When it started, Big Bang was centered around four nerds: the primary Leonard and Sheldon, plus their friends Raj and Howard. They hang out at Leonard and Sheldon's to watch movies, play video games, and perform science experiments. All is nerdy until a hot girl moves in across the hall. As Penny the waitress and would-be actress is the outsider to this strange world and under normal circumstances, she would be the surrogate. In a twist that defies most story telling and popular TV trends, Sheldon explicitly tells her the truth that we all realize: Even though she's the outsider, the guys are the normal ones and she's the strange one. Of course, that's just subjective perspective, but let's follow the course of events as they are now.

The show has now become more broad in its scope, following the women in their events that do not include the men. The figurative straw comes in the form of Amy Farah Fowler, played by TV's Blossom (I only call her that because no one would recognize the name Dr. Mayim Bialik). While intended as a "mate" for Sheldon, she seeks female companionship through Penny and Bernadette, her first girlfriends ever. She definitely can be funny, with her research into simian neurology and academic trivia. But her prescence has given momentum to a devolving syndrome in TV I like to call "I don't care about any of this".

Now before I get accused of being a chauvinistic pig who is condemning the show for adding gender balance, it has nothing to do with women being on the show - it has to do with them taking away what is good about the show. The originality behind Big Bang is its science humor. Between Schrödinger's cat references and experiments gone wrong, the show's target audience likes it not because it's men doing science things, it's because there are science things. Big Bang's audience grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy make science fun and enjoyable, while teaching us complex concepts. While Big Bang is far from educational, it does offer some practical examples that you can do at home. I'm not against girls joining in on the science fun and I don't think anyone really is. But I draw the line at girls going, "Well, this is boring, let's go shop for pretty dresses." Maybe I lack the background that would make jokes about them being the "Three Menstruteers" funny, but it doesn't have the same comical effect as the slapstick (I could have chosen a better word) humor of phallic comedy. Howard getting his junk caught in a robot hand and double entendres about floppy drives are humor at the expense of male pride (or shame, may vary) and a part of our culture, peaking with America's Funniest Home Videos. Maybe that in itself is a double standard that women want equality with, but I'll go out on a limb and say it would be less funny.

If anyone wants to call me out for being anti-feminist/equality, let me blow your minds. What is Penny's last name? Five years into the show, we've added central female characters, and the first one still doesn't have a last name. Why? It's not my fault, and I want her to have last name because her having a last name is less controversial than not having one. Aside from the feminist consequences, the question frequently arises about Howard and Raj's supposed latent homosexual relationship. They regularly embrace each other intimately against their better judgment and characters call them out on it. Raj is overly effeminate and cannot talk to attractive women, while Howard allegedly overcompensates with machismo chauvinism. With Howard on deck to get married now, Raj has become the spinster and only character to not have anyone in their lives. His only way to combat his pathological shyness is to get drunk (or think he is), which is making him an alcoholic. Sheldon's mom recently pointed out what we're all thinking - it's usually the "other kind of Indians" that have a drinking problem. Of course, that's insensitive to Native Americans, but your single ethnic character on the show is an outcast with a chemical dependence. With a diminishing role of "nerd is the new cool", we're seeing more Friends-esque commentary and socially awkward situations.

Above all else, this is supposed to be a shipper series. We know Penny and Leonard are meant to be together and the world is just trying to keep them apart. Rather than completely review The Big Bang Theory as a whole, which would obviously be a project, I somehow focused on gender studies and character pollution. We literally have characters sitting on milk crates just to be in the same room together because they're in relationships. Obviously, they never intended to be in relationships (at least at the same time). Why have they not changed their lifestyle to accommodate more people? CBS has had so much success with this series that they bought a 3 season extension, guaranteed it will see its 7th season. By then, will Penny finally confess her undying love for Leonard? Will Sheldon and Amy grow a baby in a test tube? Will Howard kill himself from the pressure of marriage? Will Raj run for public office?

