BODY OF PROOF

Premiere TBA

Friday at 9 ET
ABC

Dana Delany stars as a doctor who knows what's right -- and it's usually her. Or she.

David Bianculli: Dana Delany, I adore -- but her character, in this medical drama, is way too brilliant. She's House in heels, but without any wrong diagnoses. This series, as a result, is a little... stupid.

Diane Werts: Nice Friday fare. Tough-as-nails Dana Delany has alienated her ex, her kid and her colleagues with too-obsessive crimesolving. Will she soften? Will they? Or will Friday night prove too dead to support this lively whodunit?

Bill Brioux: Top doc Delany hurts hand, becomes medical examiner. Hey, Quincy ran for six seasons.

Alan Pergament: What could be bad about a series starring Dana Delany (China Beach and Desperate Housewives)? She plays a tough, scarred Philadelphia neurosurgeon turned coroner after a bad case and bad divorce. It has some similarities to Castle and Bones in that her character knows as much or more than the police, and there are some tender family moments.

HELLCATS

Premiered Sept. 8

Wednesday at 9 ET
CW

Familiar young stars play rivals who end up cheering together, with a common goal.

David Bianculli: Not nearly as bad as I expected -- but I expected pretty bad. Aly Michalka and Ashley Tisdale already are stars with this show's tween target audience, and the cheerleading setting could make this a CW success.

Diane Werts: Don't hate them because they're beautiful. Don't hate them at all. This culture clash between two college babes - one precise cheerleader, one artsy rebel - turns into a savvy look at friendship, love, education, athletics, ambition, mother issues, and more.

Bill Brioux: You knew Glee had to inspire some sort of spin-off. Give me a C. Give me a W. Give me a full season pickup whether anybody watches or not.

Eric Gould: 2-4-6-8, this-is-one-we-really-hate!! Such a direct rehash of Bring It On, they even show that movie's DVD box with the title on it. Couldn't finish one episode.

TERRIERS

Premiered Sept. 8

Wednesday at 10 ET
FX

Donal Logue stars in a new comedy-drama, playing an unlicensed private eye.

David Bianculli: Donal Logue is always interesting, and co-star Michael Raymond-James matches him in slacker style. But the pilot screams written, as in "look at me" cute. Work in progress.

Diane Werts: An ex-drunk ex-cop juggles his ex-wife and ex-partner amid scrounging up extra-curricular P.I. work. Donal Logue and even scruffier partner Michael Raymond-James ace the indie-film feel of this shaggy dog crimefest/character study.

NIKITA

Premiered Sept. 9

Thursday at 9 ET
CW

Maggie Q stars as a vengeful assassin, out to bring down the agency that trained her against her will.

David Bianculli: Maggie Q is an interesting series star to watch, and supporting players include Melinda Clarke and Shane West. But the pilot plot, including TWO Nikita figures, is too dense in more ways than one.

Diane Werts: An escaped assassin (1) tries to take down the secret (2) and sinister (3) quasi-government (4) organization that stole her identity (5), trained her to kill (6) and murdered the man she loved (7). Brutal body count (8)! Bikinis (9) and high heels (10)! Stuff blows up (11)!

Bill Brioux: Stars Maggie Q, produced by McG. WWE meets CIA. A1 on an IPAD. OMG!

Eric Gould: Ninety-pound Nikita tries to put an end to La Femme Nikita School. Dreadful.

Theresa Corigliano: I don't know how many remakes we need of La Femme Nikita, but I still like the premise. There's a lot of Alias caliber action, and Maggie Q has as much star power as Jennifer Garner had. Danny Cannon, who gave the original CSI its distinctive film look, delivers again.

OUTLAW

Premiered Sept. 17

Friday at 10 ET
NBC

Jimmy Smits returns to series TV -- playing a Supreme Court Justice with better things to do with his time.

David Bianculli: Maddeningly preposterous. Jimmy Smits has had some great TV roles, but this sure isn't one of them. Could be, in fact, his career worst. But not for long.

Diane Werts: If Supreme Court justice resigning to fight crime makes the next great Jimmy Smits series, I'm thinking Manimal revival for Kiefer Sutherland.

Bill Brioux: Always watchable Smits slums through legal lite as flawed folk hero. Tough times call for law man of the people.

Eric Gould: Jimmy Smits, ex-Supreme Court Justice, deteriorating conservative, playboy, gambler, plays hoops and becomes the defender of the little guy. With a wisecracking, over-sexed assistant always dressed in leather boots and miniskirt. Yes, I noticed. The question is, who finds the preposterous entertaining? Apparently, all the executives at NBC.

