Television currently suffers a serious adolescent crush on New Jersey, happily showcasing its housewives, manicurists, unemployed party animals, and now its history of slick, sophisticated organized crime. "Boardwalk Empire," adapted from the bestseller with the same name, shows Atlantic City's colorful jazz age history, paying fierce attention to realistic details and historical accuracy. "Boardwalk Empire" takes the Sunday night timeslot usually reserved for "True Blood" while the vampires go on hiatus, and with skilled assistance from Martin Scorsese, it so completely rivets its audience that they cannot remember what they used to watch after "60 Minutes." Like a complicated, sophisticated Victorian novel, "Boardwalk Empire" takes two episodes to set the stage and establish its historical context; but once the bootleggers, gangsters, and corrupt politicians get their machinery greased-up and going, eager audiences stay tuned. The New York Times effectively summarizes, "'Boardwalk Empire' is a well conceived, beautifully made series that has every reason to be great. Who doesn't want to watch rum runners and gangsters on HBO?" Mtv and E! will break-up with Jersey, and they will not "still be just friends" when new seasons roll around; but viewers can look forward to HBO's going steady with "Boardwalk Empire" until the vampires come home.

When "The Good Wife" premiered in the fall of 2009, insiders whispered that Alicia Florrick, the good wife, was modeled after Silda Spitzer, the remarkably resilient former spouse of Elliott Spitzer, former New York prosecutor who ended-up himself prosecuted on charges of using public funds to support his prostitute habit. In the first few episodes, Alicia stood mute and shell-shocked as her politician husband admitted to "indiscretions," was tried and sent to jail. With only mild irony, the good wife emerges as the amazing woman as soon as hubby gets fitted for his orange jumpsuit. Played with tremendous grace, style, and power by Julianna Marguiles, Alicia Florrick, a la Silda Spitzer, returns to her old law practice. A little out of practice after thirteen years as wife and mother, she wobbles before she restores her professional standing. As "The Good Wife" evolved, it outgrew its need for "ripped from the headlines" comparisons. Episode by episode, Marguiles quickened, toughened, and deepend Alicia's character. Her imprisoned spouse becomes simply a footnote or sidebar as Alicia struggles to keep her family intact and build her career in a law firm riddled with scheming, scandal, and intrigue.

If you watched "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" before you watched "The Sopranos," you would get the uneasy sensation art was imitating life just a little too closely. They are two versions of the same story: Wiseguys attempt to balance the strange demands of life in the suburbs with the everyday business of running a criminal empire. The problem with posing as a respectable businessman is that you sometimes must actually be respectable. It's almost funny in a painfully awkward sort of way, but nothing good could come from laughing out loud. "Ayy, fahget abowt it," Tony Soprano and his New Jersey mobsters would say. Are you genuinely surprised to discover that prom dresses and cement overcoats do not easily reconcile? Are you genuinely surprised to learn "The Sopranos" is cable television's greatest financial success? "The Sopranos," in fact, was the foundation of a major cultural phenomenon and marketing franchise, which supported books, videogames, soundtrack CDs, and more than a few critical blogs. Of course, the producers and cast had to hijack a semi-trailer to cart home all of their Emmys and Golden Globes.

"Little Fires Everywhere" is a television miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Celeste Ng. The show premiered on Hulu in 2020 and consists of eight episodes. It is set in the 1990s and follows the intertwined lives of the wealthy Richardson family and a struggling single mother and her daughter.

"Wedding Agreement: The Series" is a popular Indonesian TV series available on the streaming platform Hulu. It tells the story of two people who enter into a marriage of convenience to appease their families. Tari, a young woman, is pressured into marrying the wealthy and successful businessman, Bian. Though they start off as strangers, they gradually learn to tolerate each other and eventually develop feelings for each other.

Lisa Jane Smith, author of a whole library-shelf full of Vampire Diaries for literate tweens, has every right to feel like a Shakespearean monarch whose throne is usurped in a tragedy's first act. She pioneered the genre, took a little sabbatical, and came back to find her world dominated by Harry Potter and all those "Twilight People." In 2008, The Vampire Diaries were reprinted in cool new covers and fonts, and L.J. Smith returned to writing full time. In the fall of 2009, "The Vampire Diaries TV Show" came to the CW, developed and produced by Kevin Williamson of "Dawson's Creek" fame. To his everlasting credit, Williamson expertly preserves the goodness and sweetness of Smith's characters and situations. Although the vampires naturally want to seduce the sensitive young heroines into their dark world, the pretty little women always bring the flesh-hungry bad boys back into the light. Of course, the show's production values allow lots of room for good music and teen-aged angst"”there is no shortage of fog, but it also has plenty of attitude. In addition to foretelling evil events, the show's prophet can predict fashion trends. The story turns on a tween's eternal dilemma: wistful good girl falls in love with the good vampire brother but is constantly tempted by bad-boy vampire other-brother. What is a girl to do?