Big Bang Theory fans: To fit the show into literary tropes, Penny (the waitress) enters a culture foreign to her (the nerds). Because our culture would consider her "the normal one" and she is the outsider learning how to adapt, she is the audience surrogate. But as Sheldon points out, in a confirmation of the target audience, the nerds are "the normal" ones and she is the odd one. While Penny (with no last name) intermittently adapts to their way of life, the series demonstrates the nerds evolution to become more like her. Who is the surrogate in this case?

For the uninitiated, Revision3 is a network of video podcast media founded by refugees of TechTV's merger with G4. While Leo Laporte secluded himself in the suburbs of Petaluma to start TWiT.tv, a group still in San Fransisco cobbled together one of the first legitimate networks of internet media aimed at being the television of the Internet (the third revision of television). With the help of David Prager and other production backers, former co-hosts of The Screen Savers Robert Kevin Rose and Alexander Jennings Albrecht teamed up to host Diggnation - Covering some of the hottest user-submitted stories on the social news website Digg.com.

Why does any of this matter? Why is this show so important that The New York Times had an exclusive on this? Why would CNN bother covering it back in 2007? Podcasts begin and end all the time, right? Well, Diggnation was one of the first regularly "broadcast" web series produced by a commercial studio. It's always had a cult following, mainly college guys who are willing to sit on a couch drinking beer while watching videos of guys sitting on a couch drinking beer. As boring as it sounds, they've had some genuinely hilarious moments that will forever be remember in the annals of web history. Of course, this doesn't mean the end of Kevin and Alex's roles at Revision3, nor does it mean Rev3 is ending. Alex is still cohosting The Totally Rad Show and has future projects in store, while Kevin is hosting the entrepreneurial-centric Foundation and might have something else up his sleeve.

What sets Diggnation apart from most web shows is that the following is so strong that they occasionally went on tour for live shows in front of audiences of hundreds and possibly thousands. From Comic Con to SXSW and even low key events at MSNBC, Diggnation live shows help legitimate web video as a medium, which is how Rev3 went from advertisement sponsors like GoDaddy to big names like Ford. I've had the privilege to attend 2 live Diggnation shows, both at San Diego Comic Con 2010 and 2011. While I will admit that the decline in quality/enjoyment has declined over the years, there's still nothing like it. I will always be glad that I was a part of this community and hope to see more quality programming from Revision3.

Supernatural is a Japanese anime adaptation of the long running CW show about the Winchester brothers and their demon hunting family business. The live action series is amazing and is definitely a much watch for anyone who likes The X-Files, Buffy, or fraternal humor in general. The anime series is a literal adaptation of the season 2 finale "All Hell Breaks Loose". Stars Jared Padaleki and Jensen Ackles provide voice work for their roles (the only redeeming quality), while the only other recurring character we see is Bobby, who is imagined and voice drastically different than his live action counterpart. Like most anime, the absence of a natural background soundtrack leaves only the dialogue and whatever music they put in, but the gasps, grunts, and other guttural sounds come off as awkward and distracting. Seeing how it copies the early plot of the live action series scene for scene and involves a story arc that has since been wrapped up in the live action series, it has basically no compelling qualities. The audience had serious problems with it, especially when the second part of the pilot aired, but I'm going to blame it on them not liking anime more than not liking Supernatural. Regardless, it's not going to have a future.

Alcatraz is the newest Bad Robot production, which makes it worth its weight in gold to most people. In 1963, Alcatraz officially closed and the inmates were relocated to other prisons. We find out that wasn't what happened, as every inmate and officer on the island disappeared in the middle of the night, which is why it was closed under false pretenses. In the pilot, we meet the first of the "63s", returnee by the name of Jack Sylvane, who has not aged in the 50 years of his absence. He appears out of nowhere during a tour and manages to walk out without anyone asking where he came from (not that they would recognize him, but notice that he wasn't part of the tour group). Whatever force took and returned him provides cash and a locker key, contacting him by pay phone and apparently giving him post-hypnotic suggestions to kill. As someone who doesn't exist anymore, ruthless criminals that are supposedly dead would make great mercenaries. A SFPD officer with family ties into the prison teams up with a comedic historian (Jorge Garcia) and the always mysteriously rich and powerful Sam Neil to discover how/why 300 people disappeared and returned without aging. Essentially, it's Prison Break meets The 4400, themselves being great series that are worth watching. This amalgamation, however, can definitely be skipped. The room appeared to love it, but with weak dialogue, poor editing and a beyond unbelievable premise in an otherwise grounded reality, this supposed mid-season replacement for the 11-12 season ought to be gone before the end of its first season.

