A bunch of my favorite TV shows have been renewed for new seasons – here is a quick round-up.  (Yes, some of these are old, but so what?)

Fringe was just given the go-ahead for a third season, which is fantastic news.  The show’s ratings have been down thanks to its hyper-competitive timeslot, but the stories this season have been phenomenal, and the show is really coming into its own.  If you’re not watching it, you should be!

Smallville, which has seen every season since #7 potentially be its last, has gotten a pick-up to continue for a Season Ten.  As a fan of the show, I have been hoping for years that it would come to an end; it’s not that I don’t love it, I just think that based on the concept of the show – Clark Kent growing into the hero he will be – needs to eventually come to its logical conclusion.  For years, the show seemed to be dragging its feet, but no more.  The show still has its issues, but it has proven that it still has legs, and I am excited that they will continue for another year.  I still stand by my assertion that the show does need to come to a satisfactory conclusion, and that the showrunners should negotiate an end that will leave them and the fans happy.

NBC picked up the three Thursday night shows we watch, The Office, 30 Rock, and Community, for additional seasons.  Similarly to Smallville, The Office, as much as I love it, needs to end at some point as well.  What on earth is this documentary crew still doing in Scranton?  Are they *ever* going to take all of this footage and make it into something?  Or are we supposed to now think that the cameras are there as an ongoing reality series?  Has that ever been established?  I still like the show, and I’ll keep watching it, it just seems like it’s gotten a little too silly for its own good.

Community is also pretty funny, and while I can’t see it staying on the air forever (community college is only for two years, right?), another season is good news.  And 30 Rock is pure brilliance, and they need to keep that show going as long as they can keep Alec Baldwin on it.

How I Met Your Mother got a green-light for a sixth season, which is also great news, but once again, the show is going to need to come to an end based on the premise of the series.  Eventually, Ted’s gonna have to meet the Mother, and all of the story lines will have to pay off.

Big Love was given an order for a fifth season, which isn’t terribly surprising given that the show pulls in pretty solid numbers for HBO.  This season seems to be moving at a breakneck pace, which is a nice change from a lot of the other scripted shows on the air that seem to plod along.

And for what it’s worth, here is my official opinion on these shows that are still “on the bubble:”

24 – I could go either way on this one.  The show is still entertaining, but the formula has gotten a bit stale.

Heroes – Yeah, I have stuck with this show despite swearing off it several times.  I didn’t finish this past season, but now with the last few episodes on FiOS’ On Demand, I am planning on it.  The show is also past its prime, so I wouldn’t be heartbroken if it went off.

Scrubs – They never should have brought Scrubs back from the dead after last season, but to cancel it now would just be extra insulting.

V and FlashForward – Both of these shows have potential to live for a few seasons, if the writing can stay strong.  I personally have a little more faith in V, but I’m looking forward to seeing how both shows play out their seasons.

So after I was able to brag and boast and say “I told you so” when it was revealed that Tony was good, it turns out that he’s really evil? I didn’t believe it at first, and it still really pisses me off. For one because I loved the character and he’s been around for so long, but also because it doesn’t make a ton of sense – if he and his anonymous buddies wanted a full scale attack, why did they stop Jonas? He was a loose cannon because he wanted to attack too much too soon, but now they’re doing the same thing? Huh?

This week’s Lost was good, but it was really all set-up for the finale next week, which I am totally psyched for. Can Locke kill Jacob? What is Jacob? And why the hell did the Others appoint Locke as their leader and not bother to explain the rules to him? How can he lead when he doesn’t know what’s going on around him? (Attention bleeding hearts: Insert Dubya joke here…) And now all of a sudden Kate loves Jack so much that she’s willing to allow tons of people to die (Charlie, Boone, Shannon, Libby, everyone else) just so she can hold on to a few happy memories with her ex-fiancée? Oh, and Chang’s questioning of Hurley? Brilliant.

