Alias

JJ Abrams, the creator of ABC’s “Alias” reallylikes to reinvent. He’s so obsessed with shaking things up thathe’s done it twice since January. And while it’s excellent that theseries never lost its excitement and adrenaline, I’m hoping thethird season will be focused more on Sydney’s (Jennifer Garner)dysfunctional spy family, an aspect of the show that was expectedto be explored this past season.

Instead, this plot was nearly forgotten in thehaste to finally begin Sydney and Vaughn’s (Michael Vartan)romantic relationship, which was an overdue reward to many of theseries’ fans.

Fans were extremely disappointed with theshow’s cliffhanger season finale (which aired May 4), in whichSydney discovers she’s been missing for two years, and that Vaughnis married.

This new reinvention of the series wasannoying and unnecessary, despite the knowledge that the events of”Alias” are hardly ever what they seem. But it’s a testament to themarvelous world that Abrams has created and that many fans, annoyedor not, will be counting the days until the third season’spremiere. September cannot come fast enough.

American Dreams

NBC’s “American Dreams” can be predictable andunfailingly maudlin. The acting (especially by the children andteenagers involved) and strained writing could use some work. Andyet, for some reason, I can’t stop watching.

“Dreams” follows the Pryor family ofPhilidelphia in the ultimate tumultuous decade – the 1960s. In thepilot, JFK is assassinated, and the Pryors’ world exploded. Intheory, JFK’s death was a catalyst for the problems that wouldfollow in the family. But it soon became apparent that the issuesthe family would face had been brewing for a while.

Most of the topics on the show are commonplacenow – interracial relationships, teen sexuality, birth control andwomen’s education. And yet they’re still unbelievably compelling,despite the sappy, preaching way they’re sometimes portrayed on”Dreams.”

More than anything else, the loss of faith andinnocence was explored this season, which played out best when theshow dealt with the beginnings of the civil rights movement andinfidelity. But far too much time was spent on daughter Meg’s(Brittany Snow) involvement in the then-popular music showcase”American Bandstand.” It would be nice if not every episode nextseason featured some “Bandstand” issue.

Despite its problems this season, “Dreams” isan interesting series that has a lot of potential if some kinkswere worked out.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

All good things must come to an end, an ideathat will only be reinforced come May 20, when UPN’s “Buffy” leavesthe air.

In its seven seasons, this series has acquireda cult following that is nearly unmatched in its intensity. “Buffy”is a hit for all the reasons its self-explanatory title does notsuggest. It blends drama, angst, romance, humor, fantasy and femaleass-kicking in a way that no other show will ever accomplish.

Joss Whedon, its creator, isn’t afraid tosurprise his viewers. And neither are its excellent writers,directors and supporting cast.

This season, “Buffy” has come fullcircle. After years of fighting random vampires and demons, acrooked university professor, a goddess and a trio of “StarWars”-obsessed loners, the Scooby gang is fighting the first eviland returning to what made the show so great in the beginning – theunderlying relationships that threaten to outshine their last greatfight.

On May 20, a great series will close just asit began – with a bang.

Angel

At the beginning of the fourth season of theWB’s Angel, I pondered the eternal question: How can you outdo athird season in which a baby was born, was sent to anotherdimension, returned as a sullen teenager and sent his father to adamp eternity at the bottom of the Pacific, all in about six weeksof breathtaking episodes?

The fourth season of this “Buffy” spin-offproved that you cannot top such a whirlwind adventure, but that itcan certainly be fun trying.

This season, Angel (David Boreanaz) learned alot about parenting. From the ethics of kicking your son (VincentKartheiser) out of the house to dealing with him after he’s sleptwith the woman you love, both Angel and Connor learned a lot thisyear. Elsewhere this season, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) became ahigher being, then gave birth to Connor’s child, the anticlimacticvillain Jasmine (Gina Torres).

Viewers were left with enough loose ends tolast through the summer as Angel’s group of crimefighters made adeal to take over evil law firm Wolfram and Hart, as Connor becamepart of a real family, with no memories of his previous life. Withthis cliffhanger, the producers of “Angel” are reinventing a seriesthat seemed nearly dead.

Despite the fact that it often masquerades asa primetime soap, Angel is surprisingly well-performed andwritten.

Everwood and Gilmore Girls

Both “Everwood” and “Gilmore Girls” are aboutfamilies and on the WB, but don’t hold that against them.

“Gilmore,” which will begin its fourth seasonin the fall, follows the lives of a young mother, Lorelai (LaurenGraham) and her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel). This intelligent,funny show breaks new ground in portraying mother-daughterrelationships as something other than horrific. The series did losesome of its spark this season, with a college search that waspredictable from the start, taking up lots of time.

A spinoff will hit the WB this fall, whichwill follow local bad boy Jess’ (Milo Ventimiglia) relationshipwith his estranged father. It still remains to be seen whether theuntitled show will cheapen the quality of “Gilmore” since thecreator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, will be splitting time between thetwo series.

Despite its more contrived moments, “GilmoreGirls” remains one of the best shows on television, mostly becauseit usually surprises its characters and audience, soothing theangst that comes prepackaged on any WB show with heart andhumor.

“Everwood,” which is finishing its firstseason, is primarily about a father and son (Treat Williams andGregory Smith respectively) who have never truly known each other,yet must rely on each other when their wife/mother dies.

Yet, the show often reaches below the surface,conquering subjects such as faith, unavailable first love and thecontroversial topic of abortion.

The show sometimes threatens to step into “7thHeaven”-style preaching, but saves itself from that ghastly fatewith intelligence and great portrayals. And while the seriessometimes steps into soap opera-ish melodramatics (a boyfriend in acoma, anyone?), it is still one of the best new shows out there, aclaim that’s becoming increasingly rare in regard to networktelevision – and especially the WB.