Filled with stunning cinematography, excellent acting, and some of the best writing currently on TV, this fall's best new show is definitely Pushing Daisies. Universally praised by critics, this show with a tricky premise just may become the next big hit.

A run down of the plot essentials is as follows: A pie maker has the ability to touch dead people and bring them back to life; however, if he touches them again they go back to being dead, forever. On top of that, if he revives someone from the dead, he can only keep them alive for one minute; otherwise, something else has to die. Confused yet? Don't be - there's more. A private detective found the pie maker using his gift and they have since teamed up to solve cases. On one of those cases, the pie maker found his childhood sweetheart to be the one he had to revive, but kept her alive for more than one minute. Now the three of them have formed a team to solve crimes involving the dead.

The plot may sound intimidating, but don't worry, it's easy to understand once you start watching. So far, approximately nine million people are watching each week, making Pushing Daisies a modest hit. The hit status, however, mainly comes from the weekly win in its time slot among adults 18-49.

With its rapid-fire witty dialogue, Pushing Daisies is a show that never releases its hold upon you. And no matter how many times you see a dead person revived, it never gets stale. Although there are only a few more new episodes left before an indeterminate length of time (the WGA strike has prevented any new scripts being written), I remain confident that Pushing Daisies will have a long life – just as long as the pie maker doesn't touch it.

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Pushing Daisies airs Wednesday nights at 8pm on ABC.

After struggling to make it to its second season, 30 Rock is back and better than ever. Created by and starring SNL-alum Tina Fey, 30 Rock (not to be confused with 3^rd Rock From The Sun) goes behind the scenes of a sketch comedy series starring Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan). And to top it all off is Alec Baldwin who won a Golden Globe for his performance last year.

After being endangered all last year, 30 Rock returned to Thursdays after My Name Is Earl, only to see a major boost in ratings. Although still modest in terms of viewers, 30 Rock maintains nearly all of its lead-in numbers for the advertiser favored Adults 18-49 demographic. As long as this trend continues, 30 Rock will be looking pretty safe this year.

Featuring a fantastic ensemble cast, 30 Rock breathes new life into the dying sitcom genre. No other new show has managed to create such a consistent level of comedy (Awful new sitcoms include: Cavemen, Carpoolers, Samantha Who?, Back To You). And even though 30 Rock airs in a tough time slot opposite Survivor, Ugly Betty, and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, it may just be the best 30 minutes of TV to air there in a long time.

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30 Rock airs Thursday nights at 8:30pm on NBC.

Now in its fourth season, medical drama House has proven to be a critical and commercial success. Starring snubbed Emmy nominee Hugh Laurie in a commanding role, House features a new patient each week, each with a seemingly unsolvable medical issue.  On top of that, each episode furthers a story arc that keeps the show fresh.

During its first season, House didn't have the benefit of the American Idol lead-in until mid-season. However, once that show provided an audience, House's audience has grown drastically, bringing it to be the top rated show that it is today.  House repeatedly wins in the adults 18-49 demo, and competes neck-in-neck with Dancing With The Stars for the top spot among viewers.

As a captivating medical drama, House succeeds tremendously, often adding its own twisted humour to the premise.  And when it faces such dull competition including the aforementioned Dancing With The Stars (Why is this successful?), The Unit (Who watches this?) and The Biggest Loser (What idiot made this concept a reality?), it provides an alternative that supersedes anything else on TV at that hour.

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House airs Tuesday nights at 9pm on FOX.

Having just entered its second season and moved to Sundays, legal drama Shark is a damn fine hour of television. Starring James Woods in a role that should have given him an Emmy nomination, Shark takes the point of view of a prosecutor. This "view from the other side" proves very entertaining in a TV landscape dominated by shows about defense attorneys.

Currently airing Sundays at 10pm on CBS, Shark has dropped drastically from its ratings last year when it aired behind CSI on Thursdays. This year, it has been averaging around 11 million viewers each week, but skews an older audience (networks like shows that skew young). However, Shark maintains nearly 100% of its lead-in audience (Cold Case), thus making it very compatible with one of CBS’ established hits.

Although I personally don’t make it "must-see" on my schedule, Shark is still a very satisfying way to spend an hour; episodes are procedural, or "not serialized", so they have a clear ending each week. And in terms of what else you have to choose from – the ridiculously soapy Brothers and Sisters, or the last third of Sunday Night Football – Shark tops the list for both style and substance.

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Shark airs Sunday nights at 10pm on CBS.

Shouting profane language and insulting everyone in sight, Gordon Ramsay is his usual self on the new FOX series, Kitchen Nightmares. Based on the British hit, the Americanized version features Ramsay visiting a different struggling restaurant each week, criticizing nearly everything about it (quite enjoyably, I might add), and fixing it up to his own high standards.

After premiering to much controversy, including a lawsuit filed against Ramsay from a manager featured in the second episode, Kitchen Nightmares premiered to a modest 7 million viewers, but won the time-slot amongst the coveted 18-49 demo. Since then, it has held steady in both those categories.

Airing Wednesdays at 9pm, against major players such as Private Practice, Bionic Woman, and Criminal Minds, Kitchen Nightmares continues to be a solid player; because of this, it has been renewed for a second season.

Personally, I find that the antics of Gordan Ramsay never get stale, even if the show can sometimes come off as over-the-top. There is nothing more enjoyable that turning on your TV to see an angry British man yelling at some very troubled restaurateurs. Some might call that distasteful; I call it excellent entertainment.

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Kitchen Nightmares airs Wednesdays at 9pm on FOX.

Currently in its fourth season, Boston Legal continues to be one of the greatest shows on television. Whether watching James Spader's signature court case closings, or William Shatner's spot-on comedic timing (Denny Crane!), there is always a compelling storyline with a plethora of interesting characters to tell it.

Airing Tuesday nights at 10pm on ABC, where it's been for the past two years, Boston Legal pulls a consistent 10 million viewers each week. Although that is not spectacular, it has been one of the most consistent shows on TV, in terms of viewers, since its second season.

Not only is this show a modest hit with viewers, it is a big hit with the Emmy voters. For its first season, both Spader and Shatner won the Emmy's for Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actor, respectively. And just this past September, Spader scored an upset victory over James Gandolfini of The Sopranos in the lead actor category.

Featuring different supporting players taking a lead each episode, the formula of Boston Legal never gets stale. But if for some reason you find it has, an almost entirely new cast has been brought on board for this season. But if you still, for some ungodly reason, don't realize the brilliance of this dramedy, you can be one of the other old stiffs who decides to watch Law and Order: SVU (the leader in formulaic TV garbage) or Cane (a snooze-fest that is sure to be off the air by the end of this season). The choice is yours.

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Boston Legal airs Tuesday nights at 10pm on ABC.