[caption id=”attachment_519” align=”aligncenter” width=”385” caption=”Sitting back in our GT office, waiting for the Fall season to begin.”][/caption] ‘The Constant’ The nights are getting shorter, the hurricanes are lined up in the Atlantic, and the big yellow flock of school busses has once again migrated to our roadways. This can only mean it ‘s time to turn our geek radar towards the new Fall television season. In years past, the start of a new season always began with “when is LOST back?”  Even the few shows each year that sounded promising could not compare to the excitement of going back to the island for a new season with Locke, Ben and Hurley. But this year is different. I have just now realized that it’s really and truly gone. [caption id=”attachment_520” align=”aligncenter” width=”400” caption=”Oh Hurley, television just isn’t the same without you.”][/caption]

‘Because You Left’

Of course,  I knew it was ending last season. I hung on every word, watched it every week (multiple times usually) and was one of the few people I know who absolutely loved the Finale. And when it ended, I was a little saddened, but all in all pleased that the dream team of Carlton Cruse and Damon Lindelof got to end it on their own terms. What they accomplished looks a lot better in the rear-view mirror than the slow death of The X-Files or the quick death of Flash Forward, and that’s not even mentioning the Thelma and Louise-style cliff-dive of Heroes after a brilliant first season. But I digress. Now that a new fall lineup is right around the corner it is time for me to focus on what’s really important — I need a new favorite show! ‘The Substitute’ It takes a special kind of show to become a Geek favorite. Sure, we have our returning all-stars like Big Bang Theory and Stan Lee’s Superhumans, but neither of them inspire us to join a half dozen different forums dedicated to them as happened with LOST (don’t you judge me). We wholeheartedly endorse the Theory as a comedy of the highest order about a quartet of genius geeks and their hilarious hottie neighbor (knock knock knock) Penny, and love us some Superhumans in which Stan Lee himself travels the world for the History Channel, searching for real-life humans who have “unique genetic traits” that translate into real superpowers. (He actually finds them!) [caption id=”attachment_522” align=”aligncenter” width=”400” caption=”The more screen time Jim Parsons (Sheldon) and Kaley Cuoco (Penny) share the better.”][/caption] ‘Man of Science, Man of Faith’

But it’s just not the same. LOST was different. The waiting, the guessing, the analyzing, the prognosticating, the googling, the reading, the researching… only the rarest of shows carries these necessities. Much of what I know about physics and most of what I know of philosophy I learned researching phenomenon found in an episode of LOST. That’s the kind of show I am talking about.

[caption id=”attachment_557” align=”aligncenter” width=”300” caption=”Flash Forward may be gone, but we still want to know what was the deal with the kangaroo. “][/caption]

‘A Tale of Two Cities’

With Heroes and Flash Forward both out of the picture the field is now wide open, but at the top of any list of shows for the discerning geek sits Fringe.

Anyone familiar with Lost will certainly have no trouble getting into Fringe and it’s time traveling, mind-bending storylines of ours and the (W)alternate universe. With this season alternating back and forth between the two worlds, expect a killer season of unadulterated quantum geekery. From shapeshifters to pyrokinesis and Walter knows what else, Fringe clearly has plenty to keep us coming back for more.

