TBS established itself as cable-channel-as-lifeboat when it offered Conan O’Brien safe harbor in their lineup after what I’ll call “The Jay Leno Incident.”  Its latest revived series is ABC’s discarded /Courteney-Cox‘s-Cleavage-helmed Cougar Town, much to the toast of Big Carl (and Big Joe) lovin’ fans everywhere.  The biggest question though surely is whether or not the show is similar to its old format, and that I can answer without hesitation: 100% yes.  Though the network has changed, there’s no sense of transition, just relief to see the familiar faces of the cul-de-sac.  

The other question of course is whether ABC was right to cancel it in the first place.  After three seasons, does the show still have life?  How long can we go on watching six alcoholics sit around and change the use of common phrases (“I’m going to use ‘junk in the trunk’ to mean emotional baggage.” “Approved!”) and play Penny Can?  The answer lies behind the jump, with my full preview of the upcoming season.

The longevity of Paul Feig and Judd Apatow’s short-lived 1999 series Freaks and Geeks is both astounding and ironic.  The show was ahead of its time and faced considerable opposition from its home network, NBC, throughout its one-season run.  Over the years, though, Freaks and Geeks has amassed a legion of fans and acted as the launching pad for countless careers.  The main cast of James Franco, Jason Segel, and Seth Rogen now reads like an all-star comedy lineup, not to mention the ridiculous number of stars that had bit parts in the series like Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf, Ben Foster, Lizzy Caplan, and David Krumholtz.

Most of the show’s cast came together for a reunion at PaleyFest last year, but for the upcoming comedy issue of Vanity Fair (guest edited by Apatow), the entire cast and crew was assembled for “An Oral History of Freaks and Geeks.”  In addition to the fascinating article itself, VF has released a number of cast reunion images.  Hit the jump to take a look.

Before the 2012 Emmy Nominations are officially announced (July 19th), I wanted to jump in and highlight some of what I believe to be some of the best underrated performances on television this year.  Putting aside some of the perennial winners, the following discussion for each of the major categories is likely to mention plenty of names who won’t get Emmy mentions this year, but certainly should (and others who may get a nod, but likely won’t win).  Hit the jump for the (spoiler-free!) list that is not meant to be exhaustive (after all, I do watch an unhealthy amount of TV but I’m not caught up on everything), but hopefully brings at least a few of those dark horses to light with the recognition they deserve.

Apparently ABC just couldn’t justify keeping Cougar Town around for another season, but fans need not worry about losing the Courteney Cox led comedy series. Today TBS sent out a press release announcing they had rescued the series and picked it up for a fourth season that will begin airing sometime in early 2013. All the stars will be back for at least one more round, and if the ratings deliver on the cable network, we may get even more than a fourth season. It’s refreshing to know that series have more options for survival at this point in TV history when primetime networks aren’t willing to keep a show around to please fans.

And yet they wonder why they have to cancel and scarp so many terrible shows after they cancel the good ones? If Community sticks around like we’re all hoping, maybe we’ll get some more crossover action too. Anyway, for the full press release with this good news, hit the jump!

Fans of Judd Apatow who knew his name well before The 40 Year-Old Virgin hit theaters in 2005 should hold onto their hats. Variety is reporting, though unofficially, that a 10-year reunion for the cast of Freaks and Geeks — the coming-of-age high school series that survived only one season from the year 2000 — will be staged for an event at PaleyFest 2011. Apparently Apatow revealed the reunion through his Twitter over the weekend and the Paley Center has since confirmed the fact that a Q&A with the cast and producers is definitely in the cards. The official announcement regarding the TV festival won’t hit until next week, but this sounds like a done deal.

Since many of the series stars like Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and James Franco have since catapulted into stardom this should be quite the reunion. Other cast members include Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr, Samm Levine and Busy Phillips, and surely they’ll be along for the reunion too. I’m wondering if they’ll get Shia LaBeouf or Rashida Jones involved since they each had bit parts in a few episodes back in the day. Either way, this will be an event you don’t want to miss, so if you have the means, make sure you make it to PaleyFest 2011.