If bad guys forced you to choose only two programs for viewing during a long captivity, you wisely and happily might choose USA's new series "Fairly Legal." Engaging, engrossing, elegant, and electric, "Fairly Legal" is one of those shows you wish would go on and on and on. If only USA had made more than eight episodes. Sparkly, sassy, stylish, and seductive, Sarah Shahi plays Kate Reed, a once-upon-a-time lawyer who officially has resigned from the professional ranks to become a full-time mediator"”hence the two elements in the title, "legal" and "fair." Kate's goal: avoid costly and ugly litigation by finding settlements that meet everybody's needs. Kate's favourite phrase: "Win-Win." Of course, the show has sexual t4ension between Kate and her ex-husband, a district attorney; it has family tension between Kate and her newly widowed young step-mother; and it has just enough ongoing mystery and suspense in the sub-plot to sustain it from episode to episode. Having San Francisco as the setting doesn't hurt either. No one at "Law and Order" need feel threatened, though, because "Fairly Legal" is far too flirty and fun to harbour any criminal intent.

"The Goldbergs" is a popular American sitcom that premiered in 2013 and has been on the air for nine seasons. It is set in the 1980s and follows the Goldberg family, who live in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The show is loosely based on the real-life experiences of the show's creator, Adam F. Goldberg, who grew up in a similar family during the same time period.

The serene suburb of Kansas City, Kansas called Overland Park is the setting for a Showtime hit called United States of Tara which follows the life of Tara Gregson. She is a wife and mother of two who doctors have diagnosed as having dissociative identity disorder. She has multiple personalities that she transitions into when severely stressed. She may become a flirty teen who calls herself "T" or Alice who is a housewife straight out of the 1950's. She may turn into a beer swilling, loud male she calls Vietnam Vet Buck when particularly pressured or even displaying a fourth personality who goes by the name of Gimme. Multiple personalities are uncontrollable and can't be chosen but just happen when she is in a weak moment or facing problems difficult to cope with. Tara does have the support of son and daughter as well as her husband, Max. Charmaine, her doubting sister, sometimes thinks Tara is faking it for sympathy reasons. This intriguing show follows her various personality changes and how they affect the family unit.

For all the right reasons, "Community" has become one of the mainstays in NBC's comedy line-up. During its first season, "Community" focused on attorney Jeff Winger, disbarred after the accreditation committee discovered his undergraduate degree was from Colombia the country, not the university. Determined to win reinstatement in his old profession, Winger enrolls in community college, forming a Spanish-class study group which includes, among others, a cynical divorcee and a mid-life millionaire who made his money in moist towelettes. "Community" bravely exploits the ethnic and economic diversity in the study group, showing its gifts as an equal opportunity satirizer. The writers also have courage to wring big laughs from realistic representation of life and attitudes in "junior college." During the second season, "Community" had large and loyal enough following to encourage writers' development of plots centered on characters other than Winger, and they developed some of their best material by focusing on the dynamics of the group itself. Every member of "Community's" all-star ensemble cast has impeccable comedy or small-screen credentials: Chevy Chase's resume, of course, reads simply "legend." Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, and the rest of the cast bring a combined gazillion years of small-screen experience into the mix, and they have imprinted their distinctive styles on their roles. Similarly, all the partners in the production team boast high-powered Hollywood pedigrees and trophy cases full of Emmys. If "Community" had gone dark after the first thirteen episodes, television sets all over North America would have gone straight to test-patterns, because NBC writers and producers would have abandoned all hope for traditional sit-coms' futures.

Up Here is a musical romantic comedy show that premiered on Hulu in March 2023. It was developed by Steven Levenson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel. The show centers around a group of people in New York City who are searching for love and connection.

Family Tree is a comedy television series that aired on HBO and BBC Two in 2013. The show was created by Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock and starred Chris O'Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a young man who sets out to trace his family's genealogy after inheriting a mysterious box of belongings from his great-aunt.