“Glee”
Tuesday 8pm, Fox
A pop-culture backlash is imminent, if not already here, and with good reason. While “Glee” has many wonderful qualities—great cast, novel idea, crack-addictive musical numbers—it has giant, glaring flaws. The characters are almost all caricatures, the plotting ranges from the maudlin to the nonsensical, and the showrunners have the narrative focus of a fruit fly. I am concerned that all of these problems will be exacerbated as we start Season 2, as we’re reportedly about to get even more new characters (a foreign-exchange student, a new football coach, a boyfriend for Kurt), more guest stars to distract from the overstuffed cast (John Stamos, Carol Burnett, Javier Bardem, and—spit—Susan Boyle are all rumored), and stunt episodes devoted to Britney Spears and Rocky Horror. Just tell the story of the glee club! And make music I want to download! That’s all I ask. And will someone please do something about Lea Michele’s bangs?
“Running Wilde”
Tuesday 9:30pm, Fox
I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, I want Gob and Felicity to have steady work. On the other, Alec Baldwin is reportedly leaving “30 Rock” at the end of the season, and I need Will Arnett to be available so that his character Devon Banks can permanently torment Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon on that show. But I’m being greedy. This new sitcom could be great on its own, even with that awful title. “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz concocted the premise, about a rich, spoiled asshole (Arnett) trying to woo his do-gooder former childhood flame (Keri Russell), told through the eyes of her preteen daughter. The pilot was reshot to make it, well, funny, and to add “AD” alum David Cross to the cast, which I support.
“Undercovers”
Wednesday 8pm, NBC
It’s another spy series from J.J. Abrams, but expect fewer “Alias”-type conspiracy theories and more “Hart to Hart”-style sexy teamwork. Make that very sexy teamwork, as leads Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are almost criminally attractive. It just shouldn’t be legal to walk around the planet looking that good. They play Steven and Samantha Bloom, a pair of former operatives turned restaurateurs who are lured back to the spy game by their gruff handler, played by “Major Dad” himself, Gerald McRaney. The term “sexpionage” is bandied about a lot, but don’t let that deter you. This has all the ingredients for a fun, flirty ride.
