Sometimes the world conspires to make our TV sets (or our DVR's, or our heads) explode.
One of those times is Monday (Jan. 25), when approximately everything is new and interesting. You can get the details by hitting the "TV column" category above, but let me elaborate a bit.
The big step has "Damages" starting its season at 10 p.m. This is one of TV's best dramas -- Glenn Close has won Emmys in each of the first two seasons -- and it starts powerfully. It introduces an easy-to-hate villain (a Bernie Madoff type) early in the hour and adds at the end.
That puts the pressure on another 10 p.m. cable drama, "Men of a Certain Age." It has a pleasant hour that introduces Robert Loggia as Ray Romano's dad.
The big networks have their usual strength, from "House" to "Big Bang Theory." And yes, it really is fun to see Chuck confront Stone Cold Steve Austin on an airliner.
That's just the start. PBS has a terrific Wyatt Earp portrait, followed by a good music magazine show. Showtime and BBC America each give us a new show and a rerun. The latter, via "Top Gear," gives us perhaps our first chance to see a race between a 1949-era car, train and motorcycle. It's kind of fun; the whole night is.