Remote Control: What You’ll Want To Watch This Week

For the past few months, it’s been all reality, all the time. Then two weeks ago, the CW showed up to get you addicted to their newest trashtastic shows. Now, the major networks are stepping up to the plate with their new fall offerings. Our picks: “The Good Wife,” “Cougar Town,” and “FlashForward.” And we’re pretty pumped for the return of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Californication” too. Happy Tivo-ing.

The Show: “How I Met Your Mother”
Set Your DVR For: Tonight, 8 p.m. (EST), CBS
Even though we’ve watched four seasons of this show so far and still have no idea who the mother in the title is, we’re willing to stick it out a bit longer. This show is by far one of the funniest on network TV, in no small way thanks to the hilarious one-two punches of Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel. The joys of this season include: Barney and Robin coupling up and Ted finally meeting the woman of his dreams.

The Show: “The Good Wife”
Set Your DVR For: Tuesday, 10 p.m. (EST), CBS
The concept for this show is brilliant: a slick, likable politician (played by Chris Noth) is caught having an affair and has to resign. But instead of focusing on him, this drama zooms in on his wife. We’ll watch to get a peek inside the brains of Elizabeth Edwards, Silda Spitzer, and Jenny Sanford. We hope this character decides to go the latter’s path.

The Show: “Cougar Town”
Set Your DVR For: Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. (EST), ABC
Some of the trailers for “Cougar Town” have been hilarious (like the one where the guy asks about her c-section scar) and others have been obnoxious (see “Cougar Town” sung to the tune of “Funky Town” above). But we love Courteney Cox so much that we’re willing to give it a chance. If it sucks, we’ll just run back into the arms of the “Real Housewives.”

The Show: “FlashForward”
Set Your DVR For: Thursday, 8 p.m. (EST), ABC
The concept behind this series is that everyone in the entire world blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds and has a psychic vision of their future, most of them pretty dystopian. Maybe it’s setting expectations far too high, but this show looks like a mix between “Lost” and “24,” with Joseph Fiennes thrown in for extra flavor.

The Show: “Californication”
Set Your DVR For: Sunday, 10 p.m. (EST), Showtime
David Duchovny‘s show about a sex-addicted novelist sure seems to follow his real life. Off screen, he and Tea Leoni have reconciled and so (shocker!) this season it looks like the ultimate ladies man is looking towards de-pluralizing that word.