Dragged Back In.

Part of me hates when shows are cut down in their prime. From time to time I may rail against the injustices that have removed Angel, Firefly, Tru Calling, Blind Justice, The Inside, Committed, and other programs I enjoyed from the air before I was ready to say goodbye. Other shows, like Friends, Cheers, Night Court, Buffy, Everybody Loves Raymond and The X-files each finished with what I felt was a satisfactory run. Whether a show runs its course or ends too soon, part of me is often glad to have one less thing to watch. Every year, a fraction of new shows proves worthy of viewing, and I don't mind. No matter what, through casual viewing or word of mouth, I still get sucked in. I think of some of the entertainment I've had, of the conversations with friends, and I ponder a time when I wasn't going to watch shows like Alias, 24, or Lost. I actually didn't give Lost a chance until the fourth episode, after which I was solidly addicted. There aren't enough hours in a day, and while some days I spend up to ten hours in my office building, I can't spend the remaining hours of consciousness in front of a television set. I'm not watching Surface, Invasion or Threshold, the last of which I didn't even know about until Lorna commented on it and I looked it up. I refuse. I absolutely refuse to add new shows. Whatever remaining shows I was watching last year, with the exception of Joey due to a scheduling conflict, will be the extent of my television viewing this season.

On a COMPLETE tangent, I know this great bridge over in Brooklyn that I could get you folks for a modest price.

Sometimes, a friend says something is good and I want to join in the conversation. Sometimes, I start watching something to give it a chance, and it turns out to be really good. Many of my regular shows haven't even started yet, and I already have four new programs. Here's a rundown, likely brimming with SPOILERS, of these new potato magnets:

Supernatural: In the wake of the aforementioned Buffy, Angel and X-files, there was a definite void in the supernatural genre. Granted, CALLING a show “Supernatural” is hitting the nail a bit, but after three weeks it's finding it's stride. Starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as two brothers on a quest to find their missing father and take down ghosts and similar threats, it also marks the return of one of my favorite genres, the drifter show. A hero or heroes travel from town to town each week, helping out new strangers. Maybe they hitchhike, or maybe they drive a cool car, preferably black, as these brothers do. Each week the show presents a mini horror movie, with all the conventions of mood, lighting, and surprise. It didn't hurt that they cast the lovely Amy Acker tonight in an overdue return to the small screen, as the mother of a silent boy who knows the truth about what's killing people in a lake, and can only communicate through crayon drawings. The older of the two brothers remembers vividly how their mother was taken from them, and bonds with the child. There's a healthy blend of humorous banter mixed in with the action and suspense, and it's safe to say that I'll be sticking with this show.

How I Met Your Mother: I expected a Friends ripoff, and while I like both Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris, I had my doubts about CBS portraying the dating scene of New Yorkers in their twenties. Where was the fat guy with the inexplicably hot wife? Where was the old lawyer/doctor/ranger solving murders? It didn't fit my image of the network. I was leery too of the gimmick of having Bob Saget narrate the story to his children. We know he marries the girl and has two kids eventually; what's the point? Yet the twist at the end of the first episode allayed those fears and proved that within the formula there could still be some surprises. Harris has some great recurring bits that are quickly making him my favorite character, and Hannigan proves she can be just as sexy kissing a guy as she was kissing girls in her Buffy days.

My Name is Earl: It's a great premise, and I guarantee you've never seen Jason Lee like this. Ethan Suplee has dropped some weight and somehow gained more humor, and Jaime Pressly is good as well. Lee plays Earl, a trailer dweller who has the epiphany that karma is why his life sucks. He makes a list of every bad thing he's ever done and sets about making things right, in order to balance things out. To make up for littering, he sets about cleaning the parking lot of a motel where he finds a $100,000 winning lottery ticket he had lost, proving his theory. Lacking a laugh track, the whole thing has a Coen brothers feel to it. After two weeks I like it, but I wonder if I'll tire of it at some point, if taping it and watching it after Supernatural is really worth it. Of the four, this is most likely the first casualty. How I Met Your Mother could be dropped at some point too. Sitcoms just don't hold me as well as they used to.

Prison Break: If sitcoms are declining, dramas are only on the rise. In the absence of 24, this is the most riveting hour on television, if you'll forgive the cliché. One brother is sentenced to die for a murder he didn't commit. Another will do anything to set him free, and that includes getting himself arrested, hiding the blueprints for the prison on his body in elaborate tattoos that hold other secrets, and making deals with some other inmates, some nicer than others. I'm not sure what will happen when and if they do get out, but so far the show's had a formula that works. Each week something vital to the escape plan is in jeopardy. We don't always know WHAT that something is, just that without it they're thoroughly screwed. One solution yields new challenges, and just when things seemed predictable, they unleashed chaos. After a huge riot last night in the first of a two-part episode, the escape plan has been exposed to the worst possible inmate, and a woman is in dire peril, unbeknownst to anyone but the younger of the two brothers. Meanwhile, his older brother is being led off by another inmate who’s agreed to kill him to protect a government consipiracy. This show picked up it's pace, found it's stride, and is now flat-out running. If I wasn't hooked before, I am now.