Season Premieres I've Been Waiting All Summer For

How will Michael react when he learns that his former (reluctant) protege Ryan is his new boss? Will Jan really give up her career to play house with Michael? What happened on Jim and Pam's first date? How did Jim break things off with Karen? Things at the Dunder-Miflin Paper Company got a whole lot more dramatic in the season three finale, and yet it was still one of the funniest half hours of television I've seen all year. These new developments will be sure to keep things nice and awkward in Scranton- just the way we like it.

Burke left Cristina at the alter. Jane Doe got her memory (and her family) back and left Alex pining for her. George left the hospital in disgrace after failing his intern exam. Meredith left her common sense at home and apparently broke up with Derek for no reason ...These are just a sample of some of the ridiculously depressing events that transpired in the season three finale. Series creator Shonda Rhimes has said the finale was her way of burning everything in the characters lives down so they'd all be starting over in season four. Although most of what happened on this show from The Great Ferry Accident of February Sweeps through the end of the season was disappointing, I'm willing to give this show another chance to bring back the heart and humor that made season two so spectacular. But the biggest question on my mind is will Lexie Grey become the character we all love to hate, or follow in Addison's footsteps as the character we'll all forget we were ever supposed to hate?

NBC has already confirmed that the entire cast will return for season two- killing any lingering sense of suspense fans may have had over the fates of Peter, Nathan, D.L. and Parkman. Although I am excited by the news that former Alias star David Anders is joining the cast (as a samauri???), I will mostly be tuning in just to see if the writers of this uneven show will finally figure out how to make their climactic events as exciting as their awesome cliff-hangers.

There's no doubt in my mind that Coach Taylor will be back to help his State Champion Dillon Panthers through another season. After all- he HAS to! He and his wife Tammy are the only good role models in the entire town of Dillon, TX! My only concern is that after paralyzing Jason Street, evolving Matt Saracen from a stuttering outcast to a star quarterback, and addicting Smash to steroids (and quickly detoxing him), all within the course of one season, will there be anything left for the Panthers to do other than....well, just play football?

Last season's finale has gone down in history as the best two hours I've ever spent in front of a television. It's taken me all summer to pick up the pieces of my mind that were shattered when Jack's latest flashback turned out to be a flash forward- not to mention the pieces of my heart that were obliterated after watching Charlie draw his last breath. As usual, Lost left us with nothing but questions to mull over its extra-long hiatus.....and an all-consuming desire to get the answers, even if they turn out to be nothing but another layer of questions. True fans of this show realize that when the guessing game stops, so does the fun, and so does our relationship the characters we've spent three years getting attached to- at least the ones that survive, that is.