Last Monday marked the season premiers of The Closer and Saving Grace on TNT. Many people shrug off stations like TBS and TNT because more often than not, they show reruns of other stations’ popular shows. In the last few years, however, stations like these (and A&E, Bravo, etc.) have become very popular in terms of original programming. They help bridge the summer sinkhole of low budget reality television (How many “do you want to be famous” shows do we really need anyway?) and give us fantastic characters and storylines to focus on.

I started watching The Closer via my Netflix subscription and, honestly, was surprised by how much I liked it! Brenda Lee Johnson, the show’s main character, is funny and hardcore all at the same time and can switch between the two on a dime. Kyra Sedgwick plays her to perfection and her surrounding cast of characters is all top notch. You might recognize her boss, JK Simmons, from his turn as the newspaper editor in the Spiderman movies! This season is the fourth season of the Closer and new episodes can be watched on Monday nights at 9PM.

Following The Closer on Monday nights is Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter. I watched my very first episode of Saving Grace last Monday and was immediately impressed. The story follows Grace, a tougher than nails cop in Oklahoma City and her angel, Earl. I absolutely was surprised by the performances in this show and cannot wait to get the first season on DVD so that I can catch up.

Summertime is often a quagmire in terms of television programming, but these are just two of the shows offered up by the “not so popular” networks. Imagine if the “major” networks put this much effort into their regular programming!

Jeff Goldblum is coming back to television (if the Screen Actors Guild doesn’t go on strike)!

Chris Noth, most widely known for his turn as Mr. Big on Sex and the City, is leaving Law & Order: Criminal Intent after a three season run, and Goldblum is stepping in to fill the void. The show has been picked up for an eighth season of sixteen episodes (again, if the Screen Actors Guild doesn’t go on strike).

According to an article released by MSN’s TV News division a couple of weeks ago, the Law & Order creator, Dick Wolf, looks forward to Jeff Goldblum adding a new dimension to his already very successful show. Law & Order has been on television roughly since television began broadcasting in color (or it feels that way) and has a couple of very successful spin-offs: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the already mentioned Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Chris Noth was a part of the original series from 1990-1995 and then joined the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2005. The special spin-off airs on USA on Sundays.

While most know Jeff Goldblum because of his film career, he isn’t new to the television medium. In fact, he had a show on NBC called Raines, but that show was very short lived. In addition to appearing in Jurassic Park, The Fly, Independence Day and Igby Goes Down, Jeff Goldblum was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Little Surprises, a short, live-action film.

Criminal Intent is on USA because NBC felt that three incarnations of one show would be overkill but thought that the spin-off could find a home on its cousin company, USA. I wonder if the brains behind CSI and all of its spin-offs will ever share the same feeling!

Are you a fan of the original series, Beverly Hills 90210? I was and still am.  You probably know that the CW is bring the cult show back as 90210: The New Generation. And several 90210 alumnae already have signed up either as guest or recurring stars, including Kelly Taylor (played by Jennie Garth, as a guidance counselor at Beverly Hills High) and Brenda Walsh (played by Shannen Doherty, whose character is not yet known).

But probably the most familiar and welcome return is the comeback of Peach Pit owner, Nat Bussichio (played by Joe E. Tata), whom the kids often ran to for advice or comfort. He will be reprising his role once again as the owner of the Peach Pit, the kids’ regular hang-out at 90210. There’s no word yet if his character will be a regular or recurring one. That all depends, he says, “If they still remember me”.

Are you excited about the return of our favorite zip code? Some people are not looking forward to it because they either: a) did not like the original 90210 or b) they think it’ll be a cheap spin-off of the original series. I’m curious though and probably will watch the first episode. I have to remember, though, to keep an open mind while watching the show, or I’ll end comparing the two and holding a torch for one of them.

This weekend, NBC show Saturday Night Live reran its debut episode as a tribute to George Carlin, who passed away earlier this week. The airing of this episode has sparked many debates among television fans and one of the most common questions to be asked is: remember when we knew what funny was?

It seems that these days, television’s humor is more of a wink and an arched eyebrow than it is an all out guffaw. Long gone are the days of the obvious jokes of the Carol Burnett Show, sitcoms and even Saturday Night Live. Now comedy seems to serve as a “if you didn’t get that, then you are not smart enough to watch this show” dividing line in audiences and shows that do source their material in obvious comedy are deemed “stupid” or, worse “not smart.” (Does anybody else remember when those two things used to be synonymous?)

