This week’s must-see TV

The fall season is already off to a quick start, with the CW unleashing Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, Fox’s 2-hour premiere of Prison Break, and Steven Bochco’s TNT series Raising the Bar, which brings together cast members of Angel, E.R., Malcom in the Middle, and Saved by the Bell. Sorry. Had to do it, even though Mark-Paul Gosselaar did a bang up job on Bochoco/Milch’s NYPD Blue. But seriously dude, what’s with the hair?

Set those Tivos because if the Republican National Convention keeps its finger on the pause button, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to sink your eye teeth into…

90210 (Tue, CW): Brenda and Kelly return to West Beverly and a whole new Gossip Girl-inspired world of troublesome teens with more money to spend and problems to solve than 48 minutes could ever allow.

The Shield (Tue, FX): It’s last call for Vic and the gang, and you know they’re going to go out in a blaze of mother-f’ing glory.

Bones (Wed, FOX): The sexual tension continues to simmer as Temperance and Seeley journey across the pond for a two-hour UK adventure in Jolly Ole England. Also look for Angela’s MIA husband to rear his head, a visit to poor Zack in the nut house, and a revolving door of junior squints to round out the team as cases demand.

America’s Next Top Model (Wed, CW): Tyra and her posse kick off their 11th season (seriously?!) in Hollywood with the series first transgendered model and a cadre of estrogen head cases all vying to become… America’s… Next… Top… Model. Admit it, this is one train wreck you can’t keep your eyes off of.

Sons of Anarchy (Wed, FX): Katey Sagal trades in her sitcom scrubs to join Ron “Hellboy” Perlman as the figureheads of this Harley-ridin’ unconventional clan. It’s Hell’s Angels meets The Rifleman, when the bikers are forced to protect their town and their loved ones from all manner of bad dudes and dudettes in true FX style.

That may be all for the hour-long dramas, but the back end of the week gets a double does of reality TV inanity, with knife wielding Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (Thu, FOX) and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (Fri, FOX) for everyone who needs to think good and hard if there’s anything more valuable they could be doing with their free time.

We’ll be doing our best to keep you up-to-date on all your favorite shows, all season long — barring a bitter actor’s strike that’s looming on the horizon as large as Gustav and Hannah combined. Sally Field’s “Unite for Strength” camp wants to merge SAG and AFTRA into one cohesive union with decision-making power in the hands of actors who log the most hours, whereas Martin Sheen’s “Membership First” camp wants equal representation for all actors (from background to A-list) as they fight for the best member benefits possible regardless of what AFTRA has in mind. Trust me, you’ll blow a gasket trying to comprehend all the complexities in this long standing, brutally divisive debate. Fact of the matter is, there’s truth and honor on both sides of the fence, but they’re too busy fighting each other to see or hear it. And if a strike does happen, the entire entertainment industry loses.