TV Surveillance

With almost a month gone by in the new season, it is pretty easy for people like me to point out the winners (“Modern Family,” “Community”) and losers (“Mercy,” “Hank”) from the pool of new programs. And amid all the hoopla or flaming of what’s new, we tend to forget our favorites. Thankfully, there are three returning programs delivering above expectations. If you left any of these after some weaker episodes last year, it’s time to come back, folks.

What to watch

SHOW: “Parks and Recreation”
EPISODE: “KaBOOM!”
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Thursday on NBC

This Amy Poehler-powered “Office” riff was mostly a disaster last season, but much like its mockumentary-style cousin, it has improved immensely in season two. The writing staff has finally started writing for Poehler’s Leslie Knope, giving her more personality than just “a female Michael Scott,” and the supporting cast – Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman and Aubrey Plaza, specifically – has been on fire all season. Though the other NBC comedies are all doing well this season, I’ve found myself looking forward to “Parks” the most.

SHOW: “Smallville”
EPISODE: “Roulette”
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday on
the CW

I know, I know. We’ve been here before with “Smallville” – most recently the beginning of last season – but in its ninth (!) season, dare I say that the program is legitimately good for the first time in years? It has been banished to Friday night by a network that doesn’t care about it, but with star Tom Welling getting more involved on the production side of things and the chemistry between him and Erica Durance off the charts, “Smallville” is finally rewarding fans who’ve stuck around through all the missteps (Lex and Lana’s marriage, most notably) with true-blue Superman stories.

What to DVR

SHOW: “Lie to Me”
EPISODE: “Honey”
WHEN: 9 p.m. Monday on FOX

“Lie to Me” was a solid procedural last season but failed to be as compelling as a show powered by Tim Roth should have been. But this season it’s spent much more time on the characters than the not-as-cute-as-they-think-it-is “human lie detector” gimmick the show is based on. And a lot of that has to do with former mastermind of “The Shield” Shawn Ryan  coming on as the showrunner for season two. And if you’re thinking of getting into the show, this is a great time to do so, as the amazing Garret Dillahunt (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Deadwood”) guest stars.

New show alert

But returning to new shows, USA brings us another surefire hit next week with “White Collar” (10 p.m. on Friday). This typical light, but certainly enjoyable USA drama stars Matthew Bomer (Bryce from “Chuck”) as a criminal who agrees to help solve white collar crimes for the FBI agent who captured him in exchange for his freedom. Critics are high on the pilot, and USA’s killed it with “Burn Notice,” “In Plain Sight” and “Royal Pains” so there’s no reason to doubt them now.

Rant of the week

Much like my diatribe against the CW a few weeks back, I didn’t want to have to take NBC to task already. But then it goes and cancels the fantastic, gritty police drama “Southland” before even airing one of the already- shot six episodes.

NBC is hiding behind the “too dark for 9 p.m.” excuse, but it put itself in that position when it agreed to rent out 10 p.m. to Leno every weekday night. With the cancellation of “Southland,” NBC has soiled its relationship with major producer John Wells, who helped bring them “ER” and “The West Wing” – two of the best dramas of all time. Clearly NBC no longer cares about quality scripted drama.

But even worse, this decision shows how dumb NBC executives are. What is the point of picking up “Southland” for a second season when everyone was wondering if it could keep its edge at 9 p.m. or be that big of a ratings success in the first place? Furthermore, why then let the show be in production for six episodes, costing the network at least, I’d imagine, $8 million to $10 million, and then just piss it all away for no reason?

Because the people running NBC are beyond stupid – that’s why.