Am I mistaken or is NBC’s new action-adventure drama Crusoe, which premieres tonight from 8pm to 10pm EST with “Rum and Gunpowder,” the only TV show on the tube these days based on a novel from the early eighteenth-century?

Of course, that book is English author Daniel Defoe‘s Robinson Crusoe, a fictional work of literature that has remained tremendously popular since it was first published back in 1719.

Like the book, NBC’s adventure drama — appropriately filmed abroad in England, Seychelles, and South Africa — relates the experiences of English businessman Robinson Crusoe (Philip Winchester, interestingly an American actor among a flood of European series leads), who becomes stranded on a deserted island after he sets sail for the new world to find a way out of his debts in London.

Although the series departs from the book in some respects, almost by necessity — television and books are quite different mediums, of course — one of its most enduring and endearing elements, castaway Crusoe’s faithful sidekick Friday (Zimbabwe’s Tongayi Chirisa), remains for the TV ride.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Crusoe holds up on television, not only because the tale is a classic, but also because the series could represent a much-needed breath of fresh air on the small screen, which currently seems dominated by a glut of crime procedurals and (tongue in cheek) other 21st-century fare. We need more successful historical programs, even if they are fiction!

Check out a preview for Crusoe below to see if it’s your thing.

It’s hard to believe that when Battlestar Galactica returns, the stellar sci-fi series will present the final episodes of its run. At least we fans now know when to begin the last stages of simultaneous celebration and mourning: January 16 at 10pm EST, according to Entertainment Weekly.

At that time, BSG will begin the second half of its fourth and final season. When we last saw our favorite intrepid space cadets (no funniness or disrespect intended), they had just gotten the shock of their lives. Yes, there really is an Earth, but what a frakkin’ mess it is!

I can’t wait to see how that shocker unfolds as the series winds down. If BSG‘s past is any indication, however, I think viewers can be confident the show will go out with an intergalactic bang. All we have to do is remain patient until the New Year.

UPDATE: And right after I published this post, the October 16 official announcement from NBC Universal, parent company of the Sci Fi Channel, arrived via email. It reads in part:

Final Episodes to Begin January 16, 2009

NEW YORK — October 16, 2008 — On Friday, January 16, 2009 at 10PM ET/PT, SCI FI’s critically acclaimed drama series Battlestar Galactica will return with the remaining episodes of its 4th and final season. The 10-week run will culminate with the series finale on March 20th.

Picking up from last June’s jarring cliffhanger — the Colonial fleet and their new Cylon allies led by Admiral Adama and the Galactica crew discover Earth to find it a barren nuclear wasteland — the finale season promises to be rife with drama, action and revelation.

CBS made it official on October 15: the network’s excellent new crime drama The Mentalist will stick around for a full freshman season of 22 episodes. Couldn’t have happened to a better show.

Nielsen ratings indicate that not only has the entertaining Simon Baker drama been pulling in audiences averaging just upward of 16 million viewers each week, but the rookie has also ranked first among viewers aged 25–54 in its Tuesday, 9pm-10pm EST time slot.

How good it is to see a new show getting the attention it deserves. Here’s to a few more seasons after the first.

If you haven’t been watching Baker portray keenly observant California Bureau of Investigation consultant Patrick Jane, check The Mentalist out next Tuesday at 10pm for a fresh episode. I highly recommend it.

Both My Boys and Sons of Anarchy received the highest form of approval possible from their respective networks this week when each series was rewarded with an additional season.

As a result of the renewals, fans of My Boys can look forward to a third season of nine episodes during the first quarter of 2009, and those who enjoy Sons of Anarchy will get a second season with thirteen episodes next year, too.

Since the latter show hasn’t even aired its sixth episode yet — that happens tonight with “AK-51” — there’s no telling where the story will resume when the sophomore run begins. But, as viewers know, My Boys closed its last season with a huge cliffhanger that saw Bobby (Kyle Howard) finally realizing he has feelings for PJ (Jordana Spiro) just as PJ struck up a relationship with his brother during preparations for his wedding. Thank goodness we’ll get to see how that twisted predicament ends!