And speaking of shows coming up on their season finales, perhaps Smallville will break it’s recent run of huge buildups to disappointing final episodes. The promo didn’t really sell it, but I’m cautiously optimistic. It’s gotta be better than the Heroes finale at least. They just. Keep. Making. The same. Damn mistakes! Show us a decent fight with Sylar! Let Ali Larter’s characters stay dead! Ugh. I don’t think I’ll be watching next season – they just haven’t given me any reason to in so long.

Quick note today, and as always: SPOILER ALERT!

Another fantastic episode of Lost last night, and it was great to see the adventures (or is that misadventures?) of Jeremy Bentham. A strong case was made in the episode that Ben is the villain of the story (which we’ve long suspected) and that Charles Widmore is, in fact, the good guy. I’m hesitant about that, not just because he sent some damn scary mercenaries to the Island, but because of the way he snapped the neck of a fellow Other when he was 17.

Widmore mentions an upcoming war, which one presumes would be a Linus vs. Widmore affair. But what if this “war” is nothing more than a distraction. Think the Separatists vs. the Galactic Republic. Wait, Alan, that doesn’t make sense – why would Widmore be trying to kidnap Ben if they were on the same team? Well, remember the time Darth Sidious had Chancellor Palpatine kidnapped? Except here’s the thing – spoiler alert – they were the same dude. It was all an act.

My evidence for this Lost theory? Exhibit A: Widmore did not want Ben killed, only extracted. If they were true rivals, why not just kill him? Exhibit B: When Alex was killed, Ben told Widmore he had “broken the rules” – or something to that effect. Why are they playing with a set of rules? Exhibits C-R: Um, still workin’ on it. And as for WHY they’d be staging this battle – I also have no idea.

As for Heroes, the show has gotten so boring and unoriginal it actually bums me out a bit. Now Parkman’s making prophetic paintings, this time of Washington D.C. being blown up. That’s how far they’ve come in three seasons: New York gets blown up to D.C gets blown up? And both are predicted by prophetic paintings made in the exact same loft? So lame. 24 has recycled some plot points and moved locations to D.C., but they’ve managed to keep things interesti8ng and fresh enough (mostly) for the change of locales to have worked to their advantage. Heroes has just gotten incredibly stale, and it’s a dang shame.

SPOILER ALERT!

I’ve been loving Lost this season, but I think last night’s episode may be my favorite so far. Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Faraday were given the night off, and we got a whole mess of how the Oceanic 6 – Jack in particular – made their way back to the Island. I didn’t care for the way the show started – with a short scene and then the “46 Hours Earlier” bit – it just wasn’t necessary. But overall the episode was amazing, answering a few questions while asking a ton more. I can’t wait to find out how Hurley got Charlie’s guitar, or how Sayid worked himself into custody on that flight, and who said what to Kate to get her to not only go back to the Island, but do so without Aaron. Dream-Claire did warn her to not bring him back, so maybe she was heeding that warning. I’ve been predicting for a while that Ben was going to kill Penny while Des had her in LA, and it looks like there was one hell of a bloody struggle there, although we’ll have to wait to see what exactly went down.

But the way the show worked in elements of fate and destiny, logic and belief – all for the umpteenth time, still felt fresh and relevant. We’re used to all kinds of coincidences occurring with these characters, and things happening because they “have to,” but Jack is still struggling with these concepts, even as he begins to slowly accept them. Lost has had me hooked for a while, but I sort of fell hooked anew after last night’s show.

OK, I’ll stop gushing. Some questions: Why didn’t the O6 have to bring Walt back to the Island – is it because he was “allowed” to leave? Did Flight 316 crash? Won’t people notice that the famous Oceanic Six disappeared form a second flight? How did the Ajira Air water bottles get onto the beach? When are Jack and company? It would appear the 70’s, based on the Dharma van. Have Jin and Farady and the rest of the group “joined” the Dharma group? They probably have it better than the Hostiles. That would explain how Farday was on the Island in the past. This question came from my buddy Mark, and I think it’s a great one – Did Christian die to bring the 815′er so the Island in the same way that Locke had to die to bring the O6 back? How old is Jack’s grandfather? Did he father Christian when he was 11?

