The ninetieth TV show: #611 Six Feet Under
A TV show about a family whose family business is an undertaker has to start, by dramatic necessity, with the death of a family member. I believe it also ends with one. I'm not sure I could imagine another way in a series where death plays such a major part. There is usually one per week, and aside from the procedures surrounding that, like the service and the body being prepared, often it feeds into the themes of the episode and the problems the other characters face.
While they have a number of standard conflicts, they feel like they got a bit more complex than they would have been. One of the brothers is in a gay relationship that has shades of internalised homophobia that feels right for that era. The playboy settling is dealing with health problems and the troubled daughter feels more developed than mostly any other one I've seen. It's helped by a formidable cast that can handle everything admirably well, with a lot of charm that makes you see all sides of them. Conversing with the dead and the other dream sequences play out amazing (especially when Michael C Hall can bring out his other theatre experience in a fairly early musical number) and give a better insight into these characters.
It makes for an intense series - not something we could binge, but something that's been great to watch when we were up to it. It took a while to get there sometimes, but we're finally getting back to it.