A season you'll want to stick with cable

If you can still afford cable, this might not be the best time to cut it off.

Not only is the best new show of the fall - HBO's Atlantic City extravaganza "Boardwalk Empire" - premiering on Sept. 19, the eve of the broadcast networks' official premiere week, but autumn's now considered up for grabs by basic-cable channels that once might have avoided going head-to-head with the Big Four networks.

Which doesn't mean that some outlets won't be trying to get a jump on the competition.

Returning tonight at 10: FX's "Sons of Anarchy," the outlaw motorcycle-club drama that last season might have been the most improved show on television. (Which just means that I started watching it again and changed my mind.)

Season 3 picks up right where the second one left off, with a mad search for the kidnapped infant son of Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and the equally mad flight of his mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal), who's been framed for murder. "Sons," which has come a long way from its original "Hamlet"-on-hogs premise, shares at least one thing with "The Sopranos": It's made me care about people in whom I've never before had the slightest interest.

A few other fall shows that might justify paying to watch:

FX's "Terriers" (10 p.m. Wednesdays) stars Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as unlicensed private investigators. Premieres: Tomorrow.

FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (10 p.m. Thursdays) launches Season 6 in HD, a seeming coup for what began as a very low-budget series but which is bound only to magnify the warts on this warts-and-all comedy set in and around a bar in South Philly. Guest stars this season include Phillies Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, but you'll really want to tune in to find out how the show deals with the real-life pregnancy of star Kaitlin Olson, who, along with husband and co-star Rob McElhenney, the show's creator, welcomed a baby boy last week - reportedly after she went into labor during a Phils-Dodgers game in Los Angeles. Returns: Sept. 16.

HBO's "Bored to Death" and "Eastbound & Down" (10 and 10:30 p.m. Sundays). New seasons for two of the premium cable channel's oddball comedies, the first starring Jason Schwartzman as a blocked writer who moonlights as an unlicensed private investigator (the "it" job of the fall?), the other starring Danny McBride as a former major leaguer trying to readjust to life in his hometown. Return: 10 and 10:30 p.m. Sept. 26.

Showtime's "Dexter" (9 p.m. Sundays). In the wake of Rita's death, a guilt-plagued Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is in danger of being nailed for the one murder he didn't actually commit. Returns: Sept. 26.

A&E's "Teach: Tony Danza" (10 p.m. Fridays). The former sitcom star/talk-show host spends a challenging year as a 10th-grade English teacher at Philadelphia's Northeast High School. Premieres: Oct. 1.

BBC America's "Luther" (10 p.m. Sundays). Idris Elba ("The Wire") stars as a tortured British detective - really, is there any other kind? - who strikes up an odd almost-friendship with a woman he believes to be a psychopathic killer. Premieres: Oct. 17.

DirecTV's "Friday Night Lights" (9 p.m. Wednesdays, 101 Network). No word yet on when the fifth and final season of one of TV's best shows will come to NBC, but for those with DirecTV, which has first dibs, the wait is much shorter: Returns: Oct. 27.

AMC's "The Walking Dead" (10 p.m. Sundays). Six-episode series about "life following a zombie apocalypse," based on the comic book. Premieres: Oct. 31.

TBS' "Conan" (11 p.m. weeknights). It took months, but Conan O'Brien's new late-night show got a name and an official air date last week. Premieres: Nov. 8. *