Angie Harmon is a likable actress who hasn't been able to find the role to vault her out of "That woman from Law & Order who married the white cornerback" status. Sadly, her new show, TNT's "Rizzoli and Isles", doesn't look like it's going to be the breakout that she's been waiting for. The premiere did great with viewers, becoming the second biggest cable series launch of all-time (according to Deadline Hollywood) but that's not a sure sign of success; the #1 cable series launch of all-time was "Raising the Bar", the TNT Mark-Paul Gosselar legal drama that didn't even make it to a third season. And if the rest of the shows are like the pilot, "Rizzoli and Isles" should probably be put out to pasture even sooner.

To put it plainly, "Rizzoli and Isles" just isn't a good TV show. The pacing is off, the direction amateurish, the editing haphazard, and while a few jokes land, the writing is borderline nonsensical. The show never really got off the ground but what really had me thinking that it was an outright crash-and-burn was a scene in which, after uncovering out a break that could help unmask the unknown serial killer who had killed two people and broken his serial-killing mentor out of prison, the FBI agent says that he'll check it in the morning and then proceeds to ask Rizzoli if she wants to go to dinner. And Rizzoli, who had been attacked and almost killed by the serial-killing mentor, is cool with it and starts to weigh her dinner options. And the entire show was like that. Four people had been murdered and everyone was focused on protecting Rizzoli from her Hannibal Lecter rip-off of an adversary. (Which is another thing; the entire show had a film of been there, done that over it, right down to the opening credits and the cheap sound-alike version of The Departed's "I'm Shipping Up to Boston".

However, the rather ho-hum approach to the case wasn't even the most mind boggling part of the show. No, what really made no sense was how a show called "Rizzoli and Isles" could do such a horrific job of establishing the relationship between the two lead characters. Not only do the two lead actresses have zero chemistry but they barely have personalities besides the archetypal tomboy cop and nerdy forensic scientist. Imagine Bones without any personality or chemistry and you start to have Rizzoli and Isles.
But it gets worse. At the end of the show, viewers still aren't even really sure what their relationship is. One moment, it seems like Rizzoli doesn't really know Isles and then the next, the two are lying next to each other like they are besties at a sleepover. There are hints of an odd couple element but nothing ever comes of it, except for one awkward argument.

Of course, things could get better. The show is based on a book series and the pilot was trying to cram two books worth of material into one hour. Perhaps the characters' relationships will be better fleshed out in the next show and maybe they'll have a case in which they actually uncover some useful evidence. I'll give the show one more chance but I'm expecting that, by this time next week, Rizzoli and Isles to be deleted from the DVR season pass.

Hopefully, