Loved Weeds! Surprised I don’t read more about it here.
There are a couple of really good British series with Dame Judi Dench. One was made with her husband a few years ago. I don’t think Netflix has all of those episodes, but it was very good.
The other is really first rate and very tweedy. It’s As Time Goes By. Zeldar and I loved it though it had us craving lemon tarts for a while. It is pleasant British humor – not over the top.
The Riches: Dark comedy about a family of con artists, with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver.
I second the suggestion of The West Wing. Also, I think the lone season of Studio 60 is pretty entertaining.
How about Friday Night Lights? If you like football, this is good. The surprise is that even if you don’t like football, it’s still great. The first season in particular is just quality, quality television.
I think I’ll start with The West Wing. I really enjoyed Studio 60, and I think I’d like something with a lot of episodes so it’s easy to pick what comes next. 
I’ve seen all or most of a number of shows mentioned. Joan of Arcadia, for example, was one of my favorites. Eureka is cute but annoying.
I hated the one episode of Friday Night Lights I saw, though. I got a half hour in and said there was no way I was sitting through another minute. No idea why that one turned me off so hard, but it did.
Coupling British series about three men and three women. Some of the funniest and cleverest TV in years. Went for 4 or 5 seasons.
Way beyond Friends.
It isn’t great, but the show improves a lot after the first season. The main storyline doesn’t really kick in till season 2, and the 3rd and 4th seasons have some awesome space battles and genuine sense of mystery. If you like SF at all, I’d give it a chance. Also, if you can stomach the wooden acting and mediocre SFX, you really should plow through season 1, as it lays groundwork for later better seasons.
Six Feet Under under is full of awesome, no other TV show has put me on such an emotional roller coaster before (you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be terrified, you’ll be happy).
jsgoddess I’m not sure if a show that focuses on death and loss might be what you’re looking for at the moment given what has happened recently, but I found it quite therapeutic. We live in a very death phobic society and it isn’t until you see something that frequently deals with it that you realise that. Anyway, caveat emptor and all that, but in my view it’s the best TV series ever written.
I really enjoyed Carnivale on DVD. I don’t remember a lot of violence, and the setting was far enough in the past to be escapist, and it had the touch of supernatural that I really enjoy.
Book-wise, I’m still obsessively reading murder mysteries, so a focus on death doesn’t seem to bother me. But I think it just depends on how it’s handled. If a show (or movie, or book) has the intent to make me depressed and despairing, I probably can’t handle it. If it’s about life and moving forward and finding joy where ever you can, then I probably can.
I was a huge fan of “The Shield” but it might not meet your specs. I’m also eagerly awaiting the return of “Rescue Me”… Kills me that the best shows are on a Fox network too!
It’s kind of between the two. SFU definitely isn’t saccharine, but it’s set in a funeral home and in the first series particularly there is a lot of exploration of the people who come through it and their lives, and the people they’ve left behind. From S2 onwards it’s more about the main characters, but death and the people we leave behind is always a strong theme. It doesn’t set out to be bleak and hopeless though, even when things are getting ropey for the people involved.
As I said, it’ll make you cry (not just because of the death) and it’ll make you laugh with joy. I can’t recommend a show more highly than SFU (I got a friend into it who was sceptical and after she’d finished the final series she said watching it changed her life - if that isn’t praise I don’t’ know what is).
I might try it in a few months. I think you’re right that it could be therapeutic.
I’m not really sensitive about death because of recent events. I’ve always disliked those sorts of unhappy-for-the-sake-of-it stories that many people seem to like. I’m not, generally, into tragedies, especially the type of thing that makes you feel like everything is pointless. But that doesn’t sound like Six Feet Under.
Thanks.
I’m currently watching The Shield. Excellent show - one of the best police series I’ve seen. There is a lot of violence in the series, but mostly it’s not graphic (certainly less so than CSI) and the overall tone of the show is not depressing or doom-filled.
Seconding Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies. Both great shows that never really got the chance to catch on.
LeftHand, skip Season 1 of B5. There are a lot of dropped hints of what’s to come and a lot of stuff that, in later seasons, you’ll go “Ooooh! THAT’S what that was about!”, but I’m really not sure it’s worth suffering through that first season just for those. The show and the story arc both leaped to a new level at the start of the 2nd season and the replacement of Michael O’Hare with Bruce Boxleitner.
If you need to, you can catch up on Season 1 at The Lurker’s Guide To Babylon 5. Go to “Episodes” and just start reading through the Season 1 eps. There’s still a part of me that says “Suffer through it!” because there ARE a lot of moments in the rest of the series that are enhanced by having watched Season 1, but that’s an individual call.
It is a great series and good point… Nowhere near as graphic in terms of violence or images of internal human bodies. CSI has lost me as a fan… Even though I still watch all of them. Just toooooo stupid to be believable. I now watch it as a critic instead of as a fan and is it just me or does David Caruso make anyone else want to give him a major wedgie??? God he’s irritating!
Ones I have watched and loved:
CSI (vegas) I, surprisingly, LOVE this show.
Dexter
Eureka
House
Firefly
Northern Exposure is a favorite of mine, and I think the first couple seasons have held up pretty well.
I just came in to recommend this show and also St. Elsewhere.
Second this - and make sure you get the A&E one, not the earlier ABC one, which sucked. I don’t know if that is out on DVD; I hope not. We watched the A&E one when it was on originally, and enjoyed seeing them again on DVD.
Do you object to old shows? There is a lot of TV history you can catch up on.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make mention of “Damages” on this board. It’s currently in the middle of its second season; you can pick up the DVD of the first season, or you can watch it free and legally at hulu.
Very awesome show.