The last series we saw was the CW's newest teen drama, based on a young adult book series, The Secret Circle. A young girl's mother is secretly murdered, leaving her now orphaned daughter to move in with her grandma back in the family's original hometown, one of those "everyone knows everyone" towns. As she arrives and adjusts to her life at a new school, strange events occur and it turns out her family is one of six witch families that have been part of a "secret circle" since the 1600s. At some point in her mother and grandmother's past, their abuse of witchcraft (referred to as "practicing") resulted in an incident and made a promise never to use it again, nor tell their children about their powers. Apparently, the secret got out and the new generation is using it for all sorts of sexy trickery, but the addition of our protagonist completes the circle and amplifies their power, which is going to make it harder to hide. Meanwhile, the parents of two of the kids are hatching a scheme for the kids to not only form their circle, but follow through on some plan that has been in the works for some time. As sexist as it may sound, it really seems like there is a strong trend in TV series that star girls who are unique and hold the key to saving the world or fighting off some type of evil, while all the boys fight for her affection. There's nothing wrong with it, but True Blood really seems to be giving network studios the impression that the theme is going to generate a lot of revenue, assuming their target demographic of lonely teenage girls is going to start spending more time staying in to watch TV and sacrifice going shopping, seeing movies and other girl things (okay, that's sexist [not really], but let's get real about the money making business). It's basically The Craft, Being Human, and True Blood rolled into one.

Having the TV library that I do, I stumbled upon Judd Apatow's (yes, that Judd Apatow) breakthrough series Freaks and Geeks. It was the predecessor of the other short-lived series Undeclared, but while college is more about the parties and awkward situations you get into, highschool is a more definitive period in one's life, which makes Freaks and Geeks more compelling. The series views high school life from two clique perspectives - the Freaks, who are stoner deadbeats who skip class and will likely drop out of school, and the Geeks, who are the typical nerds who stay in to watch sci-fi and play D&D. I can relate to many of the situations the Geeks find themselves in, but not to the same extremes. There were certainly groups like the Freaks seen in this series, but I'll admit to not fitting in with them.

While the series mainly focuses on the lives of Sam and Lindsay Weir (Lindsay being a Geek-turned-Freak) and their family, the later episodes delve into the lives of the Freaks, mainly Daniel and Nick, who see opportunities to reform and improve their lives. Of all the regular cast, the only character to not have his life explored was Ken (Seth Rogen), which begs the question of how he utilized this role to continue his career (he later appeared in Undeclared before hitting movies). While at first glance, the show may seem like an excuse to laugh at all those awkward highschool moments (first kiss, truth or dare, getting locked out of the locker room naked), there are definitely some real moments of drama here. The most important is Neil realizing that his father is a serial adulterer - and this his mother accepts it. It's one of those things that you never think will happen to you, but it's definitely possible that someone you know went through it. These serious events are much more impacting to a young person than someone who finds out much later in life. When you're old, you're jaded and cynical, and have a much better understanding of why your family may have problems. To children and teenagers, this is earth-shattering, and watching it happen to someone you've connected to is equally as powerful.

