Pilot Roundup, Week 2

The first full week of the new fall season offered plenty of new shows to consider. They weren't all winners. I saw 13 new shows (all of which are chronicled below), and found only one I really liked ("The New Girl," pictured above). There are a few that were good and some that were, in a word, ghastly. By the way, ghastly is my new word of the month for shockingly bad sports and entertainment moments.

Here are the capsule reviews and letter grades for the new pilots. It is broken down by day and time.

Monday nights:

2 Broke Girls, 8:30 p.m. on CBS

Synopsis: This is the big new comedy on CBS. It wasn't terrible, and it had a couple mildly amusing moments, but it didn't sustain that. To be honest, sitcoms aren't my favorite, so it takes a bit to get me hooked on a sitcom. I like Kat Dennings, but that was about the only thing I liked in this show. Not sure it's a great concept. It has a plumb time slot — tucked between "How I Met Your Mother" and "Two and a Half Men," so it will get decent ratings for a while, but I don't see this one lasting unless it picks up a bit.

Grade: C+

The Playboy Club, 10 p.m. on NBC

Synopsis: This show drew incredible flak before it even aired. Several affiliates in conservative markets — like Salt Lake City, Utah — dropped this show due to it's "racy" content. So I was expecting something offensive, and I got it. But it wasn't the content that was offensive — I think cheerleading shots during football games are more "racy" than this show — but rather the acting, story, and fact they thought anyone would be entertained by this. It was predictable, terrible, and really poorly executed. Just a complete miss. Hard to imagine it will get better or make it through 13 episodes.

Grade: D-

Tuesday Nights:

New Girl, 9 p.m. on FOX

Synopsis: Zooey Deschanel is an incredible talent. She is funny and quirky and can make a lot of different characters work. Consider, in "500 Days of Summer" her character should have been completely unlikeable, yet she made it work. In theory, "New Girl" seems like a weird idea. But with Deschanel as an anchor and a great cast of characters around her, it worked well. The jokes were good, the timing was excellent, and the characters felt more organic than the typical sitcom. In short, the first half hour sold me. It was good enough I watched it a couple times. I do have some questions going forward — especially considering that, due to other commitments, there will be a cast change between the pilot and episode two — but I think this could be the best of the new shows in 2011.

Grade: A-

Unforgettable, 10 p.m. on CBS

Synopsis: This is a typical procedural model from the king of procedural dramas, CBS. It features Poppy Montgomery ("Without A Trace") in the lead role and an somewhat interesting hook — she has a medical condition that prevents her from being able to forget anything she's seen. That could be an interesting premise — and the show set up a season/series long mystery in the pilot — but that's about all the positive I can say about the show. It was super predictable and the performances and characters weren't captivating. This looks like a pretty by-the-numbers set up.

Grade: C

Wednesday Nights:

Up All Night, 8 p.m. on NBC

Synopsis: This is the second episode of the show, and it didn't step up a lot from the pilot. The show still has a talented cast and some mildly entertaining moments, but it certainly isn't must watch TV. If there was nothing else on and I wanted to kill 30 minutes, I might watch it. If you're a fan of the leads — Christian Applegate, Will Arnett, and Maya Rudolph — then you'll probably enjoy the show. If you're a new parent, you might enjoy the content of the show. But if you're looking for something great, this just isn't it.

Pilot Grade: C

Second Episode: C+

Free Agents, 8:30 p.m. on NBC

Synopsis: I really, really disliked the pilot for this show. That being said, the second episode was mildly better. I still really don't like this show, which seems endemic of NBC's fall schedule. Thanks to "The Playboy Club" this probably isn't the network's worst show, but it's far from good. There is really no reason to watch this show on a weekly basis.

Pilot Grade: D

Second Episode: D+

Revenge, 10 p.m. on ABC

Synopsis: A prime-time serial soap opera, I didn't know what to expect from "Revenge." The show has a decent cast — led by Madeline Stowe, Henry Czerny, and Emily Vancamp — and a somewhat interesting premise. I don't know how sustainable it will be. The executive producer promises all the questions posed in the pilot will be answered in the first 13 episodes, which might be the life-expectancy of this show. Hard to tell. This is the kind of show you have to evaluate as it develops. I liked the pilot and the execution, and I could see it being somewhat fascinating during the initial run.

Grade: B

Thursday Nights:

Charlie's Angels, 8 p.m. on ABC

Synopsis: Should this show have been re-made? No. But you could say that about "Hawaii 5-0" too. The difference is that with "Hawaii 5-0" the producers brought something new to the table that made the new version stand out. That just isn't the case with "Charlie's Angels." It's just pretty people, in pretty locations, solving pretty average cases. It's not compelling, it's not engrossing, and it's not well acted. This show might have been expensive to make, but it's tedious to watch.

Grade: D

Person of Interest, 9 p.m. on CBS

Synopsis: I wrote about this pilot at length on Saturday, so if you want more information about that check out Saturday's post. I won't re-hash a lot of the points here, but I will say I hoped for better. I think the show still has potential, and I want to see how it continues to grow, but I wasn't blown away by the pilot.

Grade: B-

Whitney, 9:30 p.m. on NBC

Synopsis: This, shockingly, might be the best new comedy on NBC. That's not saying a lot for "Whitney," but it's saying a lot about the comedies developed by NBC. Whitney Cummings, the creator, writer, and star of this show, is somewhat talented, and there are moments in this pilot that work well. But it's a bit uneven, somewhat predictable, and lacks a little dramatic pop. This show is OK, but it's not of the same quality of "The Office," which precedes it, or "30 Rock," which is waiting for mid-season so "Whitney" could launch.

Grade: C+

Prime Suspect, 10 p.m. on NBC

Synopsis: This show shares the same name as a famous British series starring Helen Mirren. It isn't that show, but it's not too bad. Star Maria Bello does a nice job creating a character here and I see potential for an interesting crime drama. This show has, perhaps, the worst marketing campaign of any of the new shows in terms of being accurate about what kind of character Bello plays, but I was pleasantly surprised by the pilot. Those looking for a re-make of the British series won't get that, but this is probably the best of NBC's new shows.

Grade: B

Friday Nights:

A Gifted Man, 8 p.m. on CBS

Synopsis: This is a weird concept and it's hard to tell how it will develop. Patrick Wilson does a nice job in the lead role, and this is the kind of story that can be fun to watch. It essentially follows a talented doctor who begins to realize there is more to life than work, and much more to being a good human being than excellence at one's chosen profession. I liked the pilot more than I expected, but I am not sure the concept is sustainable for the long haul. (He sees his dead ex-wife who guides him to charitable deeds). We'll have to see how it plays out.

Grade: B

Sunday Nights:

Pan Am, 10 p.m. on ABC

Synopsis: Ugh... another drama set in the 1960s. I am not a "Mad Men" fan, so seeing a bunch of shows trying to trade on that setting isn't appealing to me. This show is, however, 1,000 times better than "The Playboy Club." That doesn't mean it's great. There is some potential, I suppose, for this to be a fun weekly series. However, I didn't really feel attached to any of the characters or any of the story lines in the pilot. Hard to see that changing in the future. If you're into the 1960s nostalgia or looking for a prime time soap on Sunday nights, this could be the show for you.

Grade: B-