Under Suspicion
CBS, 9-10 p.m. (premieres Sept. 16)
*Concept: Boy police detectives are mean to girl police detective.
*The Scoop: In what only sounds like a rip-off of PBS' Prime
Suspect, Under Suspicion features Karen Sillas veteran of director
Hal Hartley's films (Trust, Simple Men) and star of the just-released
What Happened Was , this year's Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury
prize winner as a cop coping with sexism whenever she isn't coping
with corpses. The show has a moodiness and subtlety lacking in most
police series, even as its dialogue slips into hard- boiled cliches.
The best-known face on screen is Civil Wars' Peter Onorati, as
Sillas' mysterious mentor, who may or may not return after the first
episode, in which his character disappears. If it seems odd to hand
the lead to a barely known actress, get this: Executive
producer-creator Jacqui Zambrano says CBS floated the name of Meryl
Streep: "I was, like, Meryl is not going to read this and say, 'Let
me do this,' so we never really pursued it." Besides, says Zambrano,
"I wanted to go with an unknown." If Suspicion brings Sillas the
attention she deserves, she'll be unknown no more.
*Bottom Line: It'll be a race to see whether Suspicion can
establish its uniqueness before low ratings from its
new-kid-in-the-time-slot status kill it.
Returning Shows
Family Matters (ABC, 8-8:30 p.m.) Steve Urkel's super-cool alter
ego, Stefan Urquelle (also played by Jaleel White), will return to
the series, which faces fresh competition from another two-face, the
Fox superhero Mantis. White says he isn't worried: "I wish them well,
but I'm not done working yet."
Boy Meets World (ABC, 8:30-9 p.m.) Cory (Ben Savage) graduates to high school, where his nemesis Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) turns up as vice principal.
Step By Step (ABC, 9-9:30 p.m.) Carol (Suzanne Somers) unexpectedly gets pregnant, and Dana (Staci Keanan) and Cody (Sasha Mitchell) go to college.
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (ABC, 9:30-10 p.m.) The show has new executive producers (Matters and Step vets Bill Bickley and Michael Warren) and a new director (Mark Linn-Baker, costar of Perfect Strangers). But Mr. Cooper himself, Mark Curry, wants one more change: "I gotta get me a woman. A woman with big aspirations."
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