Premiere Week Ratings, Sep. 26, 2010

Raising Hope - FOX

One Man and a Baby.

Raising Hope is strange enough that it almost works. Early 20-something Jimmy quits his job as pool boy, comes home to make a life plan, then is contacted by a one night stand from a few months previous.

Did I mention that the one nighter is pregnant and on death row for murdering her boyfriends? So all of a sudden Jimmy is the full-time father of his baby daughter, Princess Beyonce. His parents recommend dropping her off at the fire station, but Jimmy has nothing else to do anyway so why not care for a baby... even though he has no clue how.

Hope does bring a few laughs, most notably when Jimmy throws up on the baby while changing his first stinky diaper.

It's not Three Men and a Baby, but it is a cute show worth a few laughs. Enough to keep it around for a season? Count on it dropping half of lead-in Glee's audience.

Can FOX do anything funny without animation?

Running Wilde - FOX

Dumb & Richer.

Super wealthy Steve Wilde (Will Arnett) has no friends, but is in love with himself. He's giving himself a humanitarian award and trying to keep up with the Jones' complete with a mini horse. The show is running at a double digit IQ before the 'plot' even develops.

Suddenly Wilde's old love, played by Keri Russell, shows up and they are reunited... well sort of. They are two different people from extremely different worlds. She's going to make him a better man, unless he can make her a worse woman first.

How can I explain how lame Running Wilde is? The storyline features a young girl (who can't/won't speak) as narrator, an Amazon tribe in the mansion swimming pool, a mini horse in a limo, and a beautiful mother and daughter living in a tree house.

The only saving grace to Running Wilde is Keri Russell. In spite of her role as eye candy, Wilde will be a ratings flop from day one. It's only hope is that Glee's teen audience will sit through lead-in Raising Hope, then enjoy the immature humor fitting their age.

A disaster for FOX.

Lone Star - FOX

Can a tiger change his stripes?

Set in Texas, Lone Star is about an oil and gas investment salesman who is actually a con-man. There are no real oil wells, but there are real marriages and real love. Or are they real?

Bob has grown up a con-man, taught by his proud father. He has two lives, complete with wives and in-laws. No wait, he has three wives. Wait, is he proposing to a fourth? Talk about the ultimate ponzi scheme... even more so in love than money!

Now that he is maturing and feeling true love he's looking for something real for the first time in his life. Is he growing a conscience too?

Star isn't a bad show, but it also isn't compelling. Fox has given it a decent Monday night lead-in with a slowly dying 'House.' Unfortunately it has tough competition in Football, 2 1/2 Men, The Event, and Dancing With The Stars.

It's not strong enough to survive.

Blue Bloods - CBS

Magnum takes New York.

OK, that's really not fair, but to me Tom Selleck will always be Magnum, which makes it extra weird to see him playing a straight-laced police chief in New York City.

Blue Bloods follows the Reagans, a family of NY flat-foots for 3 generations. Grandpa, Dad (Selleck), and two sons are cops. Sister is an assistant district attorney. They work together and fight each other during the week with hopes of making up during Sunday family dinner.

This is the toughest premiere of 2010 to predict because the show doesn't fit the regular mold of anything we have seen on TV. It's family, it's cops, it's court room, and even the hint of a possible double agent in the family.

So what does CBS do with Bloods? They put it on Friday nights against weak competition and hope it becomes the new 'Numbers.' But will it? With the network's prime history the last few years how can we doubt?

Bloods takes Friday nights.

The Defenders - CBS

A legal drama that doesn't take itself too seriously.

While most legal dramas are serious and deep, The Defenders is neither. Can Jim Belushi really play a dramatic role? And can legal issues in Sin City not border on the farcical? Remember O.J.? Legal prostitution?

Belushi and Jerry O'Connell play two defense lawyers working together in a small Las Vegas legal office. Their clientele includes everything Vegas has to offer, from porn stars to (alleged) murderers.

So is America ready for a feel-good, light legal 'drama' set in the neon jungle? Why not... it's different. Are we ready for a Belushi in a dramatic roll? Again why not. He still can't act, but he's so likable we don't really care. And he does naturally look like a gangster anyway... when he doesn't smile.

No Emmys for Defender, but CBS has placed it Wednesday nights up against two heavy legals. So for those looking for something a little different, nearly mocking legal dramas, it has a niche.

Expect just OK ratings, hopefully good enough to keep it around for a year or so.