Thanks for the response and to mylife for this thread. I was totally unaware of the Fargo television series, but it looks it will go on my rather small and selective list ("The Shield", "24", "Breaking Bad" and "The Sopranos") as appointment television.
The Shield definitely moved the bar up from the previous level, which was the Sopranos. I don't watch much more than that myself, but The Walking Dead? You don't watch it? Tell me it isn't so! :-)
Personally I enjoy the Sons of Anarchy also. The new series, "Turn", shows promise.