2009 Mid-Season TV Preview: ‘Lost,’ ‘Damages,’ ‘Nip/Tuck,’ ‘24,’ More

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The third full weekend in January features a stunning amount of new and returning programming. Clear some space in your DVR for the return of both “Battlestar Galactica” on The Sci-Fi Channel on Friday, January 16th and the jump from DirectTV to NBC for “Friday Night Lights” on the same night. New episodes of the third season of “FNL” have already aired on the satellite service but they’ll make their debut for everyone else in a few weeks. “BSG” enters its final season on a wave of publicity. We’ll cover both in the upcoming weeks.

Sunday, January 18th is one of the biggest days in pay cable history for new programming. Showtime and HBO have gone head-to-head with major programs before, but rarely have so many debuted on the same night. HBO brings back “Big Love” and “Flight of the Conchords” for new seasons, while Showtime starts the final season of “The L Word,” returns “The Secret Diary of a Call Girl,” and tries to turn Toni Collette into TV star with the promising “United States of Tara,” all on the same night. Watch for extensive coverage of the new and returning pay cable shows in mid-January on HollywoodChicago.com.

If you’re not overwhelmed by the first half of January, the last week provides some interesting new programs and the return of one of the best series of 2008, “Lost” on January 21st. The crew from “Lost” returns for their fifth season on ABC after their most critically acclaimed chapter since the first season. We’ve been lucky enough to see the first two of season five. Watch for a review soon. It’s the highlight of the year for a lot of TV fans.

That same night, January 21st, Fox tries for another hit with Tim Roth’s “Lie To Me,” a series about people trained enough to know if you’re telling the truth. Another new show, “Trust Me” with “Will & Grace“‘s Eric McCormack and “Ed“‘s Tom Cavanagh starts on TNT on January 26th, the same night that “The Closer” returns for more ratings gold. “The Closer” has been one of the more consistently successful shows on not just TNT but all of basic cable. It should be interesting to see if the Kyura Sedgwick vehicle, which typically airs in the summer, can find the same success in colder months.

January starts with a reality hit, so why not end it the same way? Gordon Ramsay brings his “Hell’s Kitchen” back to Fox on Thursday, January 29th. Woohoo.

Most of the interesting returning and new shows start in January, but there are a few highlights in February and March, including Joss Whedon’s HIGHLY anticipated “Dollhouse” in February on Fox and a slate of new shows for the other networks including “Castle,” “Cupid,” and “The Unusuals” on ABC, “Kings” on NBC, and “Harper’s Island” on CBS. “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race” return to CBS in February and “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Dancing With the Stars” come back to NBC and ABC, respectively, in March. Finally, the long-delayed return of “Reaper” hits The CW in March. Yeah, because that delay worked out so well for “Pushing Daisies”.

Will any of the shows in February or March be the hits that television needs to turn around this sinking ship or will everything finally be back to business as usual by the end of January? It’s the question on the mind of everyone in the television industry or the people who follow it. We’ll keep you informed with news, reviews, and interviews during the entirety of what could easily be called the most important television mid-season in the history of the medium.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]