The show focuses not only on the students’ work in the arts, but also deals with the everyday lives of these teens as they experience the normal dramas of high school. Both of these components make for an interesting and relatable television series.

Season one kicked off with showing five of these students striving to become famous, and two of these kids had succeeded by the end of the season. One of these students is a singer/songwriter named Mia Carruthers, who recently released an album available on iTunes.

Tyler Nelson, who started season one as a junior––has already had the experience of rubbing elbows with Hip-Hop Dance’s elite. His claims to fame include being a back-up dancer for artists such as Rhianna and Beyonce, and working with choreographers such as Shane Sparks and Shawnette Heard (Janet Jackson’s tour choreographer).

Aside from his success in hip-hop dance, he’s had his fair share of success with the girls at SCPA. He is a ladies’ man and is seen in season one as getting romantically involved with two girls. And in season two, the concept of romance takes off early, as we focus on a whole new group of kids and whole new set of teenage hormones.

So far, season two has focsued mainly on the dancing of students Anna Flinchbaugh, Tyler Nelson, Emily Silber, and Carlton Totten; however, it also showcases the talent of singer/songwriters Emily Sones and Adam Calvert. The strangest and most exciting part about the new season is that all of these kids seem to be romantically involved with one another somehow.

Carleton has an almost pathetic obsession with Anna, Tyler and Emily Silber are dating, and Emily Sones and Adam are the “couple that should be.” The core component of Taking the Stage is these romantic situations and how the students deal with them while trying to make it big.

The new students at SCPA include singers/songwriters, dancers, and drama kids––all with the common goal to get themselves noticed. Season two is underway on MTV on Thursday nights at 11/10 Central. The series has become a hit reality show as it follows the students’ hopes for careers on broadway, in Hollywood, and in all facets of the entertainment business.

This heart-warming comedy is a nice change of pace for the network. Similair to past shows, when the network was still under the name The WB, such as “7th Heaven” and “Dawson’s Creek,” “Life Unexpected” tells the story of an unconventional family learning to cope with life’s surprises.

Cate, the over-achieving highschool valedictorian and Baze, the football star, have a one night stand after winter formal their sophomore year. Cate becomes pregnant and Baze refuses to acknowledge the hook up ever happened, and so she has the baby and gives it up for adoption. All unbeknownst to Baze who thought Cate “took care of it.”

Fast forward 16 years to the present and meet their daughter, wisecracking and sarcastic Lux. Lux has grown up in the foster care system and while attempting to file for emancipation finds her birth parents.

Cate, now a successful radio host, and Baze, who owns his own bar, haven’t spoken in years, but after a turn of events they end up with joint legal custody of Lux. Still in shock and filled with remorse and regret the two attempt to work together to do what is best for Lux. Romances are rekindled, relationships complicated, and past issues resurface as the characters grow-up and learn how to love.

Although the plausibility behind some of the plot doesn’t quite always add up, “Life Unexpected” is the kind of feel-good, family dramedy that we haven’t seen in years.

Life Unexpected airs Mondays at 8pm on the CW.

Immediately engaging the audience, this series of catastrophic events that began the new ABC television series “FlashForward” was caused by the inexplicable global “blackout.” The entire human race lost consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds, resulting in the multiple casualties and the staggering amount of collateral damage (as if our economy wasn’t bad enough already). However, it was not just the blackouts that caused issues, it was what everyone saw during their loss of consciousness that left the greatest effects. During that two minutes and seventeen seconds people saw a vision of their future six months from now: a “flash-forward.”

The “FlashForward” pilot starts with a bang that causes a breathless spiral of events over the following episodes. The story connects characters of all walks of life and how they are responding to their flash-forward, focusing mainly on FBI agent Mark Benford and his determination to find the cause of it.

The show follows Benford and about a dozen other characters who all are trying to deal with their seemingly inevitable future. Some flash-forwards are favorable, while most others are distressing or even disturbing: once-sober alcoholics are drinking again, faithful spouses are committing adultery, and there is a world with “no more good days.” However, some are humorously indifferent–one character was sitting on the toilet the entire duration of his flash-forward, simply for the desperately needed comic-relief.

With a movie star cast and other familiar faces, it is clear that ABC was trying for a new hit with audiences.  Members of the cast include Joseph Fiennes (”Shakespeare in Love”), John Cho (”Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”, “Star Trek”), Jack Davenport (”Pirates of the Caribbean”), and two “Lost” alumni: Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger. Among this misfit cast is the beautiful Gabrielle Union, sure to be easy on the eyes of any sci-fi geek or teenage boy who may happen to tune in.

However, “FlashForward” is as much a drama as it is a sci-fi show. Emotions and guilty consciences run high as the story progresses, as Benford attempts to track down whatever or whomever caused the global blackout: a search that leads him from Nazis (of course), to an eccentric cupcake lady, to an old abandoned doll factory filled with hanged dolls eerily singing the apocalyptic children’s song “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Addicting, philosophical, and somewhat disturbing, “FlashForward” has fragile potential as an up and coming new show, considering the other struggling science-fiction shows such as “Heroes,” rapidly losing viewers because of ridiculous plot twists. Airing Thursdays at 7pm, “FlashForward” deserves the time for viewing (at least on Hulu), and may very well be the most intriguing new sci-fi drama of 2009.

