Prison Break

★8.3Ended

#41Score 8.30682.7k IMDb votes

Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, 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 in...

Lost

★8.3Ended

#42Score 8.30684.4k IMDb votes

The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.

Californication

★8.3Ended(2007–2014)

#43Score 8.29196.4k IMDb votes

A writer tries to juggle his career, his relationship with his daughter and his ex-girlfriend, as well as his appetite for beautiful women.

The Good Wife

★8.3Ended(2009–2016)

#44Score 8.2890.3k IMDb votes

Alicia Florrick has been a good wife to her husband, a former state's attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a la...

Veronica Mars

★8.3Ended(2004– )

#45Score 8.2784.4k IMDb votes

After her best friend is murdered, and her father is removed as county Sheriff, Veronica Mars dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune.

Rescue Me

★8.3Ended(2004–2011)

#46Score 8.2330.3k IMDb votes

Tommy Gavin deals with the fears of his job as a firefighter and seeing his ex-wife dating other men.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

★8.3Ended

#47Score 8.2226.1k IMDb votes

A behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch-comedy television show.

Jane Eyre 2006

★8.3Ended

#48Score 8.2224.3k IMDb votes

A young governess falls in love with her brooding and complex master. However, his dark past may destroy their relationship forever.

Spooks

★8.3Ended

#49Score 8.2020.5k IMDb votes

The missions of MI-5, the UK's domestic intelligence organization.

Gilmore Girls

★8.2Ended(2000–2007)

#50Score 8.19178.8k IMDb votes

A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

Score = IMDb rating weighted by vote count (Bayesian average). Shows need at least 1,000 votes to be ranked.

Recommended TV Shows for you

Best Drama Shows of the 2000s