Recommend me TV series with good balance of action, humor, drama

[earthbound]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a heck of a trouble finding new TV series that I like, and I was wondering if you guys can help me out. I guess part of the problem is that I'm not into TV series that are too dark, violent/gory, or serious.

Here are two shows that I absolutely love:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Person of Interest

I would appreciate suggestions of any shows that can rival the two I mentioned above in terms of storytelling, depth, characters (especially strong female characters), non-excessive violence/gore, and good balance of action/HUMOR(!!!)/drama.

Other shows I've watched and I liked: Leverage, Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar, Covert Affairs, Suits, Legend of Korra, Sherlock, Merlin.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[ravenvii]

A bit old -- okay, very old, and you probably saw them already, but just in case -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel & Firefly.

 

[roadbloc]

Breaking Bad. Might be a bit serious for your taste but there are many lighter moments throughout.

 

[mw360]

Fringe - Light, occasionally shocking sci fi, female lead
Continuum - Light sci-fi, female lead
Doctor Who - from the makers of Merlin and Sherlock (a bit too silly for me)
Hustle (UK) - same as Leverage but more British (less guns!)

 

[Huntn]

Check out Scrubs, Northern Exposure, Eureka, Mash, Desperate Housewives (first season), Monk, Ally McBeal, Bones, Castle, and Drop Dead Diva.

 

[Meister]

I have to say that I strongly dislike most of the shows mentioned so far.

I can only second Continuum (excellent how with a very strong female protagonist) and Breaking Bad.
Also consider Better Call Saul, Flash Forward and Under the Dome.

A comedy with a strong female lead would be the New Girl, but I consider that to be pretty boring.
The Big Bang theory also has a woman or two in it

 

[zmunkz]

Archer hits the first two... Dexter definitely hits all three, but the finale makes me unable to give it a strong pitch... House of Cards hits all three if you like dark and ironic humor...

Can't think of anything recent that really blew me away in all three categories though.

 

[D.T.]

Some good recommendations in here that align with your "requirements"

Another one I'd add is Alias. Great action, pacing, plot, Jennifer Garner is the kickass lead, it has many JJ Abrams-isms, so if you like shows like Lost that blend in a little more fantasy elements in with a "not everything is what it seems", you'd dig on this. It starts as a show about espionage ...

 

[earthbound]

Thank you all for the suggestions so far!

I'm definitely going to check out some of you guys' suggestions, especially Alias and Continuum. Avatar: The Last Airbender and Person of Interest are pretty hard to beat for me, but I hope I'll find at least a few other series that can come close.

A bit old -- okay, very old, and you probably saw them already, but just in case -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel & Firefly.

I've started watching Firefly twice, but I can never get past the first few episodes

Breaking Bad. Might be a bit serious for your taste but there are many lighter moments throughout.

Can you tell me what the violence/gory-ness level is for Breaking Bad? Is it closer to, say, Person of Interest or The Walking Dead?