19 Fall TV Shows: Ken Tucker Grades 'em

Well, the 10pm gamble may be paying off financially for NBC, but not creatively for Jay. D+

Flaming out fast in the ratings, this is actually a solid, ER-style nighttime soap. B

Poor Jenna Elfman, stuck playing pregnant with lousy punchlines. Prediction: won't make it to its third trimester. D

The best new old-fashioned network drama. Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth are terrific. B+

A.K.A., Another TV Show Everyone Will Forget Christian Slater Was In. If he's lucky. C-

Started out strong, and I still think Katie Cassidy does a great job as a combo hero/villain, but the soap is more watery every week. B-

The freshest, most original new show of the season is getting a little repetitive (at least one pregnancy too many for the good of the show's pace; too many American Idol-inspired song choices). Still, really well-acted and ?performed. B+

Maybe they were trying for some Grey's Anatomy sort of nighttime soap-plus-tart-drama. What they got was a loud, panting drag. C-

Super-fine ensemble acting, with tightly knit subplots linking the three families. Also nearly as many jokes per second as 30 Rock. In short: the best new show of the season so far. A-

So much better than its pilot! Courtney Cox's earnest slapstick works beautifully. If only the dialogue was more consistently funny. B

You never want to spend a half-hour feeling badly for its star, but that's what happens every time I see Kelsey Grammer squandered in this quiet dud. C

Wacky in a confident way, sure of its tone of genial cynicism, The Middle radiates with the brightness of Patricia Heaton and her co-stars. B+

Oh, dear. Who thought trying to play down the witchcraft and play up the sisterhood, leaving out the sense of irony, was a good idea? Only Rebecca Romijn manages to seem comfortable in her role. Which I'm not sure is a bad or good thing. C

I'm in for the whole season: The show is working out its why-did-everyone-black-out? premise with panache, and Joseph Fiennes and Sonya Walger comprise the season's most intriguing marriage. B+

Hmmm. The pilot was so funny, I was willing to forgive the second week's dip in quality. Now I'm worried that Joel McHale and Chevy Chase aren't being given material good enough for them to sell with their champion array of smirks and giggles. B-

Proving you can't go wrong in today's market with vampires, Diaries isn't nearly as imaginative as True Blood, but it's not sticky-icky romantic, either. It'll do at least until the new Twilight sequel opens. B-

It strives for both laughs and a positive message, but achieves neither. These two adult brothers (Michael Strahan and Daryl Mitchell) have no chemistry, and the result is a certain grim tone not desirable for a sitcom. D+

Like Simon Baker, Alex O'Laughlin seems destined to burn through a few dramas as the only charming attraction until he hits upon a success. This drab organ-donor drama is not the one. C

Cleveland may not be crammed with jokes, but it has an irresistible central cartoon character, a middle-aged, middle-class guy who, except for the bears living next door, is more believable than a lot of live-action sitcoms. B