Another legal show. Just what we needed. Honestly, nearly every fall season there is some sort of show about lawyers either defending the little guy or prosecuting big baddies, and sometimes there are even several of them. This year is no exception, with The Defenders, Outlaw and now The Whole Truth. Is it worth watching? I've examined the evidence -- well, the pilot at least -- to figure out where this show stacks up in the court of TV law.

I'll have to admit that I was not planning on liking The Defenders. Not being a big fan of lawyer shows or Las Vegas, and unable to forgive Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell for their last outings (According to Jim and Do Not Disturb), I expected it to be terrible, worthless garbage. But, just as I've always secretly assumed I would like Las Vegas if I went there, the show actually entertained me. Like the city it takes place in, there's a lot of sexy behavior, and the lawyers really know how to put on a show in the courtroom, which is important for a legal Smeagol like myself.

Just wondering -- what is ABC thinking? Why is this multi-camera comedy that feels, tonally, like something quickly cancelled from the late '90s on ABC, airing on the same night when Modern Family and Cougar Town are doing something much more sophisticated and worthwhile? Why is this throwback even on TV? And why is so much good talent being wasted on it? I thought ABC was past this. Hell, even The Middle, bad as it is, looks and sounds like it's from this decade. What is the meaning of this?

Both Lone Star and J.Lo's careers got lengthened a tiny bit today. Way to hustle, guys.

NBC's entire fall slate is pretty much riding on Undercovers being a megahit (and if that doesn't work, there's always The Event!), so the show's two stars, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe, recently participated in a media call to address all kinds of insider info about the new show. No one had the guts to ask them their odds on early cancellation (I'll admit, even I was too afraid), but it's still sort of interesting. Highlights below.

Why did a live announcement even need to happen? Couldn't they have just sent out a press release like normal people? We've known for weeks that Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were the top two candidates for the judging spots, and it isn't like Randy was going to go anywhere unless he was forcibly removed from the building. But to render this entire event even more useless (and comical), they decided to stream the big judges reveal online as a so-called "press conference"... which ended up riddled with technical difficulties.

This show is hands down the biggest disappointment of the fall season. Not just because it is awful, which it is, but because I actually had high hopes due to its pedigree, which I guess makes me a fool. I even hoped that the additions of Robert Michael Morris and David Cross would help improve the unfunny pilot I screened earlier this summer. But no such luck. They didn't make things worse, but throwing more Arrested Development alumni into the mix only exacerbates the differences between that clever show and this subpar mess.

If the previews for Raising Hope have been reminding you of My Name is Earl lately, that's because they share a creator in Greg Garcia. And like Earl, Raising Hope is a show that surprised me by being a lot better and funnier than it looked. Unfortunately it also shares the very low likelihood of me making a point of watching it every week, but that's not to say it's without merit.

Except for the cancer, this week is full of win.

Oh, NBC. Chase is one of those shows that happens every fall -- it's a bland and derivative procedural, but it's ultimately innocuous and perfectly fine for a Friday night buried somewhere on CBS (where it would get huge ratings that no one could explain, but still) or on TNT or something of that ilk. But, unfortunately, NBC is hinging its Monday night 10 PM timeslot on this show. You know, I liked The Event a lot more than I thought I would, and I think it might have legs, but outside of that? When shows like Chase are taking up prime real estate like this? It just further convinces me that NBC is still in deep trouble.