I don't really watch TV much any more - I don't even have a TV now. Of US series, I have to agree that few things beat Buffy for a perfect combination of smart writing and popular appeal. The first few series of The X-Files were also superb; people seem to have forgotten this. Twin Peaks - great. I may be alone in thinking that The Sopranos was massively overrated. The Wire was brilliant, however. Galactica was pretty impressive. Used to like NYPD Blue. I generally prefer British dramas, however, simply because they don't go on forever and run out of ideas - they are generally driven by the needs of the story and not by external commercial imperatives: Edge of Darkness, House of Cards, Our Friends in the North - all brilliant and there are many more. I'm also a fan of both Swedish and British versions of the Wallander stories.
From when I was young, I still really have a soft spot for all those paranoid 1960s series: The Prisoner, The Fugitive, The Invaders... and really, nothing much has ever topped the quality British kids' drama made from the 1970s to the early 80s, many of which were mentioned by Monty above. I also grew up with all those Japanese versions of classic Chinese stories, The Water Margin and Monkey (of course). I also remember, however imperfectly, some great series from other places: Storm Boy from Australia, Children of Fire Mountain (New Zealand), and The Kids of Degrassi Street (Canada).
