Saving Grace

Both "The Closer" and Saving Grace are at the top of their games in tonight's premiere episodes.

Writer/creator Nancy Miller ("Any Day Now") imbues the show with touches both subtle and a little overwrought but the divine "Grace" still offers stronger characters and better stories than many other summer series.

All told, this series is pleasantly unexpected, taking chances on TNT when it seemed the channel's DNA wouldn't permit that level of risk. If the writing continues to hold up, viewers could be in for a better ride than the one Hunter is already taking them on by herself.

A strange feeling came over me when I was watching the Season 2 premiere of Saving Grace. I actually wished that the episode was longer.

Self-consciously edgy while flirting with cosmic schmaltz, Saving Grace is overdone, but not run-of-the-mill.

The ensemble company, including the always-wonderful Laura San Giacomo, who plays her friend, never misses a beat. Too bad this series--which tries too hard--misses a stanza or two.

We're left with a heap of hocus-pocus that will offend some viewers and seem pretentious or silly to others.