The TV Column

From the airy to the epic, new shows dish it up

Hillary Duff and Sutton Foster of TV Land's new comedy Younger.
Hillary Duff and Sutton Foster of TV Land's new comedy Younger.

The cute, the quirky and the conflict -- something debuts tonight for just about everybody. Here they are in order.

Younger, 9 p.m. today on TV Land. Darren Star has made a nice career writing about soapy relationships, especially relationships between women. His ladies of Sex and the City blazed trails. Before that, Star created Melrose Place and co-created Beverly Hills, 90210.

Juicy stuff all.

Now he brings us Younger, the cute tale of 40-year-old Liza (Sutton Foster), a suddenly single mother who tries to get back into the workplace, only to find it's nearly impossible to start at entry level at her advanced age.

Being interviewed for a job by self-possessed 20-somethings doesn't help her confidence.

Then one evening Liza has a chance encounter at a bar with the sexy Josh (Nico Tortorella), a young tattoo artist, who believes the youthful-looking Liza is in her 20s. "It was dark and he'd been drinking," Liza explains to her best friend Maggie (Debi Mazar).

Maggie, who is a lesbian and therefore "an expert" on women, believes that Liza could pull it off and gives her a youthful makeover.

Darned if it doesn't work, and Liza is hired as an assistant to the querulous Diana (Miriam Shor). More importantly, the job teams Liza with 20-something co-worker Kelsey (Hilary Duff). Now Liza just has to make sure no one discovers her secret.

All the credit (or blame) for this sweet and entertaining series will go to Star. He not only created the series, he's the executive producer, writes it and directed all 12 episodes of the first season.

Expect Star's signature style -- multi-dimensional characters, layered plot lines and witty dialogue.

Of course, because it's TV Land, that means some of the cast will be seasoned veterans. We loved Foster as Michelle Simms in Amy Sherman-Palladino's ABC Family 2012 series Bunheads. That series was woefully under-appreciated.

Mazar, 50, has had steady TV work since 1984 and Civil Wars. She had a recurring role in L.A. Law and starred in Working, That's Life and Entourage. If you don't know her name, you'll recognize her mesmerizing ice-blue eyes.

And the 27-year-old Duff has been a television fixture since she starred as Lizzie McGuire on the Disney Channel (2001-04).

Naturally, Duff has no problem pulling off being in her 20s, but can Foster make you believe? In real life, the two-time Tony winner (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes) is 40. But it's all about the attitude.

Weird Loners, 8:30 p.m. today on Fox. This new sitcom isn't going to reinvent comedy, but viewers might find it quirky enough to revisit.

The series' four loners (all weird in their own way) are Caryn, Stosh, Eric and Zara, played (in order) by Becki Newton (Ugly Betty), Zachary Knighton (Happy Endings), Nate Torrence (Hello Ladies) and relatively unknown off-Broadway actress Meera Rohit Kumbhani.

Fox hopes to tap into the New Girl vibe in this tale of relationship-challenged singles in their mid-30s who are unexpectedly thrown together in a Queens, N.Y., townhouse.

The series comes from the creator of The King of Queens and the executive producer of New Girl, so expect adult themes.

Based on what I've seen, the six-episode first season won't be enough to get these characters to gel. Individually they have their moments, but the New Girl chemistry is missing. We'll see if Fox gives the show time to find its footing.

The Dovekeepers, 8 p.m. today and Wednesday on CBS. This is the latest in a gaggle of biblical dramas to arrive during the Easter season. It's no coincidence this historical tale of conflict kicks off following NCIS, since one of the stars is Chilean-American actress Cote de Pablo, who played the beloved Ziva David on that drama.

The two-night, four-hour event from biblical epic masters Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (The Bible, A.D.) is based on the 2011 novel by Alice Hoffman and tells the true tale of the 900 Jews who were besieged by the Romans at Masada in AD 70. The Jews held out for months against terrible odds.

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) portrays first-century Jewish scholar and historian Josephus, and Diego Boneta (Underemployed) is a star warrior of the Jewish army.

De Pablo, Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards) and Kathryn Prescott (Finding Carter) are the titular keepers of the doves. The story is told from their intertwining perspectives. Each conceals deep secrets.

For those who know their history, the siege of Masada does not end well for the Jews and Burnett and Downey wring every last ounce of melodrama out of the story. Perhaps too much.

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Style on 03/31/2015

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