Numb3rs is not a typical cop show. The difference goes far beyond the math angle, which in the hands of lesser writers and actors might have become gimmicky and worn thin. These are fully fleshed-out characters -- human, flawed, quirky, with complex and unexpected relationships, and above all, so engaging and likeable that you become invested in their personal success. Plots ranging from terrorist attacks, to art confiscated by the Nazis in WWII, to kidnapping, to the theft of a rare comic book give each episode a different texture. Get to know the characters in Season One, and enjoy the increasing depth of the entire ensemble through each subsequent season. Prepare yourself not to be limited by the usual parameters of a crime show. As Larry (played by the incomparable Peter MacNicol) would have it, Numb3rs looks at criminals and those who bring them to justice through the prisms of cosmology and ontology.