Remember 2003? Eleven years before we were shifted into our current alternate reality? Good times — and good new TV shows. Aside from a few snafus like Stripperella (Pamela Anderson as a cartoon superhero pole dancer), The Mullets (two brothers with mullets — that was the show) and America's Next Top Model (Tyra Banks smize-shames young women), 2003 was a hot year on the tube. Here are some Y2K+3 series you can stream right meow.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (NETFLIX, HULU)
One of the greatest American comedies of all time, Arrested Development seemed too smart and intricate to click with the Fox audience in '03 (they were into American Idol and My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé). Mitch Hurwitz's fractured fairytale of the rich on the skids is a masterful collage of kamikaze camera work, droll narration (by Ron Howard) and a cast of comic killers. The first three Arrested Development Fox seasons are perfect; two Netflix sequel seasons aimed to match them. (Narrator: They did not.)
NIP/TUCK (HULU)
Nip/Tuck was future TV uber-producer Ryan Murphy's second series after the criminally overlooked Popular (imagine Glee without all the annoying singing and earnestness). The six-season FX show about an odd couple of plastic surgeons (Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon) weaves seamlessly between family drama, dark comedy, psychological thriller, societal satire and straight-up medical doc (if you're averse to blood, stay away). Murphy's American Horror Story, Dahmer — Monster, and even 9-1-1 owe Nip/Tuck big time.
RENO 911! (PARAMOUNT+, THE ROKU CHANNEL)
Aside from a break between 2009 and 2020, Reno 911! hasn't stopped cranking out mock-Cops content since 2003, including six seasons on Comedy Central, one season on the Roku Channel, three feature films, and whatever that Quibi nonsense was. Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenny-Silver, Niecy Nash, Cedric Yarbrough, and Wendy McLendon-Covey are an improv dream team, adding just enough realism to the Reno Sheriff's Department "docuseries" to make the comedy pop.
CARNIVÀLE (HBO MAX)
Fans are still butt-hurt about the 2005 cancelation of Carnivàle, a dark period drama that was meant to run for six seasons but was cut off at two (HBO business foreshadowing?). The series follows a 1930s traveling carnival set against the twin bummers of the Great Plains dust bowl and the Great Depression, pitting young roustabout Ben (Nick Stahl) against preacher Brother Justin (Clancy Brown) in a low-key supernatural battle of Good vs. Evil. Carnivàle's dirt-caked aesthetic and colorful "freak show" cast make for an utterly unique series.
THE O.C. (HBO MAX, HULU)
When he's introduced to Orange County with a beatdown and a "Welcome to the O.C., bitch" in the pilot episode, it's clear to teen outsider Ryan (Ben McKenzie) that this ain't Beverly Hills 90210. The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) tweaks the pretty-teens-with-problems genre with undercurrents of classism, meta-humor and a sprawling 2000s indie-rock soundtrack that made stars of Phantom Planet, Rooney, and Imogen Heap for at least five minutes. The O.C. also brought us Chrismukkah, a.k.a. Festivus 2.0.
DEAD LIKE ME (THE ROKU CHANNEL)
Pre-Dexter, Showtime had no original series luck in the early 2000s, but Queer as Folk, The L Word and 2003's Dead to Me at least attracted some buzz. (Related: Why the hell isn't The Chris Isaak Show available anywhere?) Dead to Me was the first creation of Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, American Gods), following a group of "grim reapers" who, instead of moving on themselves, are stuck with the job of escorting other souls to the afterlife. The dry-humored series ended at Season 2, giving star Mandy Patinkin no time to rage-quit.
TRU CALLING (YOUTUBE)
As an Eliza Dushku completist who's seen all of her work (even Soul Survivors — blech), Tru Calling remains a favorite up there with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Medical student Tru Davies (Dushku) works at the city morgue, where dead bodies are waking up and asking for help to avoid their demises. She has the supernatural ability to "rewind" the day and prevent deaths, but a man with the same power (Jason Priestley) is out to stop her. Sound ridiculous? I haven't even mentioned that Tru's morgue boss is Zach Galifianakis(!).
Bill Frost has been a journalist and TV reviewer since the 4:3-aspect-ratio '90s. His pulse-pounding prose has been featured in The Salt Lake Tribune, Inlander, Las Vegas Weekly, SLUG Magazine and many other dead-tree publications. He's currently a senior writer and streaming TV reviewer for CableTV.com, Salt Lake City Weekly and TV Tan Podcast.
