Mid-season Reviews: My favorites this season

Today is the start of my Mid-Season Review Week! This week I'll be writing about all of my favorite shows (and the ones I'm not digging), and on Friday I'll have a special post for you with information about the new shows I'm looking forward to in January and some schedule changes to watch out for.

For my first post I decided to concentrate on my favorites. These are the shows that I'm REALLY digging this season for one reason or another. Read on to find out why.

Chuck - I love Chuck. Everyone should watch Chuck. What is so great? Reappearance of Chuck's long lost love? Watching fake undercover girlfriend Sarah have to watch Chuck with long lost girlfriend? The amount of laughter that comes when Casey sings a high c? This show has everything. It has the funny everyday stuff at the Buy More, with Chuck's sister and her fiance. It has the drama with Chuck trying to deal with his place in the world and figure out how to manage his relationships with people who don't know about the CIA side of things. It has the action of the cases he embarks on with Casey and Sarah. It's just an all around great show, and the chemistry between Chuck & Sarah is just awesome. If you're not watching it, I think you should go and start right now! You can get the first season on DVD if you missed it!

Flashpoint - I don't know if Flashpoint is technically part of this season - it started in the summer and carried over into the beginning of the regular season, and has new episodes coming back in early 2009. The show stars Enrico Colantoni (Just Shoot Me, Veronica Mars) as the leader of the Strategic Response Team, and elite group of police who deal with hostage situations, snipers, and bomb threats. The show is based upon the experiences of the real life Toronto Police Emergency Task Force, and every episode is interesting. It has a great balance between the cases and following the feelings of the team for their families, each other, and their jobs. The show also starts Amy Jo Johnson (Felicity) as the sole female team member. If you're a fan of shows like Criminal Minds and CSI it would be worth it to try this one out!

Life - Being big fans of the crime show genre (Law & Order is Justin's absolute favorite show), we started watching this when it came on last year. At first I was unsure about Damian Lewis, but I came to like him and even find him slightly attractive in his quirk. As the show has gone on, I have enjoyed the interactions between him and his partner, between him and his accountant (who he met in prison), and between his partner and their boss (played by Donal Logue, who I also like). The show focuses on a former police officer who, after years of false imprisonment, returns to the force with a decidedly different philosophy. If you're a fan of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Monk, or other quirky detectives, you might also enjoy Life. There's an ongoing backstory involving who framed the main character for the crime he didn't commit, and his off-the-books investigation.

Pushing Daisies - The show is like a fairy tale. It revolves around Ned, a man who can bring dead people back to life through the power of his touch. He must touch them again and put them back to death (permanently) after no more than a minute or another person will die. I barely even know where to start when talking about Pushing Daisies. When I start to think about it, I just get sad because I know that it doesn't have much longer since it's been cancelled. It makes me really sad. That said, this season (it's second) has been just as good as the first. They've spent more time developing the supporting characters, and I love Kristin Chenowith as Olive, the woman whose unrequited love for the piemaker sent her this season to a nunnery. The chemistry between Lee Pace (Ned) and Anna Friel (Chuck) continues to be heartbreaking and amazing. The narration, the visuals, the scripts, the plots, it all works.

South Park - South Park has been on for a long time, and we haven't been avid watchers. Over the years we've watched it on and off, and enjoyed it some, and had our interest wane. This season though, I have to say, they are really pulling out the good stuff. The episode about the vampire kids? Hilarious. Peruvian Pipe Bands and giant guinea pigs? Excellent. And, my favorite... Oceans Eleven starring Barack, McCain, and Sarah Palin? It was completely hilarious. If you stopped watching because things weren't as great, now is the time to start again.

Supernatural - I knew immediately when this show started that I was going to like it. Focusing on two brothers whose father is missing, the beginning of the show was all about them trying to find them. Throughout the course of the show the focus has changed, and I am absolutely loving this season. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have amazing chemistry as the Winchester boys. Their struggle to stay a family and a team as they clash with their lives moving in different supernatural directions is wonderfully played out. This season has brought the addition of angels to the demons that have already been in Sam & Dean's lives. It's hard to know what is "right" and who they can trust, and that just adds to the enjoyment of watching. If you were a fan of The X-Files, you will almost certainly love this show. That was the first thing that drew me into it. It's definitely worth going back to the beginning and catching up, but they also give a recap every week at the beginning of the episode.

Bones - I love this show. It follows Dr. Temprance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), who works for the Jeffersonain in Washington DC as a forensic anthropologist. She works with Agent Seely Booth (David Boreanaz) on cases where bodies are found with mostly only bones left. Deschanel plays the character superbly, her analytical take on everything and inability to grasp certain pop culture references and cultural norms is hilarious. The chemistry between Deschanel and Boreanaz is absolutely superb, and this season it's been stepped up a notch. A great source of entertainment this season has been the revolving door of lab assistants after the imprisonment of Brennan's protege at the end of last season. It's different than CSI because of it's quirk and comedy. It's more character driven, and the relationships range from serious to fun and playful.

30 Rock - Well, simply put, this is one of the funniest shows on television. This season has not disappointed, with a show featuring Oprah and another featuring Jennifer Anniston. This is the hot show right now - the show that everyone wants to guest on. And for good reason. I consider a comedy a success if it makes me laugh out loud more than once every single episode, and Tina Fey and her writing staff do the trick. Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski are hilarious as the two stars of the sketch show where this behind-the-scenes comedy takes place. They are so out of touch with reality, it's impossible not to be entertained by their antics. And despite how anyone might feel about Alec Baldwin as a person, he is absolutely fabulous as the wanna-be CEO of NBC. You can jump in to this show at any time, then once you're hooked check out the first season on DVD.