Theresa Corigliano: Jimmy Smits toils in this subpar (the nicest word I could think of to describe it) NBC legal drama. I dearly want to see Smits succeed in something in primetime; there has to be TV life after Victor Sifuentes and Bobby Simone.

Diane Holloway: Jimmy Smits and sitting Supreme Court Justices deserve so much better ... and so do we.

Ed Martin: Coming off strong work in L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, The West Wing and Dexter, Jimmy Smits chose this limp legal drama about a Supreme Court justice who decides to step down and enter private practice (in the process pissing off a number of powerful people). Smits is obviously a man of good taste, so maybe he sees something in it that the rest of us don't. Whatever that is had better show itself fast.

Alan Pergament: Jimmy Smits chews the scenery as a former conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice, womanizer and gambler who resigns to embrace his father's heritage and spout liberal cliches. The dialogue in this one is often as silly as the idea anyone would resign from the Court to practice law. Conservatives and liberals will agree -- this is one stupid show.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE

Premiered Sept. 19

Sunday at 9 ET
HBO

Steve Buscemi stars as an Atlantic City politician benefiting from Prohibition.

David Bianculli: Easily the most intriguing, and satisfying, new fall offering. Steve Buscemi finally gets the leading-man role, AND the girl, and deserves both!

Bill Brioux: Buscemi rips into the part of a lifetime, ranging from fierce to funny, from tough to tender, sometimes in the same scene. Stuffs the notion he can't headline a series straight into the Fargo wood chipper. A compelling, seductive drama, as rich and promising as its jazz age setting.

THE EVENT

Premiered Sept. 20

Monday at 9 ET
NBC

There's a Presidential assassination attempt, and a whole lot more, happening here -- but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

David Bianculli: The mysterious plot ends with a major lingering question: Namely, will it be worth it to hang around to see whether this series goes anywhere? I'm less hopeful than doubtful.

Diane Werts: Do I really want to watch another psycho-political time-trip where scenes routinely jump 23 minutes back, or 11 days later, or 13 months earlier? Not until the twist end of the pilot. And that's too late for me.

Bill Brioux: The president ducks an assassination attempt. This woman up in the arctic knows what's going on but won't say. Meanwhile, Jason Ritter can't find his girlfriend, and NBC is in last place. Is it all connected? Is there a hatch?

Diane Holloway:  A Lost wannabe, this sci-fi/conspiracy saga starts off with lots of confusion and very little suspense. Zzzzzz ... cliffhanger time already?

Theresa Corigliano: A Lost-Alias-X-Files hybrid, and in the hands of these producers, it's just the right blend of creepy and indecipherable. There's even a plane that might crash!

Ed Martin: Here we have one of only two drama pilots this fall that end on such a surprising note they actively defy viewers not to return for a second episode. Unfortunately, the other show, Lone Star, has landed in the same time period. And there are a few key ingredients missing from the pilot of what should be addictive escapist fare: A genuine emotional connection to any of the characters, an overall sense of what may be happening, a tangible reason to care how it all turns out. For now, the best reasons to watch are the appealing performances by series stars Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood.

Alan Pergament: This conspiracy series is more complicated than the summer movie hit Inception. In the first 15 minutes or so, viewers are shown graphics that tell them things happened 23 minutes earlier, 11 days earlier, 13 months earlier, 8 days earlier. You may know in 15 minutes if you care.

LONE STAR

Premiered Sept. 20

Monday at 9 ET
Fox

A con artist tries to go straight, juggling a new oil-executive job and his, uh, two lives and ladies.

David Bianculli: One man, two lives, updated Dallas -- at least this one has some promise. And Jon Voight.

Diane Werts: Our hero is so upright, he doesn't cheat on either one of his wives (2). This young-pup Texas con man wants out of dad's twisted family business. So he's tortured. In a role that makes no sense. Which nuanced newcomer James Wolk makes work somehow.

Bill Brioux: Lone Star it's called, and lone star it gets.

Eric Gould:  Could be excellent; great idea of a con artist trying to go straight in a job that he scammed to get into, and he's a bigamist leading two different lives. The one, easy death blow to this series is that star James Wolk has so cultivated and practiced every tiny George Clooney nuance, it could be a total buzz-kill after two shows. I didn't even know Clooney had so many trademark tics. I do now.

