When you settle down for some comfort TV this fall, it's easy to order up the same reliable series. After all, if you like chocolate and vanilla with a dash of strawberry ice cream now and then, why branch out? We can give you five good reasons.

1. Bored to Death 9:30 p.m. Sept. 20 on HBO: The worst thing about this series is the title, because it's anything but boring. Snappy writing, unique characters and distinctive voice all make this the best comedy to come along in years. Jason Schwartzman plays a novelist/journalist who just got dumped by his girlfriend because he drinks too much white wine and smokes too much pot. And he's caught in a writer's block, so he does what any other writer would do -- he goes on craigslist advertising himself as a non-licensed private detective. This is not a procedural, it's a hilarious take on a New Yorker and his pals, including his editor (inspired by the late George Plimpton) played by Ted Danson and his best bud, played by Zach Galifianakis.

2. Glee 9 p.m Sept. 9 on Fox: Ultra conservative cheer squad coach Sue, played in perfect pitch by Jane Lynch, lays it all out: "High school is a caste system. The jocks, your popular kids, up in the penthouse." And where do the Glee kids live? "Sub-basement." This series hits all the right notes, from the former high school show choir star Will (Matthew Morrison) returning as a teacher to the place where he was a star, to popular high school quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith), who yearns to be something more and someplace else. Lea Michele steals the show as overachiever Rachel, but there isn't a false note in the entire fabulous cast. The edgy style comes from creator Ryan Murphy, best known for Nip/Tuck, but Glee harks back to his brilliant WB high school series Popular. He takes that former series, blends in some catchy tunes and choreography, and comes up with show that's perfect for Fox.

3. The Good Wife 10 p.m. Sept. 22 on CBS: ER alum Julianna Margulies stumbled out of the gate last year when she returned to series TV in the Fox clunker Canterbury's Law. She picked a winner this time in CBS' compelling drama that dishes up a self-contained procedural with a heavy emphasis on characters. She's a dutiful wife and mother caught up in scandal after her district attorney husband is caught sucking the toes of a prostitute and perhaps siphoning off public funds. She decides to return to work as a defense attorney, scrambling to start over. Her children try to cope with the sudden spotlight on their personal lives, while her husband (Christopher Noth) thinks if he can just get out of prison, he can return to life as he knew it.

4. Modern Family 9 p.m. Sept. 23 ABC: Here's a slice of zany life from three different families trying to do right by their loved ones. One is an over-scheduled semi-traditional family trying to do their best with their kids, even if that means Dad carving out some time to shoot his young son with a BB gun after the boy winged his sister. There's the gay couple who just adopted an infant girl, with dad Cameron presenting baby Lily to partner Mitchell's family wearing a robe and offering dramatic lighting and the theme to The Lion King. "Turn it off," says Mitchell. "I can't. It's who I am," reples Cameron. "The music," says the weary Mitchell. Ed O'Neill plays a dad giving family a second chance with his beautiful young wife and her 11-year-old son. You've got to hand it to a pilot that gives you at least three good laughs in those 22 minutes.

5. Eastwick 10 p.m. Sept. 23 ABC: The women living in the tiny New England seaside village of Eastwick feel hemmed in by social mores and their own inability to break free -- until they have a devil of a time with the new guy in town. As Daryll, Paul Gross seems to be manipulating a trio of woman -- the socially awkward reporter (Lindsay Price), the free-spirited artist (Rebecca Romijn, who has come a lot way from her Pepper Dennis acting days) and the abused wife (Jamie Ray Newman) -- but perhaps he's secretly trying to tap into their ancient powers. The woman don't know what they can unleash, but it won't be long before there's hell to pay. Just right for some fall fun.