By ROB OWEN, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

What a relief to have this TV show for grown-ups back on the tube. In a summer inundated by competition series and scripted castoffs on broadcast networks, "Mad Men" is a cable salve that heals all wounds.

Even if you decry the reality-TV genre, there's no question that some of these shows are better than others. And no producer is better at casting and editing than Mark Burnett, the mastermind behind "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."

As AMC's "Mad Men" readies a new season, questions raised at the end of last season swirl: Will 1960s-era ad man Don Draper (Jon Hamm) be faithful to wife Betty (January Jones) now that she's pregnant?

A studio executive described ABC's astronaut drama "Defying Gravity" as "Grey's Anatomy" in space. And it's true: The space scenarios in "Gravity" often defy common sense and are just as ludicrous as the medical-workplace hijinks on "Grey's."

The fall TV season is still a month and a half away, but it's time to start thinking about what's new to look forward to or to avoid. Some of the coming trends of the season include:
-- More comedy: The genre hasn't fared well in recent seasons, but ABC has four new comedies airing on Wednesday night alone. "Modern Family," in particular, has drawn positive buzz.

Conventional wisdom says the summer TV season is a time for cable series to come to the forefront while broadcast networks rely on reality shows and reruns. And that's definitely true. Less obvious is the wealth of documentary programming that exists.

Earlier this month a viewer e-mailed to ask if a miniseries like "Roots" could ever get made today, a thought-provoking question.
The realistic answer: Not on a broadcast network like ABC, which debuted the groundbreaking "Roots" in 1977.

The premise of BBC America's delightful "Being Human" sounds like the setup to a joke -- a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost are roommates -- but the series turns out to be a soul-searching, contemplative exploration of what it means to be human and a funny take on more lighthearted aspects of supernatural life.
It premieres Saturday at 9 p.m. EDT.

It's not often that one exits an amusement park attraction thinking, "That ride was really well-written." But that just might be a common response to The Simpsons Ride, which opened last year at Universal Studios theme parks here and in Orlando, Fla.

It's tempting to give NBC credit for putting a family-friendly series like "Merlin" on the air, but the network wasn't acting out of any generosity toward families. NBC announced this British import a year ago when it went on a buying spree of low-cost co-productions. And the saying is true: You get what you pay for.