But the biggest question of all – Why didn’t Jack or Kate pack some extra goodies with them? Like, you know that game where you say if you were going to be stranded on a deserted Island, you’d bring such-and-such? Why didn’t they bring some supplies along? Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, a couple of good books, maybe an iPod and one of those hand-cranked battery chargers? Some M&M’s, Peeps, I don’t know – something.

Also in pretty huge TV news is the fact that The Simpsons has gone hi-def and widescreen! (James wouldn’t understand.) I thought I’d hate having a new opening credit sequence, but it was really well-done, it kept the same spirit of the original, while taking out dated references (Bart skateboarding by Jacques and Bleeding Gums Murphy) and adding a ton of freeze-frame references put in for the die-hard nerds. Like me! For example, Maggie now is on the shopping belt with Krusty-O’s, Mr. Sparkle, and a bottle of Tomacco juice. The town motto on the Jebediah Springfield statue was a nice touch. And if you pause on the quick-pan across the townspeople, you’ll see Kodos and Kang and even Spiderpig! Little things like that make me happy.

In other news, Heores is totally boring now, and Wifey has officially given up on it. I may soon follow. Dollhouse was a bit disappointing, and though I like it when Fringe does the super-short commercial breaks – “Fringe will return in 4 seconds,” Dollhouse felt like it was just kind of dragging. But it was only the pilot, hopefully it will improve as it finds its footing. Flight of the Conchords reached a new high with “Too Many D*icks on the Dance Floor.” And Eastbound & Down made me laugh at a lot of inappropriate jokes, and I can appreciate that.

First up as always is Lost: I really and truly love this show, but I have to say that I get a bit disappointed when the big “reveals” in the show are things that most fans have already guessed – like that Jack and Claire were related, or that Locke’s dad was the original “Sawyer,” or that Faraday’s mom was the white-haired lady in the church and who told to Desmond he had to go to the Island. I mean, those were all great twists, and I’m sure less-obsessive fans thoroughly enjoyed them, but when you see them coming, they lose a bit of their “HOLY CRAP” factor.

That said, it was nice to see Rousseau take out her team, and see that apparently, Smokey made them go sort of crazy, somehow, and not just by ripping off that one dude’s arm. So what exactly is the nature of “the sickness?” Why does Smokey sometimes rip people limb from limb, sometimes kill them instantly, and sometimes make people go insane? And more importantly, what is the Temple? Ben mentioned it in Season Three as a place that the Others needed to go to hide from the Freighter people. Are some Others still there? Is that where the kids from 815 are? What is it a temple to? And why does Smokey venture so far away from it at times?

The reveal by creepy Christian that Locke was supposed to move the Island and not Ben was fascinating – did Ben know that he was tampering with the plan? He said he has gone through so much for the O6 and they don’t appreciate it – why did he move the Island then if he thought it would cause such heartache for him? Ben said that he had to move the Island because Jacob wanted to banish him – but was he right? Or was he lying? And does Ben not know that Desmond is shacking up with Penny? You’d think he would have been happier to see Des if he did, since he did in fact promise to Widmore that he’d take out Penny. And why is it that ALL of the Oceanic Six had to go back, but now seemingly it was all right if it was just Jack and Sun?

OK, my head hurts, so enough of that. Man, isn’t Flight of the Conchords amazing? I absolutely love them, and I can’t wait for this season’s songs to be released on CD so I can memorize all of them as well. The past few episodes have been stellar, and Murray’s quest to become friends with Bret and Jermaine was absolute pure genius.

And what’s up with Heroes? I only saw Volume Four’s first episode, but I couldn’t help but notice that the show still sucks. Volume Three was supposed to fix all of Two’s mistakes, and it didn’t. Four was supposed to really right the ship, and so far I don’t see it. I never give up on a show, even when the quality goes down. Like, ever. But I am really temped with Heroes. I’m thinking I’ll let the rest of this season play out, but if it doesn’t pick up, I’m done.

And speaking of shows I haven;t given up on, way to go Smallville for finally doing the Clark-Lana story some justice! Although the “wrap-up” (???) of the Lex story left a lot to be desired. Like, really – he’s dead? Yeah, sure. Lex Luthor can’t be dead, but it seems like he may be dead for the purposes of Smallville – which is all well and good, but the character deserved a much better exit than the one he got.

