The CW likes giving its young audience a steady diet of darkness, and that tradition continues with 'Cult' (9 tonight, the CW), a creepy, high-concept drama that isn't as confusing as it sounds.

Basically it's a show within a show. Jeff (Matt Davis), is a disgraced newspaper reporter with a brother who has had issues with drugs and maybe with paranoia. The brother is a super fan of 'Cult,' a hit show on the CW that has devotees that don't just watch; they search for clues on websites, create their own sites, re-enact scenes and dress like character. The show's creator is a mystery man no one sees.

'Cult' as the title implies, is about a cult led by charismatic/creepy leader Billy Grimm (Robert Knepper) who taunts cop Kelly (Alona Tal), who was also once a member of the group.

When Jeff's brother tries to tell him the show is coming to life, Jeff is naturally skeptical. But then Jeff's brother disappears. So Jeff begins investigating the show, pulling in Skye (Jessica Lucas), a researcher on 'Cult' who has concerns about the fanaticism surrounding it.

As Jeff's investigation begins, people start to kill themselves and come up missing. There are cult members everywhere. The cult, it seems, has come to life.

If you're confused by my words, in the viewing it's much clearer. And it's a great comment on the depth and breadth of social media, reality vs fantasy, and the power of media. In the hands of say, Joss Whedon, there would probably be more humor, which would be nice.

Still there's lots to build on. Skye has a back story concerning her father, and press notes say the show will explore the effects of the fans' craziness on the actors playing Billy Grimm and Kelly, which sounds promising.

"Cult" is an inventive idea that could lure some true devotees.

There's not much original, but there's something lovely about "Pastor Brown" (8 tonight, Lifetime), a film about a prodigal daughter challenged to find her way home.

When we first meet Jesse (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), she's pole dancing at a club in New York. Meanwhile, in her hometown of Atlanta, her pastor father (Keith David) collapses in the pulpit; soon Jesse's sister (Nicole Ari Parker) is calling for her to come home to be by daddy's bedside.

It's not a pleasant homecoming. Everyone knows Jesse isn't the Broadway dancer she claims to be. Her sister is resentful that she's been left at home to be dutiful and that, despite being dutiful, dad seems to like Jesse better. Plus she's been left to raise Jesse's son (Michael B. Jordan), who also has a chip on his shoulder just for Jesse for abandoning him.

Dad calls a bedside meeting, unexpectedly (and inexplicably) says he wants Jesse to take over for him as head of his church, and promptly dies. Almost no one is happy about this decision, but especially Rev. Callaghan (Michael Beach), an assistant pastor who has been waiting to take the main job, and his cousin Angelique (Tasha Smith), who has some unexplained ancient resentment toward Jesse. Even Jesse is skeptical, but after some thought, she decides to go for the job.

This, of course, is a story of redemption, and one of forgiveness, and it isn't just Jesse who needs forgiveness or redemption. For a bunch of church-goers, there's lots of bad behavior on display here.

But it works because the cast is strong. Richardson-Whitfield is just a wonderful actress; her Jesse is strong and vulnerable. She knows she's made bad decisions but she always owns them and Richardson-Whitfield imbues her with a quiet confidence and grace that makes her transition from troubled girl to enlightened woman seem plausible. Beach manages to bring layers to his unlikeable character that aren't necessarily in the script.

And the script does have lapses. Jesse and her son's relationship shifts course abruptly, a character played by first-time director/actor Rockmond Dunbar doesn't really have a place, but I'll give points for not going with the obvious ending.

Unlike other films that center in the church, this film isn't particularly preachy, although at least one message is clear: Father/heavenly Father knows best.

Anthony Edwards, most famous for his role as mild-mannered Dr. Greene on NBC's mega-hit medical drama "ER," returns to network television Thursday night in an ABC conspiracy thriller that's fun but also very familiar.

The comparisons of ABC's "Zero Hour" to "The Da Vinci Code" and even the "Indiana Jones" franchise are obvious and unavoidable. The plot is loaded with ancient maps, secret religious societies, spontaneous (and seemingly effortless) international travel, a Jesus mystery, and of course, Nazis.

