The 14 Best 2000s-Era Shows on Netflix

Remember how badass Dexter was when the show premiered over a decade ago? Before he has a kid and runs off to be a lumberjack? Yeah, we miss it too.

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This show may be set in the early '80s, but it represents a perfect gone-too-soon example of a show that was a little ahead of its time. If it had debuted just a few years later, it might have gotten more than one season. We can still relive the glorious one season that did air, complete with now-huge James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and Linda Cardellini.

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Simultaneously both an entertaining cartoon and a pointed science-fiction commentary piece, Futurama is a must watch if you missed it the first time around. It follows the adventures of a pizza guy from the late 20th century who is cryogenically frozen and wakes up in the futuristic 31st century.

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Is this the 2000s-iest show of all the shows on the list? We'd say yes, which is why you must put on your coziest sweater, grab a mountain of candy, and settle in to relive the high school and college years of Rory Gilmore and her insane, wonderful, dysfunctional, hilarious mother, Lorelai, and the awesome extended cast of characters in Stars Hollow, CT.

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This one may still be on the air, but for us, early Grey's Anatomy will always be the best Grey's Anatomy. They're all babies — look at those faces!

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The crew from It's Always Sunny have definitely figured out how to evolve with the times, which is why it's important to include them. The early seasons are a perfect example of cable TV branching out into edgier material as viewers started leaving broadcast TV behind.

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If you're still not over the series finale, we understand. But try not to let that lessen your enjoyment of the rest of this memorable sci-fi mystery series. Its pilot is arguably the best pilot a Fall TV season had ever and will ever see.

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Another one that just "feels" very 2000s-y, The Office burst on the scene with one of TV's great love stories in Jim and Pam and one of TV's most well-written, heartfelt, foot-in-mouth, oblivious, wonderful characters to ever grace the small screen in Michael Scott. That Steve Carell never won an Emmy for his portrayal of the Dunder Mifflin boss is still a shock.

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This Showtime series was a groundbreaking look at a group of gay men and their friends, family, and lovers in Pittsburgh. It brought heretofore unseen (even unmentioned) topics to TV and was lauded as a pioneering show for LGBTQ+ representation in media.

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This is another great example of a show that has managed to change with the times and remain on the air, but early Supernatural is still worth a look, if only for how young Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are!

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This period comedy may have been set in the '70s, but it has 2000s written all over it in the writing, directing, and acting by its talented cast and creators. It's even cuter now that costars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are married and have two children.

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