TVSquad

National Geographic's long-running series Explorer returns with a new season on August 8 at 8:00 p.m. The series will once again delve into interesting facets of science, technology and nature.

The special I'm most looking forward to is "Science of Dogs" on August 15. This episode will focus on the world of science dogs: you know, dogs who wear lab coats and work in laboratories, perfecting different types of kitten poison, that sort of thing.

Three top A&E reality series, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Gene Simmons Family Jewels and Driving Force will kick off new seasons in April.

The second season of Gene Simmons Family Jewels kicks off April 1 with two back-to-back episodes starting at 9:00 p.m. In "Gene's Big Mouth," Gene meets his newly-adopted infant son for the first time. In the second episode, "Face Off," Gene and his wife Shannon both undergo cosmetic surgery at the same time.

It's almost time to warm up the barbecue, invite your friends over, open a few beers, and then tell everyone to get the hell out of your house so you can watch South Park. That's right, the eleventh season of the show kicks off March 7 at 10:00pm on Comedy Central.

I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'll be reviewing the episodes again, since I know a lot of you love to talk about the show. South Park has never been timid in its satire, but last season it really gave a beat down to Al Gore; 9/11 conspiracy theories; Oprah and James Frey; censorship through intimidation; science vs. religion; and Scientology (again). I think season ten marked some of the best episodes of the series so far, and I can't wait to see what Matt and Trey have on tap for season eleven.

Faithful TV Squad reader Gordon Werner has a question, so everyone listen up:

"Will Discovery Channel be airing another season of Deadliest Catch this year?"

The answer, dear Mr. Werner, is "yes." In fact, the third season is currently being filmed and will kick off on April 3, 2007. Make sure you tattoo that information on your body like that guy in Memento, it's a great way to remember things. That's why I have "buy eggs and milk" inked on my inner thigh right now.

Deadliest Catch is a documentary series that began in 2005. It follows six fishing vessels as they fish for crab in the Bering Sea and face serious injury or death due to the rough conditions. The crew not only consists of fisherman who have been on several expeditions, but also "greenhorns" who are experiencing the job for the first time.

What can you say about Inside the Actor's Studio that hasn't already been said by a hundred parodies and humorists' impersonations? It will always be galling to hear hack actors talk about their "craft" and to hear James Lipton wax poetic about the farcial tour de force that is Half-Baked.

The show, however, is inspired precisely because it doesn't make the distinction between "movie stars" and "actors" in the way that most viewers do. It's like Charlie Rose meets Entertainment Weekly - celebrity journalism that aims for something higher.

Inside the Actor's Studio returns to Bravo for a new season on December 18th. In this outing of the 12-time Emmy-nominated series, James Lipton sits down with Eddie Murphy, Matt Damon, Forest Whitaker and Kyra Sedgwick. You can almost hear Lipton's careful intonation, "And, then, you turned your attention to outer space - from fat suit to space suit - with The Adventures of Pluto Nash."

Great news, King of the Hill fans: after a long wait FOX has finally announced that the eleventh season of the animated series will kick off on January 21 at 7:30 pm. The tenth season finale ended with Lucky and Luanne getting engaged and Luanne becoming pregnant, but according to the press release the eleventh season opener will focus mainly on Animal Control trying to rescue Bobby's pet snake from the toilet and causing a city-wide panic in the process. King of the Hill, despite always being stuck in a timeslot where even fans like myself can sometimes forget about it, is still consistently smart and funny even after being on the air for over a decade. I would love to see it bumped ahead into the primetime lineup with The Simpsons and the rest of FOX's animated shows, but I can deal with the lousy timeslot as long as FOX keeps bringing it back.

A brand new season of Monk kicks off on July 7 at 9 p.m., but before that you can catch a Fourth of July marathon which kicks off in the wee hours of the morning on July 4 and runs until 11 p.m. Now while all those losers are out burning their hands on charcoal grills and eating questionable potato salad you can rest comfortably in your home with the air conditioner on. Or, alternatively, you can tape all the episodes and actually get the heck out of the house and socialize with other human beings. You know, if you're into that kind of thing. The first episodes of the new season guest stars Stanley Tucci. I'll be covering the episodes for you once again, too.