Ten TV Shows to Watch this Winter

Jan. 11, 2010— -- It's cold outside. Thank goodness, television offers plenty of good reasons to stay inside this winter.

The Midseason, as it's known in the industry, has officially begun and with it some of the most anticipated series premieres, some new twists to reality show favorites and a couple of promising new entries.

The biggest of all of these promises to be ABC's "Lost."

"Hands down it's the most anticipated season premiere of the winter season," said E! television columnist Kristin Dos Santos. "It's the beginning of the end. It's huge for 'Lost' fans who have been waiting to finally get some real answers to questions they've been asking since season one."

It's so huge that "Lost" fans took to Twitter to protest when their favorite show's final season was threatened with being pre-empted by President Obama's State of the Union address.

Well, they can relax. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday: "I don't foresee a scenario in which millions of people that hope to finally get some conclusion in 'Lost' are preempted by the president."

The Internet storm brewing over the "Lost" finale and the president's response are indicative of how important the Midseason has become. It still can't compete with the more established Fall season in terms of the sheers numbers of new shows, but in terms of popularity and the number of original compelling programs vying for people's attention, the Midseason is edging up on Fall.

"The Midseason used to be the time of year when networks put out their second string candidates, but as developing shows has become a more year-round process, that has changed," James Hibberd, senior online editor at The Hollywood Reporter, told ABCNews.com.

Hibberd said the FOX network, home of "American Idol," has shown that shows premiering after January can actually do well. Serialized shows, like "Lost" and "24" do especially well when they can be run without interruptions from holidays or repeats. And, of course, this is a particularly good time for the cable networks that can compete with fewer offerings from the networks.

Here's a quick guide to what premieres you'll want to catch:

Lost: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 on ABC

"Those who fell out of 'Lost' will tune in for the end," said Dos Santos. "I would not be surprised if there will be an up-tick in the ratings."

"This is a good time to tune in again," said Hibberd. "Everyone is talking about how the show will end."

Fans have been searching for clues to the ending within two photos released by the producers that feature the show's remaining characters posed in a recreation of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper."

Executive Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof told The Hollywood Reporter fans can expect to see some characters who exited the show, including Dominic Monaghan, who was killed off earlier in the series, to make a return.

"We're hoping to achieve a circularity of the entire journey so the ending is reminiscent of the beginning," Cuse said.

Burning questions will also be answered. Dos Santos, who has seen the first episode, said there are more answers in the premiere than the last three seasons combined.

As for the final ending, she says there's isn't a definitive one, but producers had better deliver. "If they do something like the cut to black in 'The Sopranos,' there will be rioting in the street."

If you need a quick primer on what came before, Hibberd, on his blog, has condensed all the previous "Lost" seasons down to an eight-minute recap.