This series served in no small part as the launchpad for many, very successful actors. Seth Rogen and James Franco have skyrocketed to fame, often channeling their characters from this very show. Others have found similar fame, with John Francis Daley, Linda Carellini and Jason Segel finding regular TV/film work. It's really a shame that Freaks and Geeks ended where it did. It was able to end on a happy note, but so many series involving kids have succeeded and were able to show them grow up and experience young adulthood. It could be a while until the next Wonder Years/Boy Meets World/Freaks and Geeks, the other shows starring the Savage brothers being part of my childhood and influenced my life (for better or worse).

If you enjoy any other Judd Apatow work, I strongly recommend checking out this series. It's easily digestible over a weekend and can help you relive some of those special teen moments.

"Things are different now. There are no nig**** anymore, no dumb as sh** inbred white trash fools either, only dark meat and white meat."

Now that The Walking Dead has reached the end of its first season, let's have words, shall we? Is it a worthy complement to the graphic novel series by Robert Kirkman? Or is like True Blood, a spin-off independent of its source material?

Our protagonist, the surrogate that introduces us to the world of zombies, is Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes. He's shot in the line of duty and falls into a coma. When we wakes up in the hospital, the world he knew is gone. The dead have come back to life as mindless... shall we say, zombies. Some have been killed (again). Some are locked up. Most are roaming the streets. The walking dead. Survivors are scattered, hiding in secure buildings or out in the country.

A conversation on Slashfilm got me thinking. Strangely enough, no one ever says the word "zombie". For as much as this is trying to reflect the real world, no one has ever seemed to heard of zombies. There's no prerequisite knowledge about the rules of zombies as per literature and cinema. Infection is caused by bites into living victims, which transforms them into walkers. Survivors realize on their own that the only way to kill walkers is to destroy the brain (headshot). Severing the head leaves the body disabled, but the head survives, still trying to bite. Only towards the end, when the survivors encounter a scientist at the CDC, that the infection begins to be explained. I think that's what a lot of people want to know: where did the infection come from? No telling what's going to happen with the series, especially since there are rumors that executive producer Frank Darabont fired the writing staff.

Sadly, those hoping for a Romero-style zombie hunt might be disappointed. For a series with so much zombie head explosions, it's mostly just talking heads. People surviving and talking about surviving. It's an emphasis on the human condition post-apocalypse. What happens to you when you're separated from friends and family, when there are no laws of civilization, what happens when your fellow survivors become infected. It's really nothing new to zombie cinema, except this is the first mainstream zombie TV series.

The Walking Dead recently completed its 6 episode first season and has been renewed for a 13 episode second season. It has gained the strongest ratings AMC has ever seen.

For anyone looking to compare the TV series to the books, I highly recommend The Walking Dead: Compendium One, the first 48 issues for about $36. Talk about a great stocking stuffer.

I didn't really get to see much TV coverage at SDCC, mostly because I walked the exhibit floor or waited in line for Hall H. I did sit in on a panel for Marvel's "Super Hero Squad", but that's not worth mentioning. Instead, to fill in the TV section, I'll mention the live Revision3 shows I saw, Diggnation and Totally Rad Show. For those that aren't familiar, Revision3 is an "Internet television" network of video podcasts that recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Diggnation, the first official series, is the "Wayne's World" format show where Digg.com founder Kevin Rose and TechTV co-host Alex Albrecht discuss the week's most popular user-submitted stories (it usually involves drinking). The Totally Rad Show is a roundtable show where actors Alex Albrecht (of Diggnation) and Jeff Cannata and director Dan Trachtenberg discuss mainstream entertainment from movies, TV, video games and comic books, usually when one medium is adapted to another.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience to be a part of shows that I regularly watch. You're not just a member of the audience, you're a participant in what is quite possibly the future of mainstream entertainment. If you don't already listen to/watch podcasts, you really ought to try them out. There's tons of content out there with enough variety to interest everyone. Between Revision3, TWiT and ThisWeekIn, you're bound to find something you like. And you may very well refine your tastes and move on to other podcasts.

