Have I said lately how much I enjoy watching Real Time With Bill Maher?  It’s a salon with a lot of laughs.  I learn a lot between the chuckles.  What’s not to like about that?

I read this last night (thanks for forwarding, Cara), but it’s all over the papers this morning:

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/cnn-fires-sanchez-after-critiqu-of-stewart/?hp

First, I have to confess that I never cared for Sanchez’ program or his persona on the air (Jon Stewart was onto something in his piece that aired Monday).  Second, maybe CNN will try something really radical now…like presenting an actual newscast in the afternoon.  Third, unfortunately, that’s unlikely.

I really don’t understand (well, I do, but I don’t like it) why CNN can’t rest on the huge profits it makes with its international service and settle for less-than-stellar ratings while presenting old-fashioned journalism instead of trying to get into the opinion game.

Having a brand that means solid reporting and fair coverage will reap ratings benefits every time disaster strikes, which is too often.  Right now, the CNN brand feels compromised to me by Sanchez’ frequently inane show and the new one that debuts Monday night with Elliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker.

Enough already.

Denise and I were so busy talking about the new TV season, that we couldn’t get around to Cairo Time, The Town, or Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps on Voices & Viewpoints this week – but you can hear about those movies (and a little more, counting my take on Oliver Stone and Spike Lee) right here!  

Okay, so I was going to give Lone Star a go until it was prematurely cancelled.  Now I have three shows (that last time I checked were still on the air!) to recommend.

Boardwalk Empire has me hooked.  Some critics liked everything about the first episodes of the series except Steve Buscemi as political figure/gangster Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, but I disagree.  We see Nucky at the crossroads at the series, set in Atlantic City, begins with Prohibition taking effect, and I think Buscemi pulls this off with a certain ambivalence about the times that intrigues me.  (HBO Sundays 9 p.m.)

Mike & Molly has conventional, three-camera sitcom written all over it, but it seems fresh because the two main characters, a Chicago police office and an elementary school teacher, meet at Overaters Anonymous.  So far, it’s funny and the characters show a lot of promise.  (CBS Mondays 9:30 p.m.)

Raising Hope is another sitcom, but this is the hipper, single-camera model.  Thematically, it seems like a cross between Roseanne and Married With Children, and it’s funny, too.  Add Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman as a mom and her grandmother, and it would be tempting to tune in to see them even if there rest of the cast weren’t so good.  The premise is…unusual.  A teenager has a one-night-stand with a serial killer who goes to prison and is executed leaving him with a baby to raise, and his parents – who had him when they were 15-years-old – aren’t as much help as one would expect.  Following that?  (FOX Tuesdays 9 p.m.)

Now, here’s a sentence or two about some of the shows I watched once or twice but won’t return to on a regular basis.

My Generation:  the second half of the pilot wasn’t as bad as the first half, but who has time?  What is this anyway, a mocu-soap?

Running Wilde:  this is possibly the worst pilot I’ve seen in twenty years.

The Event:  I’m sorry but I just can’t commit to a show billed as a cross between 24 and Lost.  Besides, I like Rubicon but it’s challenging to keep me going while I still feel so in the dark about what’s happening.  Why sign up for that again?

Blue Bloods:  let’s see, he’s a police bigwig, one son’s a detective, the daughter’s an assistant district attorney, another son died doing undercover work for internal affairs, and a third son abandoned a law career to join the NYPD with the rest of the family?  Did I forget to mention that gramps is a retired cop?  Tom Selleck’s moustache is nice in primetime, but really?  One family seems to run New York City.  How convenient is that?  Too convenient.

Outlaw:  Jimmy Smits plays a Supreme Court Justice who leaves the bench to tackle controversial cases across the country.  Sorry.  I can’t buy that anyone would leave the bench.  Even though the second episode was a little better than the first one, I can’t get past the initial premise.

Undercovers:  gorgeous couple…lame execution of a Mr. and Mrs. Smith on the small screen idea.

The Whole Truth:  this is a little more promising than some of the others, but it’s rungs below The Good Wife, so why should I bother?  I might watch a few more episodes here and there and see if it clicks…but I’m not feeling the push to add it to the series I record regularly.

Better With You: middle-of-the-road conventional sitcom.  It’s not bad, but I’m not motivated to watch again.

I’m sure there will be updates as more shows roll out…