Tonight, September 8, brings a hefty six-series lineup of summer and season finales. Leading the pack, in my opinion, is the surprisingly good freshman USA Network legal drama Suits, which has entertained me consistently since the show’s June 23 premiere.

Don’t you just love it when a series you have no expectations of sprints out of the gate to win you over immediately? The first-season finale “Dog Fight airs at 10pm ET. Thankfully for us fans, USA Network picked up a second 16-episode season of Suits in early August.

Other scripted shows winding down their current runs on September 8 include USA Network staple Burn Notice. The last episode of the summer debuts at 9pm, and the spy drama will return with new Season Five adventures in November.

Over on FX, adult comedies Wilfred and Louie close their first and second seasons, respectively, at 10pm and 10:30pm. Comedy Central animated series Futurama ends Season Six at 10pm, as well, and ABC cop drama Rookie Blue concludes Season Two at the same time, following a special extra episode at 9pm.

After more than four long months of continual repeats, NBC crime procedural Law & Order: Los Angeles returns to the network tonight, April 11, at 9pm ET for a spring run of new episodes. Fans really need the breath of fresh installments by now.

Viewers should be prepared for things to become a bit different on the fourth American Law & Order spinoff, however. Not only does the series have a new time slot — Mondays at 10pm ET instead of the former Wednesdays at 10pm — but several cast changes are also in store.

The most prominent adjustments involve Los Angeles regular Skeet Ulrich and former Law & Order regular Alana de la Garza, who still appeared on the original series when NBC canceled it in May 2010. Ulrich’s character Detective Rex Winters experiences a life-changing event during “Zuma Canyon,” the first half of the spring premiere. The tragedy eventually leads his partner Tomas “TJ” Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) to team up with former prosecutor Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina), who returns to police work after he gets fed up with the legal system.

Meanwhile, de la Garza’s character Connie Rubirosa also arrives during the double episode to continue practicing law on behalf of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The division will need her after Morales leaves. Her sick mother needs her as well, though, which is the main reason Rubirosa has moved to Los Angeles from New York.

Sad to lose Ulrich, but glad to have Connie back. These changes are designed to help the series get more viewers and higher ratings, of course, and we’ll see if they work soon. Can’t fault the showrunners for trying, even if they don’t.

Watch the ominous spring premiere promo, “A Law & Order First,” below before tuning in to the latest new episodes of Law & Order: Los Angeles. The trailer totally spoils what happens to Rex Winters (consider yourself forewarned), but seeing the entire scenes will probably be much more intense.

Although Law & Order: Los Angeles, the latest member of the international Law & Order television franchise, debuted last Wednesday, I’m far more excited about tonight’s (October 3) premiere of Law & Order: UK on basic-cable network BBC America at 10:30pm ET.

The English version of the American staple presents classic episodes from the original show with a British twist. First up is the series premiere “Care,” which bowed on UK television at the end of February 2009; Law & Order: UK is now in the middle of its third season there.

The episode begins with the discovery of a baby abandoned at a London hospital and continues with the assignment of detectives Ronnie Brooks and Matt Devlin to investigate the child’s origins. Viewers will probably already be familiar with Battlestar Galactica alum Jamie Bamber, who plays Devlin, and Doctor Who vet Freema Agyeman, who portrays prosecutor Alesha Phillips.

Their costars include Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street) as Devlin’s partner Brooks, Harriet Walter (Doctors) as police boss Natalie Chandler, Ben Daniels (The State Within) as Alesha’s co-counsel James Steel, and Bill Paterson (Little Dorrit) as the head prosecutor.

Note that Law & Order: UK premieres on Sunday at 10:30pm, but the show’s regular time slot is Fridays at 9pm, starting this Friday, October 8. The series has seven episodes in its first season and six in the second season. However, BBC America plans to air all thirteen episodes back-to-back as one continuous season in the United States.

Sneak a peek at the detective and legal teams collaborating to close their first case in the preview clip below. Good stuff.

New crime drama Law & Order: Los Angeles officially joins the venerable Law & Order family when it premieres on NBC tonight, September 29, at 10pm ET.

