TVSquad

I have to admit that I judged Jeff Goldblum's new show, Raines, before I even saw it. When I heard the plot description that was scattered about on the web several months ago, I think I actually sighed. Another show about an investigator who speaks to ghosts? Why had this become such a hot genre, like westerns or sitcoms many years ago? Did we really need another one, no matter what big name they had for the lead?

Well, I have to eat my words.

Raines is the new quirky detective drama starring Jeff Goldblum. It's going to premiere in the Thursday at 10pm slot that ER currently occupies (side note: why was last night's ER a repeat when the rest of NBC's lineup was brand new?). The two episodes will air on March 15th and 30th. The show then goes into its regular time slot, Friday nights at 9pm.

Goldblum plays a detective that "sees" the victims of murder and they help him solve the crime. Now, contrary to earlier reports, these aren't ghosts a la Ghost Whisperer or Medium. These are actually hallucinations that the detective is seeing, but they help him piece together the puzzle of the crime. Yes, it sounds like the guy is legally insane, but he solves crimes.

The show will co-star Matt Craven, Linda Park, Madeleine Stowe, and Remi Boyer.

Names like Regina King, Madeleine Stowe, Christine Taylor and Jonathan Silverman should add some clout to all sorts of dramas and comedies being planned by the networks for next fall.

Here is the latest casting news from The Hollywood Reporter: