Out with the Old, In with the new...

It is now that time to return from vacations, start a new year of school, and get back into the routine that summer kicked us out of. Now, is also the time for new television shows to rope us in, and sadly, for others, to remain in syndication or be available only on DVD. With the writer's strike earlier this year, many shows were forced under a microscope of whether or not to continue a new season or not. Many shows even continued through the summer (after the interruption) to have a "summer finale" and a two week break before the official season premiere.

Let us now take a moment to remember the shows we loved that, for this point in time, will no longer be with us. (But, not to fear fans of "24," "Lost," and "Scrubs" for they will return in January)

There will be of course several returning champs vying for our attention and DVR space this season. Loyal followers of "Boston Legal," "The Shield," and "ER" will probably cry at the end of the season for these shows will not be returning for another round. Personally, I'm excited for "The Office," and "Chuck," and I'm pleased that USA felt "The Starter Wife" needed more than a six-episode miniseries (let's hope it won't ruin it).

However, there are several newcomers that are ready and willing to take out their elder opponents for our ratings. Has anyone else noticed the growing trend of shows that are "The [verb]ist/er"? There's "The Closer," and "The Cleaner," and now "The Locator," and "The Mentalist."

Also, many of these new contenders seem almost exactly like previous things we've seen/heard about. There's a show on HBO (sorry for those who don't subscribe, not to worry, neither do I) called "True Blood" that sounds an awful lot like a racier version of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Since the movie Crash did so well at the Academy Awards, Starz has decided to make a television series by the same name and along the same theme (obviously trying for an Emmy to go with that Oscar). Based on the book Robinson Crusoe, another T.V. show "Crusoe" hopes to put a little twist on the classic novel.

Then there's the remakes, such as an updated, modern, more "true to life" version of "90210" that I'm sure many young, corruptable teenagers will latch on to, and a remake of "Knight Rider" whose main character is significantly more promising than it's predecessor (David Hasselhoff). Also, since we Americans love to take television shows from other countries, "Hole in the Wall" based off of the Japanese tetris like game show looks rather promising in the "watch people make fools of themselves" category.

A few shows are getting a lot of buzz, and hopefully they can live up to it, is a new J.J. Abrams creation titled "Fringe," and Hellboy turned biker show "Sons of Anarchy." Oh, what a fantastic Fall television season awaits us... let the recording begin!