Malibu Country
8:30 p.m. on ABC

Disclosure: I need to tell you right up front that I have never been what you'd call a fan of Reba McEntire, and I didn't care at all for her "Reba" series, which ran for six whole seasons on The WB/The CW. So while I'm obviously not predisposed to loving her new series, "Malibu Country" (which premieres tonight on ABC after Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" and which sounds an awful lot like that old "Reba" series!), I've done my best to be objective about it.

In "Malibu Country," Reba plays Reba MacKenzie, wife of a "lyin', cheatin'" country music mega-star, whom she dumps in the middle of a live press conference while he's trying to make amends to his fans for his latest affair.

Emily Owens, M.D.

Tuesdays at 9 on The CW

Every once in awhile, a show comes along that just makes you feel good, that makes you feel like you've discovered something delightful that might be overlooked.

This season, this is that show. Sure, it features TV's new favorite character -- the awkward white girl -- but it does so in a winning way.

Mamie Gummer (Yes, she's Meryl Streep's daughter but there's more to her identity!) plays Emily who we meet as a geeky high school girl, one of those soulful misfits with a lot more on her mind than most will ever know.

Beauty and the Beast

Thursdays at 8 on The CW

Look at that picture. Does he look like a beast? Does she look like a no-nonsense homicide detective?

Yes, there's an inherent element of the fantastical in any telling of this story. But this version aims to update it by making a realistic, modern, gritty version. And it fails in that effort with results ranging consistently between dopey and implausible.

Nashville
Wednesdays at 10 on ABC

There have already been several pretty good dramas debuting this fall -- "Last Resort," "Vegas" and "Elementary" are a few.

None of them come close to ABC's "Nashville." "Nashville" is simply great. 

The series, debuting tonight at 10, stars Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights," "American Horror Story") as cash-strapped Rayna Jaymes, a fading country star fighting to revitalize her waning career. The current center of the Nashville universe happens to be young Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere from "Heroes"), a hateful, manipulative little schemer who out-draws and out-sells Rayna to the point that Rayna's own record company is ready to toss her away.

It gets nasty, folks.

The Arrow

Wednesdays at 8 on The CW

In these bleak times, superheroes offer a little inspiration, a little sense of justice. That's the attraction of "The Arrow." You coul add to that list a sense of redemption, a dash of revenge, and a dollop of vigilantism.

Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is the son of a billionaire and a not very nice guy. He's the kind of player who sleeps with the sister of Laurel (Katie Cassidy), the girl he's dating.

That doesn't end well for the sister or the player; on a yacht trip, the boat capsizes in the storm, sweeping the sister away.

Chicago Fire

Wednesdays at 10 on NBC

Dick Wolf has made his fortune and fame dramatizing the stories and lives of police officers. Now, as executive producer, he's exploring another kind of public servant.

"Chicago Fire" is a drama about the heroic people who work in Firehouse 51: the firefighters, the rescue squad and the paramedics. Sadly, the show doesn't reinvent the genre the way the original "Law & Order" did or even advance the genre the way "Southland" did. But it's a solid show with potential.

666 Park Avenue
Sundays at 10 on ABC

Finding a great apartment in New York City is hell. At least that's the quite literal message of this macabre new ABC drama, "666 Park Avenue."

The premise of the show, debuting Sunday at 10, is that the tenants of an exclusive Upper East Side apartment building sell their souls to the devil in exchange for the fulfillment of various dreams or desires.

This doesn't bode well for the unsuspecting midwestern couple, played by Dave Annable and Rachael Taylor, who score gigs as co-managers of the building in exchange for a beautiful free apartment and a bit of hob-nobbing with the mysterious married couple who own the place.

Elementary

Thursdays 10 p.m. on CBS

Let's not make the same mistake some of us made with "Prime Suspect." You know, when we (and when I say 'we' I don't include Happiness) hated that NBC show starring Maria Bello mostly because it wasn't the "Prime Suspect" with Helen Mirren.

"Elementary" isn't like the British import "Sherlock." And although the main character's name is Sherlock Holmes and his partner is a woman with the surname Watson, it really isn't very true to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle characters.

It's another take on the procedural -- crime solving and crime solvers. And it's enjoyable and appealing in its own way.

Brit Jonny Lee Miller plays Holmes, fresh out of rehab, still jittery, fragile, and socially impaired, and exiled to New York from London.

The Last Resort
Thursdays at 8 on ABC

"The Last Resort," debuting tonight at 8 on ABC, is one of those "no distractions while you watch" shows. There shall be no reading through emails or leafing through magazines during this fast-paced drama.

But if you watch this and you pay attention, the payoff is high.

Andre Braugher ("Homicide: Life On the Streets," "Men of a Certain Age") plays the captain of a U.S. nuclear submarine, which receives a mysterious order out of the blue to fire nuclear weapons on Pakistan. When Braugher, as Capt. Marcus Chaplin, asks for clarification of the order from a higher authority, he is relieved of his command, and the sub turned over to his second, played by Scott Speedman ("Felicity"). When Speedman, as XO Sam Kendal, repeats Chaplin's request, the submarine is fired upon and hit by a U.S. warship.

The Neighbors
Wednesdays (tonight at 9:30; starting next week at 8:30) on ABC

If you've heard much about "The Neighbors" before now, it could be because it has already made several "worst of" lists this fall. But I don't think it deserves that at all.

I think if you embrace what they're trying to do here, which is to be very, very silly (think "3rd Rock from the Sun" -- except goofier), you may even chuckle a time or two.

Here's the premise: Aliens from the planet Zabvron arrived on Earth in 2001, then bought up an entire subdivision to occupy while they awaited further instructions from home. Ten years later, they're still waiting for those communications when a sudden vacancy allows a family of humans to move in.