TV GEEK

January! When TV shows resume their regular weekly schedules. A few favorites start new runs as well. My thoughts on the ones I watch:

24 - Never fails to up the ante, and last season was its heart-stopping best. Let's hope Jack Bauer doesn't let us down in season six.

Rome - Though we knew that Julius Caesar was going to die at the end of the first season, the way he was murdered was bloody brilliant and still shocking. This season starts with grand and gritty Rome under new management.

The IT Crowd - Haha. I didn't expect this one. I hope they bring back that hilarious goth guy they keep locked up in a room, and that they don't limit this season to just another six episodes. Damn Brits.

Heroes - Ordinary people discovering their superpowers in real-life situations sure makes for compelling TV. Great cliffhangers offset some cheesy dialogue.

The Office - Dwight Schrute gets my vote as the inwittingly funniest guy on TV. Plus, The Office is full of really humorous pop culture references, and some geeky ones too. "Why don't we watch that show you've been wanting to watch? That stupid Battleship Galaxy."

Battlestar Galactica - Best show on television. The writing isn't as strong as it was the past two seasons, but one could still write a lengthy critical paper for each episode of BSG. Most people steer clear of this show because it's sci-fi, but being sci-fi is precisely why it can get away with tackling the most disturbing and socially relevant issues of the world today, ones which would be too sensitive for most other shows.

House - Cel's show. I'm not a big fan of stand-alone procedurals because they're so predictable (in House, first diagnosis is always faulty; black guy doctor doubts House, House proves him wrong; someone, usually House, gets an epiphany during the last five minutes of the show, then proves everyone wrong), but the medical bits are interesting. And the latest, with House getting in trouble with the law for his Vicodin addiction, at least shows some progress to the character. Update: Straight from the House's mouth: "Nothing's changed," at the end of the aforementioned arc.

Prison Break - Now that Michael and co. have escaped, the whole tattooing-my-body-with-the-prison-schematics concept is out as well, and the show has also gone towards an entirely new direction. The suspense is still good but the story is stretched thin. I hope they really end this series this season.

Next: Lost, The Wire, Dexter, Scrubs, The Sopranos.