Edwards as Hank Galliston is the present-day editor of a Brooklyn magazine that debunks paranormal phenomena (like werewolf families and Arkansas skunk-apes), but who turns a little Indiana Jones when an international terrorist abducts his wife, an antique clock dealer. His wife Laila, you see, had just purchased an old clock containing -- unbeknownst to her -- one part of the answer to a complicated puzzle sought for generations by the Nazis. It has to do with eternal youth or immortality or weird white-eyed babies or something along those lines. (I'm assuming it's not going to turn out to be the Holy Grail with a cameo by Sean Connery, but rather some sort of scientific discovery. At least, I'm hoping.)

Hank isn't getting the kind of help he wants from the FBI, so he takes matters into his own hands, using two young reporters (Scott Michael Foster and Addison Timlin) as researchers and consulting a priest pal for his expertise. Eventually, an FBI agent teams up with him.

I've laid a lot of plot on you here, but I don't think I've spoiled anything. The point of the mystery, besides whether or not Hank finds his wife (and whether she's dead or alive when and if he does) is (I think) figuring out exactly what secret was being kept from the Nazis and trying to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands now.

I honestly can't decide how I feel about "Zero Hour." It's neither great nor bad, but something about it did feel a little off at times. Sure, it's a low-rent, kinda silly "Da Vinci Code." But on the other hand, it's a million times better than "Missing," ABC's terrible globe-trotting Ashley Judd drama from last year. But on the other other hand, the fact that "Missing" even popped into my mind at all while I was watching the "Zero Hour" pilot can't be a good sign.

"Zero Hour" is interesting enough to draw me back for at least a couple more episodes, and by then I'll have made up my mind about its DVR worthiness. It's certainly better than, say, a weekend skunk-aping in Arkansas.

******
"Zero Hour" airs at 8 p.m. on Thursdays on ABC

Sometimes reinventing the wheel isn't necessary to make a good show. Copying a good idea and tweaking it a bit can be good enough. "The Face" (9 tonight, Oxygen) proves this; it freely admits to being a cross between "America's Next Top Model" and "The Voice" -- it even has ANTM judge Nigel Barker to host. And how did the producers tweak it to make it a little special? They hired Naomi Campbell.

The shows features 12 models who compete individually and on teams coached by models Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Coca Rocha. (The show smartly skips showing the now cliched audition process in-depth; we just meet the 12 women after they are assigned teams and move into the house.)

The ultimate prize is a contract with ULTA, but there are prizes along the way. For instance, in the first episode, the girls have to go head-to-head in a styling contest, a kind of "who wore it best" thing. The winner gets a $5000 shopping spree to Top Shop. The team challenge on the episode is to come up with the last image for a story boarded concept for W magazine. The prize is that the image actually appears in W magazine.

"The Face" definitely feels more professional, more likely to produce an actual working model than ANTM. Besides having three active and successful models as mentors, the show features judges for some of the competitions that are among the best in the world of fashion, like photographer Patrick Demarchelier or legendary agent Bethann Hardison. And the feedback is precise and intelligent.

Yet, the best part might be getting to know Campbell, Kurkova and Rocha. Rocha, the youngest, sees herself as a rebel; she guides her girls to take challenges and try unusual poses, which doesn't really work out, at least in the first episode. Kurkova is more sweet and practical. And Campbell, well, we all know she's cray cray. Translation: The woman who might throw a phone at any minute doesn't appear in full during the first episode, but she gets so emotionally involved and competitive from the beginning that we know she'll appear. And we can't wait.

The contestants, too, are promising, with a good mix of stories and personalities that should make for good viewing. "The Face" deserves your facetime.

If you believe love is blind, love conquers all, and all you need is love, have I got a movie for you!

It's the sweet, hopeful and implausible "Twist of Faith" (8 tonight, Lifetime), the tale of how music and singing brings an unlikely couple together.

Jacob (David Julian Hirsh) is a kindly Orthodox Jewish cantor, a loving husband, and a devoted father of three who lives in Brooklyn. One day, his family gets on a bus and is slaughtered by a guy hopped up on something. The tragedy leaves Jacob unable to speak, but able to leave his garments, wallets and keys behind, board a bus and end up making his way to the deep South.

