10. Sex and the City
The jury is still out regarding the legacy of ""Sex and the City,"" but I think everyone can agree that it's a Mr. Big one. Embraced by some for celebrating and exploring female friendships, masturbation and 30-something singles, ""Sex and the City"" has been delighting (mostly) women for over 10 years now. Critics have dismissed ""Sex and the City"" for being heterocentric and anti-feminist, claiming that the privileged white lives of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte revolve around little more than boys.
But despite its critics (or perhaps because of them), the groundbreaking HBO series will be remembered for rewriting gender stereotypes that said women hated sex and for creating a world in which women can comfortably talk about orgasms, crabs, funky spunk and skidmarks.
—Kathy Dittrich
9. ""The O.C.""
Sure, ""The O.C."" didn't break any ground in terms of character development or believable plotlines. But the 9.7 million viewers the show brought in during its first season proved that doesn't really matter as long as you have enough hot rich people hooking up or getting punched in the face. And ""The O.C."" did bring more to the table than the average teen drama. It finally made hipsterdom appealing to the masses through the sardonic and Death Cab-loving Seth Cohen, and it used its influence over its young audience to promote bands like the Walkmen and the Thrills. Its frequent cheesiness made it tough to always love ""The O.C.,"" but it's hard to hate a show that got teenagers to listen to a cover of Daniel Johnston.
—Jake Victor
8. ""Survivor""
Say what you will about the quality of the programming, but the decade's biggest accomplishment has been the creation of reality television. It has changed the way people think about television and the purpose they believe it serves, and these days reality TV dominates a large portion of the primetime lineup. This is largely because of ""Survivor,"" the first real primetime reality show.
While critics were never particularly wowed by the program, Americans were. The first season of ""Survivor"" pulled in over 18 million viewers by its second week. This immediate success opened the floodgates to dramatic housewives, a set of sextuplets and intervening families. For better or for worse, ""Survivor"" sparked a cultural revolution, one that cannot be discounted simply because it brought us Heidi Montag.
—Jacqueline O'Reilly
7. ""The Sopranos""
For decades, television was a second-class art form. Actually, to have called it an art form would have been overly flattering before 1999. Then everything changed with ""The Sopranos,"" David Chase's mafia-centric TV drama. There were shows like ""Oz"" that tried to strike a similar artistic chord sooner, but ""The Sopranos"" was the first to convince both critics and the public that television could explore themes and ideas every bit as serious as those seen in film and theater. It wasn't just a way to kill an hour; ""The Sopranos"" was an ambitious exploration of the human psyche at its darkest depths, and it was daring enough to conclude that some people will never escape those depths. Surely James Gandolfini's iconic performance as Mafia don Tony Soprano helped, but really it was Chase's often dark, trippy vision that helped ""The Sopranos"" turn HBO into a powerhouse, and helped television gain the respect it deserved.
—Todd Stevens
6. ""The Daily Show""
As a self-dubbed ""fake news"" program, ""The Daily Show"" does not give itself nearly enough credit. Although it is a comedy show first and foremost, it has during its 11 years with Jon Stewart at the helm provided some of the sharpest political and social commentary anywhere. It is not without its ideological bent, but all politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike), news outlets, religions, races and ideologies are fair game for mockery by Stewart and his merry band of dysfunctional correspondents. While it may deem its news ""fake,"" ""The Daily Show"" has opened a dialogue over this tumultuous past decade in a way that few other news sources have, and it's up to the rest of the journalism world to keep pace.
—Ariel Shapiro