[caption id=”attachment_523” align=”aligncenter” width=”385” caption=”With LOST out of the way, Fringe tops the list for Geek”][/caption] ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ Last we saw them, alt-Olivia (played by Anna Torv) had convinced Walter and Peter that she was the real Olivia after pulling the ol’ switcheroo with her just before the three of them jumped to our world. We also saw a highly distraught real Olivia locked in a cell by the alt-Walter in the alt-universe, and she was not looking happy about it. (Still with us? Of course! A genius like you can follow anything!) Season 3 is set to begin on September 23, 2010 for a run of 22 episodes. Word on the web is that the first half of the season will vacillate between universes each week, with all odd-numbered episodes taking place in the alt-world. Expect much of the early storyline to be centered around Olivia’s battle to return to her own universe, as well as Peter’s coming to terms with the knowledge that his entire life was a lie. Yes, in case you missed it, the Peter we know and love was actually kidnapped from the alt-universe after Walter lost his son to illness but realized he could save alt-Peter from the same fate.  (Still following? Of course you are, I forgot, still a genius!) [caption id=”attachment_524” align=”aligncenter” width=”425” caption=”A double dose of Dunham. Which Olivia do you prefer?”][/caption] ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes’ Our next contender is the Nerd Herd’s favorite spy: Chuck. As any dedicated fan of the bumbling Charles Bartowski and the gorgeous Sara Walker will tell you, no geek’s top tv list would even be remotely complete without a mention of the wild and crazy gang from the Buy More. Season Four of Chuck picks up with Chuck on the hunt for his mother (to be played Linda Hamilton), and his sister finally having found out his secret identity as a CIA super-spy. Last we saw him, Chuck had flashed on a long-buried memory of his own childhood in which he had accidentally downloaded a much earlier version of the Intersect long before Shaw dropped it on him after college. Speaking of Shaw, Brandon Routh will be returning as the double-crossing Agent and is now the proud owner of a downloaded Intersect of his own. After re-watching Shaw nearly kill Chuck, Sarah and Casey in the Season 3 finale, our confidence is high for Season 4 to serve up another healthy serving of some (captain) awesome. Based of the confirmed list of upcoming guest stars for this season (Linda Hamilton, Olivia Munn, Dolph Lundgren, Stacy Keibler, Timothy Dalton and the returns of Nicole Richie and Stone Cold Steve Austin), we’re not really going out on limb here, either. Let’s make this perfectly clear, if you’re not watching Chuck, you’re missing out on one of the best shows tv has to offer. Get you’re head in the game, people.

[caption id=”attachment_529” align=”aligncenter” width=”267” caption=”The lovely Sarah Walker.”][/caption] ‘The Candidate’ That leaves us with room for one last competitor to enter the ring. One show I will be watching very closely in the coming months is NBC’s The Event. Premiering September 20, 2010, The Event is being hyped as a cross between LOST and 24, and looks to be a very promising candidate to steal LOST’s throne of Geek-favorite. While the network has done an admirable job keeping the secret behind The Event well-hidden, a few details have been revealed. [caption id=”attachment_540” align=”aligncenter” width=”300” caption=”What is The Event? We don’t know, but MYMAG says it involves (SPOILER ALERT!) aliens.”][/caption] ‘The Incident’ The cast, led by Jason Ritter (son of John Ritter), Laura Innes (ER), Blair Underwood (L.A. Law), Željko Ivanek (LOST, Heroes, The X-File – a geek trinity of his own) and Ian Anthony Dale (Surface), is stellar. The plot? Well that is the mystery. Here is what we have to go on so far. Sean Walker (played by Ritter), is your typical Average Joe. Like most Average Joes, he accidentally discovers the largest cover-up in world history while investigating the mysterious disappearance of his fiancé, immediately placing himself and everyone close to him in grave danger. Upon further investigation, it turns out that not even the President of the United States (played by Underwood) was aware of this secret, and shortly after it is brought to his attention he ends up a victim of an assassination attempt. Clearly, there are some people willing to stop at nothing to protect the secret of The Event. From the commercials we’ve seen, we also know the following: the missing fiancé is not The Event. The cover-up, hidden from the President, is not The Event. And the assassination attempt is not The Event. So what is The Event? I guess we’ll all find out soon enough. The show’s creators have promised to feed viewers a steady diet of the show’s secret, rather than hiding so much of the mythology, LOST-style. They keep bragging about this, but I’m not sure this is a good thing. A large part of the appeal of LOST was trying to figure things out on your own, before being blown away by the reveal, which often came years later. Still, I am certainly on board to give The Event a shot. Any show that is expected to compare favorably to LOST is at least worth a fair look in my book. So let’s hear it folks. What shows are you excited for?