Theresa Corigliano: The very hot James Wolk, this fall's It Boy, will have to convince audiences there's something inside his con man that's worth championing. I'm having a hard time rooting for a guy who doesn't seem to care very much about the lovers and strangers whose lives he's systematically destroying.

Diane Holloway: Serialized sudsers, especially those set in Texas, have to whinny right out of the gate, but this one, about a hunky con man leading a double life, doesn't even snort.

Ed Martin: This was the first fall pilot I watched, and I didn't think very much of it. Then I watched the rest of the networks' new shows and decided that Lone Star is actually good fun. It will need more sex, skin, humor and melodrama if it's going to stand out. But judging from the current Fox promos, those suggestions have already been noted.

Alan Pergament: Out of all the fall shows, I loved exactly one. James Wolk has a George Clooney twinkle in his eye and enough charm to get two people to marry him at the same time while he fleeces one group of victims to pay off another one. Unfortunately, it airs opposite NBC's heavily-promoted conspiracy series, The Event.

MIKE & MOLLY

Premiered Sept. 20

Monday at 9:30 ET
CBS

Two overweight people meet each other at a support group, and find Big Love.

David Bianculli: Horrid. Nothing but fat jokes, and even the fat jokes are anemic.

Diane Werts: Single fat folks find fun times together, as viewers get victimized by weight wackiness. Yet charismatic characters pump this pre-fab pilot's prospects.

Bill Brioux: A sweet, well-cast comedy from hot hand Chuck Lorre. The leads charm and deliver by not playing it too big, leaving that to cranked co-stars Reno Wilson, Swoozie Kurtz and Katy Mixon.

Eric Gould: Has an authentic, tender core and the actors pull it off. Some very funny jokes, and some moments of fresh tone. Two great supporting actors, plus Swoosie Kurtz.

Diane Holloway:  Not nearly enough charm to overcome all the offensive fat jokes. Boo.

Tom Brinkmoeller: This is a Chuck Lorre production, so don't watch with your grandmother, or the aunt who's a nun. Funny at times, better-than-average characters. Not a worthy Monday replacement, however, for Big Bang Theory.

Theresa Corigliano: Two terrific leads - Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy (Sookie from Gilmore Girls) - are stuck in a show from producers who should know better and write better than lame fat jokes.

Ed Martin: Fat jokes are made at the expense of two obese people in this perfectly dreadful "human" comedy. I think critics are going to bend over backwards to defend it because of the love story at its center, which has the potential to be a sweet and satisfying confection, were it not served with so many sour and tasteless sides.

Alan Pergament: Sitcom from Chuck Lorre, the creator of Two and Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, it illustrates that he has the power to get anything on the air. It's a comedy about a cop and a teacher who belong to Overeaters Anonymous. There are a lot of fat jokes in this very thin comedy.

HAWAII FIVE-0

Premiered Sept. 20

Monday at 10 ET
CBS

A reboot of the familiar Hawaiian-set cop show.

David Bianculli: They ruined the theme song, then fixed it, so at least they're trying to get this remake right. And since it wasn't that good a show to begin with, they probably will. Expect a hit -- but not necessarily a show worth watching.

Diane Werts: I don't want my Steve McGarrett haunted with backstory. I just want him bad-ass down to business. Don't think modern cutie Alex O'Laughlin can fill '60s stern Jack Lord's crook-crushing shoes.

Bill Brioux: The action-packed pilot blew up half of Hawaii and stripped Grace Park down to her undies. Aloha! Scott Caan stole the first hour from O'Loughlin, who's as stiff as Jack Lord's hair. Should help pull down CBS' median age - FIVE-0.

Eric Gould: CBS, not satisfied with puking all over the legacy of The Defenders, also sets its sights on this one, making sort of a back story of the early days of Steve McGarrett and Dan-o Williams. Except it's set in the present. And they don't like each other. And they're a two-man wrecking crew with machine guns-a-poppin'. Other than that, it's very close to the original. Fun, shoot-em-up romp, nothing else.

Diane Holloway:  Oh, please. Those of us who remember "Book 'em, Dano," don't need to hear it again, and anyone who doesn't remember the phrase doesn't need to hear it at all.

Theresa Corigliano: This is a perfect Friday popcorn show (my equivalent of a beach read). CBS stuck with Alex O'Loughlin, and this might do it for him. His chemistry with Scott Caan's Dano makes this show pop, and Hawaii has never looked better.

