Welcome back! Before we look at returning shows, let’s take a look back at new shows…

It was quite the summer with ABC partially running off the late, lamented Knights of Prosperity (with Ray Romano). Anyone wanting to see the rest of the episodes had to log on to the website. It was quite funny but only a handful of people saw. Fox also finished off "The Loop’s" run with a full season in three weeks. The quality was still there, but now its lead actor is in Reaper, another good show on the CW. Creature Comforts, the British show adapted to America, also tanked with virtually no promotion by CBS. It was cute while it lasted, and great animation. But no, the big comedy success of the summer was HBO’s brilliant Flight of the Conchords. I’m already dying to get the DVDs and see season 2.

And on to the new shows this fall (by the way, I’ll only review the first couple of episodes for now, and continue if there is any interest/popular demand beyond that)…

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=backtoyou

Back to You: "Pilot," "Fish Story" (9/19, 9/26/07) - Fox’s much-hyped new sitcom stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as a local news duo. Grammer is the one who went to a larger market and was demoted back to where he started. Heaton is the woman with whom in the first episode it’s revealed, he has a child he never knew about. Fred Willard is also welcome here as sportscaster Marsh. The "meteorologist" and hapless news director are good for a few laughs too. Here’s hoping this show can bring back the three-camera sitcom mojo. Grade: B+

http://video.aol.com/video-search/query/bang%20cbs%20on%20aol

The Big Bang Theory: "Pilot," "The Big Bran Hypothesis" (9/25, 10/1/07) - Two geeks live across the hall from a gorgeous blonde in an apartment complex. And… start the funny! Since Kaley Cuoco was on "8 Simple Rules…" with John Ritter, the Suzanne Somers comparisons were inevitable. So now she’s in sort of a Three’s Company mixed with Beauty & the Geek. So far, however, her character has no real personality to speak of, one of the geeks is irritating as hell, the main geek is barely likable… their two weird geek friends should have the show. So far, not loving it. Grade: D+

And now for the returning shows!

http://video.aol.com/video-search/query/mother%20cbs%20on%20aol

How I Met Your Mother: "Wait for It…" (9/25/07) - It’s back! Mandy Moore and Enrique Iglesias guest star as Ted and Robin’s "rebounds" respectfully. The parts with Iglesias were surprisingly the highlights. It’s no "Slap Bet" but still very funny… In fact I think a lot of HIMYM fans have been saying that exact sentence. Grade: B+

"We’re Not From Here" (10/1/07) - Ted and Barney pose as out-of-towners to get women. It’s a good thing they had a line about this idea coming from Seinfeld… because this idea came from Seinfeld. It was a pretty good plot for the two, if a tad predictable. Loved Marshall and Lily’s letters from beyond the grave though. Grade: B-

http://www.nbc.com/My_Name_Is_Earl/video/episodes.shtml

My Name is Earl: "My Name is Inmate 28301-016" (9/27/07) - Earl, still in prison, paying off Joy’s debt to society, runs into an old enemy (Ben Foster, in an Emmy-worthy performance) who inadvertently convinces Earl to take up working his way down the List again. Meanwhile, Joy (Emmy winner Jaime Pressly!) has to deal with looking after Randy. Grade: B+

My Name is Earl: "The Gangs of Camden County" (10/4/07) - Earl tries to resolve differences between prison gangs to get a month off of his sentence (I wonder if good deeds like this will eventually get Earl released - that would certainly be more in keeping with the show’s theme than Earl being released due to some snafu). This leads to a not-altogether-unpredictable twist… but it’s still funny. Even funnier are Randy’s attempts to get into prison with Earl. Randy ends up a prison guard which should make for some interesting plots in the future. Grade: B

http://www.nbc.com/30_Rock/video/episodes.shtml

30 Rock: "Seinfeld Vision" (10/4/07) - The Emmy-winning(!) series returns. Unless you lived under a rock for the past month, you knew Jerry Seinfeld was guest starring. Any fears that the hype would drown out the quality of the writing were… well, slightly unfounded. It wasn’t the best episode of the series ever, but it definitely had its moments (loved Tracy’s callback to Liz’s comment about wearing white to funerals in other countries, and "Mystic Pizza: The Musical"). We had another Tracy-Kenneth subplot but this one wasn’t quite as funny as those in the past. Still, I’m just happy to see this show get a second season, and definitely looking forward to the rest of it. Grade: B+

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes.shtml

The Office: "Fun Run" (9/27/07) - "Office," ah, how we’ve missed you… So we don’t find out right away but Jim and Pam are together, and keeping it a secret. The camera crew call them on it first. This happens after Michael tells us about living with the now-unemployed Jan, and proceeds to hit Meredith with a car. The way Michael broke this news to the office was classic. Soon Michael decides to get on his high horse as usual, and organizes a "fun run" to benefit rabies (which it turns out Meredith got with the bat last season). Perfection from start to finish. Grade: A+

The Office: "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" (10/4/07) - Ryan completes the transition to complete d-bag here, having taken Jan’s job back. Creed and Jan convince Michael that Ryan is after the older employees’ jobs, so Michael sets out to prove that the "older ways" of doing things are best… leading him to crash his car into the lake. I kid you not. Also PB&J (Pam & Jim) are revealed to the office as a whole. Grade: A-

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=simpsons

The Simpsons: "He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs" (9/23/07) - Homer is invited on board Mr. Burns’ plane after saving his life, and soon gets used to the good life. Stephen Colbert and Lionel Ritchie guest star but the best part by far is the opening sequence which ties up some loose ends from the movie. Grade: B

The Simpsons: "The Homer of Seville" (9/30/07) - Turns out Homer has a beautiful singing voice when he’s lying down. Placido Domingo guest stars (wonder what they would have done had it been Pavarotti). Better than average Homer-centric episode. This show may get its mojo back yet after the movie. Grade: B+

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=kingofthehill

King of the Hill: "Suite Smells of Excess" (9/23/07) - Back for an unlikely, but welcome 12th season. Bobby gets into football, at long last. The majority of the episode takes place at one Texas-Oklahoma game, and the guys find an abandoned suite at the stadium. However, they are found out and have to leave amongst victorious Oklahoma fans. Grade: B+

King of the Hill: "Bobby Rae" (9/30/07) - As The Simpsons starts its season focusing on Homer, KOTH plays to its strengths as well, focusing on Bobby. This time he is an unlikely protest leader against the evils of soft drinks in school (the latest satire of a topical issue for this show). Grade: B

Family Guy: "Blue Harvest" (9/23/07) - It’s a Star Wars parody! And for the most part, not at all repetitive! This may very well end up the best episode of the season
(though the upcoming 100th episode may give it a run for its money). Grade: B+

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=familyguy

Family Guy: "Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song)" (9/30/07) - Brian moves in with Jillian (Drew Barrymore) and Stewie soon follows suit, sabotaging their relationship. Also, we actually have a Meg subplot! However, it’s not terribly interesting, though Chris’ conversations with her boss are quite hilarious. Grade: B

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=americandad

American Dad: "The Vacation Goo" (9/30/07) -

In season 3, this show is starting to look more like a traditional sitcom (which is weird to say) than Family Guy, so at least it’s finding its own voice. This was a pretty good season premiere, after Stan uses some hypnotic goo to convince his family that they’re on vacation when they’re really not… then when they actually are on vacation they don’t believe him. And, cannibalism is involved. Grade: B+

Next week: The return of South Park and the Sarah Silverman Program!

written by: Henry Hanks