Warehouse 13 was all about the chemistry. Not much else there, but the chemistry was good (once it settled).
If you like a show like The Shield, then check out Sons of Anarchy, created/produced by Shield alumni Kurt Sutter (who also played the crazy Areminian Mob hit-man Margos Dezerian).
Like both The Shield and The Sopranos, they make being bad look good.
Breaking Bad and Burn Notice are both very good, too.
On a lighter note, the cancelled series Arrested Development is good, wacky fun, but pay attention; the show really pays off for the attentive viewer.
Miniseries-wise, I’ll second Band of Brothers and From The Earth To The Moon, both by HBO. Arguably some of the best TV ever.
Leverage.
Carnivale is very strange. It was well done, but like many HBO series died a premature death. Interesting concept, though. Deadwood and Rome are quite possibly the two best series ever made, all the better for being largely based on historical events and people. I, like many, will never forgive HBO for ending Deadwood when it did. Band of Brothers was excellent and had the added benefit of having some of the actual WWII soldiers who the story is about provide insight into the operations they carried out.
This is what I came in to reccomend. I loved the Sopranos and I am loving SoA even more. The blend of brains vs. brute force is a little broader, and the slow shift from brute force to brainpower in the clubs dealings has been interesting to watch.
Watch the first disc of Breaking Bad; you’ll be in for the duration (which, actually, is only two seasons).
I was just going to say, watch Carnivale!
I LOVED Carnivale! Creepy to the max, intricate, beautiful, horrifying, full of sex and violence, and sadly cut off after 2 seasons (though if you ignore the last 5 minutes of the ending of the final episode, I guess you could be said to have closure). Part Grapes of Wrath, part Freaks, part Twilight Zone.
Right here. Perfect for you.
BULLY BEATDOWN!
It is fun, but every time I watch it, I’m sure I’m going to hell the very next day. A flaming, burning hell!
Still fun though.
I’d say it might- “Gilmore Girls” is one of my father’s favorite shows of all time, and my brother (who normally watches stuff like Eureka, the Thursday night comedy block on NBC, and Castle) doesn’t mind watching it and sometimes enjoys it.
Lie To Me. Characters with distinct personalities, some humor (though much more subtle than in “Castle”). Interesting set-up in that our heroes can tell if someone is lying, but then have to figure out how to translate that into getting the info or action necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Also has obligatory young teen daughter of lead character who occasionally figures into the story.
The Mentalist. Similar to “Castle” in its essence (civilian with extraordinary insight helps female cop’s squad solve cases), though with somewhat more serious undertone.
Castle, Lie To Me, & The Mentalist are our current trifecta of regularly watched shows.
I will second Pulp Friction on Breaking Bad which is both literally and figuratively more about chemistry than plot…
Complete with titles inspired by the periodic table of elements!
You can catch some episodes of Bones on Hulu. I just started getting into it. Very much focused on the characters with no overarching storyline to make it hard to get what is going on.
Numbers and Breaking Bad.
Maybe even House MD.
all pseudo-sciency that makes you crack the occasional smile.
Soldier on. It took me about half a season before I really started to appreciate it. It keeps gets better and better, and you’ll have enough to last you a long time.
I second Dexter, Veronica Mars, Arrested Development, and Breaking Bad. My husband watches all the shows that you do, and he likes all of these.
I came in to mention the Wire and I need to second that it blows the Sopranos out of the water. After the Wire, Sopranos’ badguys are silly little cartoon characters.
That’s the one.
Life On Mars might fit your criteria. It’s a British show (there’s also an American remake, but I haven’t seen it) about a cop who gets in an accident and finds himself in 1973. A lot of the conflict is from the differences between what he’s used to as a cop and the way things are in 1973. I wasn’t crazy about the first episode the first time I watched it (it was better the second time), but I liked the second and third episodes a lot more. I haven’t seen any of the others yet. So it’s got a bit of sci-fi, some good humor, and so far some good chemistry.
If you want a show full of interesting characters, you could try Pushing Daisies, though it only lasted two seasons and ended with some open questions. Oddest premise for a show ever: a man can bring any dead person or thing back to life with a touch. If he touches the person (or thing) again within one minute, it will die again, forever; if he doesn’t touch it, something nearby that’s roughly on the same level of the food chain will die. And if he touches that original person or thing again, it will still die, forever.
He goes into business helping a private detective solve crimes (they go to the morgue, touch the body, ask a couple questions, then solve the murder or whatever). But the real interesting stuff starts in the first episode, when he brings his childhood sweetheart to life and can’t bear to touch her again. The crazy thing is, this show about death-by-touch is a comedy, with some of the most off-beat visuals you can imagine. And it helps that the sweetheart, Anna Friel, is achingly beautiful.
I’m going to second Chuck. Funny, smart, geeky, and from what I gather from the guys that post about it, pretty good eye candy. Season 3 starts in January. Season one is out on DVD (only 13 eps) and season two is going to be released right before the show starts up again. Also has a few episodes on Hulu.