The series stars Corey Stoll (NCIS), Rachel Ticotin (Lost), and Skeet Ulrich (Jericho) on the cop side, and Megan Boone (Cold Case), Regina Hall (Ally McBeal), Terrence Howard (Iron Man), and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) on the legal side. Wanda De Jesus (CSI: Miami) was the original police boss, Lieutenant Arleen Gonzales, but she left the show after filming only two episodes, unfortunately. Her departure is definitely a loss for viewers, although Ticotin is a talented replacement.

The “Hollywood” premiere of Law & Order: Los Angeles presents the first case on the blotter. The investigation focuses on a string of robberies in Hollywood, which eventually escalates, leading to an unexpected crime at the home of a young celebrity (Danielle Panabaker, Shark) after the identity of the crooks is discovered.

I’ve been watching Law & Order since the gritty earliest days in 1990, when Chris Noth and George Dzundza were partners, there were no female regulars yet, and the show’s cinematography was so bleak it almost seemed the series was shot on black-and-white film. Considering the show’s gloomy yet effective origins, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get into the action when it occurs in sunny La La Land. We’ll see, but I don’t have my hopes up too high right now, despite the nice cast.

Sneak a peek at NBC’s newest crime drama below. The preview features Stoll and Ulrich’s detective partners Tomas “TJ” Jaruszalski and Rex Winters, respectively, at the scene of a very violent and bloody crime.

Lifetime Sunday-night staples Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva received new seasons from the network late last week due to their continuing popularity among viewers.

As a result of the official announcement on September 23, fans can look forward to the fifth season of Army Wives and the third season of Drop Dead Diva kicking off on a currently unspecified date in 2011. Each show — which Lifetime President and General Manager Nancy Dubuc describes as “special” in her renewal statement — will present 13 new episodes next year. Sounds good to me.

Beloved former NYPD Blue star Jimmy Smits returns to broadcast television tonight, September 15, at 10pm ET on the new NBC legal drama Outlaw.

The Emmy-winning actor plays Cyrus Garza, a Supreme Court judge who boggles minds worldwide when he decides to step down and begin practicing law privately again in the series-opening pilot episode. Yet, dear old Cyrus is more than just a mega-educated ace lawman and the son of a respected civil rights attorney who died unexpectedly. He’s also a gambler and playboy, which makes him flawed like everyone else, not just a smart aleck and goody two shoes.

Smits’ costars, all of whom play members of Cyrus’ legal team, include Jesse Bradford (The West Wing) as young Ivy League-educated lawyer Eddie Franks, Carly Pope (24) as unconventional private investigator Lucinda Pearl, David Ramsey (Dexter) as attorney and Cyrus’ longtime best friend Al Druzinsky, and Ellen Woglom (Californication) as slightly ditzy law clerk Mereta Stockman.

I had the chance to check out the pilot, which I found quite mellow and somewhat engaging. Although the show probably will not make it to my fall Must See list, it will be among my Hulu bookmarks. If you plan to watch, note that tonight’s broadcast is an early preview. The show’s regular time slot is Friday nights at 10pm, starting with an encore of the pilot on September 17.

Get an extended whiff of NBC’s latest legal series in the following trailer.

Lifetime presents the Season Two premiere of the network’s hit legal dramedy Drop Dead Diva at 9pm ET on Sunday, June 6. The first episode in the sophomore run is called “Would I Lie to You?” (I’m guessing the answer is “You better believe it!”), and it features a return appearance by former American Idol judge Paula Abdul, who has played a — surprise! — judge on the show.

The occasion for Abdul’s return is a dream that Jane has while stressed out about the possibility of being disbarred and losing her job. Jane imagines she works at a mall’s food court, where she works and dances with Abdul. Now that totally makes sense.

Back in reality, Jane has to deal with the whole disbarment thing, as well as her recently appeared husband Ethan. Although Tony takes her case, things get very complicated when he finds out about Ethan, not to mention the fact that Kim actually testifies against Jane in court. Problems and more problems — good times are ahead.

