Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is the sheriff who everyone listens to, and his wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) has lots of personal problems. Meanwhile, his old partner Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) is steadily going insane. There’s also Old Wise Man (OWM) Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Glenn (Steven Yeun), the gullible and frequently unbelievably stupid why-would-you-do-that comic relief. Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is the redneck with a crossbow who manages to be the only reason I still watch the show. There are other characters, but you’d be better off ignoring them.

These actors are very good at their jobs, but I watch the show because of its potential, not because of what it actually is. The characters have become stock characters. There’s the hip, young kid Glenn; OWM Dale; Rick, the man who literally cannot do wrong; and crazy guy Shane.

The beginning of the second season was very harrowing. It had one of the most intense scenes of television I’ve ever watched, with characters hiding under a traffic pileup while the dead shambled past. Then a minor character, young Sophia, went missing. It looked as though the second season was going to be a traumatic journey to find her.

And then nothing happened. Whatsoever. They were stuck on a farm, having arguments about stupid interpersonal problems for the entire season. The characters stopped being interesting, and it became so predictable that you could guess possibly every problem that was going to come up.

After the premiere episode, the only time anything of substance occurred was in the last 10 minutes of the midseason finale. The plot finally moved along at the pace I expected when I started watching the show.

If you have any experience with the graphic novel it is based on, you know the potential of “The Walking Dead.” There is so much room for conflict and growth in the characters. The writers clearly know how to write disturbing scenes that bring you to the edge of your seat, and those scenes have happened consistently throughout the show.

Don’t watch this show thinking it will be amazing, as it’s really not. Nothing all that important happens, and the pacing and conflict is meaningless and inane sometimes. Watch it for what it could be. Watch this show for its potential. I know the writers have it in them to write some seriously amazing stories, and AMC has the ability and creative talent to stick it out for a long time, even without amazing ratings.

This show isn’t as good as the other things on AMC. “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” are both better television shows, but the premise of “The Walking Dead” is more powerful and more intriguing than that of either of those shows. “The Walking Dead” isn’t there yet, but I’m willing to stick it out. So let’s see what happens in the second half of the season, because you never know when things might heat up.

“The River,” premiering on ABC, will air in the timeslot that “Lost” aired in during its final season (Tuesday at 8 p.m. CST), so the “The River” already has sort of a leg up.

There are a couple of big names at the top for this project—Steven Spielberg is a producer and Oren Peli of the “Paranormal Activity” trilogy is writing and directing. Peli’s influence is all too apparent. The trailer for “The River” looks like the action in “Paranormal Activity” moved straight from that house to the jungle. The clips that commercials show are full of the quick night shots, with unseen forces throwing people around like rag dolls.

The plot of “The River” seems innocuous until you get further into the story. An explorer, Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), seemingly modeled after the likes of Steve Irwin, has been lost in the Amazon for six months when his emergency beacon suddenly turns back on. His family, wife Tess (Leslie Hope) and son Lincoln (Joe Anderson), can only fund the rescue by agreeing to let a documentary crew film the mission. They then join a team of cameramen and producers to find him, or at least to find out what happened. Early into the mission, they find Cole’s empty boat, and that’s when things start to go wrong. What does it all mean? Well, hopefully we will find out over the course of the eight-episode season.

ABC is following “Lost” into the jungle here, obviously hoping to get similar viewer numbers. With Peli’s history at the box office and the similar style here, it is certainly possible for the show to have a strong debut. If done well, it could reach near the heights of that lonely island ratings-wise, but the quality of “The River” will probably pale in comparison.

Courtesy of NBC

‘Smash’ is NBC’s new comedy-drama about the making of a musical about Marilyn Monroe’s life. Megan Hilty, left, and Katharine McPhee compete for the role of Marilyn Monroe.

Tonight, at 9 p.m. CST, NBC will premiere “Smash,” its new follow-up to “The Voice.” The show has a grown-up premise, unlike its “Glee”-ful competitor. It centers around a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, and it offers an insider’s perspective into the heart of show business. It stars Debra Messing (“Will and Grace”) and “American Idol” season five runner-up Katharine McPhee, among other all-stars.

While the show sounds interesting, its plot seems somewhat hard to sustain. Messing’s character is part of a songwriting team that decides to write a show about Monroe, and within the first episode, it is already written and almost cast. The major conflict seems to arise when they cannot decide whom to cast in the lead role. Seasoned Broadway veteran Ivy (Megan Hilty) seems like the best bet to play the icon, but newcomer Karen (Katharine McPhee) captures the essence of the role in front of the casting team. What to do? Who to cast? I don’t know, but I also don’t know how long I’m going to care about whom a fictional musical is going to cast.

