WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR

[6.52 - French Time] First week of the US network new Fall season, Day 3.

The Hollywood television industry and TV pundits are already doing a post-mortem on Fox's Lone Star after its season premiere's counter-performance on monday, following House. Well, maybe the fact that this kind of shows died with Dallas and Dynasty in the nineties and the fact that the main character is a bigamist con man who cheats hard-working ordinary people didn't help. Gregory House is the quintessence of flaw but at least he saves lives.

Yesterday Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) was a cop in Detroit 1-8-7 on ABC. Imperioli was the only watchable element in Life on Mars US, too bad he wasn't cast as Gene Hunt. His temporary stint in Law and Order as a Detective was brilliant and small screen is not big enough for his talent. Besides that and judging from the trailers, Detroit 1-8-7 looks like another average cop show. Because CBS can't have them all.

But tonight the event is on NBC (pun intended) with Undercovers, co-exec produced by J.J. Abrams - who directs the pilot. Former spies Steven and Samantha Bloom (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) return to active duty in order to rekindle their relationship. After Chuck another spy comedy for NBC, in the mold of True Lies or Mr & Mrs Smith.

There's a True Lies TV series project, a 2010 version of Nikita on the CW and ABC wants a remake of Brit hit Spooks (MI-5 in the US). But spy-fi is an expensive genre, ask the producers of Spooks. And past mandatory lavish pilots you can't make your leads chase terrorists on a backlot forever. However if Nikita and Undercovers bomb that will spare us a reboot of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell star in The Defenders, tonight on CBS, as "two colorful Las Vegas defense attorneys who go all-in when it comes to representing their clients". The title sounds sixties and the concept sounds eighties but at least, unlike CSI, NCIS or Criminal Minds, it's neither a cop show nor a franchise. The duo Belushi/O'Connell looks interesting, now it depends on how this comedy-drama is written. And your humble servant misses Las Vegas (2003-2008).

http://www.deadline.com/2010/09/analysis-the-demise-of-lone-star-and-the-longevity-of-veterans-dancing-men/
http://www.deadline.com/2010/09/fyi-fall-tv-premiere-dates/
http://www.deadline.com/2010/09/abc-lands-james-camerons-true-lies/