Diggnation

Diggnation was amazing, although exhausting. Like many evening/night events, it wasn't actually part of the convention. Revision3 rented the venue space at the House of Blues to have the show. When Prager announced the best way to get guaranteed admission would be to call ahead and make dinner reservations, the phone system blew up. We couldn't make reservations, so we ended up having lunch there beforehand. Little did we know, to get tickets to "pass the line" for any event at the HoB, you just need to spend $20 per person. Pff. We spent enough money to get our tickets and left at about 1:30pm - to find that at least 7 people were already in the free admission line for the 7:00pm show. Thank God we found that out, there's no way I would have waited that long just to see... wait, nevermind, check back for the movie section. We got in to the general admission floor at 6 and stood there until the show started at 7. By "started", I mean get briefly entertained by other Rev3 hosts for a few minutes and told to wait. At 8pm, Mike Relm showed up and provided an hour's worth of entertainment while we continued to stand (and put our hands in the air, waving them like we just didn't care). Finally, the real show started at 9pm. Kevin and Alex gave a great show, but the drunken festivities were hindered by Kevin's recent pneumonia. The show ended with a costume contest, which wasn't as exciting as it could have been, given the nature of the convention. After standing for about 5 hours straight, I had to give up after the show and went straight to the hotel. A perfect example of how utterly draining Comic Con can be.

Totally Rad Show

The Totally Rad Show was a lot more relaxed (and informative). Unlike Diggnation, it was actualy in the convention center (their third consecutive show). We got in line early at least 2 hours before it started, which allowed us to see 2 small panels: one on the creature design for Avatar, and another on the inner workings of comic book publication. It was pretty nice, but I honestly can't remember who they were at this point and I don't think too many people were there for them. For some reason, the TRS guys decided to give people in line right before their show free DVDs for The Lost Room. Now, if it was a consolation prize for not being able to get in, that's one thing, but I would think that those who got in line hours in advance and sat through meaningless stuff should be rewarded more than people who got in line late. Regardless, the show was good, but I didn't feel my mind blow or anything. Instead of a segmented show, it was just a general discussion of what they saw up until that point, a surprise appearance from Todd Stashwick and Dennis Calero (creators of The Devil Inside), followed by a QA session, and ended with a live discussion with the creators of The Lost Room. It was definitely a great experience to see the inspiration of this site in person. I even got to shake Alex's hand and wish him luck with his directorial debut, Neverland (which began shooting the week after SDCC and concluded a few days later).

Be sure to watch me at 37:00!

It's really no surprise that we're talking about Lost a second third fourth time; it's captured the hearts and minds of such a wide audience without much explanation.

Lost is a recurring topic around here for several reasons. It's science fiction that involves philosophy and and mythology. It's a unique blend of classic storytelling and post-modern serial drama that has had audiences glued to their TVs for five years. It's making sci-fi popular again. In an era of TV dominated by "reality shows" and medical/law procedurals, Lost has planted itself as one of the few remaining mainstream sci-fi series at the moment. And that has mostly to do with "the reality of it all" with survivors and having no resources, but also the intruiging mystery surrounding the island and its past.

I recently marathoned all five seasons (instead of going home for Christmas) just to keep everything fresh in my mind. It's such a heavily serialized show and that's what divides those who love it and those who can't get into it. It must be watched in order and preferably as fast as possible. It's practically 24 on an island. I've had discussions with many people on this subject and they were either an addict who never misses an episode, or completely unintersted in what it's about. At the very least, the requisite of having no life prevents them from getting interested.

Unfortunately for the series and its fans, there are just too many questions and not enough time to answer. The final season will have 18 episodes, a number that has been modified several times since the contract for six season was finalized, mostly because of the WGA strike and then realizing that they ran out of track (train reference). Likely, what will happen is that JJ Abrams will just spill the beans on every fan question after the finale like he did with Cloverfield.

Lost is ultimately a well written show plagued with terrible execution, which is hard to justify when most of the story was organized very early on. It's not like they're flying by the seat of their pants as they go (regardless of evidence to the contrary). Even though I am disappointed with Lost's progress, I will follow it to the end and most likely buy whatever gigantic Blu-ray set comes after. I do give it credit for doing what Heroes could not, which is make pulp fiction popular again. And for anyone who doesn't think it is, you are exactly why it's doing suc ha good job at it.

