TVSquad

Imagine, for a minute, Ally McBeal without the lovable zaniness and delicious special effects - and set in a fertility clinic instead of a law firm. And there you have it. Complete with women walking in the men's room to finish their arguments and gorgeous mini-stars, Inconceivable is a tour de fertility, complete with improbably overdramatic clients and scenarios ripped from the headlines (of Star).

 It's not all malpractice suits and sexual intrigue, of course. There's some all-important character setup. First we have the sexy-yet-serious Ming Na, as Rachel Lu, whose character on ER was OH-so-much better. We learn that she is an attorney and the co-founder of the firm. She became all hot-and-bothered about fertility when she herself was artificially inseminated so she could become a single parent.

Then there's Jonathan Cakeman as the other co-founder, the sexually insecure and promiscuous Dr. Bowers. He's arrogant, he's platitudinous, he's got a wickedly lovely British accent. His opening-credits mistake: he implants an embryo in a surrogate who had sex (with a black guy, natch) four days before. Whoops. Her one-night stand results in a baby, and the couple is headed straight to the deposition table. Will they adopt little Mr. Mixed Race? Or will they shut down the practice?

Finally, we have the no-nonsense always-mom, Alfre Woodward. She plays psychologist Lydia Crawford, and she always has the right answer to every moral dilemma, whether on the job or at the bowling alley. She's the one who solves the messy inter-racial not-surrogate-after-all baby situation - she contacts the unknowing father, who of course falls in love the instant he comes to meet his baby.

Despite the obvious bizarro issue of the maternity ward and nursery attached to the fertility clinic (umm, the doctors who GET you pregnant are entirely separate from the ones that deliver the baby. kay?), the show wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. But where is Angie Harmon? Her mug is all over the marketing stuff for the show. Ah, here she is, the long-lost love interest of Dr. Bowers. She's the only one who can do a cyto-plasmic transfer. And Dr. Bowers needs her help. She's obviously going to, but we're not going to find out this episode.

And aha! In a diabolical move that was entirely foreshadowed, nurse Patrice - who's not getting enough love from Dr. Bowers - decides to sneak some of his sperm (thankfully, the cameras don't show us exactly how) and switch it with the sperm belonging to the reverend, whose wife is having lots of trouble getting pregnant. Will she successfully inseminate Mrs. Reverend with Dr. Bowers' sperm? Will the mystery figure behind the blinds turn her in to her boss? Will the baby come out with an English accent? Hah! All we know for sure is that Angie Harmon is going to worm her Texas-accented, stilletto-heeled self into the clinic. And I give this show half a season before cancellation - it's the star power - unless I'm wrong. I guess it could be the next Crossing Jordan...