It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and there are a lot of TV shows to catch up on, so I’m making this a two-parter.

First up since it is fresh in my mind: Jack is back! Last night’s 24 mini-movie totally got me excited for Jack Bauer and 24’s return to TV this fall. The real-time action! The political intrigue! Jack taking out bad guy after bad guy after bad guy before they have any idea what’s coming at them! Yeah, last season was a let down, but I’m not ready to write off this show yet. Seeing Jack in Africa (instead of LA for the first time ever) was a nice change of pace, and having him run around D.C. should bring some fresh changes to the show. As for Redemption specifically, I thought it was enjoyable, although the boy soldiers thing did feel very reminiscent of Blood Diamond. And I didn’t totally get why Jack needs “redemption” – he’s saved the free world several times already. But the action was good, Jack yelled “Dammit!” a lot – everything was there. Oh – and one season seven prediction: Tony Almeida isn’t really a bad guy. He’s actually a good guy working inside the terrorist organization to take it down from the inside. I have to believe that – I just don’t accept that Tony would turn rogue.

True Blood ended up being one of my favorite new shows of the season. It got off to a rocky start, but once it found its footing, the show really started to work. The cliffhangers kept the show moving, they weren’t afraid to kill off characters, and none of the supernatural elements felt hokey. My only complaint with the tail end of the season was that the last 15-20 minutes of the finale felt like it was all set-up for season two. But hey, it worked, because I’m looking forward to it.

My other favorite new show has been Fringe. It feels like a cross between Lost and The X-Files – it was supposed to – but the format works. The acting is great and the stories are fun – I really hope the show can keep up its pace.

Meanwhile, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been really, really bad. I almost lost it last week when a human villain from the future showed up in the present, and Derek and his girlfriend killed him, but let the present version of the guy go, because he wasn’t yet that monster, and hopefully he wouldn’t become him. Hopefully? What? Is that how this show works now? Why do they bother protecting John then? Hopefully he’ll survive and defeat the machines and everything will turn up rosy. This may be one nitpicky point, but it is representative of the huge errors in logic this show has been making this season, and it’s getting to be too much.

All right, that’s it for now – more to come tomorrow!