TV Junkie: Monday

In the mind of the TV Junkie, last night's Emmy Awards were a vindication of the cutting edge programming happening on cable, both premium and basic. With the exception of reality programming and vague miniseries that nobody has heard of, the big networks came up mostly empty other than NBC's fantastic "30 Rock".

Yes, Jeremy Piven (left), won an Emmy, but it was largely undeserved as there were better performances on other shows, and the character of Ari is becoming more of a caricature as the seasons of "Entourage" drag on. Congrats to Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" and Glenn Close for "Damages" (here's LAist's interview with Close from last year). "Mad Men"'s win of Best Drama was a definite topper, even if the show is about New York and not LA. Congrats to all the winners.

Lots of season premieres tonight. Here's the TV Junkie plan: "Top Gear"; "Heroes"; Letterman; Conan.

8:00pm Top Gear BBC America - Season Finale

8:00pm Gossip Girl The CW - Serena notices Dan cozying up to Amanda, the new girl in school, Blair and her minions decide to befriend Amanda and sabotage her budding romance.