September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: The Office

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: Back in 2003, Ricky Gervais decided to end his critically-acclaimed British series with a Christmas special that resolved the arcs of its main characters: notably, he let Tim and Dawn finally get together. When Jim and Pam officially started their relationship at the end of Season 3, many critics rightly questioned whether the show’s writers could sustain The Office without the romantic conflict that was so central to the British version. Thus, it was all the more amazing that Season 5 contained some of the show’s best episodes ever, including the Michael Scott Paper Company arc in the final quarter of the season.

Last spring’s finale, Company Picnic, marked the show’s 100th episode - but with this season’s addition of Ellie Kemper as a series regular, as well as some tantalizing story arcs rumored for future episodes (Jim and Pam’s wedding in Niagara Falls? Michael possibly joining the Mafia?), The Office seems to be just getting started.

PREMIERES: this Thursday at 9PM/8c on NBC. Buy a season pass on iTunes here.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: Bored To Death

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: It stars Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson (who’s pretty much redeemed himself with Damages at this point), and those three reasons should convince you right there - but perhaps the time commitment required (or lack thereof) might give you that extra push. With only 8 episodes in the first season, why wouldn’t you give this show about a Brooklyn writer moonlighting as a private detective at least one chance?

PREMIERES: Sunday, September 20th, 9:30PM on HBO.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: The Jay Leno Show

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: I am joking! This is a joke. The Jay Leno Show, hilariously, exists, and is not worth watching whatsoever. But I think that in this age of relentless Internet-borne snark, there is a certain perverse glee to be had in watching the first week or so of a new late-night program in anticipation of just how awful it will probably be. And this show going to be really awful.

In any case, NBC somehow got Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye to appear during the inaugural episode to perform “Run This Town”. You should probably view that, at least. It is a good song.

PREMIERES: this Monday at 10PM/9c on NBC. You don’t want a season pass on iTunes. I’m not linking it.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: Dollhouse

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: Perhaps the most marvelous thing going for Dollhouse is that even though it’s created by Joss Whedon, it’s a show that the non-Whedon fan can actually enjoy. The idiosyncratic and slightly obnoxious dialogue found in everything from Buffy to Dr. Horrible is still there, but what makes Dollhouse interesting is that it’s Whedon’s most morally ambiguous show to date. Almost every character in the show, whether protagonist or antagonist, has helped to perpetuate or fund a form of human slavery. Couple that troubling fact with how the show’s central conceit is being used by its writers to explore the concepts or identity and memory in a sci-fi context, and you’ve got a pretty damn interesting narrative.

There’s also reason to be very optimistic about the creative team’s storytelling abilities: some of the later episodes in the first season (like “Briar Rose”) were genuinely great television. The unaired 13th episode, a post-apocalyptic story shot for half the normal budget, was executed very creatively - and filled with shootouts involving semiautomatic weapons, which is always a plus. So here I am, begging you to watch this pretty good but very unpopular show just so it doesn’t get cancelled - and it’s a Joss Whedon production. Can you believe it?

PREMIERES: Friday, September 25 at 9PM/8c on FOX. Buy a season pass on iTunes here.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: Community

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: It is tempting to compare Community to Glee: after all, they’re both heavily-marketed, very original shows with great ensembles (Community’s stars include Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Allison Brie, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase). They’re both being positioned as this season’s Great Hope for their respective networks. But while Glee works within the boundless exuberance and optimism of the performing arts, Community elicits its laughs from the characters’ flaws and arrogance - its worldview is one of boundless (and hilarious) cynicism.

I can’t tell you how excited I am that Dan Harmon is both this show’s creator and head writer: he co-founded Channel 101, so in addition to being indirectly responsible for the rise of The Lonely Island, he’s the guy behind hilarious web series like Water and Power, ChooseYourOwnSelectAVision.TV and the surprisingly great Laser Fart. The show hasn’t stopped him from working on web projects, either: a series of Community webisodes feature 101 mainstays as actors, and his recently cancelled Channel101 show Daryl (in which he portrays a baby rapist) was actually shot within the Community writers’ offices. Here’s a Harmon-backed show where he has both broadcast network support and the luxuries of an actual budget - I look forward to it with great anticipation.

PREMIERES: Thursday, September 17th - 9:30PM/8:30c on NBC. You may have watched the pilot on Facebook, but if you didn’t, you can buy a season pass on iTunes here.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: FlashForward

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: Here is ABC’s expensive and heavily-promoted new show for this upcoming season. The network is trying to position it as a successor to LOST, and while FlashForward doesn’t share any members of its creative team, it has poached a few actors from the series: both Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) and Sonya Walger (Penelope Widmore) are series regulars, as well as John Cho, who you may recognize as Harold (not Kumar) or Sulu from the Lindelof-produced Star Trek. The plot centers around the entire world’s population blacking out for two minutes and seventeen seconds and getting a glimpse of their own future - a flashforward. It’s unclear whether the show will be, you know, any good, and the Mad World soundtrack in this promo isn’t a very good sign. However, ABC promoted LOST’s excellent fifth season with a song by The Fray, so, really, who knows?

PREMIERES: Thursday, September 24th - 8PM/7c on ABC. Buy a season pass on iTunes here.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: America’s Next Top Model [Cycle 13]

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: I don’t even watch this show and I’m going to recommend it solely on the basis of Rich Fourfour’s recaps - complete hilarity. Um… you wanna be on Top?

PREMIERES: this Wednesday (tomorrow) at 8/7c on The CW.

September’s finally rolled around - which means the fall premiere season is here. Every day for the next two weeks, nonTV will be recommending a Show Worth Watching.

THE SHOW: Glee

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING: A stellar ensemble - including Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Jayma Mays and Matthew Morrison - is just one of the many things going for this big and expensive show about an unpopular glee club in a small town’s cash-strapped high school. Glee’s pilot could have very well imploded from the sheer amount of NewsCorp product placement, but thankfully, its musical interludes are beyond solid (the cast’s rendition of Don’t Stop Believing manages to justify the existence of the entire episode). Judging from the sneak preview above, it looks like future episodes won’t disappoint either.

PREMIERES: this Wednesday, 9PM/8c on FOX. Catch the director’s cut of the pilot on Hulu right now. Buy a season pass on iTunes here.