NBC unveils five new series next week, hoping to climb out of the ratings basement they found themselves in post-Must See TV. We’ll be reviewing each of these series this week, providing our opinion on whether or not they’re worth your time.

Outlaw

Starring: Jimmy Smits, David Ramsey, Ellen Woglom, Carly Pope, Jesse Bradford

Jimmy Smits leads a new team of legal eagles

Another legal show? Yes, complete with soap boxes to climb on and speeches designed to ring through the Hallowed Halls of Justice. Well, at least it has a likable cast. Although Outlaw isn’t anything all that new – in fact, I got a distinct A Few Good Men vibe more than once – I was drawn to Jimmy Smits’ character, Cyrus Garza, a Supreme Court Justice who quits his job to go back to practicing law after an existential crisis leaves him believing the justice system is flawed. He’s charming and just enough of a rogue to be entertaining, even when forced into lame setups and bland dialogue.

I’m also a fan of Carly Pope (Popular) and was excited to see her back on my screen as one of Garza’s assistants, Lucinda. She’s once again playing a rebel (those brunettes, they can’t be tamed) and is a little over the top with her antics, but I’m hoping she settles down into an interesting supporting player. Her interaction with Jesse Bradford’s Eddie (the requisite by-the-book guy on the team) is feisty and ought to provide some good stories if explored. Ellen Woglom’s Mereta, another assistant, makes a surprising confession in the pilot that I both applauded for it’s straight-forwardness and wondered how it would impact the series’ relationships in later episodes.

Overall, this is a somewhat generic series with potentially diverting characters. It’s unclear from the pilot if this will be a character-driven series, however, so what I liked about it may not be the focus. I’ll tune in for a couple more episodes and see which direction it goes before making my final ruling.

Outlaw premieres Wednesday, September 17 at 10/9c on NBC, then moves to Fridays at 10/9c.

Bottom line: Not Must See TV, but worth checking out.