Fall is the best season for television. With so many new and promising shows, not to mention new seasons for old favorites all hoping to ride on Emmy wins or nominations, it’s time to take an orderly, strategic approach to deciding what to watch. Here is my list of the best 25 ongoing TV series ending with my Emmy bets. We’ll follow up in a few days with our picks of the best new shows, so check back. Now place your bets and make your choices!

25. Castle (2009, 2nd season starting September 21)
Nice show about misfit partners – a female police detective and a male writer of mystery novels, who solve murder cases together.

24. American Dad! (2005, 5th season starting September 27)
Not as funny as Family Guy, but Seth Macfarlane’s American Dad is funny nonetheless. If you’re not into gay extraterrestrials and Germans stuck in a fish’s body, then it might not be the show for you.

23. Lie To Me (2009, 2nd season starting September 28)
Tim Roth is excellent as usual, this time as an expert in reading facial expressions (or a deception expert if you like) who assists the police with cases only he can solve.

22. Weeds (2005, 5th season ended recently, season 6 will air sometime in 2010)
A recently widowed mother of two now has financial troubles. What else can she do but become a local drug dealer?

21. Southland (2009, 2nd season starting October 23)
A good, realistic police drama, with a great theme song and an even greater Michael Cudlitz (you might remember him as Bull from Band of Brothers).

20. Eastbound and Down (2009, 2nd season starting January 2010)
With Danny McBride as the lead, Jody Hill as the director and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as executive producers, I expected more laughs. That said, the last episode of Season One was amazing.

19. Heroes (2006, 4th season starting September 21)
The first season was good, the 2nd and 3rd not so much. (An amusing look on Pop Candy at Does Heroes still matter?) But Sylar makes the show worth watching. Save the cheerleader, save the world!

18. Fringe (2008, 2nd season starting September 17)
It’s not The X-Files and it’s not Lost, but it’s a good sci-fi show with some scary and bizarrely memorable moments.

17. Nurse Jackie (2009, 2nd season sometime in 2010)
A show set in a hospital with a lead character who has a pill popping addiction. She’s a nurse, not a doctor. And is played by Edie Falco, not Hugh Laurie. Not as good as House, but not bad at all.

16. Burn Notice (2007, the 2nd part of the 3rd season will air in a few months)
With plenty of action, cool editing, and beautiful women, Burn Notice is light, fast-paced fun.

15. Hung (2009, 2nd season sometime in 2010)
An HBO series that looks the way an HBO series should: clever, funny and very very sexual. (It’s too much for the Jonas Brothers, per Agent Bedhead)

14. Psych (2006, 4th season now in progress)
A hotshot, narcissistic hero who outsmarts everyone, plenty of verbal byplay, innumerable references to 80s movies - and of course, a friendship like no other. Sounds fun, and it is.

13. Scrubs (2001, 9th season coming soon)
The last two seasons weren’t as good as the previous ones. But as long as Doctor Cox and the janitor are there, it’s still a great show.

12. Damages (2007, 3rd season sometime in 2010)
These are some of the actors that appeared in the two seasons the series had so far: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Ted Danson, Timothy Olyphant, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Mario Van Peebles. This show has quality written all over it.

11. The Simpsons (1989, 21st! season starting September 27)
Its 21 season-run so far says everything: Homer, Bart and the rest of the family are a cultural icon, no less than Coca Cola, Google and McDonalds.

10. Family Guy (1999. 8th season starting September 27)
Sorry Simpsons, this must hurt, but Family Guy is so funny, godless, biting and insulting in so many ways to so many people, that it’s one place ahead of you on the list.

9. True Blood (2007, 3rd season will air in summer 2010)
In True Blood you’ll find sex, nudity, blood, vampires and a lot of clever subtexts. Alexander Skarsgard, great as a calm and cool sergeant in Generation Kill, is equally great here as a vampire. He excels in roles that include blood, I guess.

8. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000, 7th season starting September 20)
After almost a two-year break, the most neurotic character on television returns. It’s been a tough two years, without watching Larry getting himself into all kinds of embarrassing and hilarious misunderstandings.

7. The Sarah Silverman Program (2007, 3rd season starting early 2010)
No topic or outlandish idea is out of range for Silverman, who has made a name for herself with her stunning brand of shocking but undeniably honest stand-up routines. This is raw, cutting-edge comedy at its best, and each episode is another chance for Silverman to push the limits of a television show that might be offensive if it weren’t so damn funny.

6. Breaking Bad (2008, 3rd season starting March 2010)
The premise is not much different from Weeds, but it’s tenser, gloomier, more suspenseful and a bit cleverer. Bryan Cranston is a worthy candidate for a best dramatic actor Emmy award. It’s a shame he’s running against Hugh Laurie.

5. 30 Rock (2006, 4th season staring October 15)
This show is comic brilliance: Alec Baldwin blooms as Jack Donaghy, Tracy Morgan is hilarious as Tracy Jordan, and Tina Fey, the #1 woman of comedy, is one of the biggest names in the industry today, mainly because of 30 Rock.

4. The Office (2005, 6th season starting September 17)
Funniest show on TV. So many great characters: Jim and Pam should get their own show, and so should Creed, Dwight, Toby and Meredith of course (her show will be NC-17).

3. Dexter (2006, 4th season starting September 27th)
Season one was very good, season two was great, and season three with Jimmy Smits was absolutely amazing. Is it even possible that season four will be better? With Dexter married with children, it seems that he won’t have any time to kill…

2. House M.D. (2004, 5th season staring September 21)
A true masterpiece, definitely the show with the best character development, the best dialogue and the best acting, especially by Hugh Laurie of course, but also by Omar Epps, Lisa Edelstein and Robert Sean Leonard. I thought hospital dramas were boring until I saw House…

1. Lost (2004, 6th season starting January 2010)
Sixth and last season coming up this January, and the entire world is asking: How the hell are they going to end this series? Are they going to answer any of the innumerable questions that were raised during the series so far? If the show ends and I still have questions, what will I do? Live in doubt and uncertainty? Live without ever knowing? Will it be any clearer than the finale of The Sopranos?

Here are my bets for the Emmy awards:

Best Drama Series: House, Lost and Dexter all had incredible seasons. I really hope one of them wins and not Mad Men. Lost already won the Emmy once, House and Dexter didn’t. I’m going with House on this one. It’s amazing that this show that everybody agrees is a masterpiece hasn’t won Best Drama yet.

Best Comedy Series: 30 Rock’s award cabinet is too full for another one. It’s a great thing that Family Guy gets nominated - it’s a shame it happens after the series’ worst season. That leaves me with my two favorites in this category: The Office, which keeps getting better and better every season, and Flight of The Conchords – an unexpected nomination by the Emmy decision makers. Since it ended, I’m in favor of it: this hilarious show is not that well known – an Emmy award will give it the recognition it deserves.

Best Dramatic Actor: It’s time Hugh Laurie gets his well-deserved Emmy. After four seasons in which he deserved the award each time, Laurie is becoming the Emmy’s Scorsese. Next thing you know, he’ll win the award for a lesser role, maybe in a TV version of The Departed for example.

Best Comic Actor: Tony Shalhoub, who won three Emmys in four years (2003-2006), is nominated this year also, but it seems that Alec Baldwin, after his win last year, is heading into his Emmy award winnings era. I’m rooting for Steve Carell who gets nominated for the fourth time for his role as the world’s most obnoxious boss, and deserves his first win.

Best Dramatic Actress: Glenn Close for Damages. No competition.

Best Comic Actress: Tina Fey is the obvious favorite for her role as Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, but I cross my fingers for Sarah Silverman who broke every rule in her show and made me laugh more than any of the other nominees in this category. Here are some of the things she did in her show: Slept with god and then dumped him, tasted her dog’s ass, faked AIDS to cure boredom, and became homeless by choice.

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