There are a number of subplots involving the characters’ personal lives, but the real winners of “Smash” are the songs. “Smash” will showcase both covers and original songs, which will be written by “Hairspray” vets Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. A large percentage of the cast comes from Broadway, and we know they’ll know how to sing. For some reason, I don’t feel like this is going to be a production in which auto-tune is involved.

Let’s think back to what the Glee Club kids do every week a) in order to recruit more members, b) for some other semi-legitimate reason, or c) just because. They sing, in public, in the halls of the school. This is a school at which people are trying to learn and study and work.

Do you have friends that sing all the time? Imagine if a group of kids walked down the halls here and were just singing, all the time. I mean, they are all really good singers, but what everyone else is hearing is not the studio-recording versions that the audience gets to hear. The other people at McKinley High are hearing some random kids singing to themselves. No matter how good it is, it would get unbelievably tiring, because nobody but the Glee kids actually asked to be at that concert.

They don’t publicize their performances. They just show up in places to annoy people as much as possible. In Tuesday’s episode, they performed Michael Jackson’s song “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” I thought it was a great performance. Want to know, however, when I would not have thought about how enjoyable it was? If I was in the library that they all ran into while performing! People went in there for peace and quiet, for a place to study. At a certain point, it must become socially acceptable to hit them.

Everyone at the school also has the right to be angry because the Glee Club takes up about 90% of the budget for the entire district. I’m aware that during the first season, Mr. Schuester really had to fight for funding. Whatever. But what he is fighting for is the most inflated and unnecessary budget of any club EVER. Aside from the fact that they take over the auditorium for practices, booty camps, auditions, and pretty much anything they want, the club uses so much money on its performances that I can seriously understand why Sue Sylvester thinks it might be necessary that the club be burned to the ground.

The most telling example is the song “Umbrella/Singing in the Rain” which I thought was an excellent mashup of two unexpected components. What is unacceptable is the fact that in that performance they literally drown the entire auditorium. And why do they do they perform? “For us,” Mr. Schu says. Really? For you? What if I’m not in the Glee Club? Maybe the money my school has should be spent on, say, books and teacher pensions before the club destroys an entire auditorium? It’s just a thought.

During every single performance, they are in new, fantastic outfits, which are spectacular for the number and serve almost no purpose elsewhere. Even assuming that they do some of the purchasing themselves and most of the assembly, the school would still be subsidizing a large portion (considering they are not the richest of folk by any means). That is tens of thousands of school funds that go to a single club. No, if I weren’t in Glee Club, I’d be a little pissed that I had to use a textbook that said the Civil Rights Movement would blow over because some people decided they needed to sing more than I needed to learn.

It is possible that these numbers are happening mostly in their heads, so that the performances are just big-budget examples of what the Glee Club wishes they could be. I guess that gets away from the budget problem. But then you have a group of schizophrenics—whose parents refuse to get them medication—having shared hallucinations and who do nothing but sing in the hallways and libraries in an effort to recruit members or just to express their feelings.

Yeah, I’d feel bad for them at first. They probably need help. But after a certain amount of singing and recruiting and self-expression, my patience would wear thin. There is only so much I can take before I give up…and throw a slushie in someone’s face.

Courtesy of NBC

Left to right: Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton return to host the second season of “The Voice” on NBC.

The show, however, was never really able to keep up its momentum. The audition episodes were the best part, but there were only two of them. The battle rounds did not feature enough singing, and the first season was just too short (less than two months long) to make an impact. When winner and runner-up Javier Colon and Dia Frampton released their debut CDs last fall, very few people even noticed.

“The Voice,” however, is back on Sunday, and it seems like it’s going to be better than ever. The season will be longer, giving viewers more time to get to know the contestants. It has added even more superstar mentors to drum up interest, including Jewel, Alanis Morissette, Ne-Yo, Kelly Clarkson, and Lionel Richie. And most importantly, the judging panel is back in full, ready to bring some more chemistry to the screen.

