I’ve been firing emails back and forth with people for the last 2 weeks, and the common agreement we’ve all seemed to settle on is that this is a golden age for television. Sure, there’s some unwatchable kack on the air, but there’s also more quality material than ever before, both on cable and off. With the new fall season underway, I figure I’ll share some of my thoughts with y’all, and see if anyone cares to join in with the comments thread.

To start, this is the first year that we’ve had the DVR in this house, and it’s making life way easier. Not only was I able to retire the VCR, but I’m able to record my shows in HD. Better yet, the only network we don’t get in HD now is UPN, and that’s only 2 shows I’m missing out on.

So, let’s see. The Shield doesn’t start for another few months, and The Wire wrapped it’s latest season up quite a while ago, so there’s the number one and two shows on TV not even airing right now. That’s fine, though, because there’s still plenty of top shelf entertainment left. We’re nearing the middle of season 1 of HBO’s ‘Rome’, and I’m more into it with every episode. HBO’s also got ‘Extras’ airing now, but the first episode wasn’t that great. I loved Gervais’ ‘The Office’ so I’m willing to give ‘Extras’ plenty of time to pick it up.

Speaking of which, NBC’s version of ‘The Office’ is still one of the best shows they have these days. Coupled with ‘My Name Is Earl’, Tuesday night’s are way tough - the only night of the week where I’m recording 2 channels downstairs while watching the third in the bedroom. Also on at the exact same freaking time is ‘Supernatural’ and ‘House’. ‘House’ is a no-brainer, and ‘Supernatural’ has been a pleasant surprise. Not the greatest show in the world by any means, but I’m partial to American folklore and ghost stories, so I’m in for the season.

Along those lines, ‘Prison Break’ is harmless fun, fitting rather well into the ‘24′ mold of unbelievable happenings that are undeniably entertaining. The same could be said for the first episode of ‘Alias,’ a show I’d pretty much given up on last season. The season permiere was enjoyable enough, however, so I’ll give it another shot this fall.

Of the three alian invasion series, I’m still down with two. ‘Invasion’ lost me as of episode 2 - so goddamn boring! We’ve only watched the pilot for ‘Surface’, but it was surprisingly entertaining, though it would have been better served if they’d gone the route ‘Threshold’ did with a 2 hour premiere. ‘Threshold’, by the way, is the best of the lot. It has a Warren Ellis plot and coresponding devices, but with most of Ellis’ character’s annoying tics filtered out. Sadly, none of the sci fi shows of this season can even hold a candle to the vastly superior ‘Battlestar Galactica’. It so sucks that it’s 3 months until the next episode.

Still addicted to ‘Lost’ this season, and I’m thinking I may be about the only person on the internet that wasn’t disappointed with last season’s finale. The first 2 episodes were great stuff no matter how you slice it, so I’m looking forward to this season in a big way. On at the same time is ‘Veronica Mars’ which was easily the best new show on network TV last year. The season premiere felt a lot like a pilot with way too much exposition about the characters, but I’m assuming things will start rolling nicely as the season moves on.

Christ, that’s a lot of words. Other shows I’m totally in for this season - ‘The Simpsons’, ‘America Dad’ (vastly improved over the first few episodes), ‘Family Guy’ (funniest show on TV), ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Kitchen Confidential’, ‘Everyone Hates Chris’, ‘Numbers’ and Lots of TV to watch, but with the baby on the way, it’s a helluva lot cheaper than dinner and a movie.

Already dumped: ‘Reunion’ - promising concept, absolutely crap execution. ‘Invasion’ - way too slow and boring. ‘Criminal Minds’ - Mandy Patinkin in a horribly average crime procedural show. Yawn.

Whatchu watching?

On the TV