TVSquad

We're in the middle of pilot season right now, and of the approximately 9000 different shows all fighting to be part of this fall's network schedule (as long as they aren't put up against American Idol), a handful have shown promise, some even more than was expected. Here's the buzz:

Dirty Sexy Money is at the top of the list. The ABC drama stars Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, and William Baldwin and is about a lawyer who defends rich New Yorkers. It also has a title that catches your attention. Marlowe, the new modern take on the Raymond Chandler hero on ABC, is getting better than expected reviews. Other shows that look like winners: FOX's Action News, with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, ABC's Football Wives, and an untitled CBS drama starring Jimmy Smits.

Viva Laughlin, a musical produced by Hugh Jackman and based on the British series Blackpool, is also getting good early buzz, but I don't know. A weekly musical drama? Hmmm...

There's a scene in Woody Allen's Manhattan in which he makes a list of all the things worth living for -- the Jupiter Symphony, Groucho Marx, his ex-girlfriend's face, etc. Whenever I make my list of reasons not to end it all, hard-boiled detective fiction always makes the list - books by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Patricia Highsmith; films like The Crack-Up, Detour and The Big Sleep. So, I reacted with a mixture of excitement and trepidation when I read that ABC will be reviving Chandler's most famous creation - Philip Marlowe - for TV.