In the small Alabama town he eventually ends up in lives Nina (Toni Braxton), a single mother and devout Baptist church member; naturally she's in the choir. She lives next door to the church with her Uncle Moe (Mykelti Williamson) and her son Asher (Nathaniel James Potvin). Asher takes to silent Jacob first; Uncle Moe gives him a place to stay at the church, and when Jacob, who is also a carpenter (a Jewish carpenter!), proves himself handy, he earns a permanent place, much to suspicious Nina's chagrin.

But after a reminder that she's a Christian, Nina comes around and shows him some kindness; soon silent Jacob breaks his silence just for her. Before you know it, he's singing with the choir and everything. And the next thing you know, they're giving one another eyes of longing. Can this interfaith love be?

Well, the film actually kind of ignores that. While doing a nice job showing the rituals of Jacob's faith, "Twist of Faith" then pretty much ignores his commitment to that faith and that maybe, just maybe, Jacob's Orthodox Jewish mom, who lives in an Orthodox Jewish community, and pronounces his name 'Yacob' might at least be taken aback if her son told her he's got a thing for a black Christian woman. And what about the equally startling notion that a Jewish man from Brooklyn wouldn't think twice about moving to po-dunk Alabama?

While "Twist of Faith" doesn't handle race and religion realistically, it's got all the other tropes you want to see when Yankees go South: gospel music, rednecks, and guns (In the North, they're used for killing innocent people, in the South, for killing innocent, but tasty rabbits).

While Braxton and Hirsh don't have much chemistry, they are a good-looking pair; it's Williamson who saves the day. He's good even in a trifle like this.

Still, "Twist of Faith" is sweet-natured and the music's good. Even a critic like me likes a love story. After all, love is all that matters.

Somehow David E. Kelley -- from "Picket Fences" to "The Practice" to "Boston Legal" -- can make a show work despite itself. Overly dramatic speeches, weird cases, provocative topics, hammy acting, dream sequences, broad characters, pure wackiness; in the hands of others, those elements would sink a show. But Kelley knows how to hone it all into something extremely watchable.

And the producer/writer/show creator does it again with "Monday Mornings" (10 tonight, TNT), an hour-long medical drama that engagingly examines the lives and learning experiences of a neurosurgeons and other doctors at fictional Chelsea General.

The title refers to the '311' conferences the surgeons have on Monday mornings, when doctors' patient care is examined by their peers. Dr. Harding Hooten (Alfred Molina with his true English accent) takes the lead at those meeting, calling doctors to a stage where they stand behind a podium and explain a case. Hooten, the chief of surgery, applauds the successes and lacerates them for errors. Those errors can be medical or personal.

Also leading the staff is Dr. Jorge Villanueva (Ving Rhames), compassionate and wise. The talented staff includes haunted hotshot Dr. Tyler Wilson (Jamie Bamber); Dr. Tina Ridgeway (Jennifer Finnigan), Wilson's close, ahem, confidante; Dr. Buck Tierney (Bill Irwin), a jerk of a transplant specialist; Dr. Sung Park (Keong Sim), brilliant and abrasive; intense and lonely Dr. Sydney Napur (Sarayu Rao), and resident Dr. Michelle Robidaux (Emily Swallow).

With Molina and Rhames as the vets, the show gets solid footing. Rhames can be hammy in roles, but he isn't on "Monday Mornings." Instead, he tones it down, plays it straight and is funny and compassionate. Molina, too, executes wonderfully. Irwin brings layers to being unlikeable. The most troubling character is Sim's; he speaks like an Asian Tonto, and in true Kelley fashion, he's often mocked for it and given lines like "stuck between a rock and an eight ball." Some will find it offensive (and probably implausible that he works at the hospital), yet as the episodes continue (I saw the first three), the character becomes less of a caricature.

While we see a lot of interesting cases and interesting, quirky patients, what makes the show sail are the examinations of the cases at the Monday morning meetings. Here, even happy endings can reveal a doctor's flaws -- an inflated ego, an insensitivity to a patient's family member, a disregard for ethics. It's powerful to see flaws that have life and death consequences explored.