The show will air on NBC after the Super Bowl ends, whenever that is. This seems like a poor choice to follow the most watched sports game of the year. “The Voice” already has an established audience, and, for some reason, I don’t think its core demographic is middle-aged male football fans. (NBC probably would have been better off airing a critically acclaimed comedy like “Parks and Recreation,” which has something for everybody.) But I digress, and hopefully at least the part of the audience who watches the Super Bowl for the commercials will stay on board. “The Voice” will move to its normal timeslot on Monday, at 7 p.m. CST, where it will air week after week.

Courtesy of NBC

“The Office”’s Dwight K. Shrute (Rainn Wilson) will be starring in his own spinoff on NBC.

“Entertainment 720” (“Parks and Recreation”)
Ben Schwartz and Aziz Ansari reprise their roles as obnoxious financier Jean-Ralphio and master of swagamonies Tom Haverford to create the best parties in all of Indiana. Jean-Ralphio has dragged the company out of bankruptcy thanks to a cash infusion from a sexual harassment lawsuit against a coworker who said his butt looked weird in jeggings. The boys are now taking clients due to the expert advice of Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, and they spend each week planning the greatest events in the state. Look out for a crossover episode when Entertainment 720 returns to Pawnee to throw Leslie Knope a congratulations party for her victory in the city council elections.

“Kim and Khloe Take Kourtney’s Babies” (“Keeping Up With the Kardashians”)
Those Kardashian sisters have already taken so many things: Miami, New York, hours of my life. This time, the two sisters in the big three that haven’t been paired together for a spinoff will come together to teach Kourtney a lesson. Khloe’s been sick of her sister’s baby daddy Scott from the beginning, so it’s time for that ultimate standoff. Will Kourtney accept the ultimatum and finally ditch her alcoholic boyfriend in return for her son Mason and future child, or will she let her sisters take the hassle of two children off her hands?

“The Warblers” (“Glee”)
I’m getting so sick of those kids at McKinley High. They used to be so lovable when they were the underdogs. Now, they just sit around whining. Even Sue Sylvester got bored and stopped making fun of them. It’s time to give a show to the talented a cappella fellas of Dalton Academy. Blaine Anderson, a former Warbler and the only character that’s still good on “Glee,” will transfer back, and we’ll get to see the trials and tribulations of the all-boy ensemble. As long as they don’t pull the same crap as “Glee,” “The Warblers” could be a hit.

“How I Met Your Father” (“How I Met Your Mother”)
Ted Mosby will eventually meet his future wife and his bored kids will no longer have to listen to him jabber on. At that point, as the title would imply, the show will end. However, they don’t need to give up on the universe. If they pick a relatively unknown mother, the writers could reboot the series from the beginning with Lady Mosby as the new protagonist and narrator. Ted has already mentioned that there were moments of crossover that they didn’t realize, so they could revisit the St. Patrick’s Day Party and Ted’s first day as a professor for some fun cameo appearances.

“Guido of Love” (“Rock of Love”/“Jersey Shore”)
Vinny Guadagnino is put in a house with 16 “ladies” and puts them through challenges to become his guidette match. The best parts are the challenges, which include the girls trying to impress Vinny’s mother, cooking a full Italian meal for Vinny, showing off their wingman skills for Vinny’s BFF Pauly D, and having a GTL-off. Notice: All girls must be tan. Tattoos preferred. No grenades.

“A Rise to the Throne” (“Game of Thrones”)
Spoiler alert! Although it was clearly going to happen from the moment the show began, it still sucked to see Ned Stark (Sean Bean) get his head chopped off near the end of season one. The prequel takes you back to Ned’s younger days, when he helped Robert ascend to the throne over the Mad King. Don’t worry. There is a part in there for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage).

Chuck Grant

Internet sensation and singer Lana Del Rey (above) has experienced significant backlash following her American TV debut on SNL.

The performance itself wasn’t that horrible. It clearly wasn’t good, but it was nowhere near the worst ever. It’s not like SNL has a history of great performances anyway. Performers with great live voices, like Adele and Lady Gaga, have sounded awful in Studio 8H. Del Rey didn’t lip sync like Ashlee Simpson did. It wasn’t bonkers like Ke$ha and her memorable “Have you guys ever thought that maybe we’re the aliens?” performance in appropriated Native American garb. And how many times are we going to forgive Taylor Swift for being constantly and consistently awful in her live performances? We reward Swift with Grammys, and yet Del Rey is suddenly a national joke because she had one bad and one just-about-average performance? She was nervous, and so her deeper register was too deep, and she relied too much on a falsetto that sounded worse the longer it went on. She also tried to change up her songs and improvise lyrics, failing at both. She certainly wasn’t overconfident, and she didn’t wear an outrageous costume or have some weird dance routine. She just stood there, looking stunning yet terrified in a white gown, and sang. Incidentally, whose decision was it to not give her a mic stand? The fact that she didn’t sound good was amplified by her doe-eyed swaying on stage that seemed straight out of a David Lynch film.

