Just finished Battlestar Galactica! NOO! Need new TV suggestions.

I am so beyond out of sorts right now after finishing the series! I know the series ended over a year ago but I'm only getting around to watching it right now. I prefer to watch shows when they're over so i can watch each episode at my own pace and not have to worry about airtimes.
 
I won't get to see any of these amazing characters anymore! In order to deal with my anguish I watched a whole bunch of interviews from the actors just to pound it into my head that: these characters are not real. I'm going to miss them very much. I'm going to miss Starbuck! and Gaius!!! And Helo and Tyrol and basically everyone!
 
Still, I'm very sad that I won't get to see any of them anymore. I absolutely loved the series and think it's a masterpiece. Are there any other shows out there like BSG, with great characters and awesome settings and the like? I heard that Heroes was pretty good. 
 
The main TV series that I've already seen are Lost (love it, as you can tell by my avatar) and Deadwood and I enjoyed them both for their great characters and settings.

Dude, do not watch Heroes. That show was a disaster after the first season.

The Wire was good. 

Heroes took a nose dive after the first season.
 
I would recommend:
The Wire (obviously)
The Shield 
Mad Men
Sons of Anarchy (about a southern California biker gang a lot of Deadwood actors are in this show)

I only get basic cable (and Canadian basic cable at that, which is basically just local TV, plus American networks, some news stuff, and a handful of HD versions of Canadian and American network TV) so I can't really speak for a lot of the stuff that's on higher tier cable packages, but I really recommend you watch Chuck and Fringe. These are my two favorite shows currently on TV.

Because Boardwalk Empire finished its season, I'm going back to John Adams, then Rome.  The Wire is a great one too, as others have said.  Mad Men was also cool.

Watch Farscape. Quality wise its like a mirror image in that it gets better over time instead of worse and the ending is completely satisfying instead of Battlestar's complete bullshit.

Stargate Universe

" Dude, do not watch Heroes. That show was a disaster after the first season. "  

I also heard that Twin Peaks was good. Any comments on that? 
 
I'll check out The Wire, it sounds like it's pretty good from all the praise you guys are giving it. Farscape sounds interesting too.

" Stargate Universe "

Surprised to see no mention of Firefly. 
 
 
*ahem* 
Firefly is really, really awesome.

I finished it last year. Soooooo goooooooooooood. 
 
There's always a feeling of emptiness after finishing a show like that. I am on season 3 of Futurama right now! I love Netflix!

If you watch the Wire give it some time. It's a very slow burn of a show, but the build up pays off in a huge way and continues to over the entirety of the series. There's a reason it gets the praise it does, just be patient with it and it will reward you.
 
Breaking Bad is probably my favorite show on TV right now, I'd highly recommend that. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul pretty much knock it out of the park every episode acting-wise and the show is darkly funny.

I'm currently watching The Wire at the moment and yeah. Do what these fine people suggest and watch it. It's great. 

" @Red: Doesn't Firefly only have like one season? Is it really worth it? I don't want to be invested in characters which only last a very short time. "

Oz. go and watch Oz. best TV show ever in my opinion

breaking bad and the wire

If you are looking for shows that are completely finished I suggest the following:
 
Twin Peaks (though the ending is shit)
The Shield (Probably the best TV show I can suggest)
Babylon 5 (I like this, I can really understanding people not liking it though)
Firefly (Despite only being 1 season and a movie)
 
You could also go really crazy and watch ALL of the X-Files.  If you have Netflix you can get that streaming. Though same with some of my list.

 @xyzygy said:

" @Red: Doesn't Firefly only have like one season? Is it really worth it? I don't want to be invested in characters which only last a very short time. "

" Oz. go and watch Oz. best TV show ever in my opinion "

Try Caprica and Stargate Universe.

Try out Breaking Bad, its really really good.

If you want more epic space sci-fi awesomeness with socio-political undertones, watch Babylon 5 immediately. The entire series on Netflix. It can be mad cheesy at times, but its high points have rarely been matched by any television science fiction.
 
For other viewing options, I'd also recommend the Wire. Its really dense, and it can take a while to fully get into, but it has some of the greatest pay-offs ever later on. Especially recommended if you liked Deadwood; it has the same approach to being an extended series of movies broken into evenly sized chapters.
 
Final recommendation would be Dead Like Me. Short little series from Showtime a while back now, that was about the early career of a Grim Reaper. One of the most thoughtful shows about death and life I can remember in recent history. And it was hilarious to boot.

A lot of people have mentioned The Wire and I agree with them.  It takes one or two episodes to get into it, but it's worth it.   It's totally something else.   
I'd say that in scope and tone it is similar to Battlestar.   They both try to convey a realistic world, the advantage that The Wire's world is actually real.  Also, in both shows, the full impact of the character's actions are realized.  There is no "problem of the week" and characters can make mistakes and their choices rock the world to its foundation.   It really is a visual novel.  Also, the Wire just feels really really realistic.  It doesn't just feel like these events could happen, it feels these events DO happen.  
 
My only warning is that The Wire ruined a lot of shows for me, especially crime shows.  Cold Case, CSI, even Bones.  I laugh at the silly shallow cop characters and their need to serve justice and protect the innocent.  
 
It's all in the Game.  And the Game is rigged.

The Shield is one of the few shows that ends on a perfect note, and does the opposite of most shows by getting much better in the 5th season and later which is where a lot of shows tend to take a dive in quality. In fact that 5th season with Forest Whittaker may be one of the most intense seasons ever aired on TV, worth watching the entire series for it alone.  It's worth watching if you want to go in knowing you'll have a quality experience through out and not get gut punched by a terrible series finale (i.e. Lost or The X-Files).  Though you will get gut punched emotionally by the show, it's quite raw.
 
Mad Men is fantastic as well and improves with each season. Worth watching for the attention to detail and set design alone. It also happens to be one of the best character studies on TV and rewards repeat viewings with it's subtly.
 
Also if you're a fan of modern TV dramas it's essential that you watch The Sopranos to see where the grand daddy of film quality adult dramas.  Not to mention it's an amazing show even if it suffers from some a slight quality dip later on.

Breaking bad is heart stompingly great drama....literally

Can I also reccomend Life On Mars / Ashes to Ashes.  I'm not sure how the US remake of LoM  is, but as a five-series saga the UK version is right up there with shows like BSG / The Wire (Although the emphasis is a lot more on humour), its very dramatic and has an interesting underlying mystery running through it.  I honestly think it's one of the only shows from this side of the pond thats as good as the top American dramas.  I was thinking we could have some sought of exchange program where we send  some decent comedy writers to the USA and get Ronald D Moore and David Simon over here for a bit. :-)

Heard things about Firefly and the Shield. 
Or you can watch BSG again. You miss so much the first time it's ridiculous.

Breaking Bad, Dexter and The Wire!

I'd recommend the following:  
Dexter 
Weeds 
Bored to Death 
Entourage 
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 
Father Ted 
Black Adder 
Fawlty Towers 

" @Red: Doesn't Firefly only have like one season? Is it really worth it? I don't want to be invested in characters which only last a very short time. 
 

Eureka

The first time I watched Battlestar Galactica, I got bored after the 2nd full episode.  But earlier this year, I marathoned my way through it and was super sad to see it end.
 
Go watch the two movies they released (Razer and The Plan).  Then you'd do well checking out Dexter, Firefly (+ Serenity), Breaking Bad, and maybe the Terminator series.  These aren't anything like Galactica, but they're good nonetheless.

Go watch Arrested Development. Pretty much the best comedy series ever.

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, The Wire, The Shield, etc.