January is here, the holiday repeats are over, and television is starting to churn out new episodes of some of shows, some of our favorites and some we wish wouldn't come back.  Here's my annual look at how the current season is measuring up now that we're at the mid-point.

The Event was a huge disappointment.  I previously wrote about how it was trying too hard to be like Lost, and subsequent episodes did nothing to bolster the conspiracy sci-fi drama's quality.  This is a program that is much ado about nothing.  And nothing, and nothing, and nothing, and nothing. 

Fringe, on the other hand, continues to be the science fiction series to see.  Full of originality, great writing, multi-faceted characters, mindblowing concepts, and superb production values, it deserves higher ratings.  I previously wrote about the show here (where I boldly declare it's the best science fiction shows on TV) and here (where I practically beg you to watch it).  Believe the hype, Fringe is one of the best television shows there is, period.

Despite bad reviews, $#!+ My Dad Says has been attracting respectable sized audiences.  I gave it a shot and it's not as revolting as some of the naysayers might lead you to believe.  While William Shatner does occassionally look like he's reading his lines off cue cards, he is still The Shat, bringing his over-the-top personality for which so many people love him.  He manages to show various sides to his role, from a cantankerous curmudgeon to a politically incorrect blowhard to (and this is the most surprising) an endearing old man in the mold of Archie Bunker who finds it hard to communicate his true feelings to those in his life.  His bombastic demeanor hides a more sensitive soul -- at least that's for what Shatner and the writers are aiming.  It's nowhere near as good as the classic All in the Family, but it's also not the utter crap that some people would have you believe it is.  I'm going out on a limb and asking you to give it a shot.

One comedy that I have no trepidation about recommending is Modern Family.  From the first time I had the chance to see the preview, I knew this show had potential, and now my wife, the harshest critic of them all, praises it as her favorite show.  If my wife likes it, you know it has to be good!  There are few shows on TV nowadays that can make us laugh out loud (intentionally) and this is one of them.  Each actor on the show has hilarious moments virtually every single episode.  If you haven't seen it yet, you should.

Then there's The Walking Dead.  As the young kids today might say, "O.M.G."  I won't repeat what I previously posted about how incredible this series is, but suffice it to say that countless people are eagerly awaiting the new season to hurry up and get here.  I'm still sick of zombies, but, darn it, this show has me hooked.

The Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica failed and Stargate Universe finally was cancelled.  Both shows had major flaws that doomed them from the start.  Other shows got the ax too, like Medium, which still remained one of the finest programs on the tube and will be dearly missed.

New shows like Hawaii Five-O turned out to be big hits, while others like Detroit 187 deserved to have higher ratings.  Others, like No Ordinary Family, which I reviewed back in October, were sadly nothing more than ho-hum.  Smallville announced that this will be its final season, and so far has done an excellent job (again in my always humble opinion).  Supernatural continued its epic storytelling of the war between Heaven and Hell, with a lot of monsters and bloodshed thrown in for good measure, but the stories seemed to be getting a bit forced, unable to match the mythic grandeur of the previous season. The Big Bang Theory, in a risky new timeslot, reached even greater ratings.  Boardwalk Empire proved that Martin Scorsese still knows how to deliver a good gangster yarn and that Steve Buscemi is an awesome actor.

Let's sit back and see what the rest of the season has in store.