TV Guide: Part 2

The continuing TV guide!

CBS
Sex, violence, swearing: No. Although, with heavy involvement from Jerry Bruckheimer, many of the primetime drama have slow-motion, scantily-clad gun-fights and punch-ups.
Past programmes: Some of the biggest old shows: Dallas, The Incredible Hulk, Magnum P.I., T.J. Hooker, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible, Walker Texas Ranger, Rod Sirling's classic The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H*, and lunch-time favourite Diagnosis Murder. More recently they had success with James Woods' legal drama Shark, and surprisingly watchable crime drama Numbers.
On the air: CBS is the network that spawned CSI and all it's spinoffs. It also has CSI-alikes Cold Case and NCIS, Criminal Minds, and supernatural dramas Ghost Whisperer and Medium (which it imported from NBC). There's acclaimed drama The Good Wife, for which Julianna Marguiles won a Golden Globe. Comedy-wise there's the geeky The Big Bang Theory, the inexplicably popular Charlie Sheen vehicle Two and a Half Men, although there's better fun to be had with both How I Met Your Mother (with Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Jason Segel) and The New Adventures of Old Christine (starring Julia Louis Dreyfus)
Upcoming: Another Bruckheimer-produced drama, which is imaginatively titled Miami Medical. Bizarrely it stars Jeremy Northam. Early word is not good.
Must see TV?: Well, CSI used to be groundbreaking television. Now, it's actually amazing that they have three of them going and that they're all so average. Well, apart from CSI Miami, which is hilariously awful. Medium is occasionally excellent, and How I Met Your Mother is a lot of fun. You could do worse.


HBO
Sex, violence, swearing?: What, on HBO?
Past programmes: HBO got its start with shows like Tales From the Crypt and Mr Show, as well as airing stand up comedy specials. The network made a big impact with prison drama Oz and The Wire's precursor The Corner, but really found its feet with The Sopranos and Sex in the City. The Wire and Six Feet Under soon followed, bringing a huge amount of acclaim. They stretched their wings a little with period shows like Daniel Knaufe's Carnivàle and David Milch's Deadwood, which lasted two and three seasons respectively. Rome was briefly entertaining but lost its way, and Milch's John From Cincinatti sadly disappeared up its own arse after a few impressive episodes, and was cancelled after one series. They've had big successes with combat drama mini-series, with Band of Brothers and Generation Kill. They also aired Extras, and took our favourite New Zealand folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords into the mainstream.
On air: A lot of shows. Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage are still going, as are dramas like Mormon drama Big Love and Gabriel Byrne-starring In Treatment. Everyone's favourite guilty pleasure True Blood is returning for a third series, and Thomas Jane's gigolo dramedy Hung secured a second season. We're very excited about second seasons for Danny McBride and Jody Hill's Eastbound and Down, and Jason Schwartzman/Ted Danson/Zach Galifianakis noir-comedy Bored to Death. They're also currently showing Band of Brothers follow-up The Pacific.
Upcoming: Two very big, star-studded series in the shape of Martin Scorsese-produced period gangster drama Boardwalk Empire, and David Simon's post-Katrina look at music in New Orleans Treme. Also on the way is Game of Thrones, a fantasy drama with Sean Bean and Lena Headey, and Stitch and Bitch, a comedy created by Juno herself: Ellen Page.
Must see TV?: Yes! HBO box-sets have been occupying our Christmas and birthday wish-lists for years. Their stunning programming at the start of the last decade is perhaps the biggest reason why TV has evolved.




NBC
Sex, violence, swearing?: No, no.
Past programmes: NBC is another one of the big broadcasting companies. They gave us Bonanza, Columbo, The A-Team, The Bionic Woman, Dragnet, Wings, Miami Vice, , ER, Homicide: Life on the Street, Knight Rider, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Quincy M.E., St. Elsewhere, the original V, The West Wing, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Cheers, The Cosby Show, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Frasier, My Name is Earl, NewsRadio, Sanford and Son, Scrubs, Seinfeld, Taxi, and Star Trek. On the down-side, they cancelled shows like Southland, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Freaks and Geeks, Kings, Kidnapped, Journeyman, The Book of Daniel, Life, and My Own Worst Enemy (justifiable).
On air: A lot of good stuff. Somehow, Law and Order and its spinoffs are still going, as is Heroes (although that surely must be ending soon). Football drama Friday Night Lights and nerdy action sci-fi Chuck get rave reviews, if not necessarily massive viewing figures, but are definitely worth watching. New series include the star-studded Parenthood remake (Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Lauren Graham), and medical drama Mercy. But NBC's best shows are its comedies. Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey's 30 Rock, The Office (which I actually think is funnier than the British version), Office-spinoff Parks and Recreation, and the hysterically funny Community.
Upcoming: Sci-fi Day One, Persons Unknown (about which little is known), and a new sitcom called 100 Questions. 30 Rock and Community have been confirmed for another season.
Must see TV?: Yes. While SNL is hit-and-miss, 30 Rock is still worth watching despite a slip in quality, and Community is just wonderful. Chuck and Friday Night Lights are up there with the best network dramas.

Well, this concludes part 2! Look out for part 3, which will include Showtime and TNT.