The summer has traditionally been a time when television reverts to reruns and an occasional fill-in series that rarely runs beyond Labor Day. In 1990, however, CBS premiered a new comedy-drama show that was definitely not the run-of-the-mill summertime fare. In fact, 'Northern Exposure' was a pioneer in many ways, ushering in the era of dramedy -- the blend of drama and comedy -- that is so popular today.

From the moment it debuted on July 12, 1990, until it ended its run on July 26, 1995, 'Northern Exposure' was something special, and a large part of that success was due to the cast. The show was a launching pad for some of the younger actors, and a showcase for many others. On the anniversary of the show's premiere, we decided to catch up with the cast.

If 'Glee' has you yearning for more song-and-dance routines on TV, hold onto your (top) hats! From April 29 to May 5, Fox is turning several of its shows into musicals, including 'Bones,' 'House,' 'The Simpsons,' even 'Fringe.' On May 2, 'Family Guy' will celebrate its 150th episode with an extended episode featuring new and familiar musical numbers. Suffice to say the shows should be a blast, for both us and the actors.

Of course, TV aficionados know this is nothing new. Shows like 'Ally McBeal,' 'Eli Stone,' and 'SpongeBob SquarePants' have featured musical numbers regularly, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention 'Viva Laughlin' and 'Cop Rock' (even though the latter was declared by TV Guide to be one of the worst shows ever, ouch!). In fact, we can trace the trend back to classic episodes like Bugs Bunny's 'The Rabbit of Seville' and 'What's Opera, Doc?'

On hearing from the Ausiello Files that 'Ugly Betty' creator Silvio Horta is steering his leads -- sweetly dorky Betty (America Ferrara) and her womanizing boss, Daniel (Eric Mabius) -- toward romance, our first reaction was "Nooooo!" Although that exact hookup takes place in the original telenovela, that's one romance we just can't -- or don't want to -- picture.

Which got us thinking, what other TV romances were so wrong on so many levels, they've brought down entire shows?

Let me start by apologizing for this post. I can't stand this commercial. It's a Gap holiday special which is called Talk to the Moose. I don't know why. There's no Rocky and Bullwinkle in the spot and no references to Northern Exposure. I might have liked the commercial if it had made some shout out to two of my TV faves.

Instead we have adorable little girls frolicking in winter wear. I have nothing against the little ladies. Like I said, they're adorable. They really make those sweaters work, so kudos to Gap for showing off their products in a positive way. If only the singing were as positive.

It's not easy winnowing more than 50 years of small-screen gems into a list of 50.

But AOL TV's picks of the top TV dramas include the most brilliant doctors and lawyers, the angst-iest teens, sci-fi series that transcend their genre molds, family dramas that both warm and break your heart, terrorist- and mobster-fighting heroes ... and a show that combined the best of family and gangster drama into one unforgettable series.

Click through to see all 50 of the best TV dramas of all time.

Last Friday, Senator John McCain shocked the world by announcing that little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was his choice as vice presidential candidate for the Republican party. If you were like me, you couldn't help but notice that Sarah Palin -- a very attractive, 44-year-old mother of five -- looked an awful lot like some familiar TV faces, like 30 Rock's Liz Lemon.

In fact, at least one Hollywood writer recognized in Sarah Palin's being plucked from virtual obscurity was like one of his creations. Rod Lurie, the writer/producer of Commander in Chief, joked that he and Gena Davis should be asking for royalties if Palin emerges as McCain's VEEP, especially if she becomes president like Davis's character did on that ABC drama series.

Here are the main TV characters that come to mind when you think about Palin:

This sounds like a promising new project: John Corbett as Toni Collette's leading man in the Showtime comedy pilot United States of Tara. The show comes from the pen of Diablo Cody, fresh off her Oscar win as the screenwriter of Juno, and the pilot's director is Craig Gillespie who received plaudits for the indie hit Lars and the Real Girl. Oh, and did I mention that Steven Spielberg is one of the producers? Considering this collection of talent and Showtime's recent programming successes, United States of Tara sounds like another ace for the cable net.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow:

• The Addams Family - Complete Series
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Season 4
• Captain N and the New Super Mario World - Complete Series
• DaVinci's Inquest - Season 2
• DuckTales - Vol. 3
• Gilmore Girls - Complete Series and Season 7
• Kenny vs. Spenny - Season 3
• Masters of Horror - Dream Cruise and Season 1,Vol. 3
• Melrose Place - Season 3
• Miami Vice - Complete Series
• Northern Exposure - Complete Series
• Perrry Mason - Season 2, Vol. 2
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? - Treasure Chest Gift Set
• South Park - Christmas Time
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Atlantis SquarePantis
• Tale Spin - Vol. 2
• The Young Ones - Extra Stoopid
• Zorro: Generation Z - Return to the Future

As I started putting this list together it occurred to me, "Holy crap, there is a lot of good TV this summer." The summer used to be the time when my VCRs cooled their worn out heads after nine months of hard work. And now I find myself needing the Tivo and the DVR to keep up with everything. That's progress!

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Doctor Who - The Invasion and The Sontaran Experiment
• Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends - Season 1
• Hawaii Five-0 - Season 1
• The Loop - Season 1
• Moonlighting - The Final Season (review coming tomorrow)
• Northern Exposure - Season 6
• Sabrina, The Teenage Witch - Season 1
• South Park - Season 9
• Stargate: Atlantis - Season 2

(S04E16) Those crafty NCIS writers kind of slipped a little something in there this week. As we got underway I resigned myself to the fact that this was a stand alone episode and we wouldn't be tracking The Frog or making any headway where Jeanne is concerned.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. NCIS does as good a job as anybody at mixing the two facets. As the story moved along though, there was something of an ongoing story that continued to develop. I'm referring to the ever evolving relationship between Tony and Ziva. Their bickering and fighting has proved quite entertaining in the past, but as season four has progressed, things have slowly been changing. It's a nice bit of writing the team is doing as they've taken their time to let this all come out.

Former Sex in the City and Northern Exposure heartthrob John Corbett is joining the cast of Showtime's comedy pilot Manchild.

Based on the BBC series of the same name, the show focuses on four guy friends experiencing the mid-life crisis rite of passage that, for better or worse, we'll all be going through some day if we haven't already.

Corbett will be playing a former Deadhead pot smoker who has made an art form out of sabotaging his own life.

You can check out Corbett's own mid-life, wish-fulfillment strategy via his country music outing with the John Corbett Band.

Even when he played Aidan on Sex and the City, John Corbett has always been a little bit country. That's why he gave up acting in 2005, headed to Nashville, and grew out his chops. He spent the last year writing and composing songs for a country album with guitarist/friend Tara Novick. Now he has a self-titled album and a video, which you can see on AOL. The video is for a song called Good to Go, and it features your usual country stuff: hay bales, horses, tractors, and dirt. Oh yeah, and it also has a few cameos by Bo Derek, John's real-life girlfriend. You can hear samples of all the songs on his debut album over at his official website. Corbett isn't signed on with a record label because he didn't like their recommendation of waiting a year to create a "marketing strategy" for his album. It's his first album, but it's also a life-long dream for him, so he probably wanted to start the country music part of his life as soon as possible. Even if you don't like the style of music, you've got to admire the guy for walking away from it all to pursue his dream.

[Via Pop Candy]