Fall 2009 looks to be the most successful season for new network TV shows since 2004. That season brought us “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” on ABC, “House” on Fox and “CSI: NY” on CBS, all of which have enjoyed some degree of critical or commercial success and are still on the air five years later.

If you’ve been hearing things go bump in the streets at night, it’s not your imagination. The Suncoast has been overtaken with plenty of friendly Halloween spirits, though a few might be a little on the scary side. Regardless, they have set up shop in area neighborhoods, stores and haunted houses.

Recommended An acquired taste, I suppose, but if you're receptive to their small pleasures, quite nice. VCI Entertainment and Renown Pictures has released the British Cinema Comedy Collection , a two-disc, six-film compilation of some rather obscure (at least on these shores) but pleasant British "B" comedies. Titles include 1955's Where There's a Will , 1952's Down Among the Z Men , 1953's Love ...

OPENING FRIDAY AMELIA (PG) See review. ASTRO BOY (G) See review. CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT (PG-13) About a Boy and American Pie director Paul Weitz helms this light-hearted horror fantasy about a teenager who becomes the apprentice to a supernatural carnival. The cast includes Salma Hayek, “Fringe’s” Michael Cerveris, Orlando Jones and John C. Reilly, cast against type as a ...

Tina Fey, executives at HBO and the folks at Mad Men are among the television people with reason to smile following the Golden Globe nominations.

EARLY HALLOWEEN The films of Alfred Hitchcock and a musical by Stephen Sondheim provide the inspiration this year for the “The Simpsons”’ Halloween special. In the 20th anniversary “Treehouse of Horror,” Lisa becomes livid with Miss Hoover, and in a...

In the entertainment industry, so many stories break during the week, that a few bits and pieces sometimes slip through the cracks. But don’t worry, we’ve got the odds and ends covered. Here are some of the funnier, and more interesting bits of news that took place this week. Take a look… As if I needed another [...]

IT'S GARRY SHANDLING'S SHOW Series: Sitcom deconstruction fuels Shandling's '80s fave (seen on Showtime/Fox) - he plays a comic who talks to the audience during his "wacky adventures" with show-biz friends and suburban pals. Working in the formula "Full House" era, Shandling sends up its silly on-screen cliches, where his subsequent "Larry Sanders Show" took a biting look backstage. They are ...

Martin Gordon (Letters, October 16) perpetuates the myth that asylum seekers arriving by boat are queue-jumping illegal immigrants who displace offshore applicants.

Martin Gordon (Letters, October 16) perpetuates the myth that asylum seekers arriving by boat are queue-jumping illegal immigrants who displace offshore applicants.