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Hello again, good people. Welcome back to TV.com's Network Power Rankings, or as you may refer to them at home, "the most influential power rankings on the internet." If you're new to the proceedings or just need a refresher on my unbelievably complex theorem, here's how they work: Using a complicated methodology including ratings (Nielsen overnights, DVR numbers), business matters (pilot orders, scheduling, personnel decisions), buzz (social media, "viral" moments, other goodwill), and quality (good shows, episodes), I evaluate the performance of an ever-changing variety of networks based on the past two weeks. Also: Because there've been a number of comments about it over the last few entries, let me emphasize that a network only gets "credit" for a show if it airs during the period I'm analyzing  So if you think AMC deserves drops for Breaking Bad I agree with you, but you won't see me saying so here until the show actually returns to the air. 

And now let's get to it. Last time, History took the top spot thanks to big ratings (and decent buzz) for The Bible and Vikings, with AMC and ABC right behind. Unsurprisingly, there's been some movement over the past few weeks.

1. FX (previous rank: 6)

Although I consider a number of different elements when compiling the power rankings, it's hard for me to deny the allure of great shows. And a handful of great shows have bumped FX to the top of the rankings for the very first time. The Americans is the best new show to hit the air since Homeland, with its character depth and multitudinous and complex performances from Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. Like so many great dramas, The Americans produces great individual episodes, but it's the culmination of the season's stories that's impressed me the most so far. The arcs are thrilling and emotional and still believable, despite the show's high-concept premise. If you're not watching the show, please start. It's already renewed for Season 2, so don't worry about cancellation. And despite some middling ratings, the show is doing well on social media platforms like GetGlue.

But it's not just The Americans. FX is bringing the heat with another quality season of Justified—no matter your feelings on how long it took to get to the Drew Thompson reveal, Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins have been wonderful  as usual this year—in addition to the ever-funny Archer and freshman comedy Legit, a show that I haven't seen too much of but many critics and folks on Twitter seem to enjoy. Those core four shows are impressive.

FX is garnering some buzz as well. The news that Academy Award winner Ang Lee will direct The Tyrant, a pilot from Homeland's Howard Gordon and Six Feet Under's Craig Wright, immediately rocketed that pilot to the top of my most-anticipated list. Finally, the Kathy Bates casting, witch premise, and New Orleans setting of American Horror Story's third season has me a little giddy for another wild ride. Ryan Murphy, I cannot quit you.

2. CBS (previous rank: 4)

We can usually expect CBS (which, in the name of full disclosure, owns the parent company of TV.com) to continue to garner high nightly ratings, and over the last two weeks, the Eyeball has done just that. The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, and NCIS continue to dominate, and coverage of men's basketball conference tournaments and the selection show gave the network a nice weekend jolt (and expect even bigger things for CBS now that the tournament has actually begun).

However, CBS is making lots of noise with some impressive and interesting casting choices for pilots it has in the works, and that's what boosted it up a few spots this time. Rainn Wilson just joined Hart Hanson's adaptation of Backstrom in what could be a type-breaking role; Ben McKenzie and Mandy Moore are aboard The Advocates, from Bruno Heller and David Nutter (which is almost guaranteed to get picked up, so we'll see what happens to Southland; Kristin Davis will star in Bad Teacher; Amber Tamblyn and Skeet Ulrich will star in Anatomy of Violence, from the Homeland team (yeah, they're busy); and Stephen Fry is part of Greg Garcia's comedy pilot for the network. CBS is bringing us the stars!

The network is also buzzing because it released a smartphone/tablet app and sold The Good Wife in a somewhat groundbreaking syndication deal.

3. AMC (previous rank: 2)

Zombies. Very, very popular zombies. The Walking Dead continues to thrive in the ratings and in various social media spaces, and the best news of all is that the last few episodes have been pretty darn good. Somehow, amid all the showrunner drama, it feels like the show can improve. Pretty wild.

AMC also cut a deal with Netflix to air The Killing just three months after it ends on the network and released a snazzy Mad Men poster, sending the buzz for the upcoming sixth season into overdrive.

