Television shows since the dawn of prime time have always added to the pop culture lexicon. In my lifetime I watched Seinfeld make a significant contribution, offering things like “sponge worthy”, “yada yada yada” and “not that there’s anything wrong with that” to our daily options in expressing our thoughts. Today I look at some of the shows new and old that are offering up significant hopes of bringing new options to the forefront.

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS): This show has Neil Patrick Harris offering gems like “the lemon law” (a law about dating when you want the date to end early). The show has such a great cast that I have no doubt that it will continue to bring forward new gems that I will be using on a weekly basis.
• Love Monkey (CBS): This show premeired last night, and given that I was a fan of Ed when it was on NBC, I had to give Tom Cavanagh’s new show a go. Sure enough, it did not dissappoint, giving us “Grants law” (no matter how hot the girl, a man will never be satisfied). A show with a great cast, I’m hoping that it will take off.
• Arrested Development (FOX): While Fox is more then likely not to renew the show, it already has offers from other networks, and it continues to provide great writing with a great cast.
• The Office (NBC): Steve Carrell. Need I say more? The man is a walking machine of new phrases to use in the office.

Interesting enough, there are a lot of shows that I’ve found offer great writing, casts and situations, yet people don’t pickup and use. An example would be Scrubs, which has some of the best comedic writing around and yet you don’t hear much from the show reach the lexicon. Gilmore Girls is pop culture laden, and only the initiated seem to use many of the obscure referenced lines around town.

Television will continue to shape what’s new in the world of popular language. Just remember, time will only tell which shows provide the lines that stick.