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TV Shows From the 2000s
13 TV Shows That Premiered in 2002: ‘The Wire,’ ‘George Lopez’ ‘American Idol,’ ‘Naruto,’ and More
The year 2002 brought TV viewers and audiences several notable, still-popular comedy, reality, talk, crime, drama, and animated TV shows.
Many of the TV shows of 2002 premiered in three months: March, June, and September. Some of those shows are still airing on TV–dozens of seasons in–while a couple of TV series didn’t make it past the first season they were on air.
Over the last 20 years, TV networks and streaming platforms have also recreated multiple shows from 2002–and previous years–as new TV shows, movies, spin-offs, and even brought some back from cancellation.
But these are some of the most popular episodic TV shows that premiered in 2002, including “The Wire,” “George Lopez,” “Naruto,” “The Bachelor,” and “American Idol.”
‘The Wire’
The HBO series “The Wire” premiered in June 2002 and aired until March 2008. Although Dominic West starred as the series main character, one of the most notable actors in the widely-popular show, “The Wire,” is Idris Elba, who recently starred in the movie “Beast.”
The crime series, set in Baltimore, Maryland, aired on HBO for five seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, “The Wire” has a score of 94% on the Tomatometer.
‘George Lopez’
In 2022, George Lopez returned to television with “Lopez vs Lopez.” However, twenty years earlier, in 2002, the comedy series “George Lopez” premiered in March 2002.
“George Lopez” is set in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. Mexican American comedian Lopez stars as the family patriarch in the show. The series aired on ABC for 120 episodes and six seasons. After a little over five years on air, “George Lopez” concluded in May 2007.
