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."
ABC 8:00 FAMILY MATTERS 8:30 BOY MEETS WORLD 9:00 STEP BY STEP 9:30 HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER 10:00 20/20
CBS 8:00 DIAGNOSIS MURDER 9:00 UNDER SUSPICION 10:00 PICKET FENCES
NBC 8:00 UNSOLVED MYSTERIES 9:00 DATELINE NBC 10:00 HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET
FOX 8:00 M.A.N.T.I.S. 9:00 THE X-FILES 10:00 LOCAL PROGRAMMING
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