Interesting topic, it's true that the different races in something like Star Trek tend to fit certain molds and be fairly uniform. There's often a representatives from each species that is a major character that lets us see much more deeply in to their culture and who tends to develop beyond those limits.

It makes me think of other shows, in particular I'm rummaging through my memory of Babylon 5. Aside from certain races that seemed rather aloof or the more hostile races and alliances, I think my sense is that everyone is out for themselves. Everyone is more "human" as you would put it in describing Star Trek. You have people from each race where some are more willing to make friends and allies of other races and others will fiercely protect their "uniqueness" or be hostile to others, you have a lot of stressed relationships between certain members of different races. You never quite know how involved they are or how much a Vorlon cares about everyone else's issues but then you have the Minbari with their cultural differences but in the end who are diverse but also much like a mirror in to humanity.

I feel the need to rewatch it now though, my memory is rusty and it's a fantastic series.

Foundation is fascinating, Dune is incredible... more people should read the Lensman series. I think a lot of the current classics will still be relevant. I'm more curious about things written in the past 10, 20 or 30 years. Which among them will endure as significant works of science fiction?

Awaiting a liver transplant? You don't say...

Moffat needs to go. While Matt Smith has largely grown on me (and now he's going, oh well, I didn't like him THAT much), Moffat has sucked the shows quirky spirit, charm and childlike wonder away. It may be less silly in some respects, but the plots are trying to be more serious than the writing can often support and a lot of the resolutions in the episodes just don't feel as inventive or interesting.