Television shows worth making time for

Even in the sleepiest season, it's worth setting your alarm for a few TV appointments.
TV critic Robert Bianco offers up a list of the shows he watches because he wants to, not because he has to.

As any viewer knows, this has hardly been a golden fall for the networks. The new shows aren't making much of an impact, and the most popular returning shows aren't as popular this year as they were last.

Still, if you're looking to be entertained after a hard day's work — and for most viewers, that's the function prime-time TV serves — there are still shows that suit the purpose. They may be less plentiful and harder to find than they were last season, but they're out there if you know where to look.

To simplify the search, I'm offering this night-by-night, hour-by-hour, what-to-watch journal, with one critical caveat attached: This is not a list of what I watch, because as a TV critic I'm duty-bound to keep track of a host of shows I'd never recommend to anyone else. That's how I know not to recommend them.

Instead of a critic's journal, think of this as a quick viewer's guide to the best — or, in some cases, the least terrible — shows the broadcast networks have to offer. (Times are ET/PT, and half-hour periods are separated by slashes; in time slots listing two shows, watch the one in bold and record the second, or catch up in reruns.)

Monday

8:00Yes Dear/Still Standing, CBS

We're only just underway, and we're already compromising. While neither of these CBS family comedies is as terrible as some would have you believe, neither is as strong as anyone might wish. Dear and Standing are inoffensive, mildly amusing ways to pass the time in an hour that offers precious little from which to choose, unless you're a fan of WB's sentimental 7th Heaven or UPN's crass comedies. And if you're a fan of NBC's Fear Factor, well, that's something you might just want to keep to yourself.

9:00 Monday Night Football, ABC /Two and a Half Men,CBS; Las Vegas, NBC

To get to Men, most viewers go through Everybody Loves Raymond, but that's something I'm not willing to do. As far as I can see, the more Emmys that show wins, the less palatable its characters become. (They now boil down to an annoying dweeb, his smug wife, his soul-destroying parents, and his grotesquely stupid brother. What a fun bunch.) My advice: Try out ABC's football game, and then switch to Men, a pleasant comedy made special by the skills of Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer. And now and then, check in on Las Vegas, a glossy pop diversion that would benefit from some pruning of its regular cast.

10:00CSI: Miami, CBS; Monday Night Football, ABC

In its second season, this CSI spinoff has found its own style through cases that reflect Miami's cultural diversity and Caribbean heat. David Caruso has been terrific from Day One (and what a joy it is to have him back on TV and, so far, controversy-free). And each week, the supporting cast grows stronger around him, particularly Emily Procter, who provides a drolly amusing counterpoint to the more intense Caruso.

Tuesday

8:00Gilmore Girls,WB; 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, ABC

What's happened to our Girls? While stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel remain as enchanting as ever, their show's string of rambling, virtually plot-free episodes is testing our devotion. (On the other hand, no plot is preferable to plots built around "study trees.") It's enough to send you flying to 8 Simple Rules, which, in its exploration of the family's life after the loss of John Ritter, has become one of TV's more interesting sitcom experiments. I'm not convinced the experiment can work, but it has turned an easily ignored show into one worth tracking.

9:0024,Fox; Frasier, NBC/Less Than Perfect, ABC

Anyone who thought 24 had lost a step this season should have been delighted by last week's shocker, which proved this innovative TV offspring of the Saturday afternoon serials still knows how to pull the rug out from under us. Stay on the clock and tape a resurgent Frasier, which, while not quite the classic it was, has regained its rightful place among TV's elite. (Though I almost hesitate to praise Frasier, for fear it will encourage the apparently growing delusion that there's another year left in the show. End. Please.) At 9:30, set your recorder to switch to Perfect, a fine little show that has gotten a tad off balance. The solution? More Andy Dick and Eric Roberts, less Will Sasso.

10:00NYPD Blue,ABC; Judging Amy, CBS

Having recovered from a near-fatal slump a few seasons back, Blue now churns along as one of TV's most dependable adult dramas. The cases have become a bit harder to solve, and the show has found a fresh dynamic in the partnership between the surprisingly strong Mark-Paul Gosselaar and the always remarkable Dennis Franz. Blue, however, is on hiatus, which gives you a chance to look in on Judging Amy and learn why Tyne Daly deserved that Emmy.

Wednesday

8:00That 70's Show, Fox/It's All Relative, ABC or A Minute with Stan Hooper, Fox

Our first tie. Watch That 70's Show, or nothing, at 8, and then choose between these promising new sitcoms at 8:30. As is common with freshman series, neither show has found the right tone yet: Relative can be too shrill, Hooper too silly. But they have strong casts and unusual settings, and that's enough to set them above an abnormally weak sitcom crop.

