TV and/ or system rack between speakers...

Donbellphd, moving the TV back 15 inches and covering it with something thick or padded will probably help you get some depth back. You'd have to try it to see how much--and also to see how much of the screen you could still see !

Your second question is an interesting one. For me the critical point is the position of my (quite deep but not too wide) 16:9 CRT TV with respect to the front plane of the speakers. I have not tried substituting a shallower TV unit to see if it makes any difference, though.

In its forward position my TV is about 4 inches back from the speakers' front baffles. Backed off, this distance is about thirty inches.

Perhaps yours is a combo 2-channel/HT system and you don't want the screen to affect the image when you're listening to stereo. In that case see if you can place the speakers a bit ahead of the screen. Then put a padded room divider, or a Japanese paper screen, or an acoustic absorber or diffuser, or, hey, a bushy plant why not, in front of the TV screen when you're listening to music. (Or do what I do, place a padded quilt over the TV.)

I have had to share the listening room with the TV since last year. The TV is small enough to be placed on a movable stand. I slide it well back and cover it with a quilt when I'm listening to music. If I don't, the image is flattened like a pressed flower.