With midseason now in full swing, I thought I'd round up some of my favorite shows that I'm keeping tabs on at the moment. This is Part 1.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
One of the last sitcoms standing, How I Met Your Mother continues widening its fanbase thanks to stellar writing and an ensemble that includes the madcap genius of Neil Patrick Harris as loathsome lothario Barney Stinson.

Heroes (NBS)
While the fantasy/sci-fi epic has admittedly seen better days, things got kicked up a notch upon entering the third season's second half. Fortunately, with the return of writer Bryan Fuller, the creative upswing looks set to continue.

Nip/Tuck (FX)
Now in the midst of its fifth season's long delayed (thanks writers' strike) second half, TV's most superficial drama has thankfully regained much of its edge and remains my favorite serialized, stylized melodrama.

Burn Notice (USA)
Originally approached by this viewer as "The New Bruce Campbell TV Vehicle I Must Religiously Watch," Burn Notice quickly became an entity unto itself, with Campbell relegated to a supporting (scene stealing) role. This spy series is also USA's best series. Ever.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (The N)
Yeah, I went there.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
A vast storytelling improvement over T3, SCC should please fans of the franchise and features the best John Connor since Eddie Furlong (until Christian Bale, who I am done with professionally).

Dollhouse (FOX)
Because its Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Because Eliza Dushku's always been hot and people are just now realizing it. Because it was given a death sentence and put on FOX's Friday night sci-fi suicide slot (R.I.P. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., M.A.N.T.I.S., Brimstone, Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen, the oft-mentioned Firefly, and all the others who have fallen).

ComingSoon.net reports thatChristopher Nolan has set up his next project with Warner Bros., an original screenplay he wrote called Inception. The "Dark Knight" director hopes to shoot the sci-fi action film in the summer for a release during summer 2010.

Inception is described as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind."

This pushes back any potential filming on a third Batman film, but three years -- and The Prestige -- passed between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Nolan has also long been attached to direct a big-screen adaptation of the British TV series "The Prisoner" for producer Scott Stuber at Universal.

-Superhero Hype!-

This is exciting news. I was a fan of Nolan's since Memento (lot a lot of us I would guess), and just as I was excited to see him take on the new Batman franchise, I was hoping he wouldn't pull a Sam Raimi and let it otherwise derail the trajectory of his career. My hopes were met when he released The Prestige, which was phenomenal. Aside from directing, the guy's a helluva writer, especially with his brother Jonah in the mix. I'm looking forward to this one.

And then bring on more Batman.