And Dollhouse premieres tonight – on a Friday night. Not a great time-slot, but now with DVR’s and TiVo, who cares about time-slots, anyway? Also tonight is a special Valentine’s Day episode of Brink – watch it with your honey!

On to my other shows:

I know it has become rather vogue to rag on Heroes, but I have to jump on this fanboy bandwagon here. Seriously, what is up with this show lately? In Season One, the revelation that Claire was a Petrelli was shocking. Now Sylar is a Petrelli, too? Come on. And then there are more sisters that look just like Niki Sanders? Ugh. Niki was a terrible character in the first two seasons, and though they made a wise move in killing her off, the show runners should have let the actress go altogether. No offense to Ali Larter, but none of these sisters have added anything worthwhile to the plots, and Claire is better eye-candy anyway. And the whole time-traveling plot device has become moronic – Hiro sees a bad future, and doesn’t understand what’s happening, why doesn’t he go to a few days before the world ends and do some digging? Future Peter decides that Nathan’s revealing the Heroes is a bad move so he goes back in time to shoot him. Why not go back an hour before that and talk to his brother? And after F.P. figures out that shooting Nathan was a bad idea, why not go back again and stop himself? In The Eclipse Part 1, Noah rushes a lightly injured Claire out of the house, but doesn’t finish off Sylar and Elle. Why not? Sure he’s worried about his daughter, but how long does it take to shoot some suddenly powerless villains? There are way too many plot holes like these, and it’s just getting infuriating. I appreciate that the plots are moving faster, but sometimes it feels like they are moving too damn fast, and the stories aren’t given a moment to breathe. The flashback episode, like the season’s theme of finding a hero in every villain and a villain in every hero, is so full of potential, but the show has completely squandered every chance for greatness.

Now, on to my love-hate relationship with Smallville. Despite the incredibly noticeable absence of Lex, the show has been doing all right this year, looking like they are finally ready to have Clark accept and embrace his destiny as Superman. But then I have to go and read that the CW is looking to keep the show around for yet another season. Oh dear Lord, why? Well, the reason why is that Smallville’s numbers are still respectable, so they might as well keep trying to get blood from the stone. The problem with the show going on forever is that the very concept of the show was set up to establish Clark’s journey from a boy with superpowers to a man who is to be the world’s greatest superhero. And it’s a great concept for a show, but it needs to have a set end. By allowing the show to drag on for year after year, the series is basically making the character of Clark Kent less and less likeable because he just keeps putting off the inevitable. The show worked very well in the high school years, and even into Season Five, but after that point, Clark has been dragging his feet, and it hurts the overall tone of the show. This season, the Lois and Clark romance feels incredibly rushed to me, and there are so many nitpicky things that drive me crazy week after week. Like, for example, the fact that Chloe was given away at her wedding by Clark and not her father. Where the hell was he? And Martha couldn’t have taken a moment out of her schedule to attend the wedding at her family farm? What? All that said, I was glad they (finally) tied up the Kara storyline, and I have enjoyed the way the show has introduced Doomsday as a real badass with some frightening Kryptonian heritage.

Eli Stone has been great so far this year, and I am terribly bummed that the show will likely not live past halfway through this season. This is a really entertaining show that enough people just haven’t caught on to yet, which is a real shame. The musical numbers are fun, the characters are well-written, and the hot chick from Species is in the show. Why wouldn’t you watch it? With it’s themes of a higher-power making a guy set things right, the show has a very Quantum Leap feel, which is probably one of the reasons I like it. Hopefully ABC will give the show another chance.

The Office is back with a vengeance, which isn’t particularly surprising, but they continue to set the bar very high for themselves. Of course I loved the episode where Dwight mocked Andy by applying to Cornell, since it was chock full of references to my beloved alma mater, and the show has continued to handle the Jim and Pam storyline masterfully, and they remain one of the best couples to watch on TV. The Andy and Angela arc is still great, and the moment when Andy drunk dials his fiancée while Oscar watches was fantastic. Repairing Ryan and Kelly has reminded me how much I had watching them together, and I am convinced that for the series finale, whenever that may be, Michael and Holly will be reunited.

