Everybody loves a comeback story. Five superb actors have managed to come back this season in brand new shows to remind us why we love them so much.

1. JESSICA LANGE: AMERICAN HORROR STORY (FX)

Make no bones about this fact, neither Dylan McDermott nor Connie Britton are the lead in this creepy ghost series. The HOUSE is the lead, and no other actor in the series emphasizes this as when Jessica Lange makes herself at home in the haunted house. Every frame that includes her is pure brilliance. She is the true owner of the house and she owns the series as well. Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon is delivering an Emmy winning performance on par with Glenn Close as Patty Hewes in Damages.

2. KELSEY GRAMMER: BOSS (STARZ)

Shakespearean in scope, Boss is another defining vehicle for Kelsey Grammar, this time by flexing his tragic and flawed heroic sensibilities. Mayor Tom Kane is a morally compromised character now facing his own mortality and as such has precious little time for redemption, if he so chooses that path. King Lear is not written half as well. I would portray Grammar’s acting in the series as a one man acting tour-de-force.

3. LAURA DERN: ENLIGHTENED (HBO)

The classic Greek tragedy mask is an iconic image known to convey outer anguish and inner agony and no other actress can plaster this image on her face as effortlessly as Laura Dern in the highest quality new show of the fall season, Enlightened. Dern has absolutely no physical affectations in this “everyman” role and she absolutely allows audiences of all ages to connect with a mediocre forty-something waking up to the despair of her mediocre life. Twenty-somethings are relegated to a fear they need to consider, thirty-somethings are reminded of what they are guarding against, forty-somethings directly relate to her reality, and anyone older than fifty are reminded of their own period in their lives when they realized that things will not get much better unless they begin to create meaning in their lives. The role was tailor made for Dern and the Greek tragic mask fits her seamlessly.

4. SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR: RINGER (The CW)

Our Buffy is all grown up! And she is absolutely delicious in the dual role of good twin / evil twin Bridget Kelly / Siobhan Martin in Ringer. To complicate further the “actor’s situation” the good twin has taken the identity of the evil twin because she believes the evil twin committed suicide but the evil twin FAKED her suicide and now must try to kill the good twin who has taken her identity. And to complicate further the “actor’s situation” the good twin witnessed a murder and is being chased by the mob version of dangerous Native Americans. And to complicate further the “actor’s situation” the good twin usurped the role of a Manhattan socialite when her own background is actually that of a junkie stripper. The good twin is also faking a pregnancy from the husband of the evil twin’s best friend AND also has to live with her estranged high-powered attorney of a husband and party monster of a step-daughter!!! Ringer is such a GUILTY PLEASURE for me that I buy my favorite brand of kettle popcorn in anticipation of watching this show. But if my friends see the show recorded on my DVR, I play dumb and claim that the show must have been recorded by mistake.

5. CLAIRE DANES: HOMELAND (SHOWTIME)

Confession: This is the only show that I watch through my computer on Hulu but the show is good enough that I am seriously considering expanding my cable subscription to include Showtime. And with this caveat in place, let me just say that Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison is all of what Jack Bauer should have been and more- simply and ONLY because her CIA character is humanized through her implacable acting. Her moments of concern and self-doubt are not only refreshingly shown in her type of character role but the moments are also acting marvels to behold. Her “Temple Grandin” brilliance shines through and Claire Danes is proof that, yes, wonderfully complex and compelling characters may be written for the small screen and, yes, those roles will attract Oscar worthy level actors.

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Angel Uriel Perales is a poet and journalist currently watching too much television in Studio City, California. You can find his poetry at RUMRAZOR PRESS.