Veronica Mars

I love everything about fall. I love the bright red foliage and the deep blue skies, I love the start of football season, I love back-to-school sales, I love the crisp weather and that magical clear cold day in October when all the bugs die. Most of all, I love the new TV season. It's barely started, and I've already found my new favorite doomed show!

"Veronica Mars" is a high school student who works as a private investigator for her father, who used to be the town sheriff. He lost his job after botching the investigation of the high-profile murder of Veronica's best friend. (The whole sordid backstory is told via flashbacks in which Veronica has Scary Cheerleader Hair.) Veronica used to be popular and happy, but is now a social outcast (coughBuffycough), working to clear her Dad's name and punish evildoers and generally not taking crap from anybody.

OK, yes, it's an overly convoluted setup, but the writing rises above the premise. The dialogue is smart (and smart-mouthed), the story moves quickly, and it's fun to watch Veronica play Pissed-Off Junior Private Eye. I hate plot arcs that never resolve (this means you, Milo Rambaldi), so I'm hoping that the best friend murder case is wrapped up fairly quickly instead of dragging out for hypothetical seasons.

"Veronica Mars" airs Tuesdays at 9pm on UPN (UPN?!), with an encore presentation the next Tuesday at 7pm on MTV. (MTV?!) So you can still catch the pilot this Tuesday at 7, or just read the episode summary at the UPN site. Watch it now, because there's no way this show is going to survive. It's dark; it's sordid; it's difficult to pigeonhole; it's too smart for UPN. On the other hand, being on UPN is its best hope for survival: How high could their expectations possibly be?