Restive 'Downton Abbey' fans need fret no more: PBS has confirmed that Season 2 will (finally!) premiere in the US on Sunday January 8, 2012. The AP reports Paula Kerger, PBS president, as saying that the abrupt ending to Season 1 and the paucity of episodes -- there were only four -- led to angry phone calls from fans, many of whom worried that PBS might not even air a second season.

PBS also has good news for 'Sherlock' fans. The 21st-century twist on Conan-Doyle's deerstalker-wearing detective will start its second season on PBS on Sunday May 6, 2012. Alas, it's only three episodes long, but fans can be assured that it should be a case of quality triumphing over quantity.

Other gems from the PBS spring lineup include a two-part examination of Bill Clinton's presidency, a look at some celebrity family trees by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, and a series on American infrastructure, 'America Revealed,' hosted by winner of 'Survivor: Cook Islands,' Yul Kwon. More on these after the jump.

Lately, what we've been hearing about reality television has been awful. The winner of Big Brother became a drug dealer by using his prize money to bankroll his illegal activities. A family that appeared on Wife Swap perpetrated a hoax involving their six-year-old son and a helium balloon. Is there anything good to say about reality TV?

Here's something. Survivor: Cook Islands winner Yul Kwon is joining the FCC. He has been named deputy chief of the consumer and governmental affairs bureau for the FCC.

That's the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Julius Genachowski made the appointment, and it wasn't because Yul did well in challenges.

As you probably know AOL TV is listing the 50 Sexiest Women of TV. This week they added numbers 30-21. Looking at these pictures just brings back memories--Katie Holmes on Dawson's Creek! I almost forgot she started on the small screen before she became the kept woman of that wacko Tom Cruise.

Their list over at AOL inspired me to create my own list--this time of Reality TV stars. Be sure to write who you would add to either AOL TV's list or my own list in the comments.

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This week's San Francisco Gate takes a look at the recent upsurge in television's hot Asian ("Hasian") male factor and asks the enduring question, "Have we come a long way, baby?"

The author Jeff Yang surveys People's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue and answers in the affirmative thanks to the presence of Survivor's Yul Kwon, Lost's Daniel Dae Kim and John Cho, formerly of Kitchen Confidential. While Yang sticks to East Asia, if you throw in South Asian actors Naveen Andrews of Lost and Sendhil Ramamurthy of Heroes, you start to get more evidence that Hollywood's worst crimes of representation might be behind it.