Grinand

The pilot for "Shark" was directed by Spike Lee. I honestly couldn't tell. There's nothing about it that is particularly cinematic or edgy.

But the premise is pretty neat. A highly paid, highly successful defense lawyer - James Woods - is forced into service on the other side of the barrister. He is now a district attorney for the state of California. Plus, he's asked to go after the same celebrities he used to defend.

So the episode plots of "Shark" could have it both ways - indulge in the scintillating glitz and seedy glamour of Hollywood while simultaneously bringing those sinners down every week. All with a great, snarky, brash anti-hero.

Unfortunately, the last third of the pilot started to get a little sappy and predictable (the main character begins to soften a little too quickly for my taste, no doubt helped by his unrealistically wise and aware daughter), but I still have hope.

I disagree with the other poster's subject heading. This is definitely not the best pilot for 06-07 season. That would be "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Still, I should confess that I hate Paul Haggis with an irrational fire. "Crash" was a ridiculous film and just thinking about it and the fact that it won Best Picture still gets me angry.

But I have to admit, his television show ain't half bad. The pilot builds slowly - too slowly - but ends on an absolutely terrific high note. I don't care that the high note is completely cribbed from "The Godfather" - it still gave me chills.

And the main character in "The Black Donnelly's" (one of four Irish brothers living in Hell's Kitchen) is instantly engaging. You will completely empathize with him, which makes the ending that much more effective.

The pilot also has a nice twist. I would at least give this one a chance.

This show mixes the missing persons angle of "Without A Trace" with the season-long plot of "24." The hero - played by Jeremy Sisto - is somewhat appealing, but definitely no Jack Bauer... yet the show seems to be built around him in the same way "24" is built around Jack. By pilot's end, I didn't really know that much about him, except for the fact that he hates cops and doesn't think they do a good job of finding people. There is an interesting line in there about how the cops have two objectives when seeking a missing child - to find the kid but also to catch the bad guy, which can sometimes get in the way of the first goal. Jeremy Sisto - Cain - only concentrates on getting the kid back.

Anyway, this show would be sufficiently entertaining if Cain found a new kid every episode, but he's only finding one kid over the course of an entire season. The pilot didn't leave me confident that this particular case is complex and dramatic enough to sustain interest that long. Kind of like the first season of "Murder One." I might give the second episode a chance, but I'm not too excited about it.