WATCH IT:

Prime Suspect (NBC), Premieres Thursday, 9/22 at 10 pm (ET)

The original was a great British series starring Helen Mirren, and this version wins out over the rest because it appears to have some legs to it. No, I’m not referring to the legs of Maria Bello, who plays the lead, although her legs are worth watching. The “legs” here is the depth and longevity you want in a series.

Bello is a homicide detective that doesn’t get many breaks because she’s surrounded by male cops. She’s also good at what she does, or so the trailer says. This one does look to have some grittiness to it, as well as some decent acting and well written scenes if you’re into that sort of thing. NBC worked with Peter Berg on the acclaimed Friday Night Lights and he’s working on this show, too, so that’s a bonus.

SKIP IT:

Unforgettable (CBS), Premieres Tuesday, 9/20 at 10 pm (ET)

This is a perfect show for CBS. It’s a procedural with dangling backstories, uses edit trickery to hammer the evidence home to the viewer, and has the latest Top 40 ballad pounding during reflective ‘character moments’. Some people love this sort of show, like my grandmother, but I’m not going to bother.

If you are still interested after my hard sell, the series is about a woman with hyperthymesia, which means she remembers every detail of pretty much everything. Except — the big twist! — she can’t remember what happened when her sister was murdered years before. Her ex-partner/lover, played by Dylan Walsh, comes around to ask her to help with cases because she’s got such a crazy brain. And then every episode will be the exact same for all of eternity.

THE REST:

Person of Interest (CBS), Premieres Thursday, 9/22 at 9 pm (ET)

This show should have been a better competitor for the top spot in this category. It was created by Jonah Nolan, brother of Christopher Nolan and co-writer of the Batman flicks, J.J. Abrams is executive producing, and Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson from Lost are starring. But it just doesn’t blend all of these elements into a great show. This semi-okay show is about a guy that has created a social security number-based system to learn about people that are going to be involved in some sort of crime before it happens, pretty much like Minority Report. And Caviezel teams up with him to stop the badness from happening. Ho hum.

Charlie’s Angels (ABC), Premieres Thursday, 9/22 at 8 pm

Look, I can come up with many reasons to watch this show. Namely Minka Kelly, Rachel Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh. They’re hot, they shoot guns and blow things up. It’s a retooling of the campy, but great 70’s version but isn’t high quality viewing, but I have low TV morals, so I’ll give it at least one viewing.

“I don’t know how you do an hour long show and don’t have some ongoing stuff,” Abrams said. “The fact is both of these shows, Alcatraz more than Person of Interest, definitely has overarching questions you can’t answer in one episode. I love that stuff. It’s one of the reasons I love Walking Dead, I can name 12 massive questions that I must have answered. I love that. I know that not everyone does and I think Person of Interest is definitely a more unserialized weekly crime show that does have threads that if you watch will reveal bigger, larger answers. There’s the mystery of the week thing but there’s also who are these guys who are working so well together? They’re not quite trusting each other. It’s really fun.”

Alcatraz requires flashbacks to show who the prisoners were back on “The Rock.” After producing the ultimate flashback show of all time, Lost, Abrams had no hesitation about using the same structure on a new show.

“There’s a flashback in Person of Interest also. I love flashbacks. There will often be flashbacks. For me it was a necessity of the show as opposed to feeling it’s borrowing an existing gimmick that Lost happened to use well. One of the awesome aspects of Alcatraz is the mystique of Alcatraz as the rock itself, what it was like 50 years ago down Broadway in the middle of these cells. What was it like to have these criminals behind these bars be out in that yard, to have the warden in that office? It would be crazy not to embrace that.”

The only Star Trek 2 update is that he’s still trying to make “a movie that’s worth people’s time.” On Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Abrams confirmed there are four full IMAX sequences, like the Burj Khalifa sequence in the trailer.

In more surprising news, Abrams answered questions about last year’s failed show Undercovers. Abrams produced the married spy series and directed the pilot, and he blames only himself for the show’s failure.

“I do feel the problem with the show was I made bad choices. I wasn’t as respectful of the audience or the characters. I didn’t give people substance. The thing that’s fun about fluff is it needs to be contextualized. It needs to be fun and fluffy within something of meaning and it was kind of fluff on top of fluff as opposed to something more substantial. I wrote it into mediocrity and I feel guilty because I love the actors, I love the idea of the show, I love the idea of a couple who loves each other.”

Person of Interest premieres this fall on CBS.

“Person of Interest” is the aforementioned J.J. Abrams show that follows around Michael Emerson (“Lost”‘s Ben Linus) as he stops crime…(wait for it)…BEFORE it happens. But don’t ask the producers how it’s different than Minority Report. They are very touchy about being accused of stealing ideas from the shows that they stole ideas from.

“A Gifted Man” follows around a brilliant man who develops a new appreciation for life after his dead wife teaches him lessons from beyond the grave. Also, the wife wants closure for something, so let’s join this couple as they search for an appreciation for life and for closure. *Fart*

“How to be a Gentleman” focuses on a proper man (David Hornsby) who wishes to become more manly, enlisting the help of Kevin Dillon’s character along the way. If there’s anything CBS has taught us from “Rules of Engagement,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Big Bang Theory,” it’s that they know how to draw rich, dynamic portraits of men. It wouldn’t be presumptuous to begin getting EXTREMELY excited about this show RIGHT NOW.

“2 Broke Girls” stars Kat Dennings as 50% of the title. She and an unlikely friend work as waitresses to raise money to start a business. I’m willing to bet that they also learn that it’s hard being on your own in the city and stuff. Hold everything: I just learned that one of the waitresses is a trust-fund baby. What a disarming juxtaposition!

“Unforgettable” stars something called a “Poppy Montgomery.” That name would lead me to believe that it would be a silent film, but the below clip demonstrates that there’s sound and color and everything. It’s about a sexy cop that has a near-flawless memory. However, the one thing she can’t remember is the very thing she wants to the most: the details surrounding her sister’s murder. That’s very unfortunate for Poppy Montgomery.

On the program, Caviezel will play a CIA paramilitary who is believed to be dead. He’s employed by Michael Emerson‘s (presumably creepy) billionaire to fight violent crime in New York City. So he’ll likely just hang out at Jets games. It should also be noted that Caviezel will fight the crime before the crime actually happens. It’s like “Early Edition” with judo chops and swish pans. (Deadline)

Abrams’ new show is called “Person of Interest,” and it’s about a scientist and an ex-CIA hitman who try to stop crimes before they happen. In one of the episodes, I think they should try to prevent the murder of show writer Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight), who is killed by an angry Philip K. Dick fan, incensed because the premise seems like a Minority Report rip-off. It’s a very Adaptation-y idea, but it’ll work. (Hollywood Reporter)