To be sure, shows like Saturday Night Live seem to be struggling to find a balance between obvious and physical humor and the arched “aren’t we clever” eyebrow. Sitcoms are few and far between in primetime. Why?

The fact is this: people like to laugh and people are more likely to laugh if they don’t feel like they have to laugh to prove themselves worthy of the joke. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a lot more fun watching comedies that make me roll around guffawing than I do watching comedies that are meant to make me feels superior to others.

What is comedy anymore? Is there still a place for the obvious, physical prat falling comedy that we used to know and love, or has it truly devolved into dramedy and snark? When did “not getting the joke” become the thing that made one person better than another?

I would be lying if I tried to say that Isaiah Washington’s real world actions didn’t affect the way I felt about his Grey’s Anatomy character, Preston Burke. After reading about Isaiah Washington running around bad mouthing the Grey’s Anatomy producers, it made it very hard for me to feel any sort of warm feelings for Preston Burke at all.

The same is not holding true for Katherine Heigl. Everybody is up in arms about her saying that the material she was given this last season wasn’t Emmy worthy.

People, there was a writer’s strike. Was anything that got produced worthy of an Emmy?

For most of this last season of television, shows got pushed through to production without having to undergo the usual scrutiny that goes into producing a television script. Scripts got pushed through in the interest of having as much original programming as possible, in the hopes of covering the strike that ended up happening. Of course the material was going to lack its usual panache!

Here is the truth: Izzie Stevens didn’t have a lot to do this season until the last couple of episodes when the character seemed to regain her footing. Whether this was to accommodate film schedules or because of the writer’s strike we’ll never really know.  But who really cares if she withdrew her name for an Emmy?

The fact of the matter is this: of the shows I watched this past season, there weren’t many strong plot lines. Characters were left filling space because television producers wanted something, anything, to take up space during prime-time. Maybe before we all get worked into a lather over whether or not Heigl has grown a super-ego, we should wait to see what happens next season, when the writers have more time to flesh out their stories and characters.

Last night while I was laughing myself off the couch during Last Comic Standing, I became intrigued by a new version of summer television: Fear Itself.

Fear Itself is a series that has been put together by the powers that be at NBC. It spans thirteen “episodes,” and each episode serves as homage to the suspense/horror genre and attempts to push its boundaries. Each episode is put together by a different filmmaker and has a different cast, and each episode is designed to, well, give you the shivers, which is so cliché but also true.

While the horror genre isn’t really my thing, I have to admit that I am intrigued by this version of summertime viewing. Usually during the summer months between seasons, major television networks devolve into low budget reality television that is put together so badly even reality television fans won’t admit to watching. Fear Itself, on the other hand, treats viewers to “mini movies” (also known as Original Programming). If this takes off, the summers could finally be free of the “crap television” stereotype they’ve been saddled with for years.

The series is being produced by Lionsgate and IE Indy TV. It was created by Mick Garris and is being executive produced by Andrew Deane, who is known for his work on “Masters of Horror.” Episode directors include Eric Roberts (Heroes), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), Darren Bousman (Saw 2, 3, and 4), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) and Cynthia Watros (Lost).

If you are a fan of the horror genre or simply want to watch a television series that isn’t based upon cameras following around the under-educated as they vie for world fame by way of ingesting awful creatures, Fear Itself is certainly promising. If the ratings are high enough, we could start to see original programming all year long!

Dear JJ Abrams’ Drooling Fans,

It didn’t start with Lost.

Whenever you hear about anything new being produced by (or having anything to do with, really) JJ Abrams, it inevitably comes with the tagline “from the creator of Lost.” Entertainment reporters talk about how sci-fi fans will flock to anything with JJ Abrams’ name on it because he is the mastermind behind Lost.

Sure, Lost is a wildly popular show. In a television landscape of few hits and mostly misses, a show like Lost is a good one to be attached to. But…what about Felicity?

Felicity was JJ Abrams’ first television show. For those of you who can’t remember the golden days of the WB network, Felicity was an hour long drama that documented the life and times of a New York college student named, appropriately, Felicity. The show spanned the four years of Felicity’s undergraduate career, and every week fans tuned in to see what would happen to Felicity and her core group of pals.

Jennifer Garner, Greg Grunberg, Scott Foley, and Amy Smart are big names that were on this show. Arguably the show is what helped make them “big names.” It is also the vehicle that made Keri Russell, arguably, the Mickey Mouse Club member with the most successful acting career.

