Doctor Who
Firefly is a space western that was created by writer and director Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and most recently Dollhouse. Nathan Fillion stars as Captain Malcolm Reynolds, who owns a Firefly class cargo ship called Serenity. In this version of the future many people do whatever they can to survive, and in the case of the Serenity crew this means taking on jobs that aren't exactly legal. While they aren't always on the right side of the law they do have morals that they follow (mostly) and this means that they do a fair amount of rescuing as well as robbing. Even going as far as getting a price on all their heads to return a shipment of medicines they stole in a train job.
Star Trek T.O.S.
Torchwood is the hit spin off of Doctor Who, a darker, raunchier show than it's parent series. I see this show as a kind of British MIB ( Men In Black), the Torchwood Institute is one that operates outside the government and beyond the United Nations. Their mission is to monitor alien activity and harness alien technology. The Torchwood Institute was created by Queen Victoria on the same day that she both knighted and banished the tenth Doctor. Her eyes had been opened to the existence of aliens and she was determined to protect her empire against an attack from those aliens. The series follows Torchwood Three, a division of the Institute based in Cardiff, Whales where there is a rift in time and space. It is their duty to monitor anything coming in or out of that rift. The protagonist of the show is one Captain Jack Harkness, a former companion of the Doctor. Jack leads Torchwood Three which consists of Ianto Jones, Toshiko Saato, Owen Harper, and Gwen Cooper.
Star Trek T.N.G.
Set nearly a century after the original series, Star Trek the Next Generaltion follows the crew of a new Starship Enterprise, this time Captained by one Jean-Luc Picard. His crew includes First Officer Will Riker, Security Chief Worf, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, Ship's Counsellor Deanna Troi, and Second Officer Data. This spin off was much more successful than it's parent show, running a full seven seasons, and then having four movies of it's own.