9:00Angel,WB; The O.C., Fox

Yeah, I know, most of you aren't going to watch Angel. Which is a shame, because new blood from Buffy and an altered format have made Angel TV's best fantasy. And speaking of fantasies, why do people complain that The O.C. doesn't reflect the "real" Orange County? This buoyant teen romance doesn't even reflect the real Planet Earth; that's its appeal. Certainly, both choices are more appealing than West Wing, a soap opera shell of its former self. The cast is still fabulous, which makes Wing's decline at the hands of its new producers all the more painful: It's like watching a great Thoroughbred being ridden by a spoiled child.

10:00 Nothing

With ABC pulling Karen Sisco until spring (when it will move, one hopes, to a more congenial night), there is now nothing in this slot to watch. And yes, people, that includes Law & Order. If you want TV to become more creative, you need to wean yourselves off at least one of the L&O clones. They'll continue to reproduce until you do.

Thursday

8:00Friends, NBC

True, Friends has been a little flatter this season than one might have hoped or expected. (Why would they throw Phoebe's engagement away as a subplot?) But it is still TV's best sitcom and one of the few that doesn't seem to reek of desperation. In its final season, let that be the lesson to some of its competitors: Don't push so hard. You'll make more friends.

8:30Survivor,CBS; Scrubs, NBC

This season more than ever, you can come into the second half of Survivor and not feel as if you've missed much. Or you can watch Scrubs, NBC's quirkiest sitcom, on those weeks when NBC actually airs it in this time slot.

9:00CSI, CBS; Will & Grace, NBC

This may be the week's toughest choice. If it were standing alone, I'd pick Will & Grace, which has softened its characters without losing its humor. And with so few decent sitcoms these days, it's hard to pass up one of TV's most reliably, outrageously funny options. But it doesn't stand alone, and if you watch Will, you're stranded at 9:30. Which is why so many of us watch CSI instead, a show that created the "forensics procedural" mini-genre while reinvigorating the TV mystery. And it still has a way of wandering into odd corners such as "plushy" sex.

10:00Without a Trace,CBS

It's quite a lineup CBS has on Thursdays. This consistently strong procedural matches CSI for the complexity of its plots. But where CSI stresses eccentricity, Trace stresses emotion. (Sometimes too heavily: They can't keep traumatizing the staff each week.) Even so, the show boasts intricate stories and a first-rate cast led by one of TV's best actors, Anthony LaPaglia. Plus, if you watch Trace, you'll never have to suffer through another "Biggest Episode Ever!" of ER.

Friday

8:00Joan of Arcadia,CBS

Joan talks to God, a twist you either find intriguing or off-putting. If you're willing to go along, you'll discover an unexpectedly smart and complex family drama that gently explores philosophical issues while maintaining an engaging sense of humor. The premise may be a fantasy, but the characters and the problems they face are very real.

9:00Miss Match,NBC

Where Joan has lived up to the promise of its pilot, and perhaps exceeded it, Miss Match has not. Alicia Silverstone is charming (though, apparently, is less of a TV draw than NBC imagined), but everything else about her show just seems sort of weightless.

10:00The Handler,CBS

Here's a show that could benefit from a lighter touch. Still, star Joe Pantoliano is a very good actor, and this is a good role for him. On a Friday night, that can be enough.

Saturday

Most of the networks take Saturday off, and those that don't, should. (Really, CBS. Hack? Come on.) Read a book. Go out to dinner. Give the TV a rest.

Sunday

7:0060 Minutes,CBS; King of the Hill, Fox

Yes, 60 Minutes is still TV's best and most serious newsmagazine, but there are days when watching it feels more like a duty than a pleasure. On those days, switch over to King of the Hill.

8:00Simpsons/Bernie Mac,Fox; Cold Case, CBS

This is another close battle. The Simpsons has become erratic, but it's still the only dependable home for prime-time social satire. And let's face it: No matter how weak an episode may be as a whole, one of the Simpsons will always do something to make you laugh. While you're laughing, however, keep an eye on Cold Case. It went into a slump after its well-regarded pilot, but it's picked up over the past few weeks. Now we just have to see which of those episodes, the good or the bad, represent the real Case.

9:00Alias,ABC;Malcolm in the Middle/Arrested Development, Fox

No show on TV these days is more exhilarating than Alias, or takes more joy in its own goofy implausibilities. Each season, wickedly clever creator J.J. Abrams builds a ridiculously elaborate house of cards and before you can tire of it, he knocks it down and starts all over. Which means in a few weeks we may find out what happened to Sydney during those missing two years, and with any luck we may be rid of Vaughn's drippy wife. The only thing negative I can say is that Alias runs opposite two of TV's more creative sitcoms, Malcolm and Arrested Development. That's why recorders were invented.

10:00Nothing

Really, what can you watch? Until someone comes up with something decent for the slot, you just have to go to bed early and dream of the days when Boomtown ran here. And hope that a day is coming when the bright spots in the network schedule are easier to find.