BENCHED:  Tuesday 10:30PM on USA – If Nothing Else Is On… BENCHED, USA Network’s latest attempt to broaden its repertoire beyond its core of light-hearted procedurals, doesn’t have much of a pilot, but there’s some potential for growth.  The pilot, written by series co-creators Michaela Watkins (better known as an actress–she was the dippy […]

  JANE THE VIRGIN:  Monday 9PM on CW – If Nothing Else Is On… PLAYERS:  Ugly Betty, plus the whole notion of basing US TV shows on Spanish-language series (Red Band Society and The Mysteries of Laura are two more this season), and especially Executive Producer Ben Silverman, who’s was one of those behind Betty […]

  THE AFFAIR:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime – DVR Alert Sundays already have too much television to watch, and Showtime isn’t making life any easier with its excellent new THE AFFAIR.  Although paired on the night with Homeland, it’s of a piece with the network’s Masters of Sex, another compelling exploration of the boundless mysteries […]

  MULANEY:  Sunday 9:30PM on FOX – Change the Channel MULANEY arrives with a fair amount of goodwill.  It’s a multicamera sitcom modeled after Seinfeld, and produced by Lorne Michaels.  Its creator/star, John Mulaney, is one of the relatively few SNL writers to have achieved some measure of fame for himself, mostly thanks to his […]

  SURVIVOR’S REMORSE:  Saturday 9PM on Starz Because Starz only airs one scripted show at a given time, its identity tends to shift with whatever that series happens to be.  Recently it’s been fluctuating in an almost schizophrenic way between contemporary big-city stories and costume dramas:  from Boss to DaVinci’s Demons, from Power to Black Sails, and now […]

  HAPPYLAND:  Tuesday 11PM on MTV – Worth A Look After years spent as far away from scripted series as it could get, MTV has been accumulating a tidy set of programming lately that caters to its target demo without pandering to it, including Teen Wolf and Finding Carter on the drama side, along with […]

  HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Potential DVR Alert PLAYERS:  Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes–and you can repeat that name several more times without overstating her importance.  The actual series creator, Peter Nowalk (a Scandal/Grey’s Anatomy alumnus).  A cast headed by the estimable Viola Davis, and with an assortment of […]

  BLACK-ISH:  Wednesday 9:30PM on ABC – Worth A Look   PLAYERS:  Star and Executive Producer Anthony Anderson, and recurring guest star/EP Laurence Fishburne.  (And Executive Producer Larry Wilmore, although he’s leaving the show to take over the Stephen Colbert slot on Comedy Central.)  Series creator Kenya Barris.  Pilot director James Griffiths.  A supporting cast headed […]