Today is a good day, for it is today that my favorite shows return from their oddly timed mid-season breaks. To celebrate the return of my PC-TV pastime, I shall quickly recommend a couple of shows I am absolutely hooked on for the past year, both of which are not easily available on any of the channels in Pakistan but are well worth the extra effort required to obtain them.

The single most expensive first episode ever, Lost starts off with an airplane full of passengers crashing into in island in the middle of nowhere. Amid the chaos that ensues, we find out that the protagonist (one of over forty survivors of the ill-fated Oceanic flight 418), Jack, is a doctor and a noble, if reluctant leader of the band of survivors, and that there is something very fishy about this Island. Each episode is divided into a narrative of the present with scenes from one characters's past life before boarding this flight was and the circumstances that led them to this Island. The other main characters whose back stories are explored in the brilliant first season include ex-Iraqi National Guard Sayid, Convict-being-deported Kate, the mysterious John Locke, Father and son with issues Michael and Walt, step-siblings Shannon and Boone, Southern con-man "Sawyer", ex pop-idol and current cocain addict Charlie, unlikely billionaire Hurley, pregnant Aussie Claire and Korean non-English speaking couple Jin and Sun. What with polar bears, dead people, "the others" and constant surprises popping up and budding theories about the Island representing some sort of purgatory and the numbers 4-8-15-16-23-42, this is my personal favorite new show of 2005. I'm doing a poor job of describing it, but trust me, watch the first three episodes, and you'll be hooked.

Second brilliant new show in 2005 was Veronica Mars. The title character is a 17 year old living in the town of Neptune, where the 09-ers are the filthy rich and everyone else is poor and looked down upon. Accepted into the 09-er crowd because of her quick wit, 09-er boyfriend and best friend and the fact that her father is the town Sherriff, Veronica has a good life up until the day her best friend Lily (also her boyfriend Duncan's sister) is found dead by her swimming pool. Who did it? Was it Duncan, the possibly unstable boyfriend who stopped seeing Veronica for no apparent reason a week before Lily was murdered? Was it Duncan's parents, the uber-rich Kanes? Was it Lily's boyfriend, someone at school who had a grudge? Thus begins an entire season of twists and turns and more surprise twists than you shake a stick at. Veronica's father accuses the dead girl's father and thus loses the town's respect and his position as Sherriff and Veronica is unpopular by association and spends her time partly by solving crimes working part time at her dad's detective agency and partly tossing around scathingly witty remarks to all who cross her for her fall from grace. Sound like yet another teen show with a perky blonde protagonist? It is, but it's written by Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas, and features a great cast, sharp writing and a mystery that will keep you guessing. I already got one friend hooked, so I may as well give the rest of you a try as well.