Promise Fulfilled

As promised last column, here are the fall's new shows that have caught my eye as well as good ratings:

CBS's Hawaii Five-0 - I had a good feeling about this show's chances after seeing how its producers handled 2008's Star Trek movie reboot. While the new Hawaii Five-0 bears little resemblance to the original, its characters have developed their own chemistry, most notably Alex O'Loughlin as McGarrett and Scott Caan as fish-out-of-water former New Jersey cop Danny Williams. Hawaii Five-0 routinely gives Monday 10PM veteran Castle a run for its ratings share.

ABC's No Ordinary Family - While this 8PM show is no competition for CBS's NCIS , it follows the Powell family as they gain superhuman abilities after a plane crash in the Amazon. Michael Chiklis, who previously portrayed the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing in the Fantastic Four movies, plays super-strong police sketch artist Jim Powell. Dexter's Julie Benz plays super-fast scientist Stephanie Powell. The show clearly draws on Marvel's Fantastic Four and Disney's Incredibles. Just as clearly, viewers still enjoy the crime-fighting family drama.

CBS's The Defenders - Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell star as Las Vegas defense attorneys Nick Morelli and Pete Kaczmarek. Defying cliches, this show has a surprising amount of heart. Playing the divorced father of a young son, Belushi gets to show his dramatic acting chops, while O'Connell's slick lawyer is more complex than most of the roles he's had and still has a streak of crusader in him. This show has outperformed NBC's Law & Order: Los Angeles and ABC's cancelled The Whole Truth Wednesdays at 10PM.

CBS's Blue Bloods - A surprise 10PM hit on traditionally low-rated Friday nights, this show (from veteran producer Leonard Goldberg) follows the Reagan family, most of whom are or were New York police officers. The classically charismatic Tom Selleck plays NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan, leading a cast that includes Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynihan, Will Estes, and Len Cariou.

One show that hasn't caught fire in the ratings but has garnered praise from the mystery writing community is F/X's Terriers . Like The Defenders, Terriers (from The Shield's Shawn Ryan and Ocean's Eleven's Ted Griffiths) is a chance to see a comedic actor (Donal Logue) in a mostly dramatic role. Logue plays ex-cop Hank Dolworth, now partnered with reformed thief Britt Pollack (Michael Raymond-James) as small-time private eyes fighting much larger forces. While the show is on the ratings bubble, it has garnered praise from most of the mystery writing community. Catch it while you can.

And just a bit of movie news: MGM Studios, owners of the James Bond movie franchise, recently filed a bankruptcy plan which should allow them to release the next Bond movie in November 2012. Fingers crossed.

Finally, as most of this column has been about television, I want to acknowledge the death of one TV's most prolific writer-producers, Stephen J. Cannell. The creator of The Rockford Files, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, and many more died September 30 of complications from melanoma. Though Cannell became known as an author in his later years, he still appeared from time to time on Castle as a poker-playing friend of Rick Castle's. He will be missed.