Over the last few years USA Network has launched some of the best shows on cable, if not TV in general, culminating with last year’s successful introduction of Burn Notice and the continued success of the Emmy-winning Monk and ever watchable Psych, and now they introduce us to a new character, Mary Shannon in In Plain Sight, a show with a touch of flair, but still needing to find a unique voice.

The series stars Mary McCormack (1408) as your standard tough, strong female lead who does things her own way, like following a guy into a men’s restroom for questioning, then making fun of his penis size and driving away in a Ford POS. The problem with the whole character is you’ve seen this before, you’ve seen this show before, and while CBS is channeling Psych in the upcoming The Mentalist, USA seems to be channeling years of procedurals for Sight.

That isn’t to say there isn’t a lot to like here, the show is presented as a dramedy with Shannon participating in a healthy dose of self-depreciating humor, and some well timed wit to keep things fresh, and while it’s a good idea to balance time between Mary’s life as a US Marshal working in the Witness Protection Program and her home life with a spaced-out mom and vengeful sister, the pilot episode doesn’t set this up as well as it could, focusing too much on the family and not enough on the case at hand.

Granted this is a pilot, and pilot’s usually rush through everything to show you what the show will be like for the next 13 or 22 episodes, but each aspect of the show comes up a bit shallow when both tried to cram into 65 minutes.

Notable aspects of the pilot include some great interrogation scenes with a suspect pointing out what ever guy was thinking, “wow cleavage,” and, as mentioned earlier, some great writing in parts, but overall the script is a bit lazy, resting on the laurels of the genre rather than trying something new (if there’s anything left new out there).

Seeds of the season have been planted with Mary’s sister, Brandi (Nichole Hiltz), stowing what looks to be a couple million dollars worth of nose candy in her suitcase, and an on-again, off-again, its-complicated love affair with Rafael (Cristián de la Fuente), but we’ll have to see how those play out over the next couple of episodes and see if the show can click into something we haven’t seen before.

While the pilot may not be a solid indication of where the show will eventually lead this season, it does set up the two contrasting worlds of Mary Shannon’s life we’ll be exploring, and while we’ve been here before, the parts of the show that come together well make a returned visit an almost certainty.

The History Channel has sure branched out in the last couple of years making a name for itself in original programming series apart from the usual specials. After the success of last year’s real life series, Ice Road Truckers, the channel now offers up another treacherous location and job occupation, the job of an Ax Man, or as they hate to be called, lumberjacks.

The series, Ax Men, a playful title on the Marvel mutant series, focuses, at least initially, on four separate crews in the Pacific Northwest each aiming to meet quotas and stay in business for another year. The premise is eerily similar to the aforementioned Truckers in which it’s a race against time and weather to make money and survive in a harsh climate. It’s not to say the series isn’t original, but it fits in nearly the exact same mold, only with trees replacing trucks.

The life on an ax man isn’t a pleasant one as they constantly fight with the elements, and the fear that today could be their last. As one of the crew relays, a normal person would think this was the stupidest job in the world, and after watching the pilot, you almost have to agree with them. In the course of 42 minutes a helicopter carrying a cable gets stuck to a tree, a modified tank, now a logging instrument, gets stuck in a ditch, trees go tumbling down a mountain, cables break, and lots of surly old men call each other unpleasant names.

The program is an interesting experience, the focusing on four different crews in different locations; each with a unique way of approaching the job broadens the program and helps it from becoming a one trick pony about guys chopping down trees day after day.

The editing of the program leaves a little to be desired as “drama” on the teams is highlighted in a bit of an over the top fashion, including minor injuries and a tank getting stuck in a ditch, but this is an entertainment program, after all, and there has to be something to offer conflict when the namesake element of your series is a Douglass Fur. A rather annoying bit is when the program switches between crews it makes it a point to always say how many miles away from the last crew, and does an overblown, and overly dramatic zoom in of the crew with its name splashed on the bottom of the screen rather than just a standard scene transition and a line of narration that simply states what we are looking at. Hopefully the producers of the series realize this and cut back the technique in future episodes.

Ice Road Truckers was a huge success and there’s nothing to say that Ax Men, premiering March 9 at 10/9C, isn’t destined to follow in the footsteps. There’s a larger amount of “characters” to follow here so the more intimate time with the truckers may be lost on the loggers, but it isn’t a huge loss considering the centerpiece of the show is the life and limb danger and rugged manliness of the great outdoors (even the press kit was pine scented). Ax Men isn’t a huge leap forward, but it once again focuses in an untold industry that has been largely unaffected by huge technological leaps in recent years and still does business the old-fashioned hard way, which does make for some interesting TV viewing.

