As we find ourselves now two months into the 2011-2012 television season, most new shows have premiered and most returning shows have returned.  Thus, what follows are my (more or less snap) judgments on the new programs, and some quick quips about our returning favorites.

New Shows That I Am Now Watching Regularly

New Girl
One of the most perfect vehicles for any star, ever.  I am going to call Zooey the Emmy favorite at this point.

The Secret Circle
More Phoebe Tonkin, please.  Shelley Hennig and Britt Robertson aren’t that bad either.  (And Natasha Henstridge, of all people, in one of the adult roles?)

Suburgatory
Simultaneously friendly and harsh to the plasticness of suburbia – great combination!

2 Broke Girls
Of course Kat Dennings is great, but Beth Behrs is the most surprising revelation of the season.

Up All Night
A great cast is holding up this promising entry, with Maya Rudolph as an Oprah-lite talk show host the standout.

New Shows That I Have Given a Chance (or Something Resembling a Chance)

Allen Gregory
The title fellow is so aggressively unlikeable and so improbable.  I may end up watching AG regularly since it’s in Fox’s animation block.  Will Forte’s presence may be enough to make it bearable.

Free Agents
Perhap a larger role for Joe Lo Truglio would have saved Free Agents.

H8R
The episode that Charles Barkley was supposed to be on didn’t air because H8R was cancelled just a bit too soon.

Revenge
I prefer my soaps to be breezier and more ironic, but I hear this one is deliciously soapy.

Ringer
The way that CW shows are shot is like the opposite of Terrence Malick films, which is a problem for a show like Ringer, which deserves better.

Terra Nova
The sets, effects, and actors all look pretty.  Alas, I am not sure where my eyes (or my brain) are supposed to go while watching this.

Whitney
This is the first NBC Thursday show since Joey that is recorded in front of a studio audience.  ‘Nuff said.

The X Factor
Essentially an extra American Idol, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I watch it when I can and/or feel like it.

Other New Shows

American Horror Story
This sounds like it’s right up my alley.  Hopefully I’ll catch up to it at some point.

Boss
ONE BIG WORD for the title … doesn’t tell us much.

Charlie’s Angels
This hadn’t already been remade?

Enlightened
Starring Laura Dern as Kristen Wiig!

A Gifted Man
Hasn’t this show – with the talking to the dead and whatnot – been done before?

Grimm
It’s all in the execution, and I hear the execution isn’t much.

Hart of Dixie
That is just lazy, Mr. Premise Creator.  That doesn’t necessarily mean the show is bad, but it does mean that I don’t particularly care.

Hell on Wheels
Premieres November 6.  Too slick for its own good, or just the right amount?

Homeland
This is probably the best new show that I’m not watching.

How to Be a Gentleman
My instinct is to call this the most sexist show ever, but Rhys Darby (Murray from Flight of the Conchords) is in it.

I Hate My Teenage Daughter
Scheduled to premiere November 30.  Looks too cruel and/or too wimpy.

Last Man Standing
Looks subtly sexist.  But it’s probably just not very funny, or mildly funny at best.

Man Up!
This show does not appear to be interested in a message that would render its premise anything besides depressing.

Once Upon a Time
You can’t be that serious.

Pan Am
Looks at least half fun.

Person of Interest
I was excited about Michael Emerson’s return as a TV regular, but Thursday nights are just too crowded, and I couldn’t get myself excited enough for a procedural.  I hear Jim Caviezel’s is the bigger role anyway.

The Playboy Club
The most nonsensical show in so many ways in a long time.

Prime Suspect
A remake that looks like it didn’t work hard enough to establish its own identity.

Reed Between the Lines
This is a new comedy on BET starring Girlfriends‘ Tracee Ellis Ross and The Cosby Show‘s Malcolm Jamal-Warner.

Unforgettable
There is probably a lovable character in there somewhere.

Shows That Are Returning After a Long Absence

Beavis and Butt-Head
Just in time.  We needed B and B-H’s perspective on Jersey Shore, Twilight, and Skrillex.

Pop-Up Video
I was just starting to realize how much I missed Pop-Up Video when it made its return.

Returning Favorites

American Dad!
Dad! is now the most consistently strong member of Fox’s Animation Domination.

Archer
H. Jon Benjamin is the best voice actor on TV right now (see two spots below as well).

The Big Bang Theory
BBT is finally available OnDemand!

Bob’s Burgers
Yes, Bob’s Burgers fans, Bob will be returning by springtime, and perhaps sooner, considering that Fox recently upgraded the episode order from 13 to 22.

The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is now funny often enough, even though it doesn’t always seem like it’s trying to be.

Community
After starting this season off as a very good show, Community has in the past few weeks gone back to being the best sitcom on television.

Desperate Housewives
As DH continues through its final season, I must commend Teri Hatcher as the most consistently strong Housewife in the show’s run.

Family Guy
When did Family Guy start caring about its characters so much?

Fringe
The performances are as great as ever, but the transition following the union of the two universes and the disappearance has been a little weird and perfunctory.

Glee
There’s still some things that Glee has to sing.

Gossip Girl
Dan’s book = one of the best midseries rejuvanations in television history.

Happy Endings
Happy Endings has quietly become one of the three best sitcoms on TV.

How I Met Your Mother
This season might give us plenty of answers, or it might give us hardly any.  At least there will be laughs.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Returning in January.  I was worried that this show’s existence had been forgotten.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Don’t know what to0k me so long to become a regular viewer of Always Sunny.  This is a show as perfectly singular as Stella or Flight of the Conchords.

The Middle
After perusing this show for a couple seasons, I am now a regular viewer.  This is a very likable show – not always the funniest, but you gotta hand it to a family that embraces all its quirks.

Modern Family
The David Cross guest appearance is the best thing to happen to Modern Family in some time.

The Office
Robert California is already one of the most iconic characters currently on TV, but The Office otherwise feels a bit off.

The Onion News Network
Like early Colbert Report, the humor is spot-on, but often too baldly ironic.

Parks and Recreation
A strong start, particularly thanks to Nick Offerman’s most consistent work yet as Ron Swanson.

Portlandia
On its way in January.  Can’t wait.

Raising Hope
Solidifying its case as the sweetest show on television.

Saturday Night Live
There seems to be a lot of good will at 30 Rockefeller Plaza this year.

The Simpsons
Are we at the point of post-postmodern Simpsons or post-post-postmodern Simpsons?

30 Rock
Pregnancy break, eh?  Sneaky move there, NBC.

The Walking Dead
There’s plenty of time for philosophizing in this apocalypse.