I’ll second Chuck. It’s a fun show with likable characters.
An older show that is really good is Homicide. Seasons 1-4 are excellent. Season 5 is where it starts slipping a bit, but still good entertainment.
The Sopranos is about my favorite thing in the world so I’d be remiss not to encourage you to at least give it a shot. It has that rare ability to consistently surprise throughout the course of its run. On your scale of 1 to 4, I’d give it a 5 in the sense that it’s not just required to watch the Previously On… segments but even to re-watch the entire series several times to really get a handle on the action.
For less highbrow viewing, I also recommend the first season of Desperate Housewives. Like LOST, it’s all about teasing and titillating, and has a pretty decent mystery.
And, speaking of long arc TV show mysteries, you’ve seen Twin Peaks already, right? Just to make sure you’ve covered the classics.
Thank you for all of the suggestions and info! I’ll definitely be taking a lot of them to heart and trying them out along with new suggested series. : )
As for The Shield/Wire, I’ve seen a few episodes of each and never got into it. I’m not much for cop shows (hated NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Streets–which is about the time I quit watching TV shows all together (the year those shows started)) either.
Oh, and I remembered other shows that I want to see but forgot to mention (again, these are shows that I’ve read a bit about and that I think I’d really like)…shows like Supernatural, Reaper, and Ghost Whisperer…which all strike me as being 3/4s. I could be wrong, though.
In short, I’ve got a lot of watching this summer. 
If you liked Buffy, I’d suggest giving **Being Human **a try. It’s about a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost sharing an apartment and trying to enjoy “life.” Although it sounds like a cross between Three’s Company and The Munsters, it’s actually a drama, with comedic moments. It has season-long story arcs (a season being six to eight episodes), so you’ll definitely want to see them in order. The pilot is optional. Although it contains some nice moments, the show was recast and some of the characters were rewritten, so it is outside of the series continuity.
We must have different definitions of “light viewing” because Dexter is one of the most adult, gritty, and sometimes unpleasant shows on TV. If by not taken seriously you just mean you find it dumb or inconsistent or whatever - we mostly disagree. I find it to be pretty strongly plotted.
Breaking Bad is probably the best show on TV right now. Top 3 definitely. It seems to fit your criteria and it’s definitely worth watching.
It’s too bad you’re excluding firefly, because short as it is, it’s probably the best show ever made. Pure genius. And you’re apparently for a Whedon fan so it’s a little weird. If you’re scared by sci-fi because mainstream sci fi on TV has been weak stuff like star trek where technobabble problems are solved by technobabble solutions and no real storytelling is done, that shouldn’t discourage you from watching firefly. It’s not like that at all.
Add to your list:
Damages - each Season is a 4 with it’s own storyline that ends at the end of the Season. But the relationships of the main characters carry over to the next Season. The best way to watch this is get the DVDs and watch each episode one right after the other as close together as possible. EXCELLENT!!! Get it!!!
The Good Wife - 3 My favorite new show this year! Cannot wait for Season 2.
In Plain Sight - 3
Burn Notice - 3
White Collar - 3
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USA Network. : ) Oh yeah, and also Netflix which have most TV series available on DVD and a good way to catch up quickly and not be bothered with commercials.
Loved The 4400 but it was canceled and ended abruptly with no resolution. Disappointing but I still liked it.
Heroes was great from the beginning but crapped out for me.
Forgot “Medium” (which I love). Each show is much the same (except for the details of the latest heinous gory murder), though there are a few oddball different formats thrown in. Story arcs: 2. The cast is rather small. But what a cast! The kids are very realistic and often hilarious.
Ones I have watched and enjoyed in order of how into them I got:
- Sopranos
- The Wire
- Sons Of Anarchy
- Six Feet Under
- Dexter
Deadwood: absolutely a must-see.
Rome: Another must-see.
Band of Brothers: A miniseries, but unmissable.
Fawlty Towers, for John Cleese at his best.
Mr. Bean, for goofiness and fine mime.
Prime Suspect, with Helen Mirren as a police detective. Outstanding drama with a flawed protagonist.
I, Claudius: brilliant stuff.
Wow, if you like Buffy but don’t like The Shield, there’s not much I can do for you.
One bit of advice I can give you is to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. When I first got into star trek, I really enjoyed DS9, which would be a 3-4 on your scale. I actually (like you) thought 1-2 would be inferior. However, TNG (1-2) taught me that it’s ok for each episode to be self-sufficient, and it’s rather relaxing not to have to put in the effort a 3-4 show requires.
