The Couch Potato: DVR overload

Get ready for a little DVR overload.

Most of the midseason shows premiere this week and throughout the rest of January and, if you’re anything like me, they’re adding a whole new set of complications to your TV viewing schedule.

Buzz-worthy shows like “Lost” and “24” are back; Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is returning to television with the highly anticipated “Dollhouse;” and Fox has thrown us a curveball by moving two of its most popular series.

“Bones” is relocating from Wednesdays to Thursdays at 8 p.m., where it will compete against “Ugly Betty, “Survivor,” “My Name Is Earl” and “Smallville.”
Mondays might be even worse, when “House” settles into the 8 p.m. timeslot opposite “Gossip Girl,” “Chuck,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother” and a new season of “The Bachelor.”

Has your brain exploded yet?

Keep reading for the scoop on everything this winter has to offer, and start doling out those season passes carefully. And, remember, premiere dates and times are always subject to change.

Tonight
24 (8 p.m.; moves to its regular time slot, 9 p.m. Mondays, tomorrow, Fox)
Jack is back, and this time around, he’s on trial for his past transgressions (oh, you know, all that torturing and killing that have become his trademark). But his day — set four years after the events of season six — takes an unexpected turn after an international security breach puts him back into the field.

Oh, and did we mention that the CTU has disbanded (don’t fret; Chloe’s still around), the United States has a new female president (Broadway vet Cherry Jones), and Jack’s presumed dead colleague and friend, Tony Almeida, returns?

Tuesday, Jan. 13
American Idol (8 p.m., Fox)
The reality juggernaut is back and will find Randy, Paula and Simon sitting alongside a new, fourth judge: Kara DioGuardi, a singer/songwriter/producer.

Thursday, Jan. 15
The Beast (10 p.m., TNT)
Patrick Swayze stars as an unorthodox FBI agent trying to teach his rookie partner (Travis Fimmel) the ropes. Check out Thursday’s Couch Potato for a full review.

Friday, Jan. 16
Friday Night Lights (9, NBC)
The series’ third season has been airing on DirecTV since the fall, and now those episodes are re-airing on NBC. Some things on tap for the season (warning: spoilers ahead) include the departures of Smash and Jason, a steady romance between Tim and Lyla, and the arrival of an up-and-coming quarterback who threatens Matt’s spot on the team.

Battlestar Galactica (10 p.m., Sci Fi Channel)
Find out what happened after last year’s midseason finale, when the humans and the Cylons found Earth in nuclear ruin. The cult series will sign off for good after this 10-episode run.

Sunday, Jan. 18
United States of Tara (10 p.m., Showtime)
This show was created by Steven Spielberg and developed by “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody.

Tara Gregson (Toni Collette, “In Her Shoes,” “The Sixth Sense”) is a suburban wife and mother who juggles her family, career and multiple personalities that appear on any given day. They include T, a wild and crazy teenager; Buck, a gun-toting male; and Alice, the perfect 1950s homemaker. John Corbett (“Sex and the City,” “Northern Exposure”) also stars as her supportive husband.

Also premiering: “Big Love” (9 p.m., HBO), “Flight of the Conchords” (10 p.m., HBO), “The L Word” (9 p.m., Showtime) and “The Secret Diary of Call Girl (10:30 p.m., Showtime).

Wednesday, Jan. 21
Lie to Me (9 p.m., Fox)
Veteran film actor Tim Roth plays a human lie detector. His Dr. Cal Lightman is “the world’s leading deception expert” (the show is apparently based on a real guy; who knew such a thing existed?), and he can tell when people are lying by analyzing their faces, bodies, voices and speech. He leads a team of experts who help law enforcement with their toughest cases.

Lost (9 p.m., ABC)
I’ve seen the first two hours, and my head hurts. The show is as crazy as ever as the Oceanic Six, plus a few extras, desperately try to make their way back to the island.

Thursday, Jan. 22
Burn Notice (10 p.m., USA)
So, Michael didn’t blow up in that explosion. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s not dealing with his near-death experience very well, and he’ll team up with the mysterious Carla to find out who tried to off him.

Monday, Jan. 26
The Closer (9 p.m., TNT)
The last time we got a glimpse of the Priority Homicide Division, they were on the verge of losing one of their own after Detective Sanchez was shot. The first of five new episodes will reveal his fate (we’re not telling!), as well as Brenda’s response to Fritz’s pressure to set a wedding date.

