Despite the fact that I have been out of school for a number of years that are irrelevant to this article, I still get nervous pangs whenever I see back-to-school commercials or feel that undeniable click in the air from summer to fall. Maybe it's because I don't like coat season or maybe it's because high school is a nightmarish hellscape that operates on an outdated social hierarchy and I have empathy for anyone going through it. It's probably more the latter.

For me, it's going to be hard to find a show with the same emotional relevance, gripping storylines or sheer brilliance as Six Feet Under. The show depicted the lives of the Fisher family, who owned and operated a funeral home in California. Each episode began with the death of the individual they would bury that episode, but it wasn't all black hats and Kleenex boxes. The show also had terrifically funny moments -- like fantasy sequences, when characters would act out what they'd really like to say or do -- and a profundity and realness that has seldom been matched, on cable or pay-per-view.

This week, we honor the bravery of our founding fathers who, over two centuries ago, fought a war against an empire so that we could have the freedoms we enjoy today. And what better way to celebrate American exceptionalism then by watching a made-for-TV movie about aliens? Syfy is airing its latest flick, Independence Daysaster, starring Tom Everett Scott on June 27. Scott's character, Sam, must defend the planet from invading extraterrestrials along with a team of "rogue scientists." Scott, as you may well remember, played Detective Russell Clarke on Southland, the guy who was kicked off the force for selling pictures of a celebrity crime scene. Independence Daysaster looks like quite a step down from the critically-acclaimed Southland -- though who knows, maybe this alien flick will reinvigorate the entire genre. Whatever the case, this momentous occasion provides a great opportunity for us to take a look back at Southland, which was just cancelled in May after its fifth season finale.

ABC's upcoming Mistresses may not actually have any major concrete connections with Desperate Housewives, but the parallels are obvious, given that they're both dark series about unhappy female friends struggling with their relationships. I'm not sure whether the series will be an upgrade or a downgrade of Desperate Housewives in its quality (though it won't have to work hard to beat the series finale), Mistresses has certainly inspired me to check in on how the working actors of Desperate Housewives are getting along. Basically, what I've learned is this: Either join the cast of Mad Men, land a starring role of Dallas or live in TV purgatory:

It's been seven years since Arrested Development's departure from the terrestrial airwaves and its digital realm return, but the cult show's beloved ensemble hasn't exactly been idle during that gap. Some have moved on to big-screen careers (most notably Jason Bateman and Michael Cera), while others have bounced from series to series, the majority of which have followed Arrested's trajectory of low-rated runs to cancellation. Unlike Arrested, though, few people are clamoring for these shows to make a comeback on network television, Netflix or even YouTube. And while it's true that the last thing the world needs is more episodes of Welcome to the Captain, Retired at 35 or Up All Night, there are a handful of shows featuring members of the Arrested cast that would merit a second chance. Here are five post-AD series we'd like to see find a new home.

Upon hearing that there was a real possibility of a Veronica Mars movie, if creator Rob Thomas could raise enough money through his Kickstarter campaign, the first reaction of any self-respecting fan of the show was to reach for their wallet and hand over all of their money. But the bigger question is: if they do meet their $2 million goal [Update: accomplished in a mere ten hours], is a Veronica Mars movie actually a good idea? We weigh the pros and cons.

I've long been a devout fan of United States of Tara, a show that maybe could have succeeded if a few more people were able to get over their Diablo Cody hang-ups and move past the fact that the show took liberties with dissociative identity disorder in order to, you know, be a fictional series about a struggling family. Whatever. On a more pleasant note, I've noticed former U.S. of Tara players all over my TV screen later, and for my fellow fans, here's what the Gregsons and their friends are up to just in case you've missed them.

We don't know what's more confusing: Why VH1 is bringing back Best Week Ever now, or why it was cancelled in the first place. We always enjoyed watching the pop culture show, and even read the fantastic Best Week Ever blog until it was shut down last June. We're happy it's coming back (assuming TPTB don't screw around with the original format too much) and hope that it's wildly successful so that the cabler will bring back these other recent -- we're not talking the Music First era, here -- gone-too-soon programs:

While the rest of the '90s nostalgia-obsessed Internet is reveling in the idea of Disney Channel's recently announced Boy Meets World sequel series, we're not quite so optimistic. Don't get me wrong -- I re-watched just about the entire original Boy Meets World run on MTV2 this spring, and would watch the hell out of this proposed adorably-titled Girl Meets World, especially if Cory and Topanga are actually called back as the parents of the titular preteen girl. But looking back (or, if you also seriously watched two hours of Boy Meets World five days a week for four months) (and once again got totally creeped out by Fred Savage sexually harassing Topanga) (and saw Mr. Turner, remembered him for the first time and then laughed when they completely forgot about him after his motorcycle accident), Boy Meets World was not the wholesome, perfect series so many of my fellow fans seem to recall. And I don't just mean in terms of everything horrible happening to Shawn, that time Eric taped Rachel without her knowledge, adult Mr. Feeny all but stalking Cory and his friends or the now-obvious Christian indoctrination weaved throughout this show -- all of which, to be clear, doesn't make the show less wholesome, just a little bit stranger to see now -- I'm talking about the emotional center of the show: Cory and Topanga's relationship.

Talk about stacking the court. USA has packed the cast of their new Washington D.C.-set drama Political Animals, which premieres on Sunday, with eight experienced screen politicians who have each held down prestigious government (or government adjacent) jobs before. Here's a look at their past political lives and how those experiences prepared them to survive in this version of the Washington jungle.