Kelley came to this work through a novel by CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta (who also produces and co-wrote some episodes). It's a perfect match; Kelley loves hot button issues and health care is hot, and stuff like race and class fall nicely into its realm. So "Monday Mornings" should give us plenty to talk about Tuesday mornings.

It's not a diss to call "Belle's" (10 p.m. TV One), an old-fashioned sitcom; it's just accurate. The half-hour show (you'll get two episodes tonight) feels like something from a simpler era. It's a quaint, gentle and mildly amusing outing.

By its description, you might (if you are old enough) think of "Frank's Place," the much-revered Tim Reid comedy. Like that show, "Belle's" is set in restaurant (that setting and the lack of a laugh track is where the "Frank's Place" comparison ends, sadly); it's a soul food place. William "Big Bill" Cooper (Keith David) is the owner. He's a fairly recent widower. It's a family operation: Jil (Elise Neal) is Bill's oldest daughter and runs the front of the house; Gladys (Ella Joyce) is his sister-in-law and head cook; Loreta (Tami Roman) is Bill's youngest and diva daughter; Pam (Nadja Alaya) is Jil's daughter and the show's narrator. Also in on the adventures is Maurice (Belle's exec producer/co-creator Miguel Nunez), a womanizing bartender.

Unfortunately "Belle's" looks like it's filmed on a set rather than in a restaurant, and that artificial feeling just adds to the sinking feeling you'll have when you realize, despite the capable cast, the show isn't as good as you were hoping. The first episode was kind of interesting in light of the debate around slavery sparked by "Django Unchained." A white man wants to rent the restaurant for a family reunion; as it turns out, his family is the one that enslaved Cooper's wife's family. The Belle's family is divided with some wanting to take the well-paying business and others arguing to turn it away in an act of ... well, something I don't know.

That's part of the problem; while the issue resonates, the debate doesn't really make sense. And as if recognizing that, the resolution is kind of sweet and milquetoast.

Ed. Weinberger, a TV legend behind "The Cosby Show" and "Taxi," is behind this show, which is not a bad pedigree. Maybe with that kind of experienced hand, "Belle's" gets sharper as it moves forward. Gentleness isn't bad in these snarky, cranky times; it may even be healthy. But there's got to sharp storytelling if there's not going to be sharp comedy. "Belle's" is lacking in both areas.

I may be getting soft.

I know that "Do No Harm" (10 tonight, NBC) is ridiculous, and yet I can't beat up on it. Maybe it's because everyone involved is taking it so seriously and I find earnestness endearing.

Yet let's be clear: this is one silly show.

It's the story of a skilled compassionate surgeon Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale) who has dissociative identity disorder; at 8:25 every night, he turns into Ian Price, a hard partying, menacing rogue -- it's your basic Jekyll and Hyde scenario. At the moment, Jason has Ian under control; he's been taking a drug cooked up by a friend and pathologist (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and not having much of a social life. That's hurt his chances with Dr. Lena Solis (Alana De La Garza), a colleague who likes him, and the feeling is mutual.

Because he lives by the clock, Jason must always move quickly. Life is rushed but not bad until it turns out that Ian has become immune to the drug Jason's been using. How does Jason figure that out? He wakes up in a strange bed in the aftermath of an orgy, blood on his shirt, and no idea how he got there.

Now Jason has to figure out how to tame Ian, save lives at the hospital (his boss is played by Phylicia Rashad), and not wreck his life or at least deter Ian from wrecking his life. Ian, by the way, is obsessed with Jason's ex-fiance Olivia (Ruta Gedmintas).

OK, a bit of the silly: Jason gets a cab to a motel at the other side of town because he's going to turn into Ian and he wants to do no harm. He gets his money, ID, credit cards and cell phone messengered to himself at work so Ian can do no harm. When Ian arrives and discovers Jason has left him with nothing, he trashes the room. Luckily, he finds Lena's number. He calls her. She arrives at the rundown motel and sees it trashed and is only mildly curious, when she should be thinking "WTF? Why are you at this dump? Are you on drugs? I'm out of here!"

But then that would ruin this whole conceit -- thinking, I mean. What doctor, for instance, do you know of who is only on call during the day? And God forbid, you're his patient and you get sick at 8:26 p.m. Cuz Ian isn't a surgeon. (That possibility is quickly explored, providing the only real moment of menace in the show.)