30 Rock has also been on a roll this season. I will admit to being one of the nerds who grumbled about all of the big name guest stars the show was bringing in, as it seemed like a ratings ploy. But the writing is so good, it doesn’t matter what star is playing the zany characters the show brings in, because it always works. And hell, I hope they do get more viewers with their special celebrity appearances, although Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression likely had much more to do with the ratings spike than an appearance by Megan Mullalley. My only complaint with the show was the way they abandoned the cliffhangers from last season’s finale. I know the Kenneth in China thing was a joke, but Jack being stuck in D.C. got a mention of how he was able to get out, and I would have liked a similar nod to the Page. But it’s a small quibble for a great show.

On the animated front, I am greatly enjoying The Simpsons and American Dad this year, while Family Guy just feels stale. The Clone Wars is great, even though the Jar Jar episode was, well, a Jar Jar episode. Robot Chicken’s second Star Wars parody was, like the first one, spot on with it’s great reimaginings, and I love the ultra-fast jokes for the super obsessed, like Lando commenting that he loves Boba Fett’s ship, but that he isn’t so crazy about the name. Brilliant. South Park had an amazing second half, and even though I thought the High School Musical and vampire kids episodes weren’t hysterical, they still had enough funny moments to make me happy. And the guinea pigs in their little outfits were simultaneously brilliant and adorable.

And a few other thoughts/news items:

The Girls Next Door remains a guilty pleasure, but the show has lost a little bit of its believability now that Hef has shed two-thirds of his girlfriend group. Eh, I always liked Bridget the best anyway, and I’m curious to meet these new twins.

And yay, Scrubs comes back on the air on January 6!

And could it really be that an Arrested Development movie is actually going to happen?

Even the mini-reviews are getting to be too much (hey, I watch a lot of shows here), so I think I’m just going to stick to general impressions/thoughts on recent shows, skipping here and there as I go.  Hope you enjoy.

The Simpsons’ twentieth (!) season kicked off with a bang, and I found myself laughing a lot. Despite South Park dedicating an entire episode to “Simspons Did It!”, The Simpsons seems to be a bit behind in parodying things that South Park has already done: First 24 and now Dog the Bounty Hunter, but both times the different shows went in such totally different directions it didn’t matter. And both episodes have been good, and that’s what really matters. The erotic bakery storyline wasn’t hysterical, but it served its purpose in delivering some random laughs.

True Blood is finally starting to pick up, probably because they no longer have to worry about annoying things like set-up and establishing characters, but they seem to have gotten the knack of who these people are, what’s going on in their world, and the stories have started to pick up some traction.

Little Britain USA didn’t win me over immediately, but I loved the dog “suggesting” its owner strip and stand in garbage was great, and the show proved its worth with the line, “In America there are more fat people than there are people.”

Heroes still feels like they’re recycling plot points; now there’s another guy who paints his visions?  Can’t they come up with any new powers for people to have?  And next week we’ll see evil Claire and good Sylar?  I don’t know, I just want more from this show.

Fringe is getting better and better, and I like the fact that they try to pack in one “eww” moment per episode, like a guy getting holes drilled in his head or someone being tortured with electric shocks through their nostrils.  I’m not quite sure how the show is going to turn out less complicated than Lost with so many unexplained tidbits happening in each episode, but whatever, I’ll keep watching.

Smallville’s season is young, but I already really miss Lex. He really was one of the best parts of the show, and Tess Mercer just isn’t working for me as a replacement. The introduction of Davis was also incredibly yawn-worthy. This is the guy who will eventually kill Superman? Really? And how the hell did Clark get hired at the Daily Planet – he’s a college dropout that wrote a couple of articles in his high school paper, yet he was given a reporter job at one of the biggest newspapers in the country? And how has there been no mention of Kara still being trapped in the Phantom Zone? I get that she’s no longer a cast member, but shouldn’t Clark care that his cousin is trapped in a floating prison in space? And what’s with Lois suddenly being smitten with Clark? She never noticed him before, and even though this show has already taken many great liberties with Superman continuity, isn’t she supposed to continue to be apathetic towards him only to then fall for his alter-ego? Having Lois be interested in Clark kind of hurts that eventual love triangle. But to the show’’s credit, I am intrigued by the possibility that Tess is creating an army of super-villains, perhaps a Legion of Doom in training?

