What's on the Boob Tube?

TV. The old Boob Tube. The greatest invention of all time and my source of daily entertainment. I have been addicted to television since a very young age. I’ve had my love affair with it all. Cartoons, game shows, sitcoms, drama, the movie of the week, Monday Night Football, NBC’s Thursday night lineup, ESPN, court shows, heck, even a brief stint with soap operas. Point is, if it’s ever been broadcast on television, I’ve probably tried it out at least once. Some shows have stuck, some never make the cut. But thanks to my best friend TIVO, I can try them all. I can’t live without my TIVO, changed my life. Without it, and a little help from TV on DVD, I would never have found such gems like Mad Men or Dexter. And for that matter, I wouldn’t be utterly addicted to 60 minutes every week, but I digress, this column is meant to for me to wax poetic on whatever I find interesting on TV. So here goes. Here is a look at what was great about the 2008 fall season and what looks promising for 2009. Enjoy.

What was great this fall:

Season 3 of Dexter – Quickly becoming my favorite show on TV. Discovered this gem on DVD over the summer and was sucked right in. Dexter is helping Showtime take the mantle from HBO in terms of top cable network. Shows like Weeds, Brotherhood and Californication are all also highly recommended.

Fringe, my favorite new show of the year – When a new show put together by J.J. Abrams came up on the slate for 2008, it automatically gets my attention. And this show delivers. It has gotten consistently better each week and taps right into that X-Files type vibe.

The return of Friday Night Lights – Now I haven’t seen one of the new episodes from Season 3 yet, only because they are available via DirecTV only right now. But believe me, when these pop up again this spring on NBC, I will be right there following the Dillon Panthers.

What looks good in 2009:

Lost Season 5 – If you are a fan at this point in Lost’s run, you have got to be pumped for what’s in store for our favorite group of castaways. Rumors run rampant on what is to come with Lost, what’s true and what’s not, I could care less and really don’t pay much attention. This may be the only show that I don’t try to always find spoilers. I just kind of let it happen, then digest.

The return of my two favorite FX shows, Damages and Rescue Me – Thanks to the writer’s strike, it seems like years since I have seen either one of these gems. The first season of Damages reminded me a lot of the show Murder One (look it up if you get the chance, especially season one.) The entire season revolved around one court case with a major event happening within the first 10 minutes. The rest of the season is spent in real time and flashbacks as see how it all unfolds. Glenn Close is fantastic as is Ted Danson. A very solid pick on DVD, especially if you dig murder/crime/court shows. Rescue Me is all Dennis Leary and outside of the minisodes that aired over the summer, it is time to get the boys from the firehouse back on TV.

The series end to arguably the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica – This will be a sad end but with the spin off Caprica set to launch in 2010, I am dealing well. I can’t recommend this show enough, especially to those who write it off as just Sci-Fi. Yeah, it is science fiction, but at the highest level. At it's core though it is a fantastic human drama that weaves action, politics, romance and religion perfectly to produce the best hour of television week in and week out. And bonus, as we head to the conclusion of Season 4, there are 10 webisodes running now on SciFi.com to hold you over.

The Return of Reaper - Season 2 of my favorite new show from last year kicks-off this March as Reaper makes its way back to The CW. Reaper is a wacky take on the old 'Deal with the Devil' concept and one of Angry Max’s favorites. If you dug shows like Charmed, Angel or Buffy it is worth a look. Season 1 is available now on DVD.

The Joss Wheadon produced Dollhouse - The creator of two of my all-time favorite shows in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly comes back to TV with Dollhouse. There seems to be some negative buzz in some circles around it stemming from re-shoots and creative differences, but regardless I’ll be there.