Ed Martin: Can a catchy theme song from 40 years ago and bountiful footage of Hawaii make a routine crime drama interesting? This is Alex O'Loughlin's third shot as a series lead. (He's much better as a supporting actor. Remember his season as a cop on The Shield and his scary good turn as a serial killer on Criminal Minds?) CBS really should have cast sizzling Grace Park as nail-tough Det. McGarrett, this being the season of the kick-ass action chick and all.

Alan Pergament: Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin plays a former Navy man who partners with Scott Caan, who's divorced and knows when his ex calls because the theme from Jaws plays on his cell phone. It is stylish -- and amusing in a 1980s sort of way.

CHASE

Premiered Sept. 20

Monday at 10 ET
NBC

Bad buys run from good guys. Bet on the good guys.

David Bianculli: Mindless action, equally mindless characters.

Diane Werts: More uber-"human" backstory, for so-purty Kelli Giddish and her too-cute Texas fed friends, in action edited so tight I could barely breathe watching them trade super-slick lines between frequent body-bashings.

Bill Brioux: Jack Bauer in heels. Every week the bad guys are going to underestimate her, and then be sorry they did. Every bloody week.

Eric Gould:  Model-pretty U.S. Marshal always gets her man. That's about it.

Diane Holloway: Jerry Bruckheimer's umpteenth action-crime saga is an empty vessel floating on a sea of similar vessels. Jerry Bruckheimer's umpteen action/crime sagas are choking prime time!

Theresa Corigliano: Kelli Giddish stars as a smart and focused U.S. marshal who does good work tracking a genuinely scary bad guy. But I'll need more substance than surface touches like cowboy boots and Texas filming.

Ed Martin: Former Calvin Klein underwear model Travis Fimmel -- a man not exactly known for his acting skills -- actually steals the pilot in a guest role as a creepy serial killer. The people viewers are supposed to follow every week all but fade away. Chase is actually centered on a tough U.S. marshal played by newcomer Kelli Giddish. Mary McCormack handles a similar gig much better on USA's far superior In Plain Sight.

Alan Pergament: Kelli Giddish is a pretty and pretty tough U.S. marshal who spouts cliches in a Jerry Bruckheimer show with a Criminal Minds feel. The bad guy is the most interesting character in the fast-moving pilot, which is never a good sign. And a water chase is pretty comical.

RAISING HOPE

Premiered Sept. 21

Tuesday at 9 ET
Fox

Comedy about trailer-trash types rearing an infant as their own. Not "Raising Arizona," but tries to be.

David Bianculli: With My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia behind this, and such actors as Garret Dillahunt, Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman in front of the camera, I expected more than this pilot provides. But in time, this baby comedy may yet deliver.

Diane Werts: This one's serious weird. (A Charles Manson reference?) Baby daddy decides to raise his accidental kid amid a white-trash clan that makes My Name Is Earl look upscale. Same creator, same twisted poignancy.

Bill Brioux: There are moments in the pilot that are laugh-out-loud funny and others that are surprisingly sweet and touching. That's enough to make it my favorite new show of the season.

Eric Gould: Could be a winner, with a Malcolm In The Middle-type family, but on the lower end of the economic spectrum, agreeing to raise an unbeknown illegitimate child of the son. The baby moments turn the family, for brief moments, into something with a heart, until they return to comic bad behavior. Do they have a heart of gold? Yes. Was that a body double for Cloris Leachman? God. Let's hope so.

Diane Holloway:  Doofus young dad determined to raise baby in the bosom of his white-trash family. Sounds awful, but this comedy from Greg Garcia is hands-down hilarious.

Tom Brinkmoeller: Like Running Wilde, this is a Fox sitcom with a pun in the title but no gas in its tank. Hope is the daughter of a woman executed for multiple murders, giving a hint to where the comedy originates in this one.

Theresa Corigliano: Very high wince factor, meaning I was laughing and wincing at the same time, and hating myself for laughing because the wincing should have won out. The sweet moments that peek through may not be enough to get viewers to stick around.

Ed Martin: This raucous white trash comedy boasts the best pilot of this unfortunate fall season, but Hope isn't necessarily a slam dunk. The laugh-a-minute script, hilarious sight gags (that tumbling baby!), and strong comedic performances (especially from the marvelous Martha Plimpton) set the bar so high that I wonder if series creator Greg Garcia can keep it up week after week. Here's hoping.

