Chris, I went through your post on the top 50 TV shows and decided to give some a try.

Nothing will turn my wife off a show faster than a drawn out torture scene, and Outlander had a doosie at the end of season 1. Then, in the second season, the actors all jumped out of character, doing things they obviously shouldn't have done with little explanation (the newbie still being a newbie even though the first season she went to hell and back; the patriot not being a patriot for seemingly no reason at all), so the show became totally unbelievable very early in season 2.

It was different, but I thought they did a pretty good job with the show.

This weekend Star Wars Episode IV was on, and I flipped onto it just during the final battle scene, and it was amazing how Lucas didn't even attempt to make the space battles realistic at all...spaceships acting like planes flying through the air. I suppose that was fine for what, 1977? Babylon 5 tried to make the battles realistic, and wrestle with gravity, etc. It's kind of nice when the shows at least make an effort.

Once you get over the new cast, the story lines are excellent.