4. History (previous rank: 1)

Sure, the ratings forThe Bible and Vikings went down in their respective second and third weeks, but they didn't plummet. The Bible is a big-time success as a miniseries (will History and Mark Burnett do a sequel then?), and Vikings proves that History can guide a long-form scripted product to life. Armed with those two shows plus Pawn Stars, American Pickers, and Swamp People, History, had six of the top 12 cable shows two weeks ago (and that includes WWE's Raw counting as thee separate programs, so it was really six of the top nine). That's big business for a niche cable network.

Plus, we can't ignore the "controversy" over whether or not The Bible producers purposely hired an actor who looked like President Obama to play Satan. That seems really, really dumb to me, but people are talking about it.

5. ABC (previous rank: 3)

I don't want to keep beating the same dead horse with ABC, so I'll keep it brief: The network has a slew of solid shows that generally perform well in the ratings and on social media. The best news is that the network's best drama, Nashville, (yeah, I said it) made ratings strides with the most recent DVR viewership figures. That nicely corresponds with the show's uptick in quality over the last few episodes. Red Widow hasn't lit the world on fire in its competitive Sunday-night timeslot but unlike 666 Park Avenue, it's a halfway decent show. Probably not decent enough to convince ABC to bring it back next year, but it's a watchable hour that fits pretty well with Revenge (which is back killin' it) and Once Upon a Time (which I've given up on but people seem to really like lately).

ABC also gets points for Good Morning America's first February sweeps victory in nearly two decades and some compelling casting choices (Kelly Preston in a comedy, Christian Slater in Kyle Killen's drama pilot).

6. Fox (previous rank: 8)

Where my Fox haters at? The network rises a few spots on the back of a couple of interesting episodes of The Following and the solid ratings of the returning Hell's Kitchen. Like ABC, the story is kind of the same with Fox as it was last time we did this: American Idol is doing stuff and The Following and Glee are performing fine in their respective timeslots and on social media. New Girl and The Mindy Project haven't been on much over the past few weeks, but both shows saw nice growth in the most recent DVR viewership report and did fine last week in their return.

Moreover, Fox's pilots are coming together with some really engaging casting choices: Christopher Meloni in Justin Halpern's sitcom (probably my favorite casting move of the whole pilot season so far) and Karl Urban and Minka Kelly in a futuristic cop drama from J.H. Wyman and J.J. Abrams.

7. HBO (previous rank: 7)

Can a network remain in the rankings because of a ton of teasers and trailers for upcoming series? Well, when we're talking about Game of Thrones and a Louis C.K. stand-up special, the answer is absolutely yes. Also, disregarding the sometimes-suffocating internet discussion about it, Girls just finished up a pretty darn good second season, so that's cool. But seriously, dragons!

8. Syfy (previous rank: N/A)

Syfy takes the "generally successful broad cable network" spot from USA this time around, with more original shows on at the moment and a few buzzy moves. Continuum just wrapped its first season here in the U.S., and although the show wasn't an out-of-the-box hit for the network, it did just fine (especially for something Syfy didn't have to pay as much for). Being Human continues to roll on with its typical but dedicated audience of about two million viewers, and the show thrives in social media spaces like GetGlue. Throw in successful runs of Face Off (which was just renewed for a fifth season) and Robot Combat League (which is just awesome), and Syfy has a nice little stable of programs on the air at the moment, with the much-hyped Defiance and more Warehouse 13 on the way very quickly.

Plus, Ron D. Moore's Helix received a straight-to-series order of 13 episodes. Battlestar Galactica fans rejoice.

9. NBC (previous rank: N/A)

Hear me out. Yes, NBC is still struggling in the ratings. It's pretty bleak over there. The network has just been trying to hold on until this week, with both The Voice and Revolution returning, and while those shows will provide some more temporary relief, their probable success only reinforces how fractured and troubled NBC's schedule is. However, at least the network is responding to its mistakes by shipping Smash to Saturdays and giving Go On a chance on Thursdays after The Office. Acknowledging mistakes way after the fact isn't as good as just not making them in the first place, but it does help a little.

Plus, NBC is really killing it in the buzz department, both intentionally and unintentionally. Have you seen the teasers for Hannibal? How, uh, good does that look? And how surprised are you by that? The hype for Revolution's return is also at its peak right now.

Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake almost single-handedly brought the buzz to NBC late night, first with a much-discussed fifth hosting gig on SNL and then with a week-long stint at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that birthed another "History of Rap" medley. And that's not all: Somehow, NBC head honcho Robert Greenblatt is so sensitive that he doesn't take kindly to Jay Leno's jokes about the network's flatlining ratings. Read that again. Someone is offended by Jay Leno's jokes—and not because they're bad. That kerfuffle, on top of whatever the heck is still going on at The Today Show, means that all sorts of people are talking about NBC. Who cares if it's not for "good" stuff?

10. ESPN (previous rank: N/A)

This is another somewhat odd choice, mostly because so much of what airs on ESPN is terrible. However, the controversial First Take segment between Seattle Seahawks player Richard Sherman and ESPN goon Skip Bayless set the internet afire, so much so that Bill Simmons, one of the more popular faces of ESPN, got suspended from Twitter because he spoke out against his overlords. So of course, that only created more headlines and ESPN got exactly what it wanted. (Kind of like what I'm doing for the network right now, shoot.)

Yet, despite ESPN's general suckiness, there's one thing that the network knows how to do: air live sports. The last few weeks have been pretty exceptional in that department, with the focus on college basketball's conference tournaments.

And finally, Sunday's Survive and Advance, the latest in the 30 for 30 documentary series, was a rock-solid look back at the epic underdog run by NC State's men's basketball team in 1983.

11. Starz/Cinemax (previous ranks: N/A)

Two networks share the "special acknowledgements" spot this time, almost solely because of their respective hyper-violent original series. Both Spartacus and Banshee are quite popular around these parts, and based on the critical response and buzz, both shows are having/had strong seasons as well. Though we're nearing the end of the line for Spartacus and Banshee is gone until January 2014, I thought they both deserved a little props for showing that there's good work being done all over pay cable, not just on HBO and Showtime.

There you have it, folks. Which network tops your list based on what they've been up to over the past two weeks?

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After initially sliding new comedy The Neighbors into the cushy* post-Modern Family timeslot during the Upfronts in May, ABC smartly realized that A) The Neighbors is going to fail and B) the timeslot would be better spent on a better show. Thankfully, this led to Suburgatory shifting into that 9:30pm on Wednesday slot, a move that should theoretically help the always-improving comedy in its sophomore season.

* You'd think that the timeslot right after one of the most popular shows on television would be beneficial and help other shows grow, but you'd be kind of wrong. Cougar Town, Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 all did fine behind Modern Family, but none of them lit the world on fire, ratings-wise. Apparently people are so jazzed up by the casual racism and sexism of Modern Family that they can't bear to watch something on ABC right after.

Although timeslots and traditional flow between programs means less in the DVR age, it's still nice when good shows are given a chance to shine in important spaces of the schedule. Unfortunately, not every good show gets this opportunity. Here are five that deserve better.

Current timeslot: Tuesdays at 10pm

NBC has done a lot of stupid things in the past five years, but perhaps the most misguided call it's made is clinging tightly to the prestige of the 10pm drama series. It's a timeslot that NBC made waves with in the 1980s and 1990s but the realities of contemporary viewing habits—the 10–11pm hour is where a lot of DVR viewing happens—mean that the cultural clout isn't there anymore. NBC hasn't been able to make a 10pm show work on Thursday forever and for now four seasons, it's relegated one of the best shows on all of TV, Parenthood, to the same time on Tuesdays.

NBC's ratings woes and silly planning aside, Parenthood isn't "a 10pm show." It doesn't feature explicit language, violence, or sex. It's a family drama with great characters and an appealing storytelling engine. Tuesday at 10pm is typically an ultra-competitive timeslot anyway: CBS always has a solid performer there—this season we'll see if Vegas can make it work—and cable nets like USA and FX typically air big shows there as well, which doesn't help the Bravermans either.

Where should it be instead?
So many of NBC's early timeslots at the beginning of the week are dedicated to The Voice that it's tough to find a spot for Parenthood elsewhere. However, I think it could do well on Wednesdays at 8pm, or even early in the night on Sundays once football ends.

