Southland (TNT) — I know we’re all about “Justified” here on WarmingGlow, and for good reason, but I thought we’d give some header love to “Southland,” which is probably the best television drama you’re not watching. It’s a slice-of-life cop drama, the anti-procedural, and it’s brilliant and dark and Regina King is television’s most unsung actress. Start from the beginning or jump in tonight. Whatever you do, find it. It’s outstanding.

Justified (FX) — Tonight’s episode is more episodic than serial in nature, as Raylan tracks down two prisoners on the run while Boyd turns on someone in the inner circle. Check back tomorrow for Danger’s discussion post, and maybe Jon Worley will drop by again and tell you how all your hunches are wrong.

Parenthood (NBC) — Another fantastic, underappreciated drama, this one from Jason Katims, who also brought us “Friday Nights” (which explains why a lot of the actors who have appeared in both). Peter Krause directed tonight’s episode, so it will probably be double heart-warming. Bring tissues, fellas.

The River (ABC) — Two-hour series premiere. This is a thriller about a trip to the Amazon river to find a missing adventurer. It was either pushed back to mid-season because it’s not very good, or because it’s great and doesn’t appeal to a large audience. I personally hope it’s the former because my Tuesday doesn’t need another hour-long drama. Reviews so far, however, have been positive.

The New Girl (FOX) — I think we should all start mis-using the term “Adorkable,” applying it only to decidedly masculine things. Hopefully, by May we can mangle it so badly that it’s eradicated from our cultural lexicon.

LATE NIGHT GUESTS: Letterman has Denzel and The Fray, which was a band manufactured by trailer editors to create music for sappy films. Leno has Chelsea Handler (two reasons not to watch!), Damon Wayans, Jr. and Michelle Williams are on Kimmel, Ferguson has Kenneth Branaugh, and Fallon has on The Cranberries. I heard their new song on the radio the other day and I thought I fell into a wormhole that took me back to 1992.

PREFACE: This is not a political post. Not really, anyway.

TRUE STORY: The other day, a much older gentleman asked me what television news shows I watch, and I explained to him that I don’t watch any of them. He then proceeded to chastise me for being a lousy citizen before I could inform him that I don’t watch television news because I get most of my news coverage on the Internet (save for “The Daily Show”). He didn’t quite understand that because he’s still rocking an AOL account, and he’s a Newt Gingrich supporter, so he’s probably a little soft in the brain anyhow.

Truth be told, I don’t like television news because they yell a lot, and if I wanted someone to yell at me, I’d post something on WarmingGlow that made our readers miss Matt. Television news contains very little substance, and even the opinion is obscured by the volume. Frankly, it’s boring. I listen to NPR in the morning, and the rest of the day I stay informed through the Associated Press app on my phone and The New York Times, because I’m a pinko commie liberal hippy.

According to the Pew Research Center, I’m not alone, as fewer and fewer people turn to television news to stay informed.

Only 69% of adults turned to the tube first for election news last month, the lowest percentage in at least 20 years, according to the weekly surveys taken for the Pew Research Center’s News Interest Index. The latest figure is down from 72% four years ago, 78% in 2004, and 86% in 2000. Broadcasters are seeing the biggest losses. Just 32% of adults cited local TV news as their primary source for election news, down from 40% four years ago. The national nightly newscasts were down to 26% from 32%. Cable news channels held relatively steady at 36%, down from 38%. As you might imagine, a lot of people now are turning to the Internet for their political news fix. It passed newspapers to become the No. 2 source of election news, with 34% turning first to the Web vs 26% in the 2008 campaign and 13%.

I’m actually surprised that 32 percent of people use local news to stay informed because local news is garbage in every single region of the country. It’s basically good for one thing, and that’s embarrassing verbal gaffes, like this one:

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This past weekend, Conan sent Billy Eichner (“Billy on the Street”) to the Super Bowl. If that sentence doesn’t excite you to an unreasonable degree, I’m not exactly sure what I can do for you. You are beyond help. God bless.

When I first watched “Billy on the Street,” I was a little worried that the schtick would get old for me after a number of viewings. Well I can officially confirm at this point that the answer is “Nope. Not even a little.” I could watch him accost strangers with pop culture questions for hours at a time (and I have). So, to unleash him on the Super Bowl and have him ask football fans — AND PLAYERS! RIGHT AFTER THE GAME! ON THE FIELD! — about Madonna and the halftime show is, simply put, a treasure. He’s like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog if Triumph had STRONG opinions about Kelly Clarkson.

If those two interviewed each other it would be Frost/Nixon of our time.

A bad television show will built itself around catch phrases. A good television show will deliver so many great lines week after week that few will stick long enough before the another round of one liners come along and supplant them. But the best television sitcoms have a knack for infectious dance sequences so memorable that the characters can be identified by their signature moves.

I’ll be honest with you: I love a good dance sequence. Nothing brings me more pleasure than a sitcom character unafraid to act a fool for the entertainment bliss of others. Here are television’s signature dance moves, the ones that — good or bad — get inside your bones and make you wanna go Sam Rockwell up in this joint.

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Artist's rendering of the average opinion of a "Two and a Half Men" fan.

We tend to think there are two kinds of TV viewers: those who like “complex” (for lack of a term that isn’t “not-for-idiots”) shows, and those who like everything else. The former are fans of “Justified” and “30 Rock” and “Homeland” and recaps; the latter enjoy “Mike & Molly,” “NCIS,” and “2 Broke Girls” and crude, yet CBS-safe double entendres about facials. And never the twain shall meet.

But that’s not quite true. There’s something both groups love to do: bitch and complain. Read anything on the Internet related to “Community” (former) with a comments section, and you’ll see sentiment after sentiment of “BOO NBC” and “WE WANT BRIE! WE WANT BRIE!” The same grumbling is true with articles about “Two and a Half Men” (latter), except their community is split on something: CHARLIE OR ASHTON, who you got?

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The second season of “Boardwalk Empire” brought an abrupt end to the storylines of a few major characters, and now you can add another one disappearing into the great television abyss: Paz de la Huerta’s character, whose name I believe was “That naked lady. No, the other one. The whiny one with the hat. Yeah, her.” From TV Line:

TVLine has learned exclusively that the HBO mob hit has opted not to pick up the actress’ Season 3 contract option, which means viewers have likely seen the last of her character, Lucy Danziger.

Introduced in Season 1 as Nucky’s (Steve Buscemi) unhinged mistress, Lucy spent much of Season 2 pregnant and shacked up with Michael Shannon’s Van Alden (the baby daddy). Shortly after giving birth, she went on a formula run and never returned, leaving the baby in Van Alden’s care.

An HBO rep declined to comment for this story.

But now who will… But what about the thi… What will happen to the storyline about the… You know what? I’m okay with this. Outside of a very, uh, European attitude towards explicit and gratuitous nudity, I was never really sure what purpose her character served on the show. Besides, this should give Paz more time to pursue her real calling: going on drunken rampages throughout Hollywood. She’s a true artist when it comes to that. Keeping her locked up on set all day is kind of like making Picasso spend all day scrubbing toilets. It’s a waste of both her time, and ours. For society’s sake, let the woman create.