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From the FBI agents and con men of White Collar, to the lawyers and hustlers of Suits and the petulant pro-ball players and their shrink of Necessary Roughness, the USA network has brought together a diverse and engaging team of characters and series to fill their stable of adult dramas. All three series return to finish their current seasons in January, and that is good news for fans who need relief from the dreary bleakness that comes between Christmas and Valentine's Day.
Suits, Season 3 Premieres Thursday, January 17 at 10:00 pm ET.
The first of six new episodes of the lawyer drama Suits premieres on USA on Thursday, January 17 at 10:00 pm ET. Fans of the series are eager to see this set which will bring its second season to a close. While there have been, still are and most certainly will be many shows about lawyers, Suits is unique in that it pairs up a traditional, top-flight, high-powered corporate lawyer with a street-smart hustler who just pretends he graduated from law school.
Gabriel Macht is the real Harvard lawyer, Harvey Specter and Patrick J. Adams is Mike Ross, the brilliant dropout hustler with the secret past. Together they make for an unconventional yet effective team, and one that brings a special edginess and energy to what could have been just another legal eagle buddy show. Gina Torres (of Firefly fame) adds both outward professional and suppressed sexual tension as well as an icy heat to the mix as Jessica Pearson, the managing partner of the firm for which they all work.
Season one served to set the stage and introduce the perpetrators of this illegal legal conspiracy, and spiced up the courtroom drama with office romances. Season two so far has focused on the battle for control of the firm, which Jessica regained thanks to the efforts of Harvey and Patrick in exposing her rival for using a forged document to temporarily take power. The cliffhanger of the first half of the season involved Mike hooking up with an old girlfriend after his grandmother's death, a tryst that threatens to destroy his blossoming relationship with a co-worker, paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle).
Necessary Roughness, Season 2 Continues Wednesday, January 23 at 10:00 pm ET.
At 10:00 pm ET on Wednesday, January 23 Necessary Roughness resumes its second season with sports psychotherapist Dr. Dani Santino (Callie Thorne) trying to deal with the egos and problems of the fictional New York Hawks football team while also raising two teenagers as a single mom. As crazy a premise as this seems, it is all based (albeit loosely) on the memoirs of New York Jets' therapist Dr. Donna Dannenfelser. This could easily have devolved into a sitcom, but while occasionally funny, it is a semi-serious drama, as the issues it deals with are real -or at least seem real to those in the sports world.
Dr. Dani has a love interest, the team's athletic trainer Matt Donnally (Marc Blucas), and works closely with the chief of security for the squad, ex-Navy SEAL Nico Careles (Scott Cohen). The trio comes together to keep the Hawks' star player, T.K. King (Mehcad Brooks), from spiraling out of control, a process made very difficult by his weaknesses for abusing drugs, dating loose women and spending money like there is no tomorrow. They also have to help him deal with the trauma of being shot during a victory party and other issues that have made the team's star football player as much a liability as an asset.
This is not Friday Night Lights, but it attracts at least some of that audience, as well as any sports fans who follow, care about or are at least amused by the often childish antics of supposedly professional athletes like T.K. (whose character is said to be based on former NFL great Terrell Owens).
White Collar, Season 4 Continues Tuesday, January 23 at 10:00 pm ET.
With a fifth season already scheduled for this summer, viewers who enjoy the partnership of FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) and con man and criminal turned informant and mob-buster Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) have a lot to look forward to this year. This love fest begins at 10:00 pm ET on Tuesday, January 22 with the concluding episodes of season four of White Collar.
Much like the Tom Hanks – Leonardo DiCaprio team at the end of Catch Me If You Can, DeKay and Bomer work together to bring the bad guys to justice by using their knowledge of how criminals work against them. Matt Bomer's character is no mob thug: he is both street-smart and cultured, even if most of what he learned about art, wine and the finer things in life was self-taught. Tim DeKay is more of the white knight type - a dedicated family man with high moral fiber and a strong commitment to enforcing the law of the land. Of course, having Tiffani Amber Thiessen of Saved By the Bell and 90210 fame as his wife Elizabeth, does make life much easier for the crusading FBI lawman.
Willie Garson as Mozzie, a mobster turned stooge because of his close friendship with Caffrey, adds both humor and humanity to the partnership between Neal and Peter. A con man as well as conspiracy theory junkie, Mozzie is also a constant reminder to Neal of the life he left behind now that he has gone straight.
