We're now a couple of months into the fall TV season, and it's been another demolition derby of crushed hopes and shattered dreams. Around this time every year, we here at IGN TV pause and reflect upon the lackluster quality of most of the new shows that carried so much hype heading into September -- or shows that had promise, only to be quickly rejected and discarded (Farewell, Lone Star ).

But there are some bright spots; some true shining stars among the sooty rabble. Despite the universe's best efforts to thwart all that is good, fall 2010 actually gave us some TV treasures. We'd like to present y'all with a little list of shows that you should be watching right now (or should catch yourself up on right quick!). From mindless hordes of the rotting damned to drop-dead gorgeous lady assassins to scuzzy San Diego dicks, these are the absolute best new series around. And a couple of them even air on major networks!Yes, this is probably the biggest "Duhhhh" entry of the group, but who in the hell doesn't love AMC's Zompocalyse Extravaganza, The Walking Dead ? It's almost a no-brainer! Get it? No-brainer? Nevermind. You obviously don't get it.This show's got everything a growing boy needs: R-rated gore, post-traumatic survivalist sex in the woods, visceral intestinal camouflage, stark meditations on the true solitude of man. The freakin' works! And the best part … it's just been picked up for a 13-episode Season 2 . So now, all us fans of the acclaimed Robert Kirkman comic book can start rambunctiously postulating about where the series will head next year.Will The Walking Dead stay along the same path as the books or will it head off in a completely different direction? Either way, you better believe we'll be along for the ride. Any show that's chock-full of tragedy, despair and rampant mutilation is right up our Atlanta alley.

It's understandable if some were dubious about this series going in. In remake-happy Hollywood, this was the fourth version of this story in the past two decades, including the popular USA Network series that ran for five seasons. But this new Nikita has quickly proven its merit, offering an exciting new take on the material. By picking up with Nikita after she's gone rogue and abanonded the people who turned her into a killer, showrunner Craig Silverstein has found a way to approach the story from a fresh perspective. Meanwhile, we still get to see what Nikita's training was like thanks to Alex -- the young girl Nikita has placed as a mole within Division, to help her take the place down.Nikita boasts a lot of clever twists and turns, plus plenty of great fight scenes. As the title character, Maggie Q is believably strong and plenty sexy, while Lyndsy Fonseca strikes the right balance between vulnerability and resolve as Alex. The use of flashbacks to fill in bits of the back-story are well done, spread out among different aspects of the characters' pasts, and as the season has progressed, we've gotten some fun new elements added to the overall mythology.Ultimately, Nikita offers smart, beautiful women kicking ass in the midst of strong and compelling storytelling. What more do you need?

If you're looking for a quirky, funny and continually enjoyable new comedy, look no further than Outsourced! Oh, wait. N0. Sorry... don't do that. Watch Raising Hope instead!Creator Greg Garcia previously brought us My Name is Earl, and Raising Hope evokes that show, with a similar look at a somewhat lower class group of characters. However, the series somehow manages to have fun, while not feel like it's simply insulting them. There's definitely a dark undercurrent to some of the humor, which was proven early on in the pilot when the criminal mother of baby Hope was executed in the electric chair.A very likable cast (headed by Lucas Neff as young father Jimmy) includes the essential Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt as Jimmy's tough, crass, but loving parents. Both are great, and Dillahunt -- best known for playing creepy killers in projects like Deadwood, Last House on the Left and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- is especially surprising and seemingly having a ball as a guy who has no problem telling his adult son on Halloween, "I've been egging houses with 12-year-olds all night. Do you think there's any possible way I'm sober?"Earl lost its spark after the first couple of seasons, but we're crossing our fingers that doesn't happen to the engaging Raising Hope, which is offering a lot of laughs -- including the memorable visual of Batman (Jimmy in a home-made costume) making out with Robin (the adorable Shannon Woodward as Jimmy's would-be love, Sabrina) in the aforementioned Halloween episode.

Not only does the Martin Scorsese-produced HBO Prohibition-era series tout great performances and thoughtful writing, but the entire series is a bit of a history lesson as well. Sure, there are the wonderful moments of gruesome violence set to dance hall jazz, but viewers also get to learn about life back in 1920 -- when VA hospitals made creepy plastic masks for guys who had half their faces blown off and premature babies in incubators were put on display for tourists.Given the actors, writers, producers and directors involved with this ambitious OG gangster series, there was really no possible way it was going to suck in the slightest. This was always going to be the show to beat this fall. Steve Buscemi , after decades of great supporting performances, is finally given the dream-role spotlight here. And scenes like the one where Buscemi's Atlantic City Treasurer, Nucky Thompson, tenderly recounts the memory of a childhood beating to Kelly Macdonald's widow Margaret, or the one where Jimmy Darmody ( Michael Pitt ) shares some memories of some rather potent war atrocities at a cafe with a low-level thug who cut up a prostitute's face, are prime examples of how this show is almost at its absolute best when it's quiet and just lets the history and the surroundings breathe.

Sure, it's easy to throw your support behind a show about gangsters, female ninja chicks or armies of the undead out for an eternal stroll, but how about two sublimely grizzled and uniquely clever unlicensed private investigators from the Ocean Beach district of San Diego?From executive producers Ted Griffin (writer of Ocean's 11) and Shawn Ryan (creator of The Shield), FX's Terriers crackles with excellent writing, excellent acting and the most original sleuthing exploits around. When critics enjoy a show, they like to throw around terms like "brilliant," "riveting" or "gem." Mostly, it's all just pander-play, but in Terriers' case it fits to a "T." Terriers is a brilliant, riveting gem. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James (as Hank and Brit -- two blue-collar P.I.s who get mixed up in a corrupt and deadly land deal that's way above their pay-grade) are infectiously charming. Everyone on this show, from Raymond-James to Karina Logue to Laura Allen, is incredible, but the role of ex-cop Hank Dolworth is perhaps the best thing that veteran performer Logue has ever done. Playing Hank allows Logue to seamlessly shift back and forth between drama and wit; that hard to reach "acting" place which has always suited him best. Another shout out is needed for Michael Gaston's truly wretched lawyer villain, Ben Zeitin.This show's ratings haven't been exactly stellar, so we're crossing almost every appendage we have in hopes of a Season 2 because we are definitely not ready to say goodbye to these characters.