I didn’t include TV in my “Best of” series honestly because it would just take too much time. I thought however, that I would offer up a run down of my favorites of the decade. Now to be fair, I haven’t seen any of The Wire, Six Feet Under, only 1 season of Mad Men, and only the first 2 of Dexter, so their exclusion from this list shouldn’t be seen as a slight (And I’ve heard from people I trust that the Season Finale of Dexter, Season 4 is something special, so I can’t wait).

With that said, I’m gonna do a run down of 10 of my favorites episodes from 10 seasons from the Aughts, in chronological order. I’ll do the 2000-04 today, 05-09 tomorrow.

Freaks and Geeks - Discos and Dragons (2000)

A show that was taken from us too early, Freaks and Geeks is a perfect choice to start off a list about the 2000s in entertainment. This lone season of Paul Feig’s masterful work set the stage for shows like Undeclared, Wonderfalls and Veronica Mars, hell even Greek has tons to owe to their Geekier brethren.

In Discos and Dragons, the shows finale, we get to see the Geek side of James Franco’s Daniel Desario in a hilarious game of Dungeons and Dragons and the Disco side of Jason Segel’s Nick in one of the funniest dance scenes one screen. It’s a shame this had to be the series finale because it seemed that the characters had fully opened up and been developed.

The West Wing - Two Cathedrals (2001)

In what I would argue is the best dramatic episode of the decade, Two Cathedrals tells the story of the most powerful man in the world dealing with feeling powerless and questioning his God like he has never done before. Martin Sheen performs a truly gutwrenching scene in which he is arguing with God (and himself) in the National Cathedral that will knock your socks off.

Aaron Sorkin is the foremost drama writer on TV, and actually we may not be seeing him on the small screen anymore, which is a shame. The first 2 seasons of the West Wing is the most intelligent, wittiest 44 hours you’ll fund on Television.

South Park: Professor Chaos (2002)

I wanted to do the 2003 episode Christian Rock Hard, but I couldn’t find a 2002 episode of anything I wanted to do, but regardless Professor Chaos is a fine choice.

This episode is a wonderful blend of the satirical elements that South Park is known for and also the great characters they have created outside of the 4 boys. Butters is my favorite of them because he is innocent and sweet (and also a little stupid), like a real 9 year old, but being mixed into this world of boys who act like 19 year olds make him all the more lovable.

This episodes satires The Bachelor perfectly as the boys look for a new kid to take Butters place (which used to be the then departed Kenny’s). The whole episode works because of a brilliant cliff hanger ending that in true SP fashion was solved seconds later (and included a death too lol).

Clone High - Makeover, Makeover (2003)

From the minds of Chris Miller and Phil Lord (Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence came a show that is unmatched in it’s ridiculous greatness, in the animation field at least. Sadly only lasting 13 marvelous episodes, Clone High told the stories of a high school full of clones of famous people through history, except they are all pretty different then their DNA counterparts. For instance, Gandhi is a sex-crazed virgin with ADHD and an affinity for dancing.

In part 1 of the 2 part finale, Makeover, Makeover, the school’s prom is fast approaching and as you can take from the title their are makeovers, lots of makeovers. Joan of Arc is given a robot-nurse makeover from her crush Abe Lincoln and Gandhi is taken under JFK’s wing. I really can’t describe this episode, so just find the series and specifically this episode to know what I am talking about.

Scrubs - My Screw Up (2004)

If you knew me in high school, hell if you know me now, you know I love Scrubs. I think Bill Lawrence is a genius and I love the blend of slapstick comedy, smart writing, and a nice helping of a big heart.

My favorite episode has not changed since the day I saw it, and that’s 2004’s My Screw Up. I don’t wanna say much about it, but what I will say is that it is one of most enriching half hours of TV I’ve come across and just recommend that everyone take a peak at this classic.

Check back tomorrow for 2005-2009!