The Wire is one of those shows that needs to be watched from the very first episode. And it isn’t a cop show, although some of the lead characters are certainly cops. Each season shifts focus: although many of the same compelling characters return, many new ones are introduced. The first season highlights the drug world at street level, the second switches to the Baltimore waterfront and other seaons cover politics, education and the media. But it’s all gloriously interlinked and if you stay with it I’m sure you’ll understand why so many people consider this the best TV series in the history of the medium.
You’ll definitely like Psych, probably has the two best leads on any show airing right now. The chemistry and the way that Shawn and Gus play off each other is incredible. I’d pick up the DVDs and get cracking too, since Season 5 starts on July 14
Another big vote for Breaking Bad! Fantastic show and since it is only three seasons you can catch up quickly.
The Wire is the best TV show I’ve ever seen. But it’s already been mentioned, so…
Veronica Mars is basically a 3, and has the most satisfying single-season mystery arc I’ve ever seen in its first season. It feels a lot like Buffy without the supernatural elements, but has some really unique elements (such as a strong emphasis on issues of class). Season 2 is also good, but without as satisfying an overall arc. Season 3 is less good.
Friday Night Lights is a 3/4, and is an extremely well written and acted drama set against the backdrop of high school football in Texas. But you don’t really have to care or know about football at all to enjoy it. It also features the most authentic-seeming married couple in any TV show I can think of. Season 1 is fantastic. Season 2 makes some odd choices, and then suffers from being shortened by the writer’s strike, but is still definitely good. Season 3 is better than 2. Season 4 is ongoing as we speak.
People are pretty much hitting the high points here (seriously, Deadwood and Battlestar Galactica are the two best things I have ever seen on tv, so don’t dismiss them out of hand), so I’m going to suggest a few cartoons instead. Not just for kids anymore!
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Venture Brothers: started as a parody of Johnny Quest/Hardy Boys and rapidly became something more. Starts as a 2, works up to a 3/4 by the latest season. The creators have said that the main theme is failure, “Beautiful sublime failure.” Also, very, very funny.
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Futurama: Sort of a 1/2, though certain arcs do run throughout and there are moments of surprising depth and heart. Also, if you have a good eye and follow it, you’ll find that the creators set things up from the beginning that didn’t pay off until seasons later. I enjoy that sort of attention to detail. Futurama is to Simpsons as The Jetsons are to the Flintstones - but better.
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King of the Hill: A 2, I would say. You really get to know the characters. Nothing like Family Guy or even the Simpsons - much more real in a lot of ways that really work. Some people find it too right wing or conservative, but they’re missing the point.
I just recently watched all of the series (and the movie) of Dead Like Me and I have to say I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it to anyone. Its quite funny and endearing.
Carnivale is not remotely a western (not sure where you got that idea?), and based on other things you’ve watched & liked, I think you’d love it. Definitely a 4. If you love it, you’ll be really disappointed there are only two seasons, though. In terms of stuff you won’t like, Firefly isn’t really a sci-fi show, but it is much more like a Western that just happens to take place in space, so you might not like it anyway.
Of the shows you mentioned you thought you’d like, I’d recommend Dexter, OZ, and Dead Like Me. Like others, I liked the first season of Heroes and really thought it would be a show I’d watch until the end, but I think I only made it through the second season out of inertia. First season is worth watching, though. I also felt the same way about **Lost **(though probably enjoyed maybe the first 3 seasons before losing interest). The rest I haven’t seen, so I can’t comment.
Rome (a 4) is great (at least the first season, just finished it yesterday), and I really loved the first two seasons of **True Blood **(haven’t seen any of the newest one, yet).
The CSI/Law & Order shows are probably 2s on your scale - there are some larger over-arching plots, but they’re not usually important to understand each episode. Sometimes they may creep into being 3s for a few episodes. They’re definitely more formulaic than any of the other shows most people have recommended, but can be fun if you haven’t seen them and are looking for something where you can stop-midseason and come back to later without having to remember minute details about what happened.
If you’re worried about The Wire being just another stupid cop show, it does kinda seem that way at first. However, note that I’m thoroughly sick of cop shows, and I think that The Wire is one of the greatest artistic achievements in American history. It’s a show about systems and institutions, human nature and urban decay, and tragedy and comedy in all rungs of society. It’s disguised as a crime drama, but the greater themes become evident after not too long, and develop in a way that I’ve not seen approached in any other TV show.
I am not an evangelist about many things, but The Wire is surely one of them. It’s the only TV show I’d recommend to any thinking person, even ones that don’t like TV. I’d only ask that they give it at least 4-5 episodes, because it burns slow.