This was her American television debut as well. If you search for videos on YouTube of her live performances abroad, Del Rey can clearly sing. Can you blame her for being nervous? She’s discussed in numerous interviews that she has a bad case of stage fright. She shouldn’t be vilified for it. If anyone is to blame here, it is her management for choosing such a visible venue for her American debut. If she had debuted quietly on one of the late night shows, I doubt Brian Williams would have found time to tweet about her. Hopefully her career, already on a strange path, continues—and she turns in a good, well-publicized performance to quiet the critics.

Justin Stephens | FOX

Alcatraz: The mysterious drama follows Sarah Jones (C), Sam Neill (R) and Jorge Garcia (L) as they investigate the shocking reappearance of Alcatraz’s most notorious prisoners, 50 years after they vanished. Alcatraz premieres at it’s usual time on Monday, Jan. 23 8 p.m. CST on FOX.

It’s hard to watch a television show with some sort of mystery these days without wondering if it can fill the void that “Lost” left when it ended in May 2010. Shows from “FlashForward” to “The Event” have tried to claim the title, but failed, and some spectacularly. New York Times writer Heather Havrilesky even claimed that “Lost” has ruined modern television as networks search for the next program like it.

As a “Lost” fan, I disagree heartily with that assertion, but I also worried that there would never be another “Lost.” There would just be a bunch of copycats and cheap imitations. And then “Alcatraz” came along.

While it may seem unfair to compare every show to “Lost,” using it as a gold standard of sorts, it’s hard not to see its similarity with “Alcatraz.” Both shows are set on a mysterious island. Both shows are executive produced by J.J. Abrams and written by Elizabeth Sarnoff. Both shows use flashbacks to create complex characters. Both shows have Jorge Garcia in an audience surrogate role. And both shows have really amazing pilots.

“Alcatraz” is about the prison in San Francisco Bay that closed in 1963, but according to the show’s storyline, it never actually closed. Instead, the 250 prisoners and guards disappeared—and then returned to commit crimes in the present day. The pilot itself was top-notch in almost every way. Each episode follows the FBI team tasked with hunting the prisoners down, and flashbacks allow us to see what they were like in 1963. This device makes the “bad guy of the week” into someone of much more depth than on a show like “CSI” or “Law and Order.” While previews may have made the twists seem obvious, imagining what the pilot would have been without knowing them makes it that much better. The entire cast is strong, including lead Sarah Jones as Detective Rebecca Madsen, whom I had never seen before. Madsen has a personal connection to the Alcatraz case, as revealed in a “Vertigo” homage of a flashback, that her partner was murdered by one of the prisoners. Jorge Garcia plays Dr. Diego Soto, an expert on Alcatraz who becomes Madsen’s partner. Hopefully Garcia is allowed to show the range he displayed on “Lost,” because he can do more than deliver exactly what is on the audience’s mind. (My personal favorite: “Is anyone else’s head exploding right now?”) And Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”) delivers every line perfectly as Emerson Hauser, one of the guards who originally discovered the missing prisoners.

Though filming moved to Vancouver after the pilot, this episode was filmed at Alcatraz itself, and the location is magical. The score, by Michael Giacchino, was fantastic. It’s a pity he’s an Oscar-and-Emmy-and-Grammy-award-winning composer and is moving on to bigger projects, because not since his own work on “Lost” has a television score been this atmospheric and awesome. My only worry is that the show might not be able to balance the procedural and serial aspects of its narrative, and the network will push for more of a procedural. Then again, with “Lost” veterans like Sarnoff, Abrams and longtime director Jack Bender on board, “Alcatraz” should be a success.

