The Ten Best TV Detectives of the 2000s

This almost-over decade of the '00s was a big one for detectives, and the men and women who play them on TV. It was a decade that saw the detective explore new genre territory, and return to old stomping grounds long abandoned. It saw the procedural rise to dominate scripted television in a myriad of variations, but also the return of the old fashioned mystery. And it saw a flood of talented actors come to television to portray a small army of flawed, fascinating heroes.

Here, in chronological order of when they debuted, are the ten best TV detectives of the decade:

Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), NYPD Blue (ABC, Debuted September 21, 1993) - Following the departure of original star David Caruso early in the show's second season, Dennis Franz's turbulent Detective Andy Sipowicz found himself at the center of the NYPD Blue universe. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened for both the character and the show. By the time Blue entered the 21^st century, Sipowicz had weathered the forced retirement of one partner, the death of another, the murder of his son, and the murder of his wife. The show's final seasons were a bit easier on Andy; he only had the death of one more partner to deal with, and from then on it was relatively smooth sailing. An arc emerged as the show wound to a close: the redemption of Sipowicz. Fans watched as the once unapologetically racist, alcoholic detective gradually beat back those demons, rebuilding his life with a new marriage and yet another partnership with a younger detective (this one surviving to the end of the series), and eventually ascending to lead the 15^th precinct detective squad. One of the all-time great television characters, Sipowicz was often the only reason to even watch NYPD Blue in its final years. But, played so memorably by Dennis Franz, he was more than reason enough.

John Munch (Richard Belzer), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, Debuted September 20, 1999) - Unlikely as it seemed when the character first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1993, Detective John Munch has become the most traveled, and one of the most durable and long-lived characters in television history. After the end of Homicide, the character (and actor Richard Belzer) was transplanted from Baltimore to New York to join the cast of the first Law & Order spin-off, Special Victims Unit. His cynicism, often caustic sense of humor, and pronounced streak of libertarianism have served him well not only on SVU, but in guest spots on The X-Files, Arrested Development, and The Wire. Altogether Munch has appeared in eight shows on four networks, a feat of which no other character played by a single actor can boast. Munch even shows up in a Sesame Street sketch, making him the first character on this list to appear as a puppet . . .

Angel (David Boreanaz), Angel (The WB, Debuted October 5, 1999) - Once free of the quippy, aggressively hip confines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, the tormented vampire with a soul, was able to explore darker - and often funnier - territory. His series, the bulk of which centered on his adventures as a private detective in Los Angeles, strayed into many different genres during its five-year run - horror, sci-fi, comedy - but it was arguably at its best when it was evoking an old fashioned P.I. adventure - The Rockford Files with vampires, Magnum P.I. with time-traveling demons. Balancing on the thread between comedy and tragedy even more adroitly than Buffy, Angel was one of those shows (and Angel one of those characters) that could push you to the verge of tears, then have you nearly die laughing, all within the space of a few seconds. The private detective angle was largely forgotten by the show's final season, when Angel took charge of a demonic law firm and the series became something of a supernatural workplace drama, but the vampire with a soul was still there at the center of it all, played with humor and conviction by David Boreanaz, seeming natural and at home whether he was the hero, or the butt of the joke.

Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons), NYPD Blue (ABC, Character Debuted February 22, 2000) - If Detective Sipowicz was often the only reason to watch the post-David Milch years of NYPD Blue, then the addition of Baldwin Jones in the seventh season provided the second-most compelling draw during the latter portion of the show's run. Originally added to replace the departing Detective Martinez, Baldwin soon established himself as the strongest of the new cast members, thanks both to his initial apprehension toward the white members of the 15^th squad, and his entertaining partnership with Detective Greg Medavoy. By the time the show ended, Baldwin had grown from a perceived affirmative action hire to one of the most admirable members of the Blue team, surrogate father to a troubled foster kid, and one who had earned the respect of the famously difficult to impress Detective Sipowicz.

Gil Grissom (William Peterson), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS, Debuted October 6, 2000) - This was the decade of the procedural, and for that we have Gil Grissom, the original hero of the original CSI, to thank. It was the titanic ratings success of that show that drove CBS and every other network to commission their own variations on its theme. In the '70s and '80s, the detective show had largely been a vehicle for action, in the '90s for character exploration and social commentary. In the '00s, the focus turned to the minute details of investigations, not merely whether or not the good guys caught the bad guys, but how they did it. CSI, and its descendants both official and unofficial, established the trend, and at the head of that drive stood its lead, Gil Grissom. Not a traditional detective, Grissom is a crime scene investigator. He and his team reassemble the crimes after the fact, using technology and sometimes just good old fashioned deduction. They don't always succeed in getting their man (though they usually do), but they did succeed in changing the face of drama on television.

Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC/USA, Debuted September 30, 2001) - Before CSI morphed into an octopus with spin-off tentacles set in Miami and New York, Law & Order set the template for the crime drama franchise with its daughter shows Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent (there were others, but only SVU and CI have lasted beyond their first seasons). SVU has become the ratings champion of the franchise, but the most dependably compelling has been CI, thanks mostly to the star of it's A-team, eccentric Detective Robert Goren. Like a lot of the recent crop of TV 'tecs, Goren is something of a haunted character, with a difficult childhood and certain emotional and psychological vulnerabilities to contend with. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, Goren's primary obsession is in solving the case. His drive to get to the bottom of his cases, and his Holmesian ability to profile criminals and reconstruct crimes on the basis of apparently insignificant details, have made Criminal Intent the most unique entry in the Law & Order franchise, more of an update on the classic mystery series than a nuts and bolts procedural.

Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), The Wire (HBO, Debuted June 2, 2002) - The Wire may not have influenced TV as a whole as much as CSI or Law & Order, but it certainly did more in the eyes of its admirers to elevate the medium than any other series in recent memory. Events depicted in the show involved a large and ever-changing cast of characters, but one constant was always Dominic West's morally conflicted Detective McNulty, a talented detective who nonetheless fabricates a serial killer at one point, tampering with victims and crime scenes just to make things interesting. Rebellious under authority and relentlessly self-destructive, McNulty was in many ways the culmination of the sort of hero that first appeared in the early '90s with the introduction of Detective Sipowicz on NYPD Blue. But at least Sipowicz maintained some sense of righteousness; for McNulty, it was all about the case. And the booze . . . and the women . . . but mainly the case.

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), Monk (USA, Debuted July 12, 2002) - While shows like CSI and its spin-offs were helping to establish the procedural as the new de facto realm of television detectives, USA Network's Monk was quietly staking its claim in older, long deserted territory. Instead of digging for yet another clever twist on the procedural formula, Monk offered its audience the sort of stories they would have seen in the '80s on shows like Matlock and Murder, She Wrote, albeit with a more overt comedic touch. Monk, like its titular lead character, was concerned mostly with light-hearted mystery stories. Sure, there were murders, but they were rarely presented as gravely as the crimes seen in more serious shows. Monk's main ambition was to entertain, not to unsettle, and with Tony Shalhoub as the neurotic, obsessive-compulsive protagonist, it achieved that ambition more often than not. And it attracted a loyal and decently sized audience, too - its recently aired series finale was the most-watched scripted show in the history of cable.

Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), House (Fox, Debuted November 16, 2004) - The most intriguing and consistently entertaining detective on TV this past decade was one who never did a moment's work for the police department. The star of Fox's House doesn't hunt down the perpetrators of crimes, but the causes of diseases. And he does so with an attention to detail and a predilection for wild intuitive leaps that would be the envy of Sherlock Holmes. No wonder - House is rather explicitly based on Arthur Conan Doyle's great Victorian detective, right down to his apartment number being 221 B, his drug addiction (Vicodin, not cocaine), and Wilson, his analog to Watson. The series built around Dr. House distinguishes itself from other procedurals by more than its medical setting. More than CSI or the Law & Order shows that undeniably influenced its style, House is concerned with its characters - both the regulars and the patients whose illnesses baffle the doctors week after week. Standing at the center of it all is House himself, brilliant, infantile, hysterical and heartbreaking, played superbly by Hugh Laurie, a man who has been robbed of more Best Actor Emmy awards than one should think possible. Even when the show is falling apart around him, Laurie holds it all together through the sheer force of his performance, reminding us that the best reason to watch House is, and always will be, House.

Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), The Closer (TNT, Debuted June 13, 2005) - This was also the decade of actors and actresses leaving film careers to pursue (they hoped) more dependable work on TV. Actors as distinguished and diverse as Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace), Laurence Fishburne (CSI), Gary Sinise (CSI: New York), and the aforementioned Vincent D'Onofrio all made the move from the big screen to the small screen, but none with the success of Kyra Sedgwick, whose TNT series The Closer not only garnered record ratings for a cable drama series, but has also earned her four consecutive Emmy nominations, and nominations and wins at a slew of other award shows. She stars as Brenda Leigh Johnson, Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Brenda is a transplant to L.A. from Georgia, and is primarily tasked with providing district attorney's with strong cases that will lead to convictions. Her skills as an investigator and an interrogator earn her the reputation as a (let's all say it together, shall we?) a closer. And so she is - for her cases, and for my list as well.