Among JJ Abrams’ earlier credits are Regarding Henry, Forever Young, and Armageddon. Felicity, however, is where his television fame started.

So, rabid JJ Abrams fans, please remember that your hero did not start his career with Lost. Sure it’s the most successful of his series, but what gave him his start in series television was a four year long show about a young girl named Felicity and her adventures as a college student in New York.

Is anybody else feeling intense relief at the return of prime time television? Okay, not all of the shows are back. Some, like Heroes, are waiting to return until next season (provided the Screen Actor’s Guild doesn’t go on strike, and there actually is a next season), but some of my favorites are back. I have waited some very long months for the return of shows like Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy. I am also very glad for the return of NBC’s power players, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, and Scrubs.

In stereotypically girly fashion, however, I am most excited about the return of Grey’s Anatomy. Last night I sat down on the couch, rubbed my hands together and announced (to my cat), “I really hope this show makes me cry tonight.”

It’s a girl thing. Sometimes we like it. We don’t understand why it works that way either.

While the episode didn’t produce actual tears, it did produce the requisite “WHAT?!?” at the end of the episode and then several minutes of swearing because waiting seven days to see what happens can be torture! That said—I am enjoying the small character arcs my favorite characters are traveling, and I feel like everything is being set up to produce a fantastic fifth season. I am enjoying the pleasure/torture Meredith and McDreamy are putting themselves through with their clinical trial. I desperately want to know how to use “You so coded” in a proper context, and I really want to lend Izzie some money so that she can do something about her hair.

For television and fiction addicts like me, the return of my favorite shows is a welcome relief after a long, cold winter of “I can’t believe I’m watching this on purpose” and “Making do.”

After a hiatus due to the writers’ strike, Desperate Housewives is back. The antics of the women of Wisteria Lane continue with the usual angst, drama, and secrets. Although the last show before the break in episodes featured a major tornado striking Fairview, the show resumed with most of the debris cleared away and damage repaired.

I’ve watched the show since the first episode, and although I am glad to see the show return both to the ABC lineup and Sunday evening, I’ve been a little disappointed. I expected to see more of the tornado clean up and aftermath, but it was magically gone. As a tornado survivor myself, that seemed a little too good to be true. While I realize that television is not reality, more realism would have worked far better in this circumstance.

And, I am amused at the title of the show, Desperate Housewives, in an age when few women want to be identified as a housewife. The term itself seems as dated as platform shoes and bouffant hairdos. Women who do stay home today seem to prefer to be called either a stay-at-home-mom or simply a homemaker. And, of course, the obvious is that the housewives of Wisteria Lane are anything but ordinary.

We don’t see the ladies ever struggling with bills or complaining about rising gas or food costs. We are privy to their secrets, sins, and sickness, but some of the everyday struggles women face are curiously absent. None of the gals worry about their weight or much about money. Although Carlo now says he is a blind, poor man, the Solis couple dwells in a beautiful mansion and doesn’t seem to want for any material items.

None of these housewives are ever REALLY desperate, but they are fun to watch.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. For parents that brings back memories of the Mickey Mouse Club and the Mouseketeers, but today it means The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Playhouse Disney. Long gone is the live variety show featuring real kids, and in its place is a 3D animated show for preschoolers featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and the rest of the gang, including Pete.

The half hour television show heavily focuses on problem solving. At the start of each episode, before Mickey and his friends start to work out the problem presented in each show, they have to go to the Mousekedoer to get their Mouseketools.  They include a variety of miscellaneous things they will need in order to find a solution to the problem — whether it be helping Goofy with his magic show, saving BooBoo Chicken from the Giant of the beanstalk, or waking up an enchanted sleeping Minnie.

There are anywhere between three and seven tools that are loaded onto “Toodles,” a quirky little mouse ears robot that follows the gang around to be called when they need one of the tools. The characters also address the concept of cause and effect. One of the characters will suggest a tool, like a stick of glue to bathe a puppy, and Toodles will show the gang what would have happened if they would have used the glue instead of the soap. There is always a mystery Mouseketool, so if none of the featured “tools” are any help, then it is time for the gang to call for the mystery one with a lot of fireworks and fanfare.

Along with the problem solving of matching what Mouseketool item is needed to fix which situation, the show also addresses shapes, colors, counting, patterns, and size comparisons. I think it’s great to have shows that kids find entertaining and also teach them something as well. I give this show two thumbs up.