All the Things That I Have Seen, Part II

Recommended:

1. Veronica Mars: The First Season.

Basically an updated version of Nancy Drew with a bit of Buffy The Vampire Slayer-type snarkiness. Not that that's a bad thing. In fact, this is the best TV show I've seen in a while. Of course, the show does deal with some subjects like incest, date rape and classism that poor Pamela Sue Martin never had to deal with. But it handles them with a lot more subtlety than you would expect from a simple TV show.

Not Recommended:

1. Black Books: The First Season.

One would think that a show about an eccentric bookseller would be genuinely entertaining, but alas, no. The cast tries hard, but there seems to be no real backstory to any of the characters apart from what we learn in the first episode -- and that ain't much. It doesn't help that much of the show plays like a British imitation of Seinfeld. Bernard Black, the main character is a lot like Jerry. His assistant, Manny, is like a slightly more responsible version of George. And Fran, of course, is more than a little like Elaine. Normally, that might be a good thing but imitations this obvious aren't always that flattering.