Bones

• Bones: The Man in the Fallout Shelter (2005)
• Bones: Santa in the Slush (2007)
• Bones: The Goop on the Girl (2009)

House

• House: Damned If You Do (2004)
• House: Deception (2005)
• House: Merry Little Christmas (2006)
• House: It's a Wonderful Lie (2007)
• House: Joy to the World (2008)

Twilight Zone

• The Twilight Zone: The Night of the Meek (1960)
• The Twilight Zone: The Changing of the Guard (1962)

X-Files

• The X-Files: Christmas Carol (1997)
• The X-Files: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (1998)

West Wing

• The West Wing: In Excelsis Deo (1999)
• The West Wing: Noël (2000)
• The West Wing: Bartlet for America (2001)
• The West Wing: Holy Night (2002)
• The West Wing: Abu el Banat (2003)
• The West Wing: Impact Winter (2004)

Ally McBeal

• Ally McBeal: Silver Bells (1997)
• Ally McBeal: Making Spirits Bright (1998)
• Ally McBeal: Saving Santa (1999)
• Ally McBeal: Blue Christmas (1999)
• Ally McBeal: 'Tis the Season (2000)
• Ally McBeal: The Man with the Bag (2000)
• Ally McBeal: Nine One One (2001)

Scrubs

• Scrubs: My Own Personal Jesus (2001)
• Scrubs: My Monster (2002)
• Scrubs: My Best Moment (2004)

30 Rock

• 30 Rock: Ludachristmas (2007)
• 30 Rock: Christmas Special (2008)
• 30 Rock: Secret Santa (2009)

Robot Chicken

• Robot Chicken: Christmas Special (2005)
• Robot Chicken: Robot Chicken's Half-Assed Christmas Special (2007)
• Robot Chicken: Dear Consumer (2009)

Arrested Development

• Arrested Development: In God We Trust (2003)
• Arrested Development: Afternoon Delight (2004)

Boy Meets World

• Boy Meets World: Santa's Little Helper (1993)
• Boy Meets World: Easy Street (1996)
• Boy Meets World: A Very Topanga Christmas (1997)
• Boy Meets World: Santa's Little Helpers (1998)

Frasier

• Frasier: Miracle on Third or Fourth Street (1993)
• Frasier: Frasier Grinch (1995)
• Frasier: Perspectives on Christmas (1997)
• Frasier: Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz (1998)
• Frasier: The Fight Before Christmas (1999)
• Frasier: Mary Christmas (2000)
• Frasier: We Two Kings (2002)
• Frasier: High Holidays (2003)

Futurama

• Futurama: Xmas Story (1999)
• Futurama: A Tale of Two Santas (2001)

Home Improvement

• Home Improvement: Yule Better Watch Out (1991)
• Home Improvement: I'm Scheming Of a White Christmas (1992)
• Home Improvement: 'Twas the Blight Before Christmas (1993)
• Home Improvement: Some Like It Hot Rod (1994)
• Home Improvement: 'Twas the Night Before Chaos (1994)
• Home Improvement: 'Twas the Flight Before Christmas (1995)
• Home Improvement: No Place Like Home (1996)
• Home Improvement: Bright Christmas (1997)
• Home Improvement: Home for the Holidays (1998)

The Office (US)

• The Office: Christmas Party (2005)
• The Office: A Benihana Christmas (2006)
• The Office: Moroccan Christmas (2008)
• The Office: Secret Santa (2009)

Seinfeld

• Seinfeld: The Red Dot (1991)
• Seinfeld: The Pick (1992)
• Seinfeld: The Race (1994)
• Seinfeld: The Strike (1997)

