(A new column.)

I love TV. I’m still not proud of it but I watch a lot of TV. And well, this week is Christmas for TV lovers. It’s the start of the New Fall Season. There are a number of shows that I am excited to see coming back and a couple that I am looking forward to and that I hope are as good as they appear from commercials. Let’s start with what I am waiting to see come back…

Returning Shows

(Show, Channel, Day & Time (CDT))

Glee, Fox, Tuesday, 7:00

I will not stand here and be shamed for watching Glee. This show is good. And it’s good for a lot of reasons.

1. These might be the most talented actors on TV. They bust their backsides to learn songs, record the songs, learn dance routines, and then act it all out every week. I hope that they get a massive raise next season because they deserve it.

Mike O'Malley from Glee

2. The supporting cast (who don’t generally sing) are all great too. Mike O’Malley is the most underrated in the supporting cast. His portrayal of a tough-guy father of a gay son is as much hilarious as it is touching. O’Malley was actually nominated for an Emmy for this role. She’s more than a supporting cast member but Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester did win the Emmy for her work. Sue is given all of the lines that make you laugh and cringe at the same time. She’s a breath of fresh air on the tube.

3. It’s just plain fun. Watch it.

Modern Family, ABC, Wednesday, 8:00

I admit that I only started watching this because Ed O’Neill (family patriarch, Jay) is in it. The Married with Children star makes everything good. (I even liked Dutch!) But then I discovered a slew of impressive actors playing hilarious characters. The best of them has to be Ty Burrell who I, along with most of the world, missed on the short-lived Kelsey Grammar vehicle, Back to You. I’m told he was great on that show as well. Burrell plays Jay’s son-in-law, Phil. He’s a goofy real estate agent with three kids and a harangued wife, played by Julie Bowen (Boston Legal). Jay’s son is a gay lawyer who has adopted a baby girl with his partner, stay-at-home dad/crooning clown, Cameron. The actor who plays Cameron, Eric Stonestreet won an Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy as did Modern Family for Best Comedy. It is laugh-out-loud funny and usually has a good family-spirit to it.

Jim Parsons with his Emmy for Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory, CBS, Thursday, 7:00

This show would be pretty mediocre without Emmy winner Jim Parsons as one of four nerdy friends. Johnny Galecki plays the much-annoyed roommate, Leonard but he’s never much funnier than he was when he starred in Roseanne as Darlene’s boyfriend. That’s OK though because he’s not supposed to be the comic element. Sheldon, Raj, and Howard are the funny ones and even Penny (Kaley Cuoco) is starting to get some good lines. Chuck Lorre mans this show and he knows how to make hits. But I’ll speak more of him when I preview Mike and Molly. BBT is at times gut-busting and others, laugh-track weak. But it’s worth 22 minutes on a DVR if for no other reason to see Parsons make Sheldon one of the Greatest TV Characters of all time. (Hrmm… I capitalized that. Column Idea!)

Community, NBC, Thursday, 7:00

I started watching this last year because I thought Chevy Chase was going to be cast as a professor at Greendale Community College. It seemed like a perfect choice for casting. It turns out he’s a non-traditional student at the school and his character is one of the few that is consistently cliché. I’m also not a huge fan of Joel McHale (The Soup). He stars as a lawyer who faces disbarment if he doesn’t go back and get a new degree.

OK, the entire premise is shaky, the two known actors are either miscast or marginally unlikeable but Community really works. Why? Mostly because it is just so weird. I’ll admit that it requires a huge suspension of disbelief. But really, most shows do. Take a chance on it and look for Danny Pudi as Abed, a student who tries to place everything that happens into the context of a movie or a TV show that he has seen. Also watch for Ken Jeong as Señor Chang, the nasty Spanish teacher that says what just about any teacher wishes they could.

Others Receiving Votes…

The Office, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Undercover Boss, 30 Rock

New Shows (or not new shows that I want to start watching)

Mike and Molly, CBS, Monday, 8:30

This show is getting a small amount of buzz because it features two lead actors who are obese and because it’s another Chuck Lorre production (Two and Half Men, Big Bang Theory). What caught my eye is that one reviewer said that Lorre will treat the weight issues differently and without typical gags. Also, many have noted that Lorre is notorious for deciding what is not working in his shows and cutting them out. (See also Sara Gilbert’s axing from BBT.) We’ll see. **UPDATE** I watched this last night and it was pretty funny. The first 15 minutes were typical sitcom drudgery but it rallied hard and had us laughing hard at the end. Good start.

Outsourced, NBC, Thursday, 8:30

I may get burned here. The promos for this show had me rewinding my DVR. There’s a great potential for laughs since most Americans get very annoyed when they figure out that their call has been forwarded to India. I mean we’re pissed enough that the new Dell computer is on the blink and now we have to speak to someone named, “Carl” who has broken English and sounds like Apu from the Simpsons? Anyway, as long as they can crank out some laughs without offending the wrong people it might work.

The Defenders, CBS, Wednesday, 9:00

It looks like the Jim Belushi vehicle might become another dramedy but that might be OK. The 9:00 hour has been a wasteland to me since ER went off the air. I have never found anything worth watching. That’s sad to me because I loved NYPD Blue, Boston Legal, The West Wing and many other hour-long dramas. I miss them. Maybe this show will fit the bill.

The Event, NBC, Monday, 8:00

If The Defenders doesn’t hook me, maybe The Event will. However, in the past I have failed miserably at following serialized dramas. If this show, which is billed as a cross between Lost and 24 requires that I watch every episode in order, I may be in trouble. Despite a DVR that is cleaned out and ready to start recording, I have trouble with this type of show. Life sometimes does not allow staying on top of TV shows. Doesn’t that stink? Well the hype is legitimate so maybe I’ll give it a shot.

The Good Wife, CBS, Tuesday, 7:00

I know why I didn’t start watching this last year. I love Julianna Margulies. I have loved her since ER. I was just worried that I would get sucked in and then they’d cancel it. Like Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Well, they didn’t so here I go. I hope I didn’t miss too much.

Others Receiving Votes…

Raising Hope, Parenthood, Cougartown, Outlaw

Next Week: Reality TV…