Alan Pergament: It's a dry comedy about a young pool guy, Jimmy, who ends up with an infant after a one-night stand with a serial killer who ends up in jail. Jimmy is so clueless that he throws up on the baby after seeing the kid's first bowel movement. His childish, low-class parents eventually forget their suggestion to have the baby dropped off at the fire station and are willing to help raise the kid.

RUNNING WILDE

Premiered Sept. 21

Tuesday at 9:30 ET
Fox

The creator of "Arrested Development" returns with a new TV sitcom, starring Will Arnett.

David Bianculli: Again, I expected more, this time from Mitch Hurwitz of Arrested Development. But with Keri Russell and the deadly deadpan Will Arnett as stars, I'll return to see if this one improves. And I expect it will.

Diane Werts: Imagine a bad Artsy Comedy Pilot from some Artsy Comedy Writers Studio, enacted by frantically declaiming Artsy Actors. Voila!

Bill Brioux: Talk about Arrested Expectations. First pilot an unfunny mess. Hurwitz promises sweeping changes. Our money is in the banana stand.

Eric Gould: Smart, funny comedy with Will Arnett. Very quick paced, and spot on. Points for the best character name in a while: "Emmy Kadubic." That's Keri Russell, radiant as ever. Also stars Will Arnett, perfectly bumbling and stumbling.

Diane Holloway:  Not as nutty as Arrested Development, yet Will Arnett nevertheless runs amok in humorous fashion, with Keri Russell not far behind. How can you not like a faux romantic comedy with a teenage daughter named Puddle?

Tom Brinkmoeller: "Wilde" is the surname of one of the main characters, a very shallow, very horny pack mule asked to transport this shipment of crap into prime time.

Theresa Corigliano: Will Arnett's rich narcissist is not lovable or funny. And the plot - Keri Russell as an eco-activist we are supposed to believe wants to live with this ass - is ridiculous. Didn't laugh once.

Ed Martin: Fox this fall is bringing us the funniest new comedy of the season in Raising Hope and the flattest in this shockingly humorless love story about a super-rich idiot playboy who wants to woo anew his childhood sweetheart, a strident environmentalist. They're both annoying. This could very well be the first cancelation of the 2010-11 season.

Alan Pergament: Totally dependent on whether you can tolerate Will Arnett, who plays a man so rich and clueless that he gives himself a humanitarian award. Keri Russell is the daughter of one of his father's housekeepers and a leading environmentalist. She has a daughter and believes she can change Arnett's character. I'm not wild about it, but could see it appealing to fans of Arrested Development.

DETROIT 1-8-7

Premiered Sept. 21

Tuesday at 10 ET
ABC

Michael Imperioli plays a Detroit cop in this new ensemble drama.

David Bianculli: If this title is the final score, then Detroit lost. This one's forgettable before it's even over.

Diane Werts: Homicides galore, and Homicide echoes. But Michael Imperioli is no Andre Braugher. And little in this gritty Michigan-shot procedural feels riveting.

Bill Brioux: Solid pilot, but there are already 1-8-7 cops shows.

Theresa Corigliano: Michael Imperioli wipes out Christopher Soprano the first time he appears on screen - cocky Mafioso is replaced by shop-worn cop who's got the goods. And any show with James McDaniel (NYPD Blue's Lt. Fancy) has me at the credits. (Where has he been?)

Alan Pergament: Michael Imperioli of The Sopranos plays an unknowable cop who hates people as much as he hates cell phones. He has great instincts and verbally abuses his partner. In other words, it is a routine, scripted version of Cops.

UNDERCOVERS

Premiered Sept. 22

Wednesday at 8 ET
NBC

J. J. Abrams, creator of "Alias," concocts another flashy TV spy drama.

David Bianculli: With J.J. Abrams at the helm, I'll try, try again. But in the pilot, supporting player Gerald McRaney has more fire than either of the spy-couple leads.

Diane Werts: How gorgeous can TV stars get? How much overkill can a TV show deliver? This J.J. Abrams spyfest is too cute, too quippy, too hopscotchy, too silly to even be absurd Alias fun.

Bill Brioux: Saw clips of this and thought it's Mr. and Mrs. Smith with better looking actors. Then watched the entire pilot and was bored to death. Fix it, J.J.!

Eric Gould: Forgettable: The 21st-century, African-American version of Hart to Hart. Worthwhile action scenes, though, and some funny, ironic dialogue. The lead actors are very easy on the eyes. Useful passive inactivity, if needed, while waiting for the pizza to arrive.

