Summer Roberts, err, Rachel Bilson’s return to TV has been long-anticipated. And Hart of Dixie was the best come-back fans of Rachel Bilson and The OC can ask for.

Hart of Dixie which airs Mondays at 9 PM is not your typical CW show. It’s not about rich people, vampires, witches, or demon slayers. Created by Leila Gerstein who wrote on a lot of episodes of Gossip Girl and produced by the legendary Stephanie Savage & Josh Shwartz (also from Gossip Girl), Hart of Dixie revolves around a NY doctor, Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) who moves to Bluebell, Alabama to work in a private practice there. Yes, Alabama.

At first, I was repulsed by that unconventional combo: Rachel Bilson, The CW, and Alabama? But it soon grew on me, and it made me realize that The CW needs shows like Hart of Dixie to broaden its audience from teenage girls to TV-watching adults who actually count in the ratings.

The show proved to be the perfect lead-out for the twisted and often intense Gossip Girl; it’s light and uplifting – exactly what you need after your shipping heart breaks multiple times on Gossip Girl.

Through the first ten episodes that have aired (last Monday was its mid-season finale), Hart of Dixie was able to become the feel-good series none of The CW shows have become. It’s not about the drama, the suspense, the action, it’s about heart-warming characters and storylines that make you go to bed with a huge grin on your face.

I mean, a huge part of the mid-season finale, that other shows feed with angst and twists, focused on which teenage girl’s going in The Miss Cinnamon Cider Beauty Pageant held every year at Christmas, Zoe’s protégé or her nemesis’’ sister. And it was fun – exactly what the show is.

Granted, we were all surprised when we first learned that Rachel Bilson would be playing a doctor. How the hell did Summer Roberts become a doctor? But her character is exactly a character someone like Summer Roberts would eventually become. I don’t get the criticism around it. I mean, Zoe doesn’t pretend to be the perfect doctor. Many of the episodes in the show deal with her messing & screwing up making the whole town hate her – including one Lemon Breeland played by the amazing Jaime King.

Lemon Breeland is exactly the typical Southern cliché: She wears clothes from the 1950s, her hair makes her look like a granny, and she hates New York. If you think about it, her character is more like a caricature than a real concrete character. But don’t get me wrong, I love her!

Moving on to the guys: George Tucker, Wade Kinsella, and Levon Hayes. I strongly believe that these three men form one of the best men ensembles of the season. The chemistry between them is electrifying, and the chemistry between them and Zoe is even more electrifying. I cannot choose a favorite at all because I root for the three of them. They’re just so cute and so handsome.

And as any CW show, the relationships on Hart of Dixie are as tangled as ever. George, played by Scott Porter, is an Alabaman born lawyer engaged to Lemon. Of course, so people can ship him with Zoe, he’s in love with New York. It’s his ultimate passion. But being engaged to Lemon, he’s forced to stay in Bluebell, Alabama. And sparks are just flying around between him and Zoe. Lemon, on the other hand, cheated on George with Levon, the town’s mayor and a former linebacker, when George was working in New York the year before. You can tell they’re still in love with each other, and it’s so adorable seeing them try to hide their feelings. Finally, Wade. Wade is awesome. He has this hippy-ish bad-boy-ish vibe that makes him simply perfect. Yes, perfect. He and Zoe bicker like crazy which makes us all swoon and scream at the TV screen: MAKE OUT ALREADY!

I dare you to watch an episode of Hart of Dixie without smiling from ear to ear at the end of it. I dare you not to laugh when Wade pisses Zoe off or when Lemon says something insulting to Zoe about wearing shorts. I dare you not to watch the holiday episodes more than once. I really do. The Planksgiving episode (that’s what they call it on the show) and the Christmas episode were beyond amazing, and if it were up to me, I would make the whole show center around holidays. Unfortunately, I don’t have that power.

Hart of Dixie has started its hiatus and will be returning January 23rd, 2012. So make sure you catch up before the new episode airs because you will be missing out on a lot if you don’t. The show will simply relieve your stress, trust me.