Networks courting viewers with cop shows, crime dramas

Let's all marvel at the bumper crop of new shows about cops and courtrooms!

Let's welcome back stars like Tom Selleck, Jimmy Smits, Jim Belushi and Dana Delany!

Let's cross our fingers that ambitious new series like "No Ordinary Family" and "The Event" will find their way!

Let's get ready to laugh at the new comedies (at least, some of them).

But first, let's dedicate this broadcast season to Jay Leno.

Sure, it was last fall that Leno invaded prime time with his weeknight talk-comedy hour, only to scurry back to "The Tonight Show" in March.

By then, the guy who got caught in this squeeze play - "Tonight Show" temp Conan O'Brien - had not only bolted from NBC, but also from broadcast TV altogether. He'll be launching a new late-night talk show on cable's TBS in November.

Credit Leno (and the game of musical chairs he set in motion) with reminding us how the difference between broadcast and cable is increasingly hard to detect.

Now comes the onslaught of freshman fall series on the big five broadcast networks (almost all of which will premiere the week of Sept. 20). Even with the gaping five-hour hole Leno left behind for NBC to fill, the new fall crop adds up to just 22 shows - only one more than last fall.

Among those new shows, viewers will find some pleasant surprises, and as well as a few trends.

The twentysomething crowd is the focus of, and the designated audience for, numerous new series.

Meanwhile, among fall's 16 new dramas, 11 are firmly rooted in crime-fighting and/or the justice system.

• Granted, "No Ordinary Family" (ABC) puts the emphasis on, well, family. It's a family that acquires superpowers each member must learn to use responsibly. But Michael Chiklis plays a cop who wants to prove his worth.

• "Detroit 1-8-7" (ABC) is a by-the-numbers police drama, with one difference: Michael Imperioli. His quirky, unsociable manner yields a character so distinct it could eclipse Imperioli's signature role as Christopher on "The Sopranos." If only the rest of "Detroit 1-8-7" were as distinctive.

• "The Whole Truth" (ABC) has what might seem a clever format: It follows a legal case from the alternate perspectives of the defense and the prosecution. In practice, however, the show unwinds in a choppy, he said-she said fashion whose payoff seems to come only at the end, when the truth, and the correctness of the verdict, are revealed. But maybe the project will be improved with Maura Tierney replacing Joely Richardson as the prosecutor. Rob Morrow is the defense attorney.

• "Body of Proof" (ABC) stars Dana Delany as a brilliant medical examiner with a really bad attitude. Think "Crossing Jordan," with sassy defiance upgraded to obnoxiousness.

• "Blue Bloods" (CBS) gathers an impressive cast (led by Tom Selleck) as a multigenerational family that permeates the New York City cop and court system. But the drama bleeds clichés.

• "The Defenders" (CBS) co-stars Wheaton native Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell as flashy, high-flying Las Vegas attorneys. Their chemistry is good. The writing could be better.

• "Hawaii Five-O" (CBS) takes the DNA from the circa-1970s original and reaps a robust, character-driven, crime-busting romp.

• "Outlaw" (NBC) wastes Jimmy Smits as a rascally U.S. Supreme Court justice who quits the high court to reclaim his ideals and practice law as a social activist. He vows to fight for lost causes. This show might be one of them.

• "Chase" (NBC) is an action-packed Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about U.S. marshals in Houston. Kelli Giddish is hot. So is her partner Cole Hauser. They chase bad guys, and their tight jeans don't slow them down a whit.

• "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (NBC) extends the "L&O" franchise to its fifth edition, the first to venture outside New York's jurisdiction. Cast members include Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard.

• "Undercovers" (NBC) has the sheen of uber-magnate J.J. Abrams. It has the undeniable heat of Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as husband-and-wife CIA agents who are drawn back into espionage after leaving to begin a new life as caterers. Too bad the story is fluff.

And now, for something a little bit different, the other new dramas:

• ABC's "My Generation" takes the form of a documentary chronicling the stories of young adults in the present day, intercut with footage flashing back to them as graduating seniors a decade ago.

• The Fox melodrama "Lone Star" is the smartest, sexiest, most entertaining new guilty pleasure on the schedule. James Wolk plays a charismatic Texas con man living a double life.

• NBC's much-hyped "The Event" is an intriguingly disjointed, keeps-you-guessing thriller.

• The CW's "Hellcats" is set among the cheerleading squad of a Southern university. Well-toned young men and women cope with hormone-dominated college life, jazzed by cheerleading routines. What's not to like?

• Also on CW, "Nikita" is a re-imagining of the bygone action-intrigue series and feature film. Maggie Q stars as the former spy and assassin.

Besides all those dramas, there's also laughter available from the new fall lineup - if you choose carefully.

• Fox's "Raising Hope" is a riotous return to the unrefined world in which "My Name Is Earl" resided. A directionless lad becomes a father - and recruits his dysfunctional family to help him.

• Another Fox comedy, "Running Wilde," stars Will Arnett as a self-involved scion of an oil company who is trying to win favor from a lovely, but equally daffy environmentalist (Keri Russell).

• NBC's hilarious "Outsourced" ships a management trainee for a Kansas City-based novelty company to its relocated call center in India.

• Not so good is CBS' "Better With You," which stars Jennifer Finnigan and Josh Cooke as a couple who have been living together for years, then feel upstaged when her younger sister gets engaged.

• Nearly unwatchable is CBS' "Mike & Molly," which tries to present a relatable romance between a portly man and woman, but undercuts the humor with easy jokes about being fat.

• And what about the much-talked-about sitcom, "(Bleep) My Dad Says"? Starring William Shatner as a cantankerous senior, the pilot was a disappointment and this CBS series is being overhauled.

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<li><a href="/story/?id=405352">10 new shows worth trying <span class="date">[09/09/10]</span></a></li>

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