TV/American

Young war hero Angus "Mac" MacGyver has an extraordinary knack for unconventional problem solving and an extensive bank of scientific knowledge that he believes can best be put to use saving lives, both of which come in handy when he creates a clandestine organization within the United States government to tackle high-risk missions around the world. Working under the sponsorship of the Department of External Affairs, MacGyver quietly prevents disasters with the help of former CIA agent Jack Dalton.

Wealth, sex, extravagance. One place has it all. Dallas changed TV's landscape, inspiring sprawling, multi-storyline dramas. Larry Hagman portrays oil magnate J.R. Ewing, whose pursuit of cash and clout knows no bounds. Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal and more play Texas sons and daughters whose lives revolve around family, business and power in 14 flamboyant, money-loving, melodramatic seasons.

Viking Ragnar Lothbrok is a young farmer and family man who is frustrated by the policies of Earl Haraldson, his local chieftain who sends his Viking raiders east to the Baltic states and Russia, whose residents are as poor as the Norsemen. Ragnar wants to head west, across the ocean, to discover new civilizations. With assistance from his friend Floki, Ragnar builds a faster, sleeker fleet of boats to help him make it to the Western world.

Oscar and Emmy winner Kevin Costner is the marquee attraction of the ensemble cast in this drama series, starring as the patriarch of a powerful, complicated family of ranchers. A sixth-generation homesteader and devoted father, John Dutton controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. He operates in a corrupt world where politicians are compromised by influential oil and lumber corporations and land grabs make developers billions.

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One explore new worlds around the galaxy on the U.S.S. Enterprise.

When Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody returns home following eight years in captivity, CIA agent Carrie Mathison thinks he has turned and is connected to a terror plot to be carried out on American soil, so she engages him in a dangerous game of cat and mouse that puts America's national security at risk. Later on, Carrie gets a promotion and returns to the front lines overseas. She is assigned to one of the CIA's most volatile and dangerous stations in the Middle East, where she is in the heart of battle in the war on terror.

CBS books a new version of the classic "Hawaii Five-0" series, with Alex O'Loughlin in the lead role as Detective Steve McGarrett and Scott Caan portraying Danno. The detectives are part of an elite task force whose mission is to eliminate crime on the beaches of the Aloha State. Assisting McGarrett and Danno are Capt. Lou Grover, who formerly headed Hawaii's SWAT unit; Jerry Ortega, the islands' local conspiracy theorist; and Tani Rey, a bold, recent police academy graduate.

Anthony Bourdain had no reservations about a move to CNN. Shortly after concluding an eight-season stint at the helm of his popular Travel Channel series, the equally popular Emmy-winning host came to the news network searching for "Parts Unknown." In the hourlong weekend series - similar in premise to Travel's "No Reservations" - Bourdain explores the world to, he says, "eat and drink with people without fear and prejudice ...

In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known as "X-Files." Though the government is convinced that the outlandish reports are false, conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and realist Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), for most of the series, stop at nothing to prove that "the truth is out there." Series creator Chris Carter also serves as executive producer of the thrilling pop-culture phenomenon.

Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges.