TV is the New Reading

Fall season: It’s like Christmas morning

The only parallel I can think of looking ahead to next week’s fall season premieres is tearing down the stairs and ripping open a treeful of presents.

Of course, there have already been a few opening volleys. For example, “Prison Break” broke out its third season on Monday. I’m not sure what they were thinking. The prison nearly half the returning cast has been stuck in — Sona, in Panama, which is apparently run by the inmates and is nearly as stable as Courtney Love — is hard to get a good handle on.

See, there’s this group that wants to get one specific inmate out of there. They’ve apparently got limitless and omniscient resources, but they’ve decided their best plan of action is to kidnap a couple of innocent bystanders, pressuring Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), a newbie inmate with no connections at all and ... hope for the best.

All of that being said, it does set up an interesting little puzzle for the third season — once you get past the realization that no such situation could ever occur and the story is therefore very possibly playing out in someone’s troubled subconscious, perhaps that of David Lynch.

New season

Never mind that. Very nearly everything is starting up next week. For your TiVo’ing pleasure, get ready for new seasons of “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” on Sunday; “Heroes” on Monday; “Bones,” “House,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Boston Legal” on Tuesday; “Criminal Minds” on Wednesday; “Ugly Betty,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “My Name is Earl,” “The Office” and “Smallville” next Thursday; “The Ghost Whisperer,” “NUMB3RS” and “Las Vegas” next Friday and then new “Desperate Housewives” and “Brothers & Sisters” closing out next weekend.

And those are just the returning series. Don’t forget to check out the series premieres of “Journeyman,” “Chuck” and the “Big Bang Theory” on Monday; “Reaper” and “Cane” on Tuesday; “Bionic Woman,” “Life,” “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money” on Wednesday; “Big Shots” next Thursday and “Moonlight” next Friday.

Bring your excitement and your footie pajamas. This is a good week to spend curled up in the warm glow of your television.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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