• Burn Notice – I know this is not a new show, but I never took the time in the past to give it a try.  This season (their third) I have and I’ve been really enjoying it.  The format is different and colorful and the writing is clever and has a good rhythm to it.  I may soon find myself picking up seasons 1 & 2 on DVD to catch up.
• Royal Pains – I like this new show.  I like the talent in it, I like the drama of it (okay, at times it can be a little soapy, but it is early yet).  Apparently though, I cannot watch this show around my medically inclined family members – they tend to rip apart the feasibility of such shows (much as I’m sure I do with techie shows, but I tend to watch them anyway).
• In Plain Sight – This seemed like it had potential when it premiered last year, but I never made an effort to catch it.  Now I’ve started catching it simply due to proximity to the other shows I’m watching and it too has drawn me in.
• Psych – This show has long been a guilty pleasure of mine.  Sure the drama of it is far-fetched and the format tends to be a little formulaic at times, but I love Shawn Spencer in action and I can’t wait until this season premieres.

I’m also looking forward to Eureka returning to SciFi soon (or should I be referring to it as SyFy).  All in all this summer is turning out to be less stagnant that I’d anticipated.  And I guess it couldn’t hurt to go outside every once and a while too.

With NBC, my guess is that the prime reason that Chuck’s fate was questionable was the fact that they are opting to give Leno the 10-spot 5 days a week starting this fall which seriously hampers their drama line-up.  I’m not sure how much the Save Chuck campaigns factored into their decision, but thankfully they decided to squeeze it in.  I will highly be looking forward to seeing Chuck start kicking ass with his newfound intersect abilities.

As for Fox – they have earned a reprieve from any sort of boycott from me.  Granted I would have liked to see another season of Terminator over drawing out Fringe any longer (especially after their questionable finale showing off an alternate reality where the twin towers survived), Dollhouse was a more solid show and deserved the renewal.  I can’t wait to see how things progress with Ballard now a company man and Alpha’s schemes gone awry.  Plus I can never see too much of Echo in action – they couldn’t turn down that kind of eye candy on primetime television (I always had faith).

Finally, prompted by my choice in title I am happy to report that season 3.5 of Eureka will be starting up on SciFi in July.  So all is well in the world of TV … for now.  Well, aside from a half dozen other cancellations that have alerady happened and renewals that shouldn’t have … we must take what we can get.

• House – 80% – House is House as usual and there has been no real disappointment in the greater story arc so far this season.  While it is hard to keep pace with last season’s finally, this season is keeping things interesting.
• 24 – 75% – Jack Bauer is, well, Jack Bauer.  Once again the fate of the nation is at risk and only he can save it.  While the show ALWAYS has some level of contrived-ness, this season has managed to keep it within reason.
• Chuck – 75% – I like Chuck.  Sure the show is not sophisticated - there is only minor long-term character development.  But Chuck is funny both through character and situational humor (and it doesn’t hurt that Sarah is hot).
• Heroes – 30% – If I were to grade strictly on the most reason set of episodes, that number might be lower still.  The inconsistencies and unbelievable actions and reactions by several of the characters I’ve seen this season have me losing patience.  The only reason that I’ve stuck with it is because I know that something written by Brian Fuller is soon to come (please be the hero we all need).
• Life – 60% – I still like this show in that the police mysteries are interesting and realistic and I enjoy the character of detective Crews as he assesses these cases.  I’m not sure where the larger arc is going, but I’m sticking around for the ride.
• Lie to Me – 70% – This is a new show and I’m taking a liking to it.  It is a bit like Psych and The Mentalist but with a slightly more scientific approach.  I enjoy Tim Roth’s character’s unapologetic approach to everyone.
• Bones – 70% – I started watching this in the first season and dropped off of it for a season or two.  Catching back up to it, I’m enjoying it.  I love the character of Sweets that they added – he makes a great comedic foil.  And as usual I like Bones’ complete lack of social aptitude.
• Smallville – 50% – This has always been a guilty pleasure of mine.  It is kind of sad that I am giving this a better rating than Heroes.  But I have kind of been enjoying this season and I’m curious where they will take it.  My one major issue with it is that I don’t see how they can transition from where they are now to what Superman is supposed to be.  I can accept their non-canonical approach, but I would imagine the goal is for the show to ultimately to trend towards the canon, and I don’t know if they can.
• Terminator – 60% – I enjoy the concept of this show – it adds another layer of depth to the canon that the movies created.  And they do a decent job to keep the story moving in an interesting direction.
• Dollhouse – 85% – Granted, this show is only 2 episodes in so far.  But it is Joss Whedon so I’m in, and I like the moral gray area in which it treads and I can’t wait to see how this house of cards starts to come apart (and again, hotness helps).
• Psych – 70% – This show, like Chuck, tends to be light on the long-term character development, but not entirely.  And this season in particular it has taken strides in that area that were getting close to overdue.  So I’m still on-board and enjoying the ride.  My only complaints are that sometimes the mysteries aren’t all that complex and the case in the most recent episode seemed to come to a close too easily.

There are some other shows that I watch as well, but these are the ones that came to mind that I felt like writing about.  There are also several great NBC comedies that I watch on Thursdays, but there isn’t much I need to say about those – they are just consistently solid.  There are also some shows that sadly have come to a close before this point in the season such as Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone.  There are also shows that have been absent for an oddly long time such as Reaper and Eureka.  In all, I think it is clear that I watch entirely too much television.