Outlaw

Smits' charisma, plus the fact that future episodes promise more intellectually involving stories, bode well for this series.

Outlaw isn't bad as much as bogus. The whole faulty premise creaks and groans under the weight of a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't shell game, as key plot points zip by, then are quickly tucked back under their shell in the vain hope you won't remember them, or maybe take them at face value.

It could work with better writing and a more grounded characterization, but instead the show just lurches between tones, and the lead performance, between Smits having a lark as a rascally rebel and Smits in high-dudgeon mode

An impatience with subtlety is one of the problems with the first episode of Outlaw--the plot points and the performances are overblown, too obvious and too cute.

However you view it--mediocre "House" rip-off, improbable law show or "Like Father, Like Son 2: Judicial Boogaloo"--you have to like Jimmy Smits an awful lot to make Outlaw a Friday appointment. I'm as devoted an "NYPD Blue" fan as they come, and even I'm not willing to make that leap.

So it will continue to be ludicrous. And that's without mentioning the predictability, cliches like kryptonite and emotional pandering. Here's hoping next season, Smits gets to play a cop again.

NBC's idiotic drama, Outlaw, is so bad it should be listed as a Class A felony.