It's a new season, but hardly must-watch TV

I used to get a little excited this time of year in anticipation of the brand new TV season. Of course, that’s back when there were three networks, they started the fall season at the same time and even bad series got a full run.

Now, new “seasons” seem to start about every two months, although the Big Three —or Four now with Fox —try to stick with the traditional season. Plus, shows get canceled after one episode these days, some rightfully so, but others don’t even get a chance.

A slow-starter like “M*A*S*H” never would make it now. It’s surprising that six million people can watch a television show, and it’s a failure, yet six million people buy a book or a CD and it’s a roaring success. (If six million people bought one of my books I’d consider that a success, or more likely a miracle. I’d also give serious consideration to retiring.)

Anyway, I’ve been watching the promos for new shows and it’s amazing to see the creativity flowing the TV networks. There’s a new sitcom with a sassy, smart-mouthed female lead; a cop show with a dedicated detective who works outside the box; a medical show with a doctor who bucks the system while caring about his patients; another sitcom with a dysfunctional family that pushes the envelope; a mystery show whose male and female lead verbally spar with a tense romantic undertone.

What are their titles? What does it matter? Those are the basic concepts for TV series. Sure, you get the occasional “Revolution” or similar series with a touch of originality, but mostly we get rehashed, rebooted, rewarmed leftovers. Same concepts, different characters.

Take sitcoms, for example. If you’ve ever watched “I Love Lucy,” then you’ve seen not only the formula for most sitcoms on TV today, you’ve even seen most of the plots and even a good number of the gags. Most of the Disney Channel sitcoms seem to be variations of “I Love Lucy” just with teenage and child actors.

Of course, let’s not forget the talent shows that will spend weeks showcasing auditions with largely untalented people performing for snarky judges, or the celebrity talent shows with lots of D-list “celebrities.” Then, there will be the weight-loss shows and the game shows.

Or the “reality” shows. You know how I feel about most of these, and they keep making more and more of them. Is there anything in the world that hasn’t been the focus of a reality show? Seriously, there’s got to be some topic, event, practice, subculture, malady, profession that hasn’t gotten a reality show.

There are a couple of new shows that have grabbed my attention. Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow” is one. Sure, it’s derivative of other series concepts, but the promos look interesting, although it seems as if it would be more of a limited-run series than one that lasts 10 years. I’m a sucker for supernatural shows like that, although I’m burned out on vampires —romantic and otherwise.

To be honest, it’s getting harder to get excited about what’s on TV. So much of it is the same thing recycled over and over again, and over. Some gems pop out now and then, at least they’re gems to me (“Hell on Wheels” on AMC, “Copper” and “Broadchurch” on BBC America, “Justified” on FX). But, on the whole, it’s pretty much a matter of picking which is the best of the worst to have on as background noise while reading or working on the computer.

One thing that is nice these days is the different services and websites that provide old TV shows that, while maybe a bit corny or even quite dated now, still are good and entertaining. Thanks to them, it’s like having the ultimate reruns to watch whenever you want.

And sometimes, that can be a good thing.