However, “FlashForward” is not for the faint of heart. Rather testosterone-heavy, the show is filled with action, as well as bleak scenes of blood, violence, and death.  The aftermath of the blackout in episode one leaves hundreds dead–a catastrophe perhaps too soon for an audience who has already seen enough tragedy and destruction over the past ten years. But, for all those willing, “FlashForward” is worth a try; it may just become the new show that teenage boys (and girls) come to call their favorite soap-opera.

The two-hour season premiere (entitled “Broken”) was billed as an “epic premiere event.” They weren’t lying. It deals exclusively with House’s stay inside the hospital and barely changes locations––those who watch for the medical mysteries may be disappointed, but as a character study of House (the area where the show succeeds most) there is enough content for the premiere to stand on its own as a TV movie.

The premiere reveals a side of Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) hardly seen before––a part that genuinely wants to change, and another part in a brief relationship with guest star Franka Potente that you’d never see coming. The absence of every familiar character for two hours (minus House’s friend Wilson, played by Robery Sean Leonard, who makes a brief appearance) might not sound like a good season opener, but Laurie and the wealth of entertaining guest stars more than make up for it. The writers have set the bar high; fortunately, they come through in Episode 2 with the same excellent style that finished off the previous season.

The second episode (”Epic Fail”) returns to the familiar formula of back-and-forth diagnostics and character drama, but is surprisingly fresh and engaging––there was no boring filler that has often taken up the majority of past episodes, and before the 43 minutes were up the plot had advanced more than it had in the entirety of the third season. Laurie succeeds overwhelmingly at being the “new” House, a persona not far removed from the edgy and misanthropic one of seasons past, but removed enough that it felt sufficiently genuine––qualities of writing I wish more TV dramas had.

The episode actually focuses much more on characters besides House; for the moment he is a secondary character in his own show, although this is not an entirely bad thing. So far, at least, it has allowed the supporting cast (particularly Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson, playing 13 and Taub) to have more well-developed dialogue amongst themselves.

It will be interesting to see if House’s rehab significantly affects the remainder of the season or if it will be added to the list of major events that don’t seem to matter in the long run (Kutner’s suicide and House’s earlier electro-shock therapy could hardly have been less consequential). Either way, Laurie continues to stand out as one of TV’s best personalities, and this season shows no signs of being anything except the best one yet.

Though the network isn’t the only change––the show now takes place in Los Angeles instead of New York–the basic format has returned as great as ever, complete with fresh new challenges and a host of celebrity guest-judges (Lindsay Lohan and Rachel Bilson have already appeared). The same cast is back as well, with the lovable Tim Gunn, amusing Heidi Klum, and take-no-prisoners Nina Garcias and Michael Kors.

Season six promises to be entertaining: a space suit red carpet look and sad excuse for a dress leaving a model basically naked have already been shown on the runway, to the models’ chagrin. Lifetime also now offers a half-hour model-counterpart “Models of the Runway,” and all full episodes online in case you miss an episode. With two promising contestants from Minnesota as well, Christopher Straub from Shakopee and Ra’mon-Lawerence from Minneapolis, Runway proves there will be no sixth-season slump.

Set in New York City, this “Gossip Girl” meets “America’s Next Top Model” show gives more than just designer labels and juicy scandal. Produced by industry-insider and former model, Ashton Kutcher, the show divulges the harsh reality of this business, touching on the issues of drug abuse, sex-scandals, black-mail, and unrelenting standards of the modeling industry.     

In the pilot episode, former “it” girl Sonja Stone (Mischa Barton, “The O.C.”) is trying to reclaim her reign after a mysterious six month disappearance from the modeling world, but because she gained a mere two pounds in her absence, up-and-comer Raina Mayer (Sarah Paxton, “Last House on the Left”) steps up and steals the spotlight. With a mysterious past of her own and hardly any modeling experience, innocent Raina seeks companionship in fellow new comer Chris Andrews (Ben Hollingsworth, “The Line”), a handsome Iowa farm boy, while they both try and decipher if they have what it takes to make it in this industry.    

This classic tale of new-comers thrust into the harsh reality of another world comes to life with a rather honest portrayal and authenticity provided by the real models and fashion designers, such as Zac Posen, who bring the show together. 

Although at first “The Beautiful Life: TBL” appears to be very similar to the CW’s other dramas like Gossip Girl and 90210, TBL has potential to be be the next insightful guilty pleasure of many–after all, as the show proves, looks can be deceiving.

The Beautiful Life: TBL airs Wednesdays at 8 on the CW

Season 6 plot lines include psychotic kidnapping nannies and random murders or are filled with monotonous and overdone relationship drama; everyone has been with everyone else at least twice. Even the once complex character of Lucas has spewed his poetic love so many times to so many people that he has become as shallow as a stereotypical soap star. Unfortunately, the only thing that this show has actually managed to keep intact is introducing relatively unknown but excellent alternative and indie music.