It may be odd for Americans to imagine Dame Judi Dench, award-winning powerhouse British thespian, in a TV sitcom, but she and Geoffrey Palmer star in the wonderful As Time Goes By. As Jean and Lionel, they're a couple whose romance during the Korean War went awry due to a lost letter--then, 38 years later, they meet by accident and pick up where they left off. In Series 5, they are now a comfortable couple (though prone to spar and bicker), living with Jean's daughter Judith and her friend Sandy. The stories revolve around a house in the country, the long-delayed airing of a miniseries that Lionel wrote, and grappling with their troublesome in-laws--but the plots are secondary to the fantastically well-written and acted interplay between the richly drawn characters. Even if you haven't seen any earlier episodes, you'll quickly be drawn into their world. --Bret Fetzer