I’m doing these piece-meal, so deal with it.

Entourage: The All Out Fall Out – I could not believe that the young punk agent let Ari bitch-slap him and didn’t try to take him down.  Ari is more popular in the Hollywood world, but that kid could have definitely taken him in a fight, abd uiit would have redeemed him in the eyes of all the people who were watching.  Oh well, things just work out for Ari, don’t they?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Mousetrap – Finally – Cromartie decides stop sitting around twiddling his thumbs and go to kill John Connor.  He’s supposed to be programmed for nothing else, and it has been frustrating that he seems to have forgotten that mission.

Heroes: The Second Coming & The Butterfly Effect – It’s great to have Heroes back, but these two episodes did not deliver the huge punch they should have.  My main problem with the plot is that it once again revolves around the gang trying to stop a catastrophic future vision.  They’ve already done that twice – there’s no other way they can save the world?  The other problem with the time-travel element is that is Future-Peter quickly discovered that shooting his brother was a bad idea, why didn’t he go back again and stop himself?  Why not travel half-an-hour further back and simply explain that it wasn’t a good idea?  Still, I appreciate the faster pacing of the show, and I’m optimistic that the writers will be able to keep things interesting.

The Office: Weight Loss -  Ah, The Office, how I missed you!  This was a fantastic season premiere, and they seem to have finally gotten the hour-long episode down; instead of trying to just glue two stand alone episodes together, this episode was one long story, that brought us through the summer, and it worked perfectly.  Jim finally proposed!  Michael totally choked with Holly!  Ryan is back and taking names!  All in all, a fantastic season premiere.

Two side notes: I watched the first (of four) episode of the new animated Spaceballs show on G4, and I barely eeked out a single chuckle.  The premiere episode poked fun at (wait for it…) the Star Wars prequels!  How timely!  But not only have the prequels been lampooned a million times already, this half-hour just wasn’t that funny.  Excepting one joke where a Sithee (instead of the Sith – get it?  Heee-larious!) questions why their powers are somewhat inconsistent.

And everyone should really be watching Z Rock on IFC: It has celebrity cameos, female nudity, and scenes that take place at Dinosaur BBQ.  What more do you want?

Summertime has come and (almost) gone, and now that we’ve all gotten that pesky fresh air and outdoor goodness out of the way, it’s time we can focus on the things that REALLY matter, namely TV. There are only a handful (thankfully) of new shows coming this season that I’m looking forward to checking out, and there are plenty more of my favorites coming back for another go-round. So here, for your reading pleasure, is my complete list of Must-See-TV this fall, in chronological order by season premieres.

First up is the (already behind us) premiere of Robot Chicken, which happened this past Sunday night. If you have a DVR/Tivo, you have no excuse to miss this show. It’s about 12 minutes long and consistently funny in it’s satirizing of random pop culture nuggets. Think of the throw-away gags in a Family Guy episode, but without any attempt at a coherent plot.

I’m also passed the premiere date of Z Rock, which airs on IFC.  It’s a sort of Spinal Tap meets The Office meets Entourage sort of show, about three hard rockers who play kid parties during the day.  It’s raunchy and simple fun, or at least the first episode was.

True Blood premieres on HBO this Sunday, September 7. The buzz has been mixed, but having recently gotten into TV shows about vampires, I figure this one is worth a look. Besides, I’ll already be on my couch watching HBO on Sunday for…

Entourage, which returns this Sunday right after True Blood. Entourage started to feel a little stale last season, and it didn’t help that it was paired up with the hysterical Flight of the Conchords. But it’s still good old fashioned mindless entertainment.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles gets to pick up from where it was so rudely interrupted in it’s first season run when it comes back on Monday, September 8th. Like I’ve said before, I was totally over the Terminator franchise, but this show has restored my faith.

