‘Harper’s Island,”Southland’ among series gifts for TV lovers

In the past couple of weeks, new shows have been popping up like sensitive balladeer types on "American Idol."

ABC's been especially littered with them -- "Castle," "Cupid," "Better Off Ted," "In the Motherhood" -- of late.

But this week, there are five new scripted network series, one more than debuted during premiere week back in September.

It's enough to make a TV lover feel like it's Christmas in April.

Yeah, it's a lame analogy. Just writing that makes me feel as though I've got a lot full of low-mileage cars and trucks that have been priced to move. But like most Christmases, there are a couple of gifts that I've been looking forward to for months, one that doesn't quite fit, one that was regifted and one that couldn't be delivered on time.

"HARPER'S ISLAND"

10 p.m. Thursday, KLAS-TV, Channel 8

Someone's killing the guests at a destination wedding off the coast of Seattle. But, really, what do you expect when you schedule your nuptials for the same rustic island where a madman went on an unexplained killing spree seven years ago?

Since everyone, guests and locals alike, is a suspect, who's doing the butchering? Is it the bride's scheming dad? The groom's troubled brother with the demon tattoos? The groom's best friend who grew up on the island and is returning for the first time since her mom was murdered there? How about the Durmot Mulroney-ish fishmonger? The spooky little girl? Maybe the one-eyed cabdriver back on the mainland?

There's something a little bit genius about the way "Harper's Island" combines the trappings of a horror movie, complete with killings that are fairly gruesome for network TV, with the someone's-getting-voted-off-the-island-each-week gimmickry of "Survivor."

The best part? It's a one-shot, 13-week series that promises to reveal all its mysteries by the July 2 finale.

"SOUTHLAND"

10 p.m. Thursday, KVBC-TV, Channel 3

Not just any show can replace "ER" after 15 years, so it's fitting that the one inheriting that time slot feels a lot like its predecessor.

Sprawling cast of familiar faces? Check.

Newbie thrown into a harrowing first day on the job? Check.

Frenetic pace and a sense of not knowing exactly what's going on? Check and check.

The comparisons are especially warranted, though, as "ER" executive producers John Wells and Christopher Chulack, who directed 40-plus episodes of "ER" as well as the "Southland" pilot, reunite on the LAPD drama. And you can tell it's good by the way it relies on the kind of shaky images that mean the camera's in the hands of either a highly skilled auteur or a drunken monkey.

Rookie cop Ben Sherman ("The O.C.'s" Ben McKenzie) comes from a life of privilege, which leads to "90210" and Tori Spelling cracks from his training officer (Michael Cudlitz), a cop's cop who just may be a bit of a sociopath.

It's a career-making turn for veteran character actor Cudlitz, who's able to stand out in a cast that also includes Regina King, Tom Everett Scott and a nearly unrecognizable C. Thomas Howell, who's clearly having as much fun as he's seen since the days of "Soul Man."

"THE UNUSUALS"

10 p.m. Wednesday, KTNV-TV, Channel 13

The week's other new cop show also boasts a cast of familiar faces -- Amber Tamblyn, Adam Goldberg and "Lost's" Harold Perrineau -- and a lead character who comes from money during their first day on the job. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

"The Unusuals," which still sounds more like a league of misfit superheroes, has all sorts of trouble establishing a consistent tone as serious, this-is-what-it-means-to-be-a-New-York-cop speeches fight for room alongside wacky, sitcom-style bits.

But one character's description of the precinct serves as the best possible introduction to the series. "Here's what you need to know about the Second: Alvarez talks about himself in the third person, Banks sleeps in a bulletproof vest and yesterday, Delahoy named his mustache."

"SURVIVING SUBURBIA"

9:30 p.m. Monday, Channel 13

Bob Saget, who's spent the past 14 years trying to wash the stink of "Full House" off of him, deserves better than this family sitcom that was canceled by The CW before it ever aired. Rescued off the scrapheap by ABC, "Surviving Suburbia" plays like a more caustic "According to Jim."

"PARKS AND RECREATION"

8:30 p.m. Thursday, Channel 3

This non-spinoff-spinoff of "The Office" -- it has the same producers and documentary style but none of the same characters -- finds Amy Poehler playing a city government worker in fictional Pawnee, Ind.

Thursday's premiere wasn't available for review, which doesn't exactly help negate the bad buzz surrounding a recent focus group testing. Apparently, participants said the comedy suffered because of its "overwhelming resemblance" to "The Office." What's so bad about that, you ask? Have you seen "The Office" lately?

Christopher Lawrence's Life on the Couch column appears on Sundays. E-mail him at clawrence@reviewjournal.com.