Trust Me (10 p.m., TNT)
Just think of this new series as “Mad Men: A New Generation.”

Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) and Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”) co-star as best friends Mason and Conner, who work together at an advertising firm. Mason is the responsible one, with a wife and kids, while Conner is the single, flaky one. Their friendship is tested when Mason is named the agency’s creative director — and Conner’s boss.

Thursday, Jan. 29
Hell’s Kitchen (9 p.m., Fox)
Expect more yelling and belittling from chef Gordon Ramsay.

Monday, Feb. 2
Medium (9 p.m., NBC), joining up with new time slot-mates “Chuck” and “Heroes,” which are both back. The new episodes find Allison (Patricia Arquette) and her family returning to a bit of normalcy after their financial woes last season and will also include guest stars like Blythe Danner, as a woman whose daughter goes missing, and Tracy Pollan as a woman who offers Allison a job.

Thursday, Feb. 12
Survivor: Tocantins (8 p.m., CBS) finds the latest group of castaways in the Brazilian Highlands.

Friday, Feb. 13
Dollhouse (9 p.m., Fox)
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon returns to television with his new series, starring “Buffy” alum Eliza Dushku. She plays Echo, a member of a highly illegal and underground group of people who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with new ones at the request of wealthy and powerful clients. The organization’s existence is threatened when an FBI agent starts investigating it, and Echo’s memories of past missions start resurfacing.

Sunday, Feb. 15
Eastbound and Down (10:30 p.m., HBO)
Danny McBride — whose star rapidly began to rise after two hilarious performances in the summer hits “Tropic Thunder” and “Pineapple Express” — stars as Kenny Powers, a pitcher whose self-destructive behavior got him kicked out of major league baseball. He’s since moved back home to North Carolina to teach gym at his old middle school.

Sunday, March 1
The Celebrity Apprentice (9 p.m., NBC), not that you really want to watch it or anything.
Those hoping to land a job with The Donald this time around are Joan and Melissa Rivers, Dennis Rodman, Herschel Walker, Andrew Dice Clay, Tom Green, Jesse James, Brian McKnight, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Clint Black, reality TV staple Khloe Kardashian, figure skater Scott Hamilton, professional poker player Annie Duke, golfer Natalie Gulbis, and former “Price Is Right” beauty Claudia Jordan.

Sunday, March 8
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Bryan Cranston’s Walter White, a high school chemistry professor dying of cancer, descends further into the drug trade when the series picks back up.

Monday, March 9
Castle (10 p.m., ABC)
I’ve been saying that Nathan Fillion — last seen on “Desperate Housewives,” but who has also starred on the short-lived Fox series “Drive” and “Firefly” — deserves a successful show. It looks like he my have found it with the crime drama “Castle,” in which he plays a novelist who teams up with an NYPD detective to solve strange murders.

Tuesday, March 17
Reaper (9 p.m., CW)
Sam is still working for the Devil, who may or may not be his real dad. Yikes!

Thursday, March 19
Kings (9 p.m., NBC; moves to 10 p.m. on March 26) is a contemporary retelling of the battle between David and Goliath.
King Silas Benjamin (“Deadwood” star Ian McShane), our Goliath, rules over Gilboa and has to deal with mounting tensions between his people and neighboring nation Gath. The conflict escalates when several prisoners of war are taken, and a young soldier — David? — goes into Gath to rescue them.

Tuesday, March 24
Cupid (10 p.m., ABC)
This is a remake of the short-lived 1998 series that starred Jeremy Piven as a man convinced he’s Cupid, sent to Earth by Zeus to bring romantically challenged couples together.

Here, Bobby Cannavale takes over the role of Trevor, who winds up in a mental institution after telling one too many people that he’s the Roman god of love. The show takes place three months later, when Trevor is released and is placed under the care of psychiatrist Claire (Sarah Paulson, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”).

March 30
Greek (9 p.m., ABC Family), which picks up with the Cyprus Rhodes kids after their summer break.

Wednesday, April 8
The Unusuals (10 p.m., ABC) is a dramedy about a group of quirky detectives working the homicide beat. It stars “Joan of Arcadia’s” Amber Tamblyn, as well as Adam Goldberg and Harold Perrineau (“Lost”).

Thursday, April 9
Harper’s Island (CBS)
This murder mystery takes place on a secluded island, where a group of family and friends have gathered for the destination wedding of a young couple (Katie Cassidy, Christopher Gorham). But, one by one, they all start dying, and the survivors must figure out who the culprit is.