Theresa Corigliano: Or, as J.J. Abrams should have called this: Mission: Implausible. But then again, we shouldn't have to think too hard about escapist spy dramas. This husband-and-wife duo get out of every sticky situation without breaking a sweat and always remaining too sexy for their clothes, or lack thereof. Maybe Alias: Light?

Diane Holloway: If you're old enough to remember Hart to Hart, you will recognize this as an even more glamorous ripoff. But it's really, really boring, in spite of its beauty.

Ed Martin: Don't the people running NBC pay any attention to what's going on over at its cable cousin USA? This fall they are serving up Chase, a pale echo of USA's action drama In Plain Sight, along with Undercovers, which isn't nearly as exciting as USA's sexy spy adventure Burn Notice. Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are nice to look at and all, but not nearly as combustible as Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar. For that matter, Undercovers isn't as thoughtful or compelling as USA's Covert Affairs, either.

Alan Pergament: Love the promos about this romantic spy show from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias). The series leads -- Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw -- are gorgeous, and the plot has a Thomas Crown Affair feel. But it is almost all style and little substance.

BETTER WITH YOU

Premiered Sept. 22

Wed at 8:30 ET
ABC

Sisters support each other, much of the time, in this new sitcom.

David Bianculli: Joanna Garcia from Reba carries this sitcom without much effort -- but it's not exactly heavy lifting.

Diane Werts: I'm shocked! shocked! This artificially frantic sitcom finally settles into a groove of actually being about something: the different ways two adult sisters approach life (planning/spontaneity, etc.) as they're making big decisions (marriage/baby, etc.). There's some real "there" there.

Bill Brioux: Better with sound off.

Tom Brinkmoeller:  Slightly promising series takeoff, but easily could encounter turbulence unless the writing sparkles more soon. Worth a watch.

Theresa Corigliano: Competing sisters, one afraid of commitment, the other only too willing to commit, and their crazy scary parents. The best ingredients - good cast, many laughs.

Alan Pergament: Three couples at different stages of romance. One sister is pregnant with a dumb guy she just met. The less said, the better about this season's biggest loser.

THE WHOLE TRUTH

Premiered Sept. 22

Wed at 10 ET
ABC

Rob Morrow stars in a new courtroom series, with Maura Tierney recently added to the cast.

David Bianculli: The pilot I've seen has been partly recast, but if they keep the same script and characters, why bother?

Diane Werts: It's like a compressed SportsCenter highlight reel of a case: arraignment, prosecution planning, defense planning, court. Lots of walk and talk. Rob Morrow and pals are solid enough, but why do we need this procedural again?

Bill Brioux: Original pilot declared a mistrial after Joely Richardson re-cast. Based on that evidence, The Whole Truth seems about half as good as Law & Order. Appeal pending.

Theresa Corigliano:  Defense attorney Rob Morrow borrows from his Quiz Show persona, as he wiseguys his way through this "I look at the law from both sides now" drama. The addition of always real Maura Tierney as the prosecutor he has a history with might help.

THE DEFENDERS

Premiered Sept. 22

Wed at 10 ET
CBS

Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell play Denny Crane wannabes in this courtoom comedy-drama.

David Bianculli: Bad writing, bad legal ethics, a plot twist stolen from Hill Street Blues and a name stolen from one of TV's most revered courtroom dramas. Is there nothing good or original about this show? No.

Diane Werts: Those kooky Vegas lawyers! They're street-savvy legal eagles with a cool sense of humor who can pull on your heartstrings, too! Have we exhausted all the cliches? Their show does.

Bill Brioux: As Elvis might say, the pilot could have used a little less conversation, a little more action. Belushi and O'Connell appeal, but jury out on seen-it-before script.

Eric Gould: Moronic, stupid, horrible. Wacky antics of fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants defense lawyers, comically breakin' the roolz. Truly a monumental sullying of the original TV series title from the early 1960s, with E.G. Marshall. I call out that issue because it's all this crap show has in common with the original Defenders.

Diane Holloway: Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell as sleazy Vegas lawyers didn't impress me one bit. In fact, I found the show incredibly depressing - which is not what a comedy-drama strives to do.

Ed Martin: This lightweight legal drama wouldn't stand out during a strong season, or even a marginally good one, but all things considered it's one of the more promising new efforts this fall. In other words, the pilot is nothing special, but there is detectible comic chemistry between series leads Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi as low-end Las Vegas lawyers, and there is no shortage of human drama (some of it quite amusing) in Sin City, so this one may prove to be worth watching.

