PSYCHE (Tues Jan 29 , Ten – 9:30pm)
Fairly amusing little comedy-action series about Shawn Spencer (James Roday), a gofer and lackey for the LA Police Department whose finely honed observational skills give him a Holmesian, if unrecognized, gift for solving crimes. Unfortunately, he solves a crime aloud when he’s fetching coffee at a grisly crime scene, and the Police mistake his detecting for extra-sensory perception and employ him as their official Police Psychic. He and his reluctant best friend Gus (Dule Hill) must pretend to receive psychic information each week or they’ll be charged with fraud and have to trade in their crystal ball for an iron one with attached leg chain. Roday is sweet and geekishly cute, and the show is quite funny. I give it a Medium.
THE STARTER WIFE (Wed January 30 , Ten – 8:30pm)
Though semi-pioneering queer sitcom WILL & GRACE (only semi because it was groundbreaking yet remained mostly sexless and stereotypical, having its beefcake and eating out, too) has gone to the great closet in the sky, it’s nice to see its lead actors still getting work. Still very pretty and still very funny, Debra Messing (Grace) pops up in this mini-series (and soon to be series) in the lead role as a powerful network executive’s trophy wife who, after he dumps her for someone half her age and a quarter her IQ, ironically starts amassing some power of her own. Joe Montegna, Judi Davis, Miranda Otto and Jerome Ehlers co-star, and the presence of so many Aussie actors should clue you in as to where the series was filmed, despite it being set in Malibu. Ahh Australia – the Starter Hollywood!
