8 Underrated TV Series From the 2000s You Should Absolutely Revisit Today

There are so many great new television series coming out today that we can hardly keep up, and yet, there's something about TV from the '00s that scratches a totally different itch.

The stories might have been a little goofier and less grounded, but the shows instantly had us hooked with interesting premises and unforgettable characters. Even better, when you're watching on old show, you have all of it at your fingertips instead of having to wait between seasons (or worse, finding out the show got cancelled on a cliffhanger). They're the ultimate comfort shows, keeping us coming back for more no matter how many times we've binged them. If you need a bit of that in your life, keep scrolling to discover the best shows from the 2000s that reserve to be revisited.

Leverage (2008–2012)

Leverage follows a group of five con artists—a hitter, hacker, grifter, thief and mastermind—who work together every episode to bring down baddies who get their wealth and status by taking advantage of others. As mastermind Nate Ford states in the title sequence, "The rich and powerful take what they want. We steal it back for you." The result is a hybrid between Robin Hood and Ocean's 11, with the hyper-competent team engaging in a heist or con every episode to take down the evildoer of the week in increasingly satisfying ways. The show was on the air for five seasons on TNT, and was also rebooted in 2021 with Leverage: Redemption, bringing the team's unique brand of justice to the modern era.

(Leverage via TNT)

 

Psych (2006–2014)

Psych takes place on the other side of the law—mostly—following Shawn Spencer, a consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department. Of course, he's not just any detective, as he uses his perfect memory and powerful sense of perception to convince everyone that he's actually psychic. Together with his brainy best friend, Gus, the two spend eight seasons solving the town's biggest cases, with Shawn's guise as a psychic giving them leeway to tackle situations in bizarre ways.

(Psych via USA Network)

 

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White Collar (2009–2014)

Crime shows with a twist were big in this era, as evidenced by White Collar. The show centers Neal Caffrey, a notorious thief and con artists who's finally apprehended by FBI agent Peter Burke after a three-year chase. Just short of serving out his prison sentence, Neal escapes in search of his girlfriend, only to be caught by Burke yet again. This time, however, he offers Neal a deal to become an informant for the FBI in return for his freedom. Unexpectedly for both of them, this becomes the start of a beautiful friendship that just gets better over the course of six seasons.

(White Collar via USA Network)

 

Burn Notice (2007–2013)

Burn Notice takes a foray into the spy genre by following Michael Westen, a spy who's "burned" in the middle of an important intelligence job in Nigerian. Suddenly, he has no money, no connections and not even documentation of his existence—and no explanation as to why. After managing to get back home to Miami, his only option is to take up work as a private investigator. With some help from his girlfriend and an old friend, Michael must work these new cases to get back on his feet, all the while facing off against enemies he made as a spy and seeking the truth behind his burn notice.

(Burn Notice via USA Network)

 

Warehouse 13 (2009–2014)

Prefer a touch of paranormal fun to your classic TV shows? Look no further than Warehouse 13, a show about a group of skilled agents who go around collecting dangerous supernatural artifacts, before safely securing them in the titular warehouse. Each member of the crew has their own unique strengths, from almost psychic intuition to photographic memory, encyclopedic knowledge of artifacts, computer hacking and lie-detecting, making them all essential to the mission.

(Warehouse 13 via Syfy)

 

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Person of Interest (2011–2016)

Person of Interest came a little later than some of these other series, but the sci-fi crime drama fits right in with them. It follows Harold Finch, a genius billionaire computer programmer whose invention, "the Machine," is capable of predicting crimes and terrorist attacks before they happen. He teams up with a former soldier and CIA agent, John Reese, to be his agent in the field, preemptively stopping small crimes, with the morality around these acts growing more and more grey over the course of the show's five seasons.

(Person of Interest via CBS)

 

Chuck (2007–2012)

We love a good fish-out-of-water story, and that's precisely what we get with Chuck. The series skirts genres, blending comedy and action with spy thrills as the titular Chuck Bartowski, a computer-savvy but otherwise average 20-something, gets an encoded email from an old friend, now a CIA agent. When Chuck reads it, the subliminal message becomes encoded in his brain. Suddenly he has all of the knowledge of a super spy, possessing all of the U.S.'s most dangerous secrets, and he's recruited by the government to use them when necessary. Meanwhile, he's forced to keep his spy work a secret, which is made harder by the two agents assigned to watch over him.

(Chuck via NBC)

 

Hustle (2004 – 2012)

And of course, not all of our favorite shows from this era were American. If you love Leverage, you should also check out English series, Hustle which also follows a skilled group of grifting con artists who carefully concoct their schemes to steal from the rich and give to the poor. This team specializes in the long con, with each member having their own grifting methods that allow them to deceive their marks and make things right.

(Hustle via BBC One)

 

For even more classic series from the past, click HERE to explore the series we think every teen should watch.