"Do No Harm" is a monster mash of ideas. It's a typical medical show mixed with a "Grimm"-like fantasy drama but the parts don't fit well. It might be stronger if Ian was really a Hyde (as in a killer type). Right now, it just seems like Jason needs to up his organizing skills.

I gotta give it to Pasquale; he does a good job creating two characters in one body and you buy it, even as you dismiss the whole thing as plausible.

And that's the thing: "Do No Harm" lives up to its name. It's watchable. It won't kill you but it won't make your brain stronger.

Television audiences usually have little trouble embracing anti-heroes who are greedy mobsters, murderous gun-runners or ruthless drug lords. We like Tony Soprano and Walter White! (Well, for a few seasons, at least.) But are we ready to root for Soviet spies bent on destroying America during the early 1980s Cold War? Does it help that we know they don't succeed?

It's something you may ask yourself while watching "The Americans," a new FX drama debuting Wednesday night at 10. The show follows two married Soviet spies who pose as D.C. suburbanites while engaging in dangerous missions to do harm to the good ole U-S of A.

The double-life-leading spies, played by Keri Russell ("Felicity") and Matthew Rhys ("Brothers & Sisters"), are already under enough spy-related stress when an FBI counterintelligence agent -- a spy-catcher -- moves in across the street from them.

Coincidence? Probably, but that doesn't mean the couple is safe after the agent's spy-dar goes off during a casual house-warming visit. In fact, some of the tenser moments of the first two episodes involve such neighborly encounters.

Russell and Rhys are both very good in "The Americans," with Russell's Elizabeth Jennings being the tougher, far more serious partner in the thorny arranged marriage. Her husband Philip, though a capable operative, has gotten a little too comfortable with the trappings of the American lifestyle, and perhaps has gone a teensy bit soft (i.e. he's slightly less murderous). Philip would probably be just as happy to give up the spy game and chauffeur their two kids back and forth to soccer practice and school dances. Elizabeth would likely rat him out as a traitor.

The clashes between the couple, which are both personal and professional, are almost as interesting as their battles with defectors and their handling of valuable assets (often very innocent people) who can help them get information from high-ranking members of the American government.

It's a smart, engrossing drama with a fair enough dose of action to keep viewers from getting bored during the draggier parts. There are moments of real suspense, but most of the squirms come when you catch yourself hoping the bad guys trying to destroy the country don't get caught by the good guys hot (or at least warm) on their trail.

You'll have to figure that one out on your own...

"The Americans" debuts Wednesday night at 10 on FX. Note: The premiere episode runs 97 minutes. Encore episodes air at 11:37 p.m. and 1:14 a.m.

If the concept for "Built" (9 tonight, Style network) didn't already exist, someone would have created it, like when they create boy bands.

The show follows five New York models/handy men who work for Hott and Handy, an actual company that hires gorgeous men to do home makeovers. So, in one show you get fashion, home design (and the accompanying drama that comes from difficult/strange/ clients, and sex. If they traveled to other countries to do work, "Built" might be the perfect reality show.

As it is, it's a nice diversion. The five guys include founder Shane, who manages the workers; Kim, the lone woman, is the designer on projects. There's Sandy, who used to be an aeronautical engineer but gave that up for modeling; pompadour-wearing Donny, who's a bit dim but also funny; scarf-wearing Gage, and Mike, who we get to see in a pair of Calvin Klein skivvies in the first episode.

We also meet client Adina, a self-described gaudy (OK, gaudy is my word, she says over-the-top) Barbie who lives in a mansion in New Jersey and needs a closet for all the clothes her lawyer husband has bought her, including a special space for her thousands of dollars worth of handbags. You might find her awful when you first meet her, but in the end, she's not bad. And wait till you see what the Hott and Handy crew do to her attic space.

"Built" is pretty straight forward in its intent: it's going to get Hott and Handy a lot of business, it's going to get some women fantasizing about their handy man (and maybe reignite the handy man role play game with the hubby), and it's going to make you smile a little without doing any permanent damage to your brain cells or your sense of worth.