CMT’s newest reality series, Gone Country, has an interesting premise: take a group of singers and performers who wouldn’t otherwise be considered a country artist, throw them in a house together, and have them compete for a nearly guaranteed country-radio hit. To spice things up, these hapless humans will learn what it is to be country; from shoveling manure to riding ATVs, the unlikely hodge-podge of 80’s burnouts and D-list reality staples certainly tries its best to entertain.

The problem is, as with most reality shows, the manufactured situations and conflicts seem so transparent now after a show like this has been done so many times. With successful shows like Big Brother and The Surreal Life, both on corporate cousins of MTV Networks-owned CMT, it just becomes harder and harder to look at shows like this without wondering if it really is reality.

The show is hosted by John Rich, from the group Big & Rich, who tries to keep this motley crew focused on the contest at hand, the prize being the chance to be the next country superstar. As the pilot episode opens, a tour bus gathers up the contestants in different parts of Nashville and we’re treated to the reactions of each as new members are gobbled up. Contestants include Julio Iglesias Jr., Carnie Wilson (the big girl from Wilson Phillips), Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider (who seems to be in every reality show on TV now), American Idol runner-up Diana DeGarmo, Marcia Brady herself Maureen McCormick (who appears to be on her last bit of sanity), “Thong Song” writer/performer Sisqo, and the original bad boy himself, Bobby Brown.

It’s definitely a different, and eclectic, mix of characters who seems to meld well together, even when the producers attempt to show that there’s some conflict between them. Watching the train wreck of emotions that is McCormick is nearly unbearable at times as she begins to cry and whine about nearly everything (she acts more like Jan than Marcia, Marcia, Marcia). Snider comes off as his usual hard-assed self, but after seeing this character on everything from I Love the 80’s and beyond, I think the world is over its fascination with the cross-dressing front man. Brown, who you would think would come out swinging knowing his past, plays it relatively cool, almost to the point of disappointment. You’re just hoping Whitney pops up so he has someone to go to town on and liven things up a little bit.

The pilot episode does a good job of setting up how the contest will work and introducing us to the players. I just wish producers wouldn’t try so hard, even during the “Coming Up” commercial bumpers, to force conflict in the off chance you might turn away to another channel for a few minutes. A competition like this doesn’t need the added emotional baggage some of the characters seem poised to bring to the small screen, and after nearly two decades of Real World, it’s really time for us to give up our voyeuristic tendencies and focus on what really is at stake, winning the contest.

SciFi’s new Flash Gordon series takes a few pages from the highly successful relaunch of Battlestar Galactica and modernizes a classic series bringing in a new generation, but still able to bring in those nostalgic enough to give the series another look.

Starting as a comic before branching out into serials, movies, and subsequent TV relaunches, Flash Gordon has stood the test of time even while in the controversial eye because of its supposedly depiction of Asians, but none of that really relates to the re-imagined series which strives to put its best foot forward combining the cheesy effects and acting that we’ve come to expect from the serials of yesterday with the stories of today.

The 90 minute pilot introduces newcomers (and old fans alike) to the new Flash Gordon (Eric Johnson) and his sidekicks reporter Dale Arden (Gina Holden) and Dr. Zarkov (Jody Racicot) as well as introducing us to the not-so-merciless Ming (John Ralston) who is now more of a savvy businessman than dictator. He’s heartless all the same, but he doesn’t have the imposing image he did in some of the earlier visions of the series (and he’s not wearing spandex either).

The series plays out in a mix between comedy and drama never taking itself too seriously but never going for a punchline as well. There’s a fine line to be walked here, Firefly did it wonderfully while others have come up too much on the comedy side. It remains to be seen where Flash Gordon will end up in the delicate mix, and for that only time will tell. There’s an overarching storyline to find Flash’s father, who may, or may not be, alive somewhere on Mongo after being transported there thirteen years ago. Still the series will take on a story-of-the-week premise to move things along.

One of the strong points is capturing the atmosphere and lightheartedness of a serial in the form of a one hour series. What is bothersome though is the writing, particularly in the pilot, the dialog is almost cringe inducing at times and while it is suppose to move along at a brisk pace, simply writing off the fact that aliens now exist and I’ve been to another planet into next to nothing seems wholly unrealistic. How many people today are going to accept that fact so easily?

Even besides that fact, most of the character interaction is hokey, almost as if they aren’t talking like real people (maybe they’re the aliens). In the reviewable copy sent to the press not all of the effects were completed so only one can imagine if their cheesy nature falls in line with what we’d expect.

If you can sit through some poorly written parts, Flash Gordon is a fun way to spend a Friday night at home. Hopefully following episodes will be able to gel the characters better together and not sound like their lines were written by a ninth grade screenwriting class.