MY GENERATION

Premiered Sept. 23

Thursday at 8 ET
ABC

High schoolers from 2000 confront their futures, 10 years later.

David Bianculli: You almost have to see this to believe how dull it is. But don't bother.

Diane Werts: So shoot me. I hated the pseudo-documentary conceit and 30-ish actors playing flashback teens. But started caring anyway about the choices the characters make/made.

Bill Brioux: This must be Generation Y, as in, Y write a whole script when we can just pretend we're shooting a documentary? Works for TV comedies, not so much for drama.

Theresa Corigliano: The premise: a documentary crew catches up with high schoolers 10 years later. The myriad players are more "types" than characters, and most of their problems could have been resolved if they had only gotten out and tried to meet people they didn't take to prom.

Alan Pergament: This scripted show with a reality TV component follows around the stereotypes who graduated high school in 2000 to look at their unfulfilled lives a decade later: the punk, the wallflower, the nerd, the brain, the rock star, the rich kid, etc. It would be a good show -- if it were on the CW. I can see college kids today playing beer pong as they count the cliches. But at least everyone looks good.

S#*! MY DAD SAYS

Premiered Sept. 23

Thursday at 8:30 ET
CBS

Based on a book that was based on a Twitter account. William Shatner stars.

David Bianculli: If my dad were alive, he'd say this SITCOM was S#*! And in his absence, I'll do the same.

Even with Shat, it's still...

Diane Werts: "Why the hell would I watch this pointless crap?" And he'd be right.

Bill Brioux: Easily dismissed in 140 characters or less. Joke joke joke format like Twitter water torture. Sensors indicate S#*!e.

Eric Gould: Some great, funny lines, but not worth the wait. Would love to have seen the pitch on this: "Take this very funny book, full of obscenities, delete the obscenities, and make a TV show." Programming genius. Plus Shatner has a full brown hair weave, and he's supposed to be 72 here.

Theresa Corigliano: Shatner doesn't work. The older son and icky wife yell their lines. And the younger son who played the comedy for real and had some nice moments with Shatner has been recast. Sums up my problems with this one.

Tom Brinkmoeller: This year's standout hour-long half-hour sitcom. It drags viewers through such boring scenes and scenarios, you'll think cutting the grass looks better.

Ed Martin: There's no other way to put it: $#*! stinks. Series lead William Shatner isn't nearly as funny as he was on Boston Legal and gets no discernible comic support from his co-stars; executive producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan seem to have lost the raucous touch of their Emmy-winning wonder Will & Grace; the show itself never feels contemporary even though it was inspired by a Twitter phenomenon; and it will only drag down the new comedy beachhead CBS wants to establish on Thursdays with the relocation The Big Bang Theory. CBS ought to flush it right now.

Alan Pergament: The laugh track is annoyingly loud in this laugh-less comedy in which William Shatner plays an annoying, politically-incorrect father. In the pilot's first 10 minutes, there are urination jokes and one joke about a "broken vagina." This show is a piece of $#*!.

OUTSOURCED

Premiered Sept. 23

Thursday at 9:30 ET
NBC

NBC's new Thursday comedy addition: A mail-order novelty company outsourced to India.

David Bianculli: It's NBC's The Office, sort of, outsourced to India -- and its premise, about a novelty-store business with a foreign phone-order base, has some promise. I  worry, though, that NBC will find a way to overload it with product placement.

Diane Werts: Are foreign accents supposed to be funny in themselves? Is India really so "alien" to smart Americans? And how in the age of MTV is American pop culture so baffling to the urban locals? Despite redeeming warmth under the wacky, the mix feels off.

Bill Brioux: Screened this with my 17-year-old son. Is this offensive or hilarious, I asked him. "Dad," he said, "it's hilarious because it's offensive."

Eric Gould: Ensemble comedy set in an Indian call center selling American novelties, like breasts on a plaque. Comic moments when Indians don't get American culture, like breasts on a plaque.

Tom Brinkmoeller: If there was a single funny moment in this half hour, it hid itself wonderfully. Stupidity, however, was very visible.

Theresa Corigliano: NBC might think this show is not racist because, the network says, it makes fun of white people and Indians equally. I honestly don't know what to think - it made me uncomfortable because no matter how the creative team justifies the humor, we're being asked to laugh at the workers, not with them.