The once-regal lineup that included shows like “Friends” and “Frasier” is not doing so well these days. NBC is far behind CBS and ABC in ratings and is making stupid moves to “fix” this problem. In the A.V. Club’s words, cult favorite “Community” will not return until “Vague Spring Day, 2012”; NBC entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt promised that the show will finish out season three sometime this spring. A wonderfully clever show with dismal ratings (see: “Arrested Development”), “Community” was snatched off the schedule this winter, pushing fans into a panic. The good news is that “Community” is not cancelled; the bad news is that the show’s future is as indefinite as its spring return date. Will the Greendale Human Beings get their six seasons and a movie? Probably not, unless NBC gets its act together and stops throwing “Community” under the bus with a terrible timeslot and few promotions.

Taking “Community”’s spot in the lineup is “30 Rock,” returning for its sixth season. The show was delayed due to Tina Fey’s pregnancy, but she had daughter Penelope in August and “30 Rock” went back into production after a tumultuous time off the air. One of its stars, Tracy Morgan, had a highly publicized homophobic rant ruin an already damaged public image, and Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight for playing Words with Friends. The show is already planning on an episode based on Morgan’s rant, and hopefully a Words with Friends episode is on its way as well.

After “30 Rock” at 7 p.m. are “Parks and Recreation” (7:30 p.m.) and “The Office” (8 p.m.). Then, replacing the disastrous “Whitney” is “Up All Night,” starring Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph. Arnett and Applegate play parents to a newborn baby, and Rudolph plays Ava, an Oprah-like talk show host and Applegate’s boss. It is a much better fit for Thursday nights, as it is actually funny and does not feature a laugh track. Seeing “SNL” veterans Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph all on the same night is extra special, especially as they continue to prove Jerry Springer wrong. Women can be funny, and Thursday nights on NBC continue to prove it. Now if only NBC could replace Wednesday’s “Whitney” or the new “Are You There, Chelsea?” with “Community,” then everything would just be good again.

100-1 Elizabeth Falkner
Falkner, who looks like Annette Bening’s character in “The Kids Are Alright,” is not at all a threat to win it. Both of her restaurants have “Citizen Kane”-themed names. Can you say overrated? She’s a dessert expert, her personality is grating, and she said she wanted to bring a punk-rock flavor to the competition. I don’t know what punk rock tastes like, but I’m going to guess it doesn’t taste like victory.

80-1 Geoffrey Zakarian
“Chopped” judge Zakarian should be more of a threat to win. But he just doesn’t seem to care about the show or its rules. For the ballpark competition, Zakarian served some sort of brunch dish that would never, ever be served in any American ballpark. He somehow survived because it tasted good. I imagine his blatant flouting of the rules will cost him eventually.

50-1 Alex Guarnaschelli
The other “Chopped” judge, Guarnaschelli, also has her own show on Food Network. Unlike her colleague Zakarian, she appears to have more respect for the competition. But she hasn’t been able to keep her cool in the kitchen and has been flustered in most of the challenges. She has the talent, but if she doesn’t adapt to the pressure, she’ll soon be eliminated in one of the battles.

30-1 Michael Chiarello
He hosts a show on Cooking Channel and has restaurants in Napa Valley. But the only thing you need to know about him is that he’s kind of a jerk. He’s like Bobby Flay plus Ronnie from “Jersey Shore” minus the muscle. He has great cooking chops, but I think his personality will keep him from winning.

20-1 Marcus Samuelsson
Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Sweden. He’s attended some of the best culinary institutes in the world. He’s cooked for President Obama, and he was even the winner on the second season of “Top Chef Masters.” A great back story and a cooking competition already under his belt seem like the perfect ingredients for the next Iron Chef. I just don’t know if he’s suited to be an Iron Chef, though. He hasn’t lived up to his talent in any of the challenges, and he was almost eliminated in the first week. For someone so renowned, he certainly needs to step it up if he intends to win.

15-1 Beau MacMillan
MacMillan was one of the hosts on season one of “Worst Cooks in America,” along with fellow “The Next Iron Chef” competitor Anne Burrell. He also owns a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. MacMillan has beat Bobby Flay before on “Iron Chef America.” He’s a rugged, portly guy—sort of like Mario Batali plus Paul Bunyan. We’ll see if a first-week ankle injury hinders him at all.

5-1 Anne Burrell
Let’s face it. Anne Burrell should already be an Iron Chef. She’s quirky and talented, and she was Iron Chef Mario Batali’s sous chef on “Iron Chef America” for many seasons. Plus, she has the best hair on television, and Kitchen Stadium could use a second woman. I don’t know how she will fare in the different challenges, but she knows how to battle in Kitchen Stadium. If she’s ever in the bottom two, she’s sure to win.