The next day, Fringe makes it’s debut. J.J. Abrams, the dude behind Lost, is co-creator and executive producer, which is kind of all I need to tune in to see what it’s all about. Add in that it’s inspired in part by The X-Files, and I’m more than signed up. According to an interview with Abrams in the NY Times, viewers can drop in and drop out without missing a beat, which isn’t really an issue for me, because if I’m going to watch the show, I’m going to watch them all.  And while I’m a little afraid that giving a show with an overall arc the Law & Order treatment might dumb it down, I’m still curious to see. (IGN also has an interesting article on Fringe here.)

Smallville returns for Season Eight on September 18th. I’ve already said all I can on this. I’m worried, but I’ll watch anyway; with my expectations so low, I can only be pleasantly surprised. Or be disappointed even further, I guess.

Heroes’ third season picks up on September 22nd, and I am definitely jazzed. Some fans were really bitter with the way Season Two went down, and while I agree that it wasn’t amazing, I didn’t think it was that bad, and I’m totally confident that the show can really make this whole “Villains” story work. Besides, Kirsten Bell?  Check. Hayden Panettiere?  Check.  A funny and lovable Asian time-traveler? Check!  What more do you need?

Also that night is the return of Two and a Half Men.  The wife got me into this show, and I have to admit that it always makes me laugh.  It’s light-hearted and surprisingly dirty, but it works.  I also had hoped to watch the previous seasons of How I Met Your Mother this summer in time for that show’s premiere (same night), but that didn’t work out.  Though it’s never too late, I suppose.

The Dunder-Mifflin crew returns with new episodes of The Office on September 25th, and after last year’s amazing post-strike run, the show has set the bar incredibly high for itself. But I’m not worried; these guys have proven time and time again how amazing their writing can be.

Sunday, September 28th sees the return of Fox’s Animation Domination, with new episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. The sheer fact that a show I started watching and loving when I was 10 is now entering it’s 20th season is something I never would have imagined.  In the past 19 years I’ve never missed an episode, and I don’t intend to start now. Family Guy has definitely lost some of its magic lately (especially after the “Cartoon Wars” episodes of South Park), but it still does have great moments here and there. And despite initially being written off by a lot of people as a Family Guy clone, American Dad has completely come into its own, and often times is even funnier than the show that inspired it.

On October 3rd, The Clone Wars makes it’s television debut, and after enjoying the movie, I am definitely stoked for the small screen version. Sure, I’m a geek for anything Star Wars, but this show is dripping with potential, so count me in.

October 8th will bring another animated show, and that’s the return of South Park. The first half of this season definitely had some pretty big misfires, but I can’t help getting excited for new episodes. Matt and Trey can redeem the season with a strong second half, and I fully expect at least one episode with a biting election/political slant.

Eli Stone gets it’s first full season to start on October 14th, and the show’s run earlier in the year was a lot more fun than I expected. It was initially given the time-slot after Lost, and it will remain to be seen if the show can pull in good numbers without it’s big lead in. The concept is definitely a little out-there, but the wife and I came to really enjoy the show’s great characters.

30 Rock returns at the end of the month, on October 30th, and though it will be tough to wait so long for new episodes, it’s a safe bet that it will be well worth it. The writing on 30 Rock is definitely top-notch, the jokes come fast and furious, and the long arcs fit seamlessly into each episode. It really is, quite simply, a brilliant show.

Finally, deep into fall on November 23rd, we have 24: Exile, the two hour prequel to 24’s upcoming seventh season. It seems like 24 lost a lot of fans with it’s sub-par sixth season, and the fact that there haven’t been any new episodes since May 2007 doesn’t help matters. The show definitely allowed itself to slip into old habits its last time out, and it will have to really try new things this year if it wants to keep going. I’m willing to keep going with 24, if for no other reason than last year, the show *did* have some moments of brilliance, even if they were lost in the sea of mediocrity.