I've been feeling nostalgic for the mid-late 2000s lately, which got me thinking about the somewhat cringey trends of that time. Then the memories of the clothes I, for some reason, chose to wear in middle school got too dark for me, so I switched to thinking about television shows and movies that were popular at that time.
How different were the most popular shows ten years ago from the hit shows now? Are any of them still as relevant now as they were then?
I turned to the hard-hitting facts only IMDb could provide to answer these questions. I used this list of the top TV series released in 2009, ranked by user popularity.
(I chose to go by what people voted as the best shows released in 2009 instead of what the ratings at the time indicated because a lot of the time shows and movies that people remember the most from a certain year didn't originally reach the top of the rating charts. It's all about that slow burn.)
1. Modern Family (2009-)
The first show on the list was "Modern Family", the still running sitcom about a family of eclectic personalities and hilarious yet heart-warming situations. No surprise it's still on the air today. It's kind of crazy this show has been making new episodes for ten whole years.
2. Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
"Parks and Rec" is another show that I think is just as relevant today as it was ten years ago. A lot of people discovered this feel-good workplace comedy through streaming services like Netflix and became absolutely obsessed with it. Although, how can you not be obsessed with something that stars Amy Poehler?
3. The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
GiphyI'm not going to lie, "The Vampire Diaries" was my show back in the day. 2009 was right in the middle of the "Twilight" bred vampire obsession, and TVD checked off every box to be a hit. Hot vampires? Check. High school drama? Check. Love triangles? Triple check. If you weren't fighting over Delena vs. Stelena, what were you even doing? Plus, this show led to two spin-off series, "The Originals,' and 'Legacies", which is airing now.
4. NCIS: Los Angeles (2009-)
Cop shows are pretty much guaranteed to be popular no matter what the year, but "NCIS" really managed to build an empire. There are a couple spin-offs that also came off of the original "NCIS", one of them being "NCIS: Los Angeles." It must be doing something right because it's still on the air right now.
5. Community (2009-2015)
"Community" is actually one of my favorite comedies and is honestly pretty underrated, which is why it surprised me to see it on this list (I guess it has a pretty tight fanbase.) This sitcom is about a group of misfit college students, and how they survive life at a crazy community college together (I actually wrote an article about why you should watch it last year). Bottom line: it's hilarious and you should give it a try.
Honorable mention to the phenomenon that was "Glee", which was sixth on this list. If you have any issues take it up with IMDb! What were your favorite shows in 2009?
- Top 10 Shows of 2009: The Best, and the Rest | TIME.com ›
- Top-rated United States television programs of 2009–10 - Wikipedia ›
- 10 Memorable TV Shows of 2009 ... and More - The New York Times ›
- The Best TV Shows of 2009 ... and the Decade - Metacritic ›
- Full Series Rankings For The 2009-10 Broadcast Season | Deadline ›
- Top 10 best TV shows of 2009 - SFGate ›
