Editor’s Note: This is a weekly guest post from Buddy TV. Check back every Wednesday for more from BuddyTV.com on the state of television and your favorite shows like Prison Break, Heroes and Gossip Girl.

Usually around this time, TV audiences are preparing for the sophomore slump, the inevitable drop-off in quality of a series entering its second season. Last year, Heroes became the latest casualty of this phenomenon with its much-maligned season 2.

However, things are very different this year. Thanks to the writers’ strike, many of this season’s sophomore shows have had an extended summer break, giving ample time for the writers to get focused and fans the opportunity to miss them. For this year’s slate of sophomore shows, the writers’ strike was the best thing that could’ve happened.

First one only needs to look at the stats: 12 shows this fall are entering their second year, more than any past season. The reason there are so many sophomore shows is that the strike shortened pilot season, meaning rather than find a full slate of new programs, the networks had to renew shows that probably wouldn’t have been given the chance otherwise. If we saw a full season, perhaps the ratings for Chuck and Dirty Sexy Money would have declined, giving the networks the chance to cancel them.

The same can be said for mid-season shows, which are normally afterthoughts that rarely succeed. This fall, three returning programs premiered in mid-season, including Lipstick Jungle and Eli Stone, two shows that were almost certainly gone were it not for the strike. Now they both get a chance to fight. How does any of this cure the sophomore slump? The same way patients who suffer near-death experiences choose to live life to its fullest.

The sophomore class is full of shows that are either hanging on by a thread or that shut down too early last year. Shows like Pushing Daisies and Private Practice never returned after the strike, meaning audiences have only seen nine episodes that ended last December. The desire to get back into the minds of viewers and re-assert themselves as great shows is strong.

Then there’s the issue of content. Pushing Daisies received an early full-season order, meaning creator Bryan Fuller was already planning out the rest of season 1 when everything came to a halt. Rather than going straight to work on the second half of the season, he and his team have had time to think about it, to look closely at all nine episodes of season 1 to see what worked and what didn’t. They can even look at last year as a practice run, a test drive for new shows to get a little exposure while working out the kinks.

Much has been made this season of critics not receiving screeners for the new shows and how there is little buzz for many new programs this fall. That may be true, but what those critics overlook is the fact that this fall also brings plenty of shows that feel new because it’s been so long since we’ve last seen them. The true excitement for this season isn’t the arrival of new versions of Knight Rider or Beverly Hills 90210, it’s the return of forgotten favorites.

This fall, it’s time to see what Ned the piemaker has been up to. It’s time to see how the Darlings spent their summer. It’s time to see what naughty situations those Upper East Siders from Gossip Girl have gotten into. And most importantly, it’s time to see a season without a sophomore slump.

For more news, opinions and exclusive video interviews check out BuddyTV’s Fall 2008 Preview.

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