Simpsons

• The Simpsons: Short: Simpson Christmas (1988)
• The Simpsons: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (1989)
• The Simpsons: Marge Be Not Proud (1995)
• The Simpsons: Miracle on Evergreen Terrace (1997)
• The Simpsons: Grift of the Magi (1999)
• The Simpsons: Skinner's Sense of Snow (2000)
• The Simpsons: She of Little Faith (2001)
• The Simpsons: 'Tis the Fifteenth Season (2003)
• The Simpsons: Simpsons Christmas Stories (2005)
• The Simpsons: Kill Gil, Volumes I & II (2006)
• The Simpsoms: O Brother, Where Bart Thou? (2009)

Spin City

• Spin City: Miracle Near 34th Street (1997)
• Spin City: Monkey Business (1998)
• Spin City: My Dinner with Caitlin (a.k.a. Christmas 1999) (1999)
• Spin City: Toy Story (2000)
• Spin City: An Office and a Gentleman (2001)

Titus

• Titus: The Last Noelle (2000)
• Titus: Houseboat (2001)

Over the past five years, nothing has really changed to make the series compelling for this long. Nothing can really happen with the rest of the cast when the only meaningful character is House himself. Foreman's still black, Chase is still Australian and Cuddy's ass is still huge.

The biggest dynamic shift came in season four, when the cast reshuffled, putting House's team in the backseat while he searched for new recruits. A whole story arc was devoted to weeding people out, then the survivors left the cast a season later. House is sent to the insane asylum, which finally implies a huge change for the setting. Maybe House will solve medical mysteries while people think he's crazy. Unfortunately, he gets better immediately and is sent home.

Now that the "new team" has dissolved, the old team is back with a slight shift. House's license has been revoked and Foreman is in charge, leaving House to solve medial mysteries from his office. This is truly getting to be an awful series. Perhaps it's time someone pulled the plug.

No puns were harmed in the making of this article.

What started as a typical "monster of the week" supernatural drama has become a surprisingly well told story of the battle between Heaven and Hell, with Earth as the battlefield. Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester are a duo of demon hunters, following in their father's footsteps. Sam, the youngest, is the tag-along who is everyone's pawn, while Dean is the alpha who cares most about sticking it to the monsters... and ladies.

This series is full of that suspenseful action you know and love from The X-Files and the immature sexual comedy found in one beloved Fox Mulder. Granted, having two young men as the leads makes one think that it's primarily aimed at teenage girls, but the stories are surprisingly well told and the action can be intense. Getting back to the Heaven vs Hell story, the intricacies and twists make Constantine look silly.

One of the most iconic elements is classic rock music. Dean is somehow timelocked into the generation, along with its cassette format for his 1967 Impala, which gets replaced with an iPod dock by his brother during his absence. Every "Previously..." sequence is accompanied by a different classic song and most of their driving is also backed by AC/DC, Metallica and Led Zepplin.

If there's one horror related series that I have to recommend this Halloween season, it's definitely Supernatural. Need more proof that I believe in this show? I actually bought the Season Pass to the current season on iTunes. It's that good.

Adapted from the collection of short stories, Nightmares and Dreamscapes takes a dozen of the most unsettling examples from King's imagination. All stories are independent of each other, basically in the same format as Tales From the Crypt, just more psychological than gruesome.

Starting off with a (literal) bang, the first story contains William Hurt as an assassin who is hunted in his home by action figures. As silly as it sounds, the entire episode is performed with zero dialogue, leaving it all up to body language. Other episodes involve a town inhabited by deceased rock stars and a lucid man trapped in his dead body during his autopsy. They're really quite fascinating stories and are told much better in this series than in the books.

This is by no means as horrifying as the Masters of Horror series, which is comprised of mini horror films by various genre directors. This is really just King's version of The Twilight Zone, which still remains unchallenged as the best anthology of psychologically stirring tales. Boiled down, it's really no different than Tales from the Crypt style horror stories, except these are much more psychologically thrilling than violent or bloody. It's only 10 episodes and good for one run through, but it really has no repeat value.