Ed Martin: Many critics seem to despise this comedy about a young manager at an American novelty company who is sent to India to oversee its call center. But at least this series is in touch with the times, unlike many others that seem completely out of sync with economic realities. The cast is highly appealing, especially unknown lead Ben Rappaport, and much of the humor dares to be politically incorrect.

Alan Pergament: This show is an equal opportunity offender -- it takes shots at life in India and the United States. Pilot is offensive and amusing. But how long can writers do jokes about the gastric joys of Indian food, fake vomit and other tasteless things?

BLUE BLOODS

Premiered Sept. 24

Friday at 10 ET
CBS

Tom Selleck returns to series TV. All else is subtext.

David Bianculli: This, too, is being reworked a little. Give credit to CBS for trying to improve quickly -- and for finding room for the likes of Tom Selleck and Len Cariou.

Diane Werts: This NYC cop-family saga went to the all-you-can-eat drama buffet and piled its plate too high with "issues." I need Pepto. (The family name is Reagan? Really??)

Bill Brioux: Producer saw this "as sort of a curative after Sopranos to find out what a hero is today." Selleck is down with that, and we'll see it explored as much around a dinner table as a squad room.

Eric Gould: Run-of-the-mill police drama. Also trying to be a family drama about a multi-generational police family. Guess whether the eldest cops are crotchety to each other. Forgettable, formulaic.

Diane Holloway:  Dark and moody with a gritty sense of place, this multi-generational cop drama starring Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg left me eager for more - but wondering how it will fare on Friday nights.

Theresa Corigliano: Good actors like Tom Selleck deserve richer material. I love me my cop shows - but the writing here is the problem. Seen it, heard it all before, and better - yet I hold out hope as CBS tweaks away to make it work.

Ed Martin: CBS' best new show boasts one of the stronger casts of any new series this fall (Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Will Estes, Bobby Cannavale, Len Cariou, Bridget Moynahan), though it could use another exciting actress or two. That said Bloods -- about a multi-generational family of New York City cops -- has the potential to develop into an unashamedly adult drama just like the network's sterling showpiece The Good Wife. If it flounders on Fridays at 10 p.m. the network must find it a new home, and fast.

Alan Pergament: Beautifully-shot series about three generations of cops who share family meals together but don't share all the family secrets. This is New York cops as heroes, though Donnie Wahlberg's character has a little Andy Sipowicz in him. It is far from David Milch's NYPD Blue, but a twist near the end of the pilot takes it out of the totally routine category.

NO ORDINARY FAMILY

Premiered Sept. 28

Tuesday at 8 ET
ABC

Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz play parents who, like their offspring, become suddenly endowed with superpowers.

David Bianculli: I love these actors -- Michael Chiklis, Julie Benz, and supporting player Stephen Collins -- and wanted to love this series. But the drawn-out, unimaginative pilot makes it awfully difficult to care -- or hope.

Diane Werts: Family-friendly action, a la Greatest American Hero. Workaholic mom, mopey dad and disaffected kids suddenly acquire superpowers that change their lives. Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz hint at depths to come.

Bill Brioux: The Powells can stop bullets, leap tall buildings and figure out math problems, but can they outrun lawyers from The Incredibles? No matter. This live action cartoon clone is more fun than Heroes and is super just by being different - no ordinary feat this season.

Ed Martin: While I'm generally not reviewing ABC's new shows before they air on TV (the network's streaming-video press site does them no favors), I saw this one on a big screen at Comic-Con. Sadly, it didn't impress me much there, either, mainly because the pilot gave no idea what this show is supposed to be. One problem: The Powell family is far from ordinary even before they gain their amazing powers (mom's a highly successful scientist, etc.). A jump start near the end of the pilot introduces a they-are-not-alone mythology, moving an already unformed concept close to Heroes territory -- and we all know how that played out. I'll stick with it for a while, but Family will have to become extraordinary if it's going to survive.

Alan Pergament: Sweet family show in which Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz play a husband and wife whose marriage seems a little shaky before they get superpowers with their children after a plane crash. Probably would have worked better as a Disney movie.

LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES

Premiered Sept. 29

Wednesday at 10 ET
NBC

Skeet Ulrich stars in the latest variation on the ubiquitous Dick Wolf theme.

David Bianculli: Critic-proof programming, no matter how it represents the brand.

Diane Werts: Sorry, already had enough L&O to last five lifetimes. Pass.

Bill Brioux: Terrific cast, proven brand. Could run 20 years.