Monday, March 10, 2008

Laying Down The 'Law'

Juliana Margulies marks her return to TV tonight as the lead in "Canterbury's Law." (Fox, 8 p.m.)

The series is being done by Denis Leary and Jim Serpico of "Rescue Me" fame, and not surprisingly, "Law" focuses on a self-destructive anti-heroine who often travels into legal gray areas to free her clients.

Fox disappointed me again by not sending me a DVD screener, so I can't tell you if it is any good or not, but Margulies is always a reliable actress, and with the "Rescue Me" guys behind it, the show is definitely worth checking out.

The series also fits in to Fox's strategy of backloading everything into the second half of the TV year for overall ratings success. While the other networks, for the most part, have struggled during the strike months and post-strike last few weeks, Fox has been able to launch "American Idol," "New Amsterdam" and "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles" to keep things fresh. "Canterbury's Law" got delayed in the fall when Margulies became pregnant, but with the strike, it turned out to be serendipitous.

MONDAY'S BEST BETS: "Canterbury's Law" will be followed by "New Amsterdam" (Fox, 9 p.m.) as it settles into its regular timeslot. This show has turned out to be a bit better than expected, so do check it out.

If you decide to go against my advice, there's always "The Bachelor: Where Are They Now?" (ABC, 8 p.m.), which traces what has happened to previous contestants. Here's a hint - almost none of the couples have stayed together. It's followed by a doubleshot of "October Road."

Speaking of doubles, CBS gives us a double helping of "Old Christine" at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Anything that gives us more Julia Louis-Dreyfus and less "Welcome To The Captain" is a good trend.

NBC has a new "Medium" at 10 p.m. On cable, both "Kyle XY" and "Wildfire" are new on ABC Family, beginning at 8 p.m.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Despite the Denis Leary attachment, I didn't have a ton of interest in "Canterbury" so I skipped it.

I have only seen the pilot of "Amsterdam" and still have 2 episodes (including last night's) sitting on my DVR and it was solid, but I am witholding judgement for now. It's interesting but has flaws.

I really have no interest in the NY City cop/procedural stuff. (dull and duller). That's like watching some boring "CSI" show. What I want is more of the history of this guy and the flashbacks and the supernatural stuff.