@mjmooney: Can I ask why you say this? If it is because you think Buffy isn't somehow intellectual enough, or if you think it is a shallow fluffy teen show then you are very mistaken. The scriptwriting, the complex story arcs, the uncompromising subject matter dealt with, the use of directorial techniques previously found only in the cinema... the show was absolutely revolutionary. It was one of the few shows that really respected the intelligence of its audience. An episode like 'The Body' is as raw and emotional and powerful a piece of television you will ever see. I could talk for a long time about the merits of Buffy and Angel, and anybody who hasn't watched them because of the fact that they are superficially 'teen' shows is really missing out on some amazing television (and also some of the greatest comedy moments going).
And as for Babylon 5 - well, it is a five-season long tightly plotted story of the politics, greed and corruption of war played out on the grandest scale. Just because it has spaceships doesn't mean it isn't a work of near-genius. This is not your Battlestar Galactica nonsense - this is heavyweight stuff. It was also a pioneer of CGI and realistic physics simulations. It also had some dodgy acting, budget constraints and the usual meddling from the networks that slightly took the sheen off what could have been something really impressive indeed.
Both shows are entirely worthy of consideration in this thread. As, of course, are documentaries like The Ascent Of Man, comedies like The Simpsons and Yes Minister, and drama like Edge Of Darkness.