Fall Guide to Good TV: Cake Boss
Mondays at 10 p.m. on TLCBuddy Valastro isn’t just the master baker, he’s the head of a 99-year-old Sicilian family business with his mother, four sisters and three brothers-in-law. The drama is worth a chuckle, but the cakes really steal the show. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Top Chef
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on BravoThe sixth season of this addictive foodie-survival challenge takes place in Las Vegas, home to approximately 10 million celebrity-chef auxiliary restaurants and 20 million casino buffets. If early favorite Kevin Gillespie doesn’t win, we’re pulling for his Atlanta counterpart, Hector Santiago. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: The Soup
On E!The Soup promotes its own brand of recycling. Hosted by Joel McHale, who puts his Cheshire-cat grin to brilliantly sarcastic use, the clip show turns TV’s most vile garbage—narcissistic reality-show stars, bumbling Good Day LA anchors, and loopy talent-show judges—into vicious comedy and incisive cultural criticism. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: The Rachel Maddow Show
Weeknights at 9 p.m. on MSNBCRachel Maddow stormed the gates of MSNBC last fall, wielding a wit as sharp as her intellect. It was a welcome coup for viewers possessed with an attention span and a sense of humor but who aren’t quite convinced The Daily Show is the only alternative to the three-ring circus of cable news. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Project Runway
Thursdays at 10 p.m. on LifetimeAfter five gangbuster seasons on Bravo, television's best, most creative reality show makes its Lifetime debut along with new companion series. Here's hoping they can "make it work."... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
(Two-hour special in November on SyFy)This prequel movie, directed by Edward James Olmos, will clarify some of Galactica’s unanswered questions, namely the Cylons’ titular genocidal stratagem. Events from the first two seasons will be shown from the Cylons’ perspective, at last explaining the meaning of “they have a plan.” ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: V
Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC, beginning Nov. 3ABC’s remake of the 1983 miniseries stars Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell as an FBI agent who sees through the aliens’ friendly posture toward Earth’s inhabitants. While scientists led the fight against the aliens in the original series, religion gets a turn this time with Father Jack Landry (Joel Gretsch) joining the resistance. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars
On BBC AmericaThe second of four hour-long, standalone Doctor Who specials—which will be the last episodes to feature the 10th Doctor, David Tennant—has a bit of a zombie vibe, but some of the show’s creepiest stories have been the best. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Stargate Universe
Fridays at 9 p.m. on SyFyA long-running franchise launches a new spin-off about a group of humans who have been transported far across the universe and are now trying to return to home. (Where have we heard that before, Capt. Janeway?) But SyFy seems to be pulling out all the stops for what promises to be a darker, less silly and more action-packed Stargate series. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Friday Night Lights
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on DIRECTV's The 101With the question posed by its Season 3 finale—"What's life like after Dillon High School?" for both students and the ousted Coach Taylor—still hanging in the air like a 40-yard pass, not much about this unexpectedly affecting series' future is clear. But we're hoping for more heartwrenching drama, dreamy cinematography and excellent music.... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Trauma
Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBCIn tele-trauma land, you’ve got your gritty (Third Watch) and your pretty (Grey’s Anatomy). NBC’s bluntly titled Trauma falls in the middle. A paramedic squad dealing with a deadly crash (to the tune of The Clash’s M.I.A.-sampled “Straight to Hell,” no less) could be sentimental suicide, but writer Peter Noah (The West Wing) does a fine job balancing disaster scenes and peeks into characters’ emotional distress. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Southland
Update: NBC decided to cancel Southland, though recent reports suggest the show may move to TNT.--Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC, beginning Oct. 23Gritty police procedurals have been a dime a dozen for the last decade, but Southland’s first season was smart and deep enough to warrant a second look. We’re optimistic that the rumors of network-induced attempts at making the show more palatable to the mainstream won’t neuter one of the best new dramas on network TV. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Occupation
Sundays at 8 p.m. on BBC AmericaThoughtful BBC film tackles the Iraq warIn the riveting, wrenching Occupation, Northern Ireland native James Nesbitt plays Mike Swift, leader of a unit of British soldiers on a tour of Iraq. The series opens with a harrowing 10-minute battle scene, dramatically scored by Massive 
Attack’s “Teardrop.” Then the action shifts back to England, and the viewer realizes that war itself is only part of the story. Occupation is also interested in what Nesbitt calls “this terrible gulf between the soldiers and their families when they come back home, in terms of trying to release... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Dollhouse
Fridays at 9 p.m. on FoxAfter a slow start, Dollhouse shook off its mediocrity and reworked itself into something more befitting of Joss Whedon’s genius, but its cataclysmic (unaired) Season 1 finale wrote the show into a corner. The question remains: “What could possibly come next?” ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Flash Forward
Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABCThe premise—everyone on earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds, experiencing a vision of their lives six months in the future—sounds more clever than compelling, but the plot delivers the kind of brain-stretching drama that made Lost famous. And in a fall lineup packed with new procedural cop/doctor/lawyer shows, we'll give it bonus points for originality.... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Heroes
Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBCTim Kring is calling his latest chapter of Heroes “Redemption,” and the show could certainly use a fresh start. Cheerleader Claire heads off to college in Season 4, but we’re betting new villain Samuel (Robert Knepper) is going to distract her from her studies. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Glee
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on FoxLeave it to a bunch of dweeby, show tune-singing teenagers to send the Internet into throes of ecstasy. But will Fox’s new comedy live up to the buzz of its early premiere? With Nip/Tuck’s creators at the helm, and a multi-talented cast on board (including Jane Lynch as the hard-nosed cheerleading coach), we think so. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: House M.D.
Mondays at 8 p.m. on FoxEver since that chopper came crashing down on ER’s Rocket Romano, we’ve relied on Hugh Laurie’s House to fill that lovably crotchety doctor void. But just as House needs to bounce back after checking himself into rehab, the show needs to bounce back from a lackluster Season 5. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Mad Men
Sundays at 10 p.m. on AMCA British invasion has made things even more interesting at Sterling Cooper during Season 3. So pour yourself an Old Fashioned (or better yet, have your kid pour you one), relax and head back to the Kennedy years. ... read more
Fall Guide to Good TV: Dexter
Sundays at 9 p.m. on ShowtimeDexter Morgan is a young, handsome blood-splatter analyst for the Miami police department. In his spare time he stalks murderers, ties them up, slices them to pieces and dumps them in the ocean. Every episode leaves you rooting for a serial killer - a twisted but gratifying feeling.... read more
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