The 17 hottest guys from 2000s TV
The 2000s were a bad time for fashion, but a great time for hot TV characters. You win some, you lose some, you feel?
And if you were a teen growing up during the 2000s, you definitely had a crush on at least one of these 17 guys.
1. Dr. McDreamy, Grey’s Anatomy
The first time we meet Dr. Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy, he’s naked. Of course, since Grey’s Anatomy aired on ABC instead of HBO, you couldn’t see much more than a flash of ass, but it was enough to convince every single woman watching the show that McDreamy really was the perfect nickname for him.
Yes, he turned out to have a secret wife and be Meredith’s boss, and yes his relationship with Meredith remained complicated for years, but that’s good television, so who really cares?
2. Dr. McSteamy, Grey’s Anatomy
However, as dreamy as Derek Sheperd was, Grey’s Anatomy knew that some women like their men to look a little less cute and a little more rough around the edges, and thus Dr. McSteamy a.k.a. Mark Sloan was born. I stopped watching Grey’s shortly after his arrival and therefore can tell you next to nothing about what kind of man he turned out to be, but how much do you need to know with GIFs like these?
3. Seth Cohen, The O.C.
Seth Cohen may have been a nerd, but he was hot in the way Songs About Jane-era Adam Levine was hot. Namely, he was so cute that you ended up wanting to f*ck him, which made him hot. What Seth Cohen lacked in muscle definition and chiseled features, he made up for with his earnestness, his unflagging loyalty, and his winning sense of humor. There’s a reason why Summer dressed like Wonder Woman to win his heart, okay? Seth Cohen may have been a nerd, but make no mistake, he was really the man.
4. Stringer Bell, The Wire
Let’s talk about Stringer Bell for a hot second, okay? The man ran one of the best drug empires in Baltimore, took economics classes at night, and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot his best friend if it came down to it. He was a boss, you feel? And even though you could definitely call Stringer an evil guy, thanks to the fact that Idris Elba was the man playing him, somehow you always ended up rooting for him anyway.
5. Jess Mariano, Gilmore Girls
It’s a highly contested point among Gilmore Girls fans, but since it’s just us girls here, it’s time to admit that out of all of Rory’s three boyfriends, Jess was the hottest. He may have treated her like shit, crashed her car and broke her heart, but his whole sarcastic-bookreading-rebel-with-a-heart-of-gold routine is enough to make anybody think about overlooking his many, many flaws.
6. John Rowland, Desperate Housewives
I don’t remember much about John Rowland, a.k.a. the sexy gardener who ends up having an affair with Eva Longoria’s character in season one of Desperate Housewives, but I do remember one important thing: he made me understand why women fantasizing about kissing the gardener is a thing.
7. Chuck Bass, Gossip Girl
Despite the fact that Chuck Bass tried to rape two women in the pilot episode of Gossip Girl, over the seasons Chuck sheds his unforgivably bad ways and becomes the kind of man any woman would willingly fall for. Rich, handsome, suave, loyal, loving, and very, very skilled in the fine art of foreplay. Blair Waldorf was one lucky woman.
8. Dan Humphreys, Gossip Girl
Or if you liked your men a little more earnest and clean-cut, your teenage heart probably had a field day over Dan Humphrey. If Gossip Girl had a Seth Cohen, it’d be Dan Humphrey, but because this is the Upper East Side, even the show’s good guy had his fair share of tricks up his sleeve, but don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you. XOXO.
9. Daniel Desario, Freaks and Geeks
Given the fact that James Franco has grown up to be a weirdo adult, it can be hard to remember that once upon a time the world just knew him as “that hot guy on Freaks and Geeks.” Daniel Desario was the kind of dreamboat loser of whom the old adage “high school is the best years of your life” is true. When we meet Daniel, he’s a few years away from becoming the kind of guy you meet one night at a bar and instantly know you’re going home with, only to realize a couple hours later that not only are there zero books in his apartment, but all he does all day is smoke weed and sit on his ass.
But for now, he’s just that charismatic bad boy you wish you were cool enough to date when you were in high school.
10. Dexter Morgan, Dexter
Dexter had a horrible closet full of unflattering short-sleeve button-down shirts and a nasty habit of chopping up people for fun, but all things considered, he was still really hot.
11. Eric Northman, True Blood
When we first met Eric, the 1,000-year-old Vampire sherif of Shreveport, Louisiana, his long hair and pale skin were kind of off-putting. But then, season 2 happened. Eric cut his hair, started becoming a 3-dimensional character, and quickly became the hottest guy on a television show full of hot men.
12. Don Draper, Mad Men
Don Draper is the worst. A serial cheater with a mysterious past who uses pussy and alcohol to make his life a little more bearable. He also happens to be one of the sexiest, most charismatic men in television history, so you can imagine how many women, fictional and otherwise, ended up falling for him, even though just like Taylor Swift, they knew he was trouble from the second he walked in.
13. Coach Eric Taylor, Friday Night Lights
Admittedly, the one time I tried to watch Friday Night Lights I ended up turning the episode off before the five minute mark, but every friend I have who’s watched the show assures me that Coach Taylor is the best. Seeing as Kyle Chandler is kind of a babe, I’m just gonna go with my gut and include him in the list.
14. Dr. Gregory House, House
If you like your men older, bitingly sarcastic, whip smart, and filled to the brim with self-loathing, chances are you watched House just so you could get your weekly fill of the titular character, Dr. Gregory House. Sure, he was an ass and pushed anybody away who tried to love him, but he was also a genius-level, pill-popping, rock star of a doctor, so you couldn’t help but fall in love from the safe distance that a layer of glass can afford you.
15. Silas Botwin, Weeds
We watched Silas grow up before our eyes, and damn did that teenage boy get hot.
16. George Michael Bluth, Arrested Development
Just kidding, there’s nothing sexy about Michael Cera from his Arrested Development days. Sorry, bb.
17. Mr. Big, Sex and The City
What list of 2000s heartthrobs would be complete with the asshole who stole Carrie’s heart from season 1? Mr. Big.
Mr. Big is everything a man ought to be (smart, handsome, sexy, rich, and vaguely funny), but he’s also everything a man aught not to be (emotionally unavailable, unfaithful, a tease, mean). Still, there was always something that kept Carrie coming back, and kept all of us rooting that this time, things would be different. For the most part, they never were, but let’s be real, we’ve all been there. None of us are fit to judge her.
