MONDAY (tonight)
Raising the Bar
TNT

The Middleman
ABC Family

WEDNESDAY
Bones
FOX

Sons of Anarchy
FX

Project Runway
Bravo

FRIDAY
Stand Up To Cancer
ABC, CBS, NBC

SUNDAY
Mad Men
AMC

True Blood
HBO

Entourage
HBO

Sorry, but I’ve never followed Prison Break, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl or The Shield. And I will not be tuning in to the new 90210 either; not without Andrea Zuckerman!

By date….

August 26
Greek
ABC Family

September 1
Prison Break
FOX

September 1
Raising the Bar
TNT
Drama

September 1
One Tree Hill
CW

September 1
Gossip Girl
CW

September 2
The Shield
FX

September 2
90210
CW
Drama

September 3 *
Bones
FOX

September 3 *
Sons of Anarchy
FX
Drama
For the cast alone: Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Katey Sagal (Helen on Lost), Mitch Pileggi (AD Skinner on The X-Files), Drea De Matteo (Adrianna on The Sopranos), Sprague Grayden (Heather on Jericho), Dayton Callie (Charlie Utter on Deadwood)

September 7 *
True Blood
HBO
Drama
From Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball. Need I say more?

September 7 *
Entourage
HBO

September 8
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
FOX

September 9 *
Fringe
FOX
Drama
I saw a 90 minute unedited version of the pilot at Comic-Con and fell in love immediately. From the mind of J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost), featuring stellar new discovery Anna Torv and Lance Reddick (The Wire, Lost) and Joshua Jackson (whom you will no longer refer to as Pacey from Dawson’s Creek after episode 1).

September 9
Privileged
CW
Comedy Drama

September 10
Do Not Disturb
FOX
Comedy

September 10
‘Til Death
FOX

September 13
Saturday Night Live
NBC

September 16 *
House
FOX

September 18
Survivor: Gabon
CBS

September 18
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
FX

September 18
Smallville
CW

September 18
Supernatural
CW

September 22 *
Heroes
NBC

September 22
CSI: Miami
CBS

September 22
How I Met Your Mother
CBS

September 22
Boston Legal
ABC

September 22
The Big Bang Theory
CBS

September 22
Worst Week
CBS
Comedy

September 22
Two and a Half Men
CBS

September 23
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
NBC

September 23
NCIS
CBS

September 23
Without a Trace
CBS

September 23
The Mentalist
CBS
Drama

September 24
Lipstick Jungle
NBC

September 24
Knight Rider
NBC
Drama

September 24
The New Adventures of Old Christine
CBS

September 24
CSI: NY
CBS

September 24
Criminal Minds
CBS

September 24
Gary Unmarried
CBS
Comedy

September 25 *
The Office
NBC

September 25 *
Ugly Betty
ABC

September 25 *
Grey’s Anatomy
ABC

September 25
My Name is Earl
NBC

September 25
ER
NBC

September 28
Desperate Housewives
ABC

September 28 *
Brothers & Sisters
ABC

September 28 *
Dexter
Showtime

September 28 *
Amazing Race
CBS

September 28
Californication
Showtime

September 28
Cold Case
CBS

September 28
The Unit
CBS

September 28
American Dad
FOX

September 28
The Simpsons
FOX

September 29
Chuck
NBC

October 1 *
Pushing Daisies
ABC

October 1 *
Dirty Sexy Money
ABC
I’ve seen the first two episodes and really like the direction and tone…

October 1 *
Private Practice
ABC

October 1
Friday Night Lights
DirecTV
Sadly, I will not be able to catch these new episodes until they air on NBC in the future

October 3 *
The Ex List
CBS
Comedy
Only because I love love love Elizabeth Reaser (Ava/Rebecca on Grey’s Anatomy), and it’s about time she got her own show

October 3 *
Life
NBC

October 3
Numb3rs
CBS

October 3
Everybody Hates Chris
CW

October 3
Ghost Whisperer
CBS

October 3
The Game
CW

October 6 *
Samantha Who
ABC

October 9
CSI
CBS

October 9
Kath and Kim
NBC
Comedy

October 9
Eleventh Hour
CBS
Drama

October 9
Life on Mars
ABC
Drama

October 10
The Starter Wife
USA

October 13
My Own Worst Enemy
NBC
Drama

October 14
Eli Stone
ABC

October 17
Crusoe
NBC
Drama

October 30 *
30 Rock
NBC

CSI. Law & Order: SVU. Touched by an Angel. NCIS. Crossing Jordan. Robot Chicken…and a little show called Lost.

What do those films and TV series’ have in common? They’ve all featured William Mapother, whom I was honored to interview over on my Lost blog.  He was nice enough to take the time out of his busy rehearsal schedule to answer a few questions; a very kind and fan-friendly actor!

Lost fans will recognize her as Cassidy, the mother of Sawyer’s yet-to-be-seen daughter Clementine. Deadwood fans know her as Joanie Stubbs. And now Friday Night Lights fans will become acquainted with the great Kim Dickens, as she will be playing Matt Saracen’s mother for an undisclosed number of episodes when the show returns for Season 3.

Even though she’s only appeared on three episodes of Lost, I’m hoping to see Dickens’ character again in Season 5. Given that many of us think that Sawyer whispered instructions about baby Clementine to Kate before jumping out of the helicopter (and that Kate had met Cassidy before), I wouldn’t be surprised.

Here’s the situation. The Middleman is a fantastic show, and you’re probably not watching it. YET.

Let’s get you hooked. Start with the trailer.

Then pick up your remote and set your TiVO or DVR to record The Middleman on ABC Family.  Miss an episode or two? You can catch up with the show on iTunes (but it isn’t necessary to have watched it from the beginning).

Admit it, very few series’ on television make you laugh out loud on a consistent basis. Aren’t you tired of staged ‘reality’ and dark, overly dramatic fare on the small screen? And yes, I realize the irony of a Lost fanatic asking this question.

The Middleman is like a live-action comic book adaptation of Alias…if it had a sense of humor, pop culture references, better costumes & villains and quirky dialogue.

This is Wendy Watson (aka Dub Dub or Dubby). She is an artist and a temp, and was recruited by the Middle Man (aka Sexy Boss Man) to fight evil…so you don’t have to.  Trust me, it makes for a hilarious and very entertaining hour of television.

Tonight’s episode features none other than Kevin Sorbo (Hercules). Here is a sneak peek, courtesy of io9 and TheMiddleBlog.

So after you watch an episode or four, fall in love and subsequently set a Season Pass, the show needs your support in order to grace us with a second season.  Please visit the official Middle Man page on ABCfamily.com often, and leave comments.

If you don’t have a Nielsen box (and I’ve never met anyone who does), go to Hey! Nielsen to let the number crunchers know how feel about the series. 

Even if you just tune in, the show has a chance to continue on.

Have I led you astray with such high praise before? No.

Give The Middle Man an hour of your life, because for at least 60 minutes a day, you deserve to be entertained by a great premise, stellar cast and clever content.

I am out of excuses, but I would like to state that despite overwhelmingly negative reviews from friends and general word-of-mouth, it tops my list of must-see summer films.  I. Have. To. See. It.

This delay is painful, believe me. It is akin to missing a new episode of Lost. 

So of course I will provide a full report after I drag myself to the theater.

p.s. I added this Polish poster because it’s far cooler than the U.S. version.