But, based on the shows that you listed, I would recommend Luther - a very good and gritty crime drama from the BBC.
Or you can go for a change of pace and check out Mad Men, which is also quite good, but very different stylistically from the three shows you mentioned. You’d probably be caught up by the season 6 premiere as well.
Of the other shows listed, **Battlestar Galactica ** and **Freaks and Geeks **stand out among the OnDemand shows and **The Wire **is, well, The Wire (but only on DVD).
**Sherlock **is also great, but at 90 minutes an episode, is more like a series of movies.
Some less obvious ideas:
Durham County (Canadian cop detective show; very, very dark and creepy, only 6 episodes per season)
Aliens in America (very funny comedy about a Pakistani exchange high school student living with a Wisconsin family)
Homicide: Life on the Street (by The Wire people, great cop show)
Big fat ditto. Isn’t the bad guy from S1 of Durham County the same guy who’s playing the serial killer on the new Kevin Bacon show, The Following? Perfect casting.
If political intrigue is at all your style, you absolutely must check out the classic BBC series, House of Cards. You could say that that Ian Richardson, as Francis Urquhart, Conservative Whip, is so delightfully, delectably, irresistably, charmingly evil that you will hang on his every word… but I couldn’t possibly comment.
Also, not sure if it’s on there, but the underappreciated and sadly brief Terriers is, IMO, a must-watch. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as, respectively, a recovering alcoholic ex-cop and ex-thief pair of unlicensed, ultra-low-rent private eyes who get in way, way over their heads. A shame it was axed after a season.
So is Kidnapped, with Jeremy Sisto and Delroy Lindo, a wonderful show that lasted just one season. Well, not even one. It was dropped after three or four episodes and we had to finish watching at the network website. But Netflix has it. It’s excellent.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
BlackAdder
Cracker
Crossing Jordan
Doc Martin
Farscape
Firefly
Kingdom
Star Trek (TOS, TNG, & DS9 and some others that are best viewed with protective gear on)
The Tudors
Twin Peaks
Vampire Prosecutor
I guess I was just thinking too much about the British version of “The Office” which I did not find that funny. My UK show sample size is indeed pretty small
Good call on Sons. What I really enjoyed was Carnivále. It’s really short (like three seasons, I think) and it had incredible acting. You’ll be sorry it ended when it did. Also, I started Dexter but never finished it. It was awesome and hilarious.
I’ve only seen the first season, but I really enjoyed Boardwalk Empire. I’ve seen all the seasons of Dexter and really like the show, but season 6 was not good.
OP is going to be sadly disappointed trying to find some of these suggestions on Netflix.
Of those mentioned, Battlestar Galactica (the reboot) is an excellent series. Archer is frickin’ hilarious. Sherlock is a very good update of the classic, but as mentioned, is more a series of movies than TV episodes.
The first season of American Horror Story is available, if you’re into that kind of stuff. The full run of The West Wing was recently made available. The two seasons of Better off Ted, an underrated and prematurely-killed comedy, are available.
It’s on netflix DVD, but not sure about streaming–Lost Girl. Urban fantasy thing. Title character is a succubus, unaligned between the Light Fae and Dark Fae. It’s also on SyFy, as an “original series”, which means in this case a series that they licensed from Canada. Third season is about to start, but as I think only the first season is on Netflix currently, probably no time to catch up.
Yeah it’s on streaming. I watched 3 and half episodes before I gave up. For some reason, I couldn’t suspend disbelief, something I usually don’t have a problem with when watching other similar shows. Also, some of the acting, not to mention the dialogue, is god-awful, which probably has a lot to do with my bailing on the show.
What I really enjoyed was Carnivále. It’s really short (like three seasons, I think) and it had incredible acting. You’ll be sorry it ended when it did. Also, I started Dexter but never finished it. It was awesome and hilarious.
Third season is about to start, but as I think only the first season is on Netflix currently, probably no time to catch up.