TV reviews: Dramas are new, ideas are recycled

The Whole Truth: Drama. 10 p.m. Wed. on ABC.

My Generation: Drama. 8 p.m. Thurs. on ABC.

Blue Bloods: Drama. 10 p.m. Fri. on CBS.

With five new dramas airing in the next three days, now might be the perfect time to talk about familiarity, if not contempt.

See, the quality of much of the scripted content on television has achieved a level where the merely good shows would have, at one point, been outstanding. Now? Meh. Rarely - maybe 20 percent of the time - do you see a drama so poorly done that it makes you want to bludgeon it back to the dark ages of, say, the late 1980s. The question then is whether familiarity is acceptable when it's packaged in a mildly satisfying but mostly perfunctory hour.

You'll have to be the judge for these five hours, but only one of them, "Blue Bloods," looks to be worth your time, and that's only because it airs on Friday nights, when there are fewer alternatives.

Time constraints - the enemy of mediocrity.

That said, you have to give credit to NBC for creating "Undercovers," a series that instantly reminds you - to the detriment of television - that few series are fronted by minorities, much less two of them. They are Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe, playing married spies, Steven and Samantha Bloom. They are both gorgeous. They speak multiple languages (in real life he's from Austria, she's from England, and their American accents are impeccable). Their characters are in love. They kiss. They have sex. They save the day. That shouldn't be a big deal in 2010 and yet, here we are. That achievement aside, "Undercovers" is basically a more romantic version of "Alias" (and this one, like that one, is executive-produced by J.J. Abrams).

It's light but predictable fun and airs at the family-friendly hour of 8 p.m., even though lots of people die in the pilot. Even with all that gunplay, "Undercovers" proceeds slowly, emphasizes witty banter and, if you miss "Moonlighting" and, duh, "Alias," this could be a fine alternative, even though it won't surprise you.

"The Defenders" is a CBS legal drama starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell - wait, wait, don't stop reading! - that apparently isn't aware that something similar happened way back in 1961. Never mind that, this is totally different. Belushi and O'Connell are two jokers who love the law and practice in Las Vegas and ... oh, forget it. The show is lousy.

"The Whole Truth," which airs opposite "The Defenders" on ABC, is less lousy. And ABC is free to use that in whatever advertising campaign it can imagine. "Less lousy than the competition!" Wait, that's probably not true either, because "Law & Order: Los Angeles" is going to be in that time slot as well and you know, no matter what you say and no matter how much shame is heaped upon you, there's a very good chance you'll take a look at that one. One word: familiarity.

So maybe "The Whole Truth" - which stars Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney as a defense attorney and a prosecutor respectively - is only the second-best show in the time slot. That's not something to be proud of, but then again, recycling ideas is not for the meek. Translation: It's a legal series you've seen before.

Who wants another faux documentary? Didn't think so. But how about this time if it was a drama, not a comedy? Didn't think so. And yet, if you're really young and you haven't seen a lot of television remade endlessly like some mashed-up Play-Doh bits, "My Generation's" idea, of a documentary film crew that follows a high school graduating class in 2000 and revisits the cliche-heavy, stereotypical bunch in 2010 won't make you roll your eyes and get sick on your shirt. Everyone else - bibs on!

Last, "Blue Bloods" is about a multigenerational family of New York cops headed by the still-riveting Tom Selleck and the always reliable Donnie Wahlberg. It airs Fridays, where the pickings are slim. It's a rote cop show, but in the last five minutes or so, it hints at something deeper. Translation: There's hope. It may not be as good as ABC's cop series "Detroit 1-8-7," but if that ending hints at the kind of subterfuge it seems to, then maybe it won't be so familiar after all. And wouldn't that be a nice change?

E-mail Tim Goodman at tgoodman@sfchronicle.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/bastardmachine.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle