Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Though I've given up on "Hawaii 5-0" (I watched it for fluff, not for angst, and I was seeing way too much angst and way too little fluff at the end of last season), there are three new shows on CBS that seem to have found a nice combination of 'new gimmick' and 'old-fashioned character interest' in some of the most venerable, tried-and-true TV drama formats.

In the order of least to most interesting/engrossing (to me personally, at least):

1) "Unforgettable" -- The 'detective who can't forget anything (but can't remember who killed her sister when she was a child)' gimmick really does breathe some new life into the 'Gifted Cop With a Traumatic Past' genre . . . especially when combined with volunteering in the nursing home which cares for her mother, who can't remember her own daughter's face most of the time. I've only seen two episodes so far, and while I'm not all that in love with the ex-boyfriend cop (in spite of loving that actor in many other roles), I'm definitely going to keep it on my DVR's 'to record' schedule for a while.

2) "A Gifted Man" -- I haven't made any medical drama show (other than "House", of course, but how could I resist Hugh Laurie as a medical version of Sherlock Holmes?) part of my viewing habits since the early days of "E.R." and "Chicago Hope" in the mid-1990s (and I think I may've started watching those only because I was rooming with an old friend from seminary who liked to watch them), and I missed the first episode of this new series because I hadn't heard much about it, but I happened to be home last night when the second episode was about to start, so I recorded it. And now I've put it on my 'record all new episodes' list, 'cause the gimmick of the dead ex-wife's ghost is just understated enough not to overshadow the really engaging characters and situations. This is a doctor whom I could get to like, and I adore his receptionist/office manager (played by the actress last seen as Kentucky crime family matriarch Mags Bennett on "Justified"). Seeing glimpses of this guy's humanity and decency emerge each week should be worth sticking around for.

3) "Person of Interest" -- I could give up the other two shows with very few qualms, but after seeing the last 3/4 of the pilot episode and all of the second episode, this variation on the 'mysterious do-gooder who kicks serious butt' trope has me hooked. Connecting the mysterious tips about the possible victims or perpetrators of lethal crimes about to happen in the near future, on one hand, to post-9/11 anti-terrorism surveillance on the other hand, is a neat twist. And -- so far -- both the writing and the acting make old shows like "Knight Rider" (the old one with Der Hasselhoff) and "The Equalizer" and "Early Edition" look lame (or lamer, in the case of "Knight Rider") in comparison.