Ahhhhhhh......fall. The cooler weather, the delicious apples, the changing of the leaves, the new tv season. Yes, this week marks the week that the television season swings into full gear. Some shows have already started and the bulk of the shows start this week or next. Below is the beginning of my tv week (the shows I'll be watching) and a few predictions.

I was going to start this yesterday but Saturday is the Siberia of television. Once the night of such popular shows as All In The Family, Love Boat, Golden Girls, Mission:Impossible, and the Jackie Gleason Show, today arguably the most exciting show on this night is Cops. Oh well! It's a perfect day to catch up on the taped shows during the week.

Sunday: Once home to such popular shows as Bonanza, Alice, Murder She Wrote, and One Day At A Time, this year boasts Desperate Housewives, Cold Case, and Grey's Anatomy.

Cold Case (or yet another show that my spouse got me hooked on that I probably never would have watched if I was single). This show follows one case a week of a person who has been dead for a while. Through flashbacks we see how the person died, what happened leading up to the death and the people involved, then and now. What first hooked me is the fact that music that was popular the year the flashbacks take place is played over the flashbacks. I must have first seen an 80's flashback show and it was a really good song and from then I was hooked. It also features the sexy Danny Pino who plays brash and quick-tempered Scotty Valens.

Desperate Housewives (or the Melrose Place of the 2000's). We got hooked on this show last year and I have to say that Teri Hatcher is deserving of the accolades she's been receiving as klutzy mom Susan Mayer. The season finale was a bit disappointing but I'm thinking that Gabrielle will lose her baby by falling, probably down a flight of stairs and Alfre Woodard (the new resident) will add a wonderful new dynamic to the cul-de-sac. Kudos to the casting department for their casting choice. Let's face it it is 2005.

Grey's Anatomy (or, oh no, not another hospital show). This was a midseason replacement last season and it's pretty good. It's got some funny moments and the cast includes the wonderful Sandra Oh. I just hope we don't have to deal too much with the obstacles between Patrick Dempsey's character and Ellen Pompeo's character. He plays a doctor, she plays a resident and, as we found out last season, he's also married.

The one that got away: Charmed, a wonderfully witty and creative show about three witches. Hello DVD.

That's the Sunday lineup. 1 CBS show and 2 ABC shows.

Enjoy your evening,

paul