Stick

"Psych TV Show" features slick psychic crime-fighter with no psychic gifts. Unlike most basic cable networks, USA has generated many of its own hit shows on the strength of excellent characters and situations enhanced by exceptional writing. As bigger networks go into hibernation between seasons, USA wisely introduces its powerhouse programming. Among the network's original scripted dramas, "Psych TV show" has become one of the favorites. Walking the margin between crime drama and satire with tongue very deeply in cheek, "Psych TV series" stars James Roday as a fast-talking, exceptionally observant private investigator who manages to persuade the Santa Barbara police that he actually is a psychic. The backstory shows the tension between father and son, and it emphasizes how dad trained Shawn to pay attention to the most minute details, coincidences, and anomalies in everything he observes. Acute powers of observation easily pass for mystic revelations, and a healthy dose of wise-cracking charisma seals the deal. Over the objections of his disapproving police officer father, law enforcement officials reluctantly hire Shawn Spencer, psychic, to assist with solving their most challenging cases. Of course, Spenser and his reluctant sidekick Gus, brilliantly brought to life by Dule Hill, succeed where others fail.

When Rob star Rob Schneider was a regular on Saturday Night Live he stood out from the rest of the cast because he was actually funny! He moved on to star or co-star in some funny films such as Duece Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Grown Ups, and The Hot Chick yet didn't quite hit his stride until now with his own TV sitcom. Rob is newly married to the young and beautiful Maggie (Claudia Bassols of Blackout, Emulsion) who is Hispanic and has a large and extremely close family in southern California. Her parents Fernando (Cheech Marin from Up In Smoke, Next Movie) and Rosa (Diana-Marie Riva from Castle, Everybody Loves Raymond) are upset because their daughter eloped to Vegas with Rob. Meanwhile Rob has problems of his own simply because his new bride is now living in his home. He has issues with his personal "stuff" due to having OCD and had been a bachelor until recently. The show has its moments but mostly insults Mexicans every chance it gets.

Called an American documentary, the TV program is hosted by comedians/magicians Penn & Teller, best known for their show in Las Vegas. Not quite a program about politics and almost akin to the exploitation of paranormal events and pseudoscientific ideas, the "BS" show has captured a large audience since first airing in 2003. The application of some critical thought into various misconceptions, in other words "critical thinking" added into the concept of "BS" which is all around us constantly, attempts to clarify some of the confusion. Such subject matter as animal rights, environmentalism, gun control, organic food, and even the war on drugs are explored and debunked by (self proclaimed) experts on a wide variety of subjects in each episode. Penn & Teller: Bullshit is popular around the globe and viewed in Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico, Denmark, Iceland, Columbia, Canada, Brazil, and Australian each week. The hosts bring up subjects not merely to "expose the truth" but show some to be misleading, overemphasized, or even unnecessary interruptions in life.

Regular viewers of ABC's Wednesday night comedy hit "Cougar Town" will feel their lips curl into wry smiles when they read pre-premiere summaries of the show: The producers and writers originally conceived "Cougar Town" as the life and times of a forty-something divorcee intrepidly devoted to seducing younger men in a small Florida town. The early promos stress the small town's obsession with its high school football team, ironically The Cougars. The football theme arrived still-born, and the entire show might have hit the airwaves DOA except that Courteney Cox and "Scrubs"-creator Bill Lawrence had vision and courage to work a few miracle revisions. The whole "Cougar Town" crew rapidly realized, like Jules surveying a bar-full of mini-skirted matrons, "I know I'm one of them. I just don't feel like one of them." They wisely helped Jules morph into her authentic self. The younger boyfriend disappeared from "Cougar Town" after just a few episodes, and stories coalesced around Cox's character Jules, her teen-aged son Travis, and Jules's extended family"”her neighbours on the cul-de-sac, her co-workers in her real estate office, and her profligate ex-husband. While "Cougar Town" struggled to resolve its identity crisis, Lawrence's innuendo-rich dialogue and Cox's increasingly sophisticated delivery sustained the show. By the end of "Cougar Town's" first season, ratings alone offered ample testimony to "Cougar Town's" radical improvement as it held audiences in the half-hour after "Modern Family"; but the Hollywood Foreign Press sealed the deal, nominating Cox for a 2010 Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Comedy.

English Teacher is a sharp, wickedly funny FX comedy series following a Texas high-school English teacher navigating political landmines, helicopter parents, and the absurdities of modern public education.

When you have not gotten enough of your favorite movie star, comedian, or rock star and their shows, you can always find out more than you might care to learn on the television program The Soup. Originally called Talk Soup, this daily half hour hosted by Joel McHale brings us clips from TV shows and movies along with tidbits and gossip regarding all those "beautiful" people we love to watch on the big or small screen or perhaps listen to their music. There is something very intriguing about what goes on behind the scenes of our favorite programs and how the celebrities spend their days that most of us love to follow and learn more about them. Even the infamous likes of O J Simpson and the latest to win her case, Casey Anthony, make for interesting following if only to see what they'll do next. Who marries whom and who gets divorced are among the attractions on The Soup and we get to learn it all while watching this sometimes interesting and often entertaining program.