It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

Football season has started, there’s a crispness in the Pennsylvania air, and fall television season is back. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. The season officially kicks off tonight and begins with a trickle before the full flood of shows hits the week of September 20. Debuting this week are two FX dramas, one returning (Sons Of Anarchy) and one new (Terriers) and both have the potential for badassery and awesomeness. Now entering its third season, Sons Of Anarchy saw a quantum leap in quality with its sophomore set in 2009 and became, in many ways, the new Shield for FX which isn’t surprising seeing as series creator Kurt Sutter was on the writing staff of the late cop gem. The show is brutal and isn’t for everyone (the fulcrum of the second season was the gang rape of a lead character by a group of Nazi skinheads) but if you can stomach it there isn’t a pulpier and more badass show on the air. Sons Of Anarchy returns tonight at 10 on FX. 

Speaking of The Shield, one of two new shows (the other being Fox’s Ride Along) from that series’ creator, Shawn Ryan, hits the air tomorrow night in Terriers (Wednesday, 10PM) on FX and it’s been garnering some of the best reviews of the fall. Starring Donal Logue (Grounded For Life) and Michael Raymond-James (True Blood) the series is set in San Diego, CA and follows two unlicensed PIs. The trailer looks amazing and gives the show a strong cinematic feel. 

Along with the opening of the NFL season, Thursday brings two CW dramas in the return of The Vampire Diaries (our top TV guilty pleasure -- don't judge us) and the debut of the promising La Femme Nikita reboot, Nikita, starring the kinda hot Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible 3). The shows may be few but kickoff week looks to be quality packed.