Laurel Brown's Best and Worst Picks of the Fall 2011 Season

With more than 30 new shows and countless returning favorites, the fall 2011 TV season is more loaded than a baked potato. BuddyTV writer Laurel Brown has looked through all of it and has chosen the three best and the three worst things about the new season. 

THE BEST Late-Start Shows Usually, September is when our favorite shows return. This year, however, things are a little different. Two of my favorites -- Bones and Chuck -- won't return to television until late October and early November. 

This is going to make September somewhat dull, but the later fall will be awesome. New Girl It's funny, it's well-made and yes, it is adorable. From the corny theme song (sung by star Zooey Deschanel) to the great supporting cast (the three male roommates are actual characters, not two-dimensional foils) to the true celebration of a dorky girl, I'm excited for everything about this show. 

Cliffhanger Resolution Among the many spring cliffhangers on TV, there were two that stood out from me: Castle and Fringe. Sure, no one thinks that Beckett's bullet wounds will leave her dead. But what about Castle's panicked declaration of love? 

Where will the go with that? And then there's Fringe. When Peter winked out of existence, shortly after having somehow saved two universes from destruction, Fringe set up one of the weirdest and best cliffhangers ever. 

Sure, we've heard that Peter will be back. But how? Where? When? Arrrrrgggghhh!!! THE WORST The Return of the Laugh Track I have nothing against traditional and multi-camera comedies -- in theory. Over the years, such shows have been the home of true greatness (from The Cosby Show to The Big Bang Theory), but I hate those laugh tracks. 

This season, a total of five new shows (Whitney, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, How to Be a Gentleman, Last Man Standing and 2 Broke Girls) will bring canned laughter into our lives. A truly good comedy has an unobtrusive laugh track that you can ignore, because you're laughing too. But when the comedy isn't perfect, the laugh track makes me want to scream. 

If you have to tell me when I need to laugh, it's not funny. The Almost-Inevitable Cancellation of Revenge Having seen the pilot episode of ABC's Revenge, I'm intrigued. The show looks to be well-acted, well-written and containing an interesting mystery I want to see solved. But it's also a serialized and odd drama lacking in huge stars. 

The chances of cancellation -- probably after just a few episodes -- are high. The X-Factor I'll admit that I'm not a fan of big singing shows. I've never understood the appeal of American Idol and only kind of got into The Voice. The X-Factor looks like more of the same. More of the same with over-the-top media coverage, that is. As far as the promos seem to be concerned, nothing else will ever be on FOX ever again. It's too much, and I already don't care.