Current timeslot: Fridays at 9pm

I assume most people expected this list to include the likes of Fringe and Community, shows with diehard fan-bases that happen to be stuck on Friday nights. Frankly, those shows belong there. They've had four and three seasons respectively to become bigger performers and they haven't, so it makes sense to me that Fox and NBC would keep and/or put them on Fridays. The rabid audience follows well enough.

Nikita, however, is a show that hasn't been given as much of a chance. Yes, it aired on Thursdays behind The Vampire Diaries in its first season, but 9pm on Thursday isn't kind to new shows—especially new shows on The CW (see: The Secret Circle). Nikita did okay on Fridays last season and performs really well internationally (that's why it's still around).

Where should it be instead?
I think it could do well paired with a similarly themed show, like the upcoming superhero drama Arrow, on Wednesdays. Supernatural, which is moving from Fridays back to Wednesdays this fall, would do fine in returning to its old Friday slot.

Current timeslots: Tuesdays at 9pm and 9:30pm

ABC has an embarrassment of riches in its comedy slate at the moment and with a three-hour Wednesday comedy block out of the question, two sitcoms had to go somewhere else. The net has been trying to build a Tuesday comedy hour for a while (with shows like Last Man Standing, Man Up, and Work It, for example), so it's no surprise that Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 are now an island there. While I think the two comedies fit together well stylistically and tonally, they are suddenly up against bigger, flashier comedy blocks from Fox (New Girl and The Mindy Project) and NBC (Go On and The New Normal).

Clearly the networks thought that the real estate at Tuesdays at 9pm was up for grabs, but at some point (probably pretty early on), these comedies are going to hurt one another. NBC's block includes Matthew Perry, a seemingly strong-at-the-start Go On and a The Voice lead-in. Fox's block features the sole hit of the bunch in New Girl (though its ratings dropped pretty far by the end of last season) and one of the best new comedies of the season in The Mindy Project. That leaves Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B----, which are sandwiched between the Dancing With the Stars results show and the always almost-dead Private Practice, on the outs, probably relegated to DVR or Hulu duty by most people.

Where should it be instead?
This one is tough too (revealing that deserving a timeslot often rubs up against the fact that there simply isn't room). If I had it my way, I'd just immediately cancel The Neighbors and let both Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- rotate in that 8:30pm Wednesday timeslot. They might have shorter seasons in that theoretical scheduling move, but they'd be tucked into a stable comedy block, away from the new comedy war on Tuesday (and other danger spots on Monday or Thursday) and be able to run straight through.

Current timeslot: Thursdays at 8pm

The Last Resort pilot is really, really good. Like a lot of folks, I'm not sure exactly how Shawn Ryan and company will sustain the narrative as a series, but I cannot wait to watch them try. ABC has done a fine job of marketing the show on ESPN and during sporting events on ABC in hopes of courting some men back to the network.

However, the 8pm Thursday timeslot is just as big of a wasteland is NBC's 10pm Thursday. Every season, ABC tries to launch an interesting series there, only to have it take almost immediately. Charlie's Angels BOMBED and Missing tanked there last season. My Generation died there the season before. It was FlashForward the year before that. And so on. Even if Last Resort becomes a great show, the chances it survives are slim, almost solely because of this poisoned timeslot.

Where should it be instead?
See, in theory I love the 8pm timeslot for Last Resort. But it's just that 8pm Thursday slot on ABC that is basically poison. Gun to my head, I'd probably try it out at 10pm on Monday after Dancing With the Stars. Castle is a veteran show that should be able to hold its own somewhere else. In fact, if there's any show that could probably withstand that toxic timeslot on Thursdays at 8pm, it'd probably be Castle. I thought ABC would try to put it there during the Upfronts in May, but the network seems terrified to move anything.

What shows do you think deserve a better place in the schedule? Vote on our picks here and list your own in the comments!

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Summer is basically over, school is back in session, and fall premieres are right around the corner—but just because we're all excited about the incoming freshman shows (and/or their potential for early cancellation) doesn't mean we're excused from keeping an eye on the season's most promising sophomores. And thus it's time for another preseason TV cram: Below, we make our case for why you should catch up on the seven shows whose second seasons we're looking forward to the most. (Plus we'll be covering all of them weekly... get up to speed now so you can talk about 'em with us once they return!)

