Dexter: Season 1 (2006)

A sympathetic portrait of a serial killer as the crux of a cable drama, perhaps not so weird sounding until you factor in that it stars Michael C. Hall, Nate’s gay brother David from ‘Six Feet Under’, in the title role. The series is sharp and tight, with a 12 episode arc that’s among the most satisfying I’ve ever seen. The show even manages to make the Miami setting its own, carving out a distinctly separate identity as a southern Florida crime drama apart from both ‘Vice’ and ‘CSI’. Most of all it makes an ‘emotionless’ serial killer someone you’d like to hang out with.