Non-Anime Japanese Shows

[JKTrix]

Actually, if you want to learn how to talk properly, some of the more mature anime is the best thing you can watch. Anime actors are better actors (when it comes to listening) than live action ones. But as a personal challenge, I'll leave the anime out.

And since you said no anime, I'll assume you're not going to be into stuff like Power Rangers or Kamen Rider (as awesome as they might be).

Something fairly recent that I watched is a show called JIN, which is about a Japanese doctor who goes back in time. The only potential issue if you're trying to learn Japanese is that they use Japanese that is more fit to the time. Not contemporary or anything like that.

Densha Otoko's TV version should be something any forum-goer should watch. It's about a nerd who gets relationship advice from people on a forum. Fun stuff. Akihabara@Deep is also about a bunch of nerds, but I didn't like it as much and it might not be as good for listening practice (a few of the character have irregular speech patterns).

Other than that, most of the stuff I've seen (and enjoyed) is girly romance stuff, like Nodame Cantabile, Mei-chan no Shi tsuji and Ace wo Nerae (which are all based on manga).

D-addicts.com is a pretty good place to go for the latest and greatest, or at least where people talk about them. Crunchyroll is good for watching them legally, if they have them.