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I hate James Woods. I hate the snide, know-it-all character he always plays. I hate those devil-eyes of his that seem to shiv your ribs while you watch him screech his way through his roles*. All that being said, when you cast him as blood-sucking, high profile, defense attorney, he’s just about perfect.

In comparison to the just-awful Justice, which covers basically the same kind of “law” (that kind being the high profile anything-for-a-win kind), Shark at least seems to have some sort of conscious about things. Woods plays Sebastian Stark (because y’know, calling him Sebastian “Shark” would just be too silly), a confident defense-attorney who switches sides after a troubling outcome on one of his cases. That’s right! A defense attorney turning the tables on the system!

Everything here is by the numbers, luckily the show doesn’t take itself all that seriously (he has a courtroom built in his basement to practice — he claims to have the bench from “To Kill A Mockingbird” and Ito’s gavel) and thus the hour is mostly a fun time. The series even gives Mr. Stark some plot-lines revolving around his home-life and his daughter giving us a bit more than your typical law-procedural.

This isn’t Perry Mason or Matlock or hell, even Ally McBeal, but it isn’t an entirely unpleasant way to spend a hour on a nondescript Thursday evening.

Shark premieres on CBS Thursday, September 21st at 10:00pm et.

*With the exception being his role as the father in The Virgin Suicides, which I found delightfully understated.

I can’t write much, as I’m about to leave for work, but it must be stated sooner than later that Justice, the new courtroom drama on FOX (which premiered last night), is not just bad, but makes you question your own reasoning for watching television in the first place. And no, Victor Garber doesn’t make it worth while in the end.

The series is about a law firm that handles high profile cases. They make no bones about it, they’re hired to get you off (well, that may cost a little something extra). They don’t care if you’re guilty or innocent. You’re paying for innocence and that’s what they plan on delivering. I’m all for moral ambiguity, but there gets to be a point where someone, somewhere needs to take a stand. The series is a procedural in the same way CSI is (all style no substance… also both Jerry Bruckheimer productions). This means it gives you little in terms of character backgrounds (both in terms of the legal team and the defendant).

So we know nothing about any of these people, and we’re suppose to root for the guy to not be convicted of the crime. Right? Then, the big twist is in the end, after the jury has given their decision, the audience (us) gets to see what actually happened on the night of the crime. Why? So we can walk away feeling happy that we hadn’t just spent an hour rooting for a killer, or so we can walk away feeling hopeless that we had just spent an hour rooting for a killer, or… what is this show saying?

Bottom line: it’s on Wednesday’s at nine. So is Lost. You decide.