A sleeper (hit?) from early 2000 FOX, John Doe is the story of a man who finds himself buck naked on an island off the coast of Seattle. He sees everything in black and white, has no memory of who he is, but knows everything else imaginable. The entire series unravels the mystery that led him to his situation.

John Doe stars Domic Purcell, a FOX regular more known for his role in Prison Break (before he got ripped) as the titular character who solves crimes with his knowledge of, well, everything. Imagine Sherlock Holmes with the entire knowledge of the encyclopedia. John is joined by two members of the Seattle PD, his new bartender friend and the local artist/waitress. It doesn't really sound like a team of crime fighters and the actual crime fighting was convoluted. John's vision clues are not relevant to why he's color blind and the knowledge that he uses to solve mysteries just seem useless. But the series is somehow compelling. I like it.

This is truly one of FOX's greatest mystery shows in recent years. Unfortunately, the series was canceled prematurely at a cliffhanger that revealed the shocking identity of the villain. The creators later revealed would-be secrets, ensuring that there be no reason to ever revisit the series in any way. There's no known DVD release, meaning that it's going to be hard to find.

V

The cult-tastic miniseries is returning with a new incarnation, with a lot of the flavor and cast of The 4400.

Human Target

It's not common for a graphic novel to be adapted into a television series, but it was tried in the '80s with Human Target. It didn't take off and FOX feels the need to revive it.

This series is by no means new, but definitely under the radar for being on the History Channel. It's a great complement to educational material, but also a stunning visual representation of our "home". The Universe is a documentary series that covers different parts of astronomy and cosmology. The first season deals primarily with our solar system and planets. The second is more with extra-solar phenomena and the current third is more human application of space knowledge.

What makes this enjoyable for non-astro buff is the use of analogy by the guests. Whether it's real or fake, the guests relate complicated ideas to their hobbies, like billiards and cycling. It certainly works to explain concepts like gravity and light-speed travel. The guests are usually university professors, but even world-renound astronomers like Michio Kaku and Alex Filippenko make regular appearances.

The Universe could really do well to be on Discovery, but as long as they get viewers, it should continue to do well. The first two seasons are on Blu-ray and are great demo material, but cable network releases are always more expensive than they need to be. Check back regularly on Amazon for a decent price, I wouldn't be surprised at them coming down to $40/season.

Sci-Fi really hit the nail on the head with this one. US Marshall Jack Carter stumbles into a hidden gem of a town while escorting his daughter to LA. When trouble brews on his detour, he falls into the position of town sheriff. As the straight man in this circus, we experience a land with technology beyond our imagination (like gravity weight lifting and nuclear-powered espresso machines), without our perposterous alarm ever going off. Star Colin Ferguson does a fantastic job of delivering his lines as the straight man in this comedy. Jordan Hinson, playing Ferguson's daughter, also portrays a well executed example of a character that changes because of her environment (more details below).

While the series is mostly standalone episodes, there is a overall theme that ties the story together. You don't build a zillion dollar town in the middle of nowhere and not have conspiracies. It's surprisingly compelling, given its ridiculous nature. There's nothing believable about this show and everyone knows it. The music, characters are overall aesthetic are just charming. Given the mostly teen targeted content, there are sex jokes, but they're more humorous than graphic. Expect a shot or two of hot women in their underwear for no reason. Of course, it's a show about transformation. Jack breaks out of his narrow view of life and becomes a better father. His daughter Zoe, introduced as a troublemaker, enjoys her enlightened environment so much that she becomes a straight 'A' student and participates in the culture. It's arguably an allegory for the advancement of non-traditional education to enable non-traditional learners, which is becoming a prevalent demographic in the US. In fact, watch the pilot and tell me that it doesn't appeal to this.

The only bad thing about Eureka is that the Sci-Fi can't broadcast them fast enough. The third season has been on hiatus for almost a year and with any luck, they'll be able to show it without break and get renewed. Eureka returns to Sci-Fi (soon to be SyFy) on July 10. If you have kids with a passion for science, pop this in front of them.