This has become a TV habit: The regular shows debut in the fall; the special ones -- fresh, odd, distinctive -- arrive in mid-season, when people are paying more attention.

We'll see signs of that this  week, from Fox. The second "Alcatraz" is tonight (Monday, Jan. 23), a "Touch" sneak preview is Wednesday; in between, the season's second "Justified" is on cable's FX.

Monday (Jan. 16) is an overcrowded day for TV viewers. Please catch my previous blogs on Betty White and Ashton Kutcher; here's the brief story I sent to papers on "Alcatraz":

By MIKE HUGHES

For the people from ”Lost,” the new
series was a bit easier.

This time, they didn't have to make up
the island. Alcatraz – once a prison, now a tourist spot – is
real, just off San Francisco.