Firefly.

Bojack Horseman

Star Trek: Deep space nine

Kira: From hot headed terrorist to level headed leader

Nog: petty criminal to first of his kind in Starfleet

House. I remember fuckall from the past 40 years of watching tv but that one show is etched in the feels.

I've been rewatching Community recently and it definitely fits the bill. It has incredibly good writing.

But more than that, Community gives me the impression that is has an infinite budget. Not a ridiculously big budget like some shows and movies do... an infinite budget. The difference being that they don't waste a cent. There isn't a single thing on screen that doesn't serve a purpose. No ridiculous effect or expensive crane shot added in just to flaunt their budget. But if an episode's script actually called for a particular shot to be done, they would move heaven and earth to make that happen. That's what it feels like.

In my head I compare it to having unlimited vacation days at work. Case studies have shown that workers take fewer vacation days when they can take as many as they want, compared to when they have a set number per year. So in the analogy, a show with a set ludicrously high budget will use every last cent of it even for pointless frill, whereas a (hypothetical) show with an unlimited budget would only use however much money is necessary to create the show. Somehow, Community became that show. ... It probably has to do with how frequently they actually went way over budget in practice.

I fucking love Community.

Andor

• Band of Brothers
• The Wire Seasons 1-4
• Friday Night lights Seasons 1, 3 and 4
• MASH
• Star Trek the Next Generations the latter half of S3 and then seasons 4-6.
• The West Wing Seasons 1-5
• The Pitt
• Task
• Stranger Things
• True Blood (for Characters only) The story writing is a mess at times, but the characters are a masterclass.
• Travelers Seasons 1 and 2
• NYPD Blue
• Game of Thrones Seasons 1-3.
• Get Smart

Can't believe Ted Lasso hasn't been mentioned

• Mister Roger’s Neighborhood
• Twin Peaks
• Frasier
• Futurama
• The Wire
• NCIS S1 to like S5
• Fringe
• Peaky Blinders
• Orphan Black
• The Good Place
• Severance

Resident Alien

Pingu

It is unacceptable that Babylon 5 is not on this list. It was rare, at the time, for shows to have a multi-season story arc with character development planned from the start. JMS got his seasons, though, and used them beautifully. Every single episode, even those that don't contribute to the main storyline advancing, either show a character developing or build the foundations for that development.

Derry Girls

Slow Horses

The Leftovers, Maniac, Mr. Robot, anything by Sam Esmail really.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The 4400

Ozarks. The Killing (english version), Shogun

King of the Hill

I'm gonna go old school on you, remembering some of the pioneers from an age long past.

In 70s comedy, there was MASH (deftly balancing war and humor), Barney Miller (like a gritty urban Sydney Lumet movie, turned into a sitcom) and Taxi (Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd and Andy Kauffman, WTF?!!).

In early-80s drama, there was Hill Street Blues (once again, like a gritty urban Sydney Lumet movie, turned into a brilliant ensemble cop drama) and St. Elsewhere (another ensemble, a Boston hospital drama with a good splash of magic realism, this is where Denzel Washington got his start!).

Later in the 80s and early 90s, there was yet another groundbreaking ensemble, Northern Exposure (a quirky and sophisticated half-serious drama, with LOTS of magic realism, about a small, remote Alaska town).

Finally, I can't go without mentioning my favorite #1 all-time GOAT series, Mad Men. I've watched the entire thing at least four times, it's like reading and re-reading the proverbial "Great American Novel".

In reverse chronological order:

• The Good Place.
• The Sopranos
• Seinfeld (maybe not the character depth, but the writing)
• Shogun (6-episode miniseries, does that count?)
• The original Bob Newhart show, the one with Suzanne Pleshette.

Sons of Anarchy

Lost (until it sucked)

The Middle

The Office (US)

Animal Kingdom

My Name is Earl

Young Sheldon

Funny thing about Young Sheldon, When I started watching it, I had never watched Big Bang Theory, and honestly, now that I have, I don't even really like it, but Young Sheldon is better than it deserves to be.

Dag - a Norwegian show about a couples councilor that believes people should be alone.

Angelyne....

It has Emmy Rossum playing a Hollywood billboard icon. A loosely 'based on a true story' miniseries. Highly recommended. It's ... Different.

Mr Robot.

Xena: Warrior Princess.

Rifleman.

House of Cards.

Shameless (either one.)

Black Sails.

Into the Badlands.

Halt and Catch Fire.

Vikings.

And heck, here's a few cartoons:

Steven Universe.

Adventure Time.

Infinity Train.

Amphibia.

While I don't think Arcane is perfect, esspecially with the pacing issues, I think the character writting was phenomenal. Silco and Jinx in particular are both extremely empathic, and you feel bad for them and potentially even want them to succeed despite their despicable actions. Ambesa is far too rushed, but she's still a fairly deep and multifaceted character (and benefits a lot from having a book to provide background). Honestly, the characters who are weakest, in my opionion, are the ones with most focus: Vi, Cailyn, and Victor. All three of them feel rushed and lacking in both depth and development.