Review the first season and preview what’s coming up during the new season in the two videos below. A fresh episode of Army Wives called “Over and Out” follows Drop Dead Diva at 10pm.

I still can’t believe NBC axed dependable crime procedural Law & Order after 20 seasons, just as the series was about to break — not only tie — the record for longest-running television drama ever.

But, alas, that is indeed what the Peacock has done. The show’s many fans can catch the series finale “Rubber Room” tonight, May 24, at 10pm ET.

The episode features an appearance by Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, who plays an employee at a teacher’s union, during a case that focuses on an unknown blogger, explosives, and a possible attack on a school.

Even if Law & Order doesn’t manage to get a post-cancellation reprieve from TNT, à la its predecessor Southland, at least the show is going out with a bang.

The intense and frequently creepy FX legal drama Damages is another one of those shows that I’ve watched faithfully since Day One but don’t talk about often. At 10pm ET tonight, April 19, the Emmy-winning series closes its current third season with the special 90-minute finale “The Next One’s Gonna Go in Your Throat.” If the episode were commercial free, too, we’d really be in business.

As the threatening title hints, things are probably going to get violently rough as this season’s Bernie Madoff-based “Greedy Rich Folks Hiding Boatloads of Money” saga comes to a conclusion. There are already no less than four dead bodies stinking things up, and viewers can also get psyched about the reemergence of complicated hitman Wes Krulik, whom Justified star Timothy Olyphant played last season.

FX hasn’t been offering much in the way of sneak peeks for Damages lately, and the finale is no different. Check out the brief promo below and, if you’re a fan, pray to the TV Deities that the show manages to get renewed.

Rumor has it that, despite the drama’s tons of critical acclaim, FX isn’t interested in going it alone with Damages due to its generally low ratings. But maybe a second party, such as Friday Night Lights savior DirecTV, can step in to make a last-minute rescue reality. I’m all for that.

TNT’s Raising the Bar is one of those occasional TV shows that don’t impress me when they first premiere, although I rediscover them later and begin enjoying what they offer. After watching tonight’s new episode of the sophomore drama called “No Child’s Left Behind” in advance, I’m reminded again why I came to like this particular late addition to my regular viewing schedule.

The secondary plot of “No Child’s Left Behind” focuses on the divorce plight of Natalia Cigliuti‘s defense attorney Bobbi Gilardi. She begins contemplating moving on to a better paying job after her vindictive and sleazy estranged husband Gavin (Heath Freeman) takes underhanded measures to gain control of her apartment in a settlement.

While that storyline is really interesting and concludes with an extremely satisfying resolution, the bulk of the episode focuses on the tense and thought-provoking case of a father (Titus Welliver, Life) who finds himself in Nick Balco’s (Currie Graham) determined legal crosshairs after a picture he posted online of his naked young son ends up on a child pornography website.

The following legal case explores the rapidly shifting realms of public and private in an age of increasingly prevalent Internet social networking. The immediate availability and 24/7/365 nature of the Web seems to make many people forget — if they even knew in the first place — that what goes online not only stays online forever, but also is often easily available to the hordes of other people, strangers and acquaintances alike, with access to the Internet.

Nick’s defense attorney Jerry Kellerman (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), as earnest and convinced he’s right as always, argues that the father, a good and hard-working parent even by his ex-wife’s admission, did nothing wrong when he uploaded an innocent picture to his Website to share with family and friends.

However, Balco, as snarky and off-putting as always, counters that by placing the photo online, the father is just as guilty of a crime as the pornographers are because he created the means, opportunity, and conditions for a crime to occur. Whatever you think about Balco’s attitude, there’s no mistaking the extent of his legal insight during this case.

Raising the Bar has been pretty entertaining so far during the current second season, which kicked off on June 8. Even if you don’t usually watch the show, “No Child’s Left Behind” is worth catching, and it might even give you something to think about after the episode is over. It definitely reinforced my longstanding policy of not posting personal photos anywhere online when I can avoid it.

Sneak a peek at the episode in the following preview clip and tune in at 10pm ET tonight, June 29.