Fair Warning: Long-Winded, Useless Rant Ahead…

It’s hard for me to believe now that I’m the same person who started a fan community for Heroes when the show first debuted and diligently watched each episode, sometimes even managing to write extensive, detailed recaps. Where has my love gone?

I suppose I could also ask where has Heroes‘ appeal gone. All this season, I’ve been unable to stay focused on the show, often tuning out midway through episodes with a promise to myself that I’ll surf over to NBC.com or Hulu to play catch-up before the next episode airs. That hasn’t happened yet, of course.

Last night during “I Am Become Death,” somewhere around the point Hiro whined for the millionth time “Let me out! I have to save the world!” (or something like that), I went into a stupor again. I used to love this show all kinds of ways, but now I’m inching dangerously close toward being unable to stand it.

The convoluted plots, non-stop time-jumping, tedious dialogue, and ripped-off powers are really trying my patience. The last irks me most. With the considerable creative brain power behind the series and the possibilities truly unlimited, can they really not avoid duplicating powers among characters?

It’s that much harder keeping track of three dozen people when half of them seem to have the same “special” ability, not to mention that the whole idea of specialness is weakened when several people are “special” in the same way.

Am I going to have to give up on Heroes and just wait for the DVD so I can slog through the muck at my own leisure? With each new bombastic episode, it’s looking more and more like that is what’s going to happen. Dear Tim Kring & Company, please trim the fat from this Heroes mess before viewers overdose on it and walk away.

If you’re a fan of USA Network dramedies, you can’t help but think of its popular and funny detective series Psych after learning the premise of CBS’ new crime-drama procedural The Mentalist. The premise, however, is where the similarities between the two shows end.

Although the newer series features a character, Simon Baker‘s Patrick Jane, with amazing powers of observation who has even worked professionally as a fake psychic in the past, The Mentalist‘s subject matter is far darker and more urgent than that on Psych.

Sure, the show also has its very comical moments, many sprouting from Jane’s engagingly devilish sense of humor. But, make no mistake: Jane and his California Bureau of Investigation colleagues, led by reluctant ally Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney of Prison Break), have to deal with high-profile murders that Shawn Spencer can only dream of coming his way.

In the premiere episode alone, we learn that Jane’s wife and daughter were murdered five years ago by the eminently creepy, never-captured serial killer known as Red John, a tragedy executed because Jane somehow miffed the criminal during his fake-psychic TV show. Red John likes to leave a special calling card at the scenes of his crimes — a smiley face painted in the blood of the victim on a wall that greets responders. Psych this definitely ain’t.

On the second episode of The Mentalist, “Red Hair and Silver Tape,” Jane assists Team Lisbon with its investigation of a murdered waitress. The only thing that could make the plot better is if recent Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek (Damages) returned; but, he went down for his sins on the pilot.

Get a taste of The Mentalist below, then make sure to watch if you haven’t started already. This show is so good, it can even get Gail O’Grady (Helen Pryor on American Dreams) and Steven Culp (Rex Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives) to play roles that don’t last past the opening segment. After their scenes, I was hopelessly hooked, and I don’t foresee that reception changing anytime soon.

If nothing else, clear some time on your calendar tonight for the return of NBC’s most excellent cop dramedy Life, starring the fantastic Damian Lewis as eccentric police officer Charlie Crews and Sarah Shahi as his supremely able partner Dani Reese.

There’s no doubt about it — one of the best decisions NBC made in the spring was to renew this captivating and fun series that gives viewers a taste of quirky life with each new episode. It’s the one fall show I’ve been looking forward to most all summer long. Really.

Check out a brief preview trailer now and don’t forget to tune in tonight for the series’ special Monday second-season premiere “Find Your Happy Place.” Life will present another new episode this Friday in its regular 10pm time slot, as well as next Monday at the special time again. Then, on Friday, October 10, the show will settle down for the remainder of its run (provided the network doesn’t play around with it, that is).

I’ve found my happy place indeed.