Flash Gordon premieres Friday, August 10 on the SciFi Channel with a 90 minute premiere. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Damages’ writers Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, and Daniel Zelman put together one of the year’s most sharply written, well acted, and generally engrossing drama series that hides under the veil of being a litigation-like series instead borrowing heavily from series like Prison Break with a lightning fast story that throws enough twists and turns at the viewer to make them think twice, trust no one, and question everything. It’s almost as if The X-Files were reincarnated into Law & Order.

The overall story arch of the season concerns an Enron-like white collar business man, Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) having his employees invest heavily the company before the bottom drops out, with him selling all his shares prior. The employees of the company hire Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) to represent them, and along with new associate Ellen Parsons (Rose Bynre) things start off clean and smooth and eventually flip you so upside down by the end of the first hour you’re clamoring for more.

The show is actually told in flashback; with the present day events the big mystery of the show as Ellen appears in a police station bloodied and not talking (this is all provided in the on-air promos, so no spoiler warnings here). Still, there’s so much to the series, and its serialized nature that the viewer will be coming back week after week for extra servings.

While the story is the aspect of the pilot that may get the most attention, the acting is top-notch as well, providing a memorable canvas to bring the written word to the screen. Glenn Close brings her A-game once again to the small screen after her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Captain Monica Rawlings on fellow FX series The Shield in 2005.

Rounding out the top billed cast is a sliver-haired Ted Danson who has come a long way from Three Men and a Baby. Danson really sinks into the roll of the corrupt business man doing what ever it takes to avoid a trial and huge settlement with Frobisher and his lawyer Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) in a game of words and actions with Hewes, with the viewer left guessing who has the upper hand at any given time.

The rest of the line-up in no way plays second fiddle to Close’s Hewes, but it’s so hard to escape from the shadow of the character. Rose Bynre, late of theatrical 28 Weeks Later, shows that she has the cockles to stand up to Hewes by turning down her initial interview, only to have Hewes show up, at a wedding she wasn’t invited to, with a glass of bourbon and a purpose.

The series itself is deadly serious, but there are times of laugh out loud bickering between characters, one happens early in the pilot on the courthouse steps, that certainly shows aspects of Hewes’ character. She can go from happy-go-lucky to firing an employee back to asking if you like sushi in ten seconds flat, and that makes her a character to watch, because her unpredictability makes her more than some cliché “strong-woman-bitch” character you see spread around the industry. She has everyone in the palm of her hand, and a plan for everything that she does.

Damages is easily one of, if not the best drama premiere this year, cable or otherwise. Even after only seeing the pilot the potential of the series and its intricate network of characters and their interaction leaves the door wide open for more than a few twists and viewers guessing which way is up.

Firstly, AMC must be commended for importing Hustle, a scripted drama, and not re-imagining it for the American audience, or turning it into some kind of weird reality show. As we have seen over the past few years, British imports are hit or miss when they are redone for the U.S. The Office is a prime example of a show that successfully made the transition whereas bombs like Coupling merely showcase NBC scrapping the bottom of the barrel in an effort to create the next Friends.

Besides the commendation for leaving well enough alone, AMC should be rewarded for introducing this vastly entertaining series to American audiences. Mixed with two parts Ocean’s 11 and one part Snatch, Hustle is a fun series to watch as it manages to keep you guessing, even though you might know what is going on. The unmistakable British flavor to the series keeps it fresh and should draw in viewers of the aforementioned Guy Ritchie’s work. One has to wonder why it took nearly two years for the series to make its debut in the United States.

Hustle stars Adrian Lester as Mickey ‘Bricks’ Stone who completes a two year stint in prison for a crime unrelated to the grifting he does for a living. In the debut episode airing January 14, 2006 at 10PM on AMC, Mickey manages to round up his crew composed of Albert Stroller (Robert Vaughn), Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister), Stacie Monroe (Jaime Murray), and newcomer Danny Blue (Marc Warren), and entice them into one more “long con.”

The series has enough style to boot with playful editing and careful cuts as to not give too much away, but also keep the viewer entertained and watching, even though the premiere’s story is a bit on the shallow end as far as character development goes. One can only hope they focus on some of the characters in upcoming episodes, possibly giving us some story as to where they came from, and why they do what they do.

Complete with a twist ending that you may or may not see coming as the episode winds down, Hustle doesn’t disappoint providing an appealing 52 minutes of planning, execution, and a few laughs along the way.

Will watching a group of grifters and con artists be entertaining for an entire season without becoming stale? It’s impossible to say at this point, all I know is, after screening the episode running tonight on AMC, the series has been added to my DVR of choice.

Hustle premieres tonight (January 14, 2006) on AMC; check your local listings for starting time. The episode will also be rebroadcast January 20, 2006 for those who miss it tonight. Don’t forget to help yourself to some Hustle swag by entering our contest currently running on Entertainmentopia.

Need more info on tonight’s premiere? Download an exclusive trailer for your iPod Video and iTunes.