Season 2 premieres Wednesday, October 17 at 10pm on FX

Commitment: 12 highly addictive episodes

Why You Should Catch Up Now: If we're being honest, you probably don't have to watch the first season of American Horror Story, since Season 2 promises to be completely unrelated, story-wise. New characters, new setting, new horror genre entirely. But we're guessing a major appeal for the upcoming Asylum season of AHS will be seeing much of the same Season 1 cast playing new roles, and if Ryan Murphy's promises are to be believed, actors like Jessica Lange and Evan Peters will be playing "opposites" to their Season 1 counterparts, information that might inform our impressions of Season 2. And while viewers may not necessarily need to know what they all got up to in the Murder House, we think you may enjoy Murphy's weird sensibility better if you know what kind of craziness to expect after Season 1. So, basically, consider this TV cram mostly just extra credit!

Cheat Sheet: Start with the pilot. You might be hooked immediately, but if not, skip to the two-part Halloween episode. If you're not hooked after that, then this show may not be for you. —Price Peterson

Season 2 premieres Sunday, September 30 at 10pm on Showtime

Commitment: A dozen thrilling, one-hour episodes that are as addictive as delicious crack.

Why You Should Catch Up Now: When Homeland was announced, I figured it would be good, but I didn't know it would be THIS good. Easily the best new series of last season and definitely on my short list of the best overall series of last year, Homeland is a real post-9/11 drama that ditches flag-waving and stars and stripes in favor of paranoia and trust issues. The acting ensemble, led by Emmy favorite Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, is right up there with Breaking Bad's, but the show's unpredictable twists and turns (best romance ever!) will leave you floored. I can't recommend this show highly enough.

Cheat Sheet: You're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't watch all twelve episodes, so plow through 'em. And once you start, you'll probably finish all of Season 1 in about three days. But I wouldn't fault you for skipping Episode 9, "Crossfire." —Tim Surette

Season 2 premieres Tuesday, September 25 at 8pm on Fox

Commitment: 24 half-hour episodes. Trust us, they'll breeze right by.

Why You Should Catch Up Now: After the public's wholehearted rejection of the "adorkable" meme, New Girl had to step up its game in order to remind us that it's actually a really good TV show! Over the course of the season, Zooey Deschanel dialed back on her occasionally autistic-seeming quirks, and the result was a well-realized, extremely funny, and occasionally moving portrait of late 20-something life. Max Greenfield's Schmidt in particular stood out as one of the most singular TV characters of last year, and Schmidt's burgeoning romance with the mind-numbingly gorgeous Cece (Hannah Simone) became the show's most compelling through-line. New Girlis weird, inventive, and is as breezy and appealing as a Saturday bike ride. Get into it!

Cheat Sheet: Like most comedies, you probably don't have to watch every episode. But here are the ones not to miss: "Pilot," "Wedding," "Jess and Julia," "Fancyman (Part 1)," and especially "Normal," in which the gang plays your new favorite drinking game, True American. (It is AMAZING.) —Price

Season 2 premieres Sunday, September 30 at 8pm on ABC

Commitment: 22 hour-long episodes, although there are plenty of skippable standalones if you just want to get caught up.

Why You Should Catch Up Now: The season finale left off with a devastating cliffhanger that's been torturing fans all summer long. Still, we feel kind of guilty getting you hooked on Once Upon A Time, this show is basically crack for fantasy fans, romance fans, and/or anyone who likes cozy little towns. It's the kind of world that inspires fan sites and marathon sessions and by now you've probably heard it's from the same dreamboat team Kitsis and Horowitz who were behind Lost. The series at its best combines the familiar warmth of fairy tales with sinister threats and mind-bending dream logic, like a Disney version of Twin Peaks. At its worst, its still a loony WTF romp with a stellar cast. It's impossible to follow a conversation about this show if you're not watching, and Season 2 is sure to be a talker, so catch up while you still can.

