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For me, autumn has never meant the start of school, the dropping of temperatures, or the changing of the leaves on the trees. Oh, those things are all well and good, but what I anticipate the most is the new fall season on television. The highlight of each fall season is the return of my favorite shows with new episodes, after what feels like an eternity of reruns. There are four shows which I am enthusiastically anticipating the return of. Here they are, ranked in order of most eagerly awaited:

1. Malcolm in the Middle. Since its debut in January, this show has become quite possibly the best sitcom on television. Every episode is just gut-wrenchingly funny. The show has no laugh track, which makes the laughs feel all the more genuine. It is exquisitely written, never talking down to the audience or playing to their carnal urges. It is a family sitcom that is actually intelligent, rather than getting bogged down with cute kids hamming it up on the screen. It is a joy to watch.

This past season of Malcolm ended with Dewey, the youngest brother, left alone with a babysitter while the rest of the family went to an amusement park. However, the babysitter suffered a heart attack, leaving Dewey to fend for himself. He soon wandered off into the outside world. This prompted a "Where’s Dewey" promotional campaign by FOX, which has built up an audience for Malcolm in the Middle’s season premiere, which no doubt would have been a huge hit anyway. This show has proven that a television show can be excellent and still a big hit in the ratings. Of course, the question is: can Malcolm sustain this level of brilliance for a full season? I’m counting on it. The season premiere of Malcolm is November 5 at 8:30 PM on FOX, which is seen on both Channel 5 and Channel 23 here at Marist.

2. Frasier. When we last left the Crane gang, Daphne had left her fiancee Sal at the altar, and run away with Niles, whom she finally realized that she loved. This came as quite a relief to longtime viewers of the show, who had dealt with Niles’ unrequited love for Daphne for much of the past seven seasons. It was a welcome sight to see the two run off together, and I was anxious to see how it would play out this season.

For me, this is a make-or-break season for Frasier. Last season was just too uneven, with some wildly funny episodes followed up by episodes that seemed more akin to a UPN sitcom. Still, when the writing is good, Frasier is among the best shows on TV. Executive producer Christopher Lloyd (no, not "Doc Brown" Christopher Lloyd; another one), who has contributed so many strong scripts to the show over the years, left Frasier after last season. The show has also been moved from its cushy Thursday night timeslot back to Tuesday nights. It will be interesting to see how the writing staff responds to these challenges. I hope they do it well. The one-hour season premiere of Frasier is October 24 at 9:00 PM on NBC, which is seen on Channel 4 on the Marist College television dial.

3. That ‘70s Show. This hit sitcom, now entering its third season, has become perhaps my guiltiest pleasure. While it is not the best written or acted show on TV, it is just fun to watch, and provides plenty of laughs. One of the most interesting things about the show is its development into a sort of comedic soap opera. Each week’s episode impacts the next week’s, and the result is an entertaining show.

In last season’s finale, Jackie was seen having just purchased a bad of marijuana in a dark alley. She did it to prove to Hyde that she wasn’t the goody-goody that he thought she was. Shocked by what Jackie has done, Hyde took the weed from her, and then took the rap for her when the cops showed up. The season premiere will show how the rest of the gang deals with Hyde’s arrest. Like I said, That ‘70s Show isn’t the best show on TV, but it sure is fun to watch. The season premiere of That ‘70s Show is next Tuesday, October 3^rd, at 8:00 PM on FOX.

4. The Simpsons. Why am I including this show on my list? Because, even though it has established itself as one of the best shows in the history of television, it has a lot to prove as it enters its 12^th season. In short, it has to prove to me that it’s still among television’s finest. The 1998-99 season of Simpsons was, for the most part, not very good. And while the show rebounded somewhat last season, it was still creatively uneven. It was not a coincidence that the best episodes of last season did not revolve around Homer. Homer has been featured too much, and has turned into an irresponsible oaf who is not funny as much as he is pathetic. The show simply is no longer as good as it used to be.