Nothing else you can list. There are no objective standards for determining good or bad shows; it all comes down to taste and personal opinion, no matter how widely held. I love Dexter but I'd love it even if it were reviled (I'm frankly surprised it's not, but eh). And I really enjoyed Charlie Jade despite it being pretty obscure. That show, for anyone who hasn't stumbled across one of my rants, being a single-season heavily arced and highly entertaining slice of sci-fi entertainment. So it comes down to this: You look at the list; the series descriptions, maybe glance at the Wikipedia article; and try out whatever sounds interesting and you think might appeal to you. That's what I do when browsing lists like these anyway... I've found it to work pretty well.
I watched The Tick recently, the live action series, not the cartoon. It's a spoof on the classic super heroes. I thought it was great, but it was canceled after 1 season. Firefly is one of my favorites, but you have to give yourself 2 or 3 episodes to really get into it.
I've been recording 'em, but I'll watch a batch of them at once when I have the bulk of the season. Watching shows live is so 1995. If you watch one show on DVD that is not on your list... Watch "Freaks And Geeks." Really. Many of these other shows are nice, but they are NOT as good as "Freaks And Geeks."
Mostly, I think you'd really enjoy HBO's ROME. Because I know you're politically and historically minded. I think you'll also enjoy LOST. I think you'd like a show that's full of riddles because you always seek truth in most everything. It's not on DVD yet but when it is, check out the period piece from AMC called MAD MEN.
The OP's list really doesn't tell us much specifically; it's a pretty broad representation of several popular shows. The shows being recommended are the sorts that have pretty broad appeal.
I'll add my voice to Deadwood! I've been rewatching the DVDs this week, and it's still as brilliant as the day it aired. Perfect TV.
These have all been mentioned, but to add another vote: Deadwood Carnivale The Wire Dead Like Me X-Files Twin Peaks Arrested Development Newsradio Also: Freaks and Geeks Northern Exposure Spaced Black Books Extras Life on Mars The Pretender The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. All of the above have finished their runs.
That's not what I meant. For example, let's say he listed the following shows as the kind of shows he watches, and that he's not big on sci fi/fantasy/supernatural -- NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, CSI, The West Wing, Seinfeld, Cheers, NYPD Blue, Scrubs and The Office. There will be people that will completely dismiss everything he just said and tell him to watch Buffy, Angel, The X-Files and Supernatural.
True, but I'm pretty sure he knows what Buffy, Angel & the rest are. So he can simply pick a choose himself from the list of shows people are suggesting. He can also ask questions about the subject matter of each show to determine if the show appeals to him or not. While he asked for suggestions, it's still his choice on what he wishes to watch or not. He even has the option to not choose any of it.
My tastes do run the gamut..from sci-fi to drama to comedy... Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I decided to start by catching up on LOST. It seems like someone that would appeal to me, but I missed the first season, and it didn't seem like something I could jump into in the middle!
Good point. I've even seen people recommend shows that the OP said he watched. Recommendation threads tend to turn into 'things I like under this heading' threads.
I wouldn't be. Taking myself as an example, I had no idea what Buffy and Angel were before I watch them. Oh, I knew they were about vampires and whatnot, and I'd seen the commercials. But I had no idea what sort of shows they really were, at their core. I thought I did----hence avoiding them for years----but I was wrong.
The point was he listed: NCIS, L&O, Cheers, etc., all of which contains no vampires or supernatural elements. If you knew Buffy or Angel were about vampires then you knew enough that it was a fictional drama rather than NCIS which is a semi-real life one.
Since you like BSG and The West Wing, I'd recommend both Law & Order and Band of Brothers (an adaptation of a true story which is beyond anything else I've ever seen from television). Given, too, that you're on a Star Trek board, you might enjoy From The Earth To The Moon, a dramatic miniseries about the true story of America's long journey to the moon which reminds me of both The West Wing and Fraisier in ways (but which has very high production values and is much less comedic than either). Edit: Oh, and ER is a great show from one of the producers of The West Wing. My local ABC affiliate actually used to pair the shows in syndication. Its first few seasons (94-96?) weren't especially great, but it was excellent by the end of the 90s.