Cheat Sheet: While it's entirely possible that you'll be so obsessed with the world you won't want to miss a single minute, you can watch the following episodes as an "abbreviated version" of the first season: "Pilot," "The thing You love Most," "Snow Falls," "The Shepherd," "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," "Desperate Souls," "7:15 AM," "Skin Deep," "Hat Trick," "The Return," "The Stranger," "An Apple Red As Blood," and "Land Without Magic." —Lily Sparks

Season 2 premieres Thursday, September 27 at 9pm on CBS

Commitment: Just one season! But it was kind of a long season, with 23 one-hour episodes.

Why You Should Catch Up Now: Going in, I didn't think I'd like this show a whole lot—even with J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, Michael Emerson, and Jim Caviezel involved. It just had so many strikes against it: it had a procedural vibe, it was on CBS, and it was on CBS. But oh lordy it got really good really quick and became the biggest surprise of last season for me. The premise—a billionaire and a former special op team up with a super computer to help people in danger—is perfect for tackling the procedural aspect while also offering a rich, serialized backstory. Nolan brought his gritty Batman ideas to protagonist John Reese, one of 2011's breakout characters, and Person of Interest exhibits a surprising amount of humor to keep things balanced. But it's the relationship between the two main characters, and the guns and action followed by '80s-style cheesy one-liners, that make the series so comforting.

Cheat Sheet: If you need a quick taste to determine whether the show is for you, watch "Pilot" and then "Cura Te Ipsum" (Episode 4). Other top episodes include "Judgment," "Witness," "Number Crunch," "Super," "Root Cause," "Baby Blue" (for the lulz), and the final five episodes of Season 1—particularly the finale, which was one of the best episodes of any show last season. —Tim

Season 2 premieres Sunday, September 30 at 9pm on ABC

Commitment: 22 deliriously awesome, hour-long episodes. But they're all on Netflix Instant right now so holla!

Why You Should Catch Up Now: You've probably heard a lot about Revenge; it's become a cultural soap addiction along the lines of Dynasty or Dallas. Based loosely on The Count of Monte Cristo, Emily Thorne returns to her small Hamptons town to get revenge on the Graysons, who framed her father for a terrorist act, and she sets out to systematically destroy everyone who assisted in her father's downfall... and then things get complicated. Madeleine Stowe's incredible depth as arch-bitch Victoria won her a Golden Globe, and the charisma and hilarity of Gabriel Mann anchors the show. It's a soap opera on steroids, with all the production value of a film and moments of genuine dramatic tension, and once you plow through the episodes like potato chips you'll be just like the rest of us: desperate for Season 2.

Cheat Sheet: You are not allowed to miss a single episode! Sorry, but Revenge is built on the premise that filler is antithetical to good TV. Every episode builds out the world or provides extremely necessary information. Plus, seriously, why would you want to miss any of the first season? Too much fun, and watching the episodes get more elaborate and better looking as the show actively gained a following is an enjoyable arc in and of itself. BUT IF YOU REALLY INSIST you can watch the premiere and skip directly to Episode 4, "Duplicity," and watch from there. —Lily

Season 2 premieres Thursday, September 27 at 9pm on ABC

Commitment: One of last year's midseason replacements, the first season of this under-the-radar drama is only seven episodes long. You can power through it over the course of a bottle of buttery Chardonnay.

Why You Should Catch Up Now: Shonda Rhimes' Scandal wants you to think it's a tight, political thriller but it's actually more like a super-captivating romance with the kind of sexual tension not seen since Moonlighting. As the title suggests, there is plenty of delving into mini scandals every week, thanks to its almost-procedural format, but the show takes pains to sidestep all the boring parts of politics and leave only the juiciest, most emotional, most adrenaline-pumping moments onscreen. Kerry Washington is incredible as main character Olivia Pope and even extras get powerful monologues. The writing and drama and soapiness have made this a secret favorite around the old Sparks household. And there's a huge reveal coming up in the Season 2 premiere about one of the main characters, Quinn, so hurry up and watch so you can squeal along with the rest of us when all is (hopefully) revealed in Season 2.

Cheat Sheet: You don't have to bother cheating, there's only seven episodes, guys. But if you're squeamish about Dexter-type torture, feel free to skip Episode 5, "Crash and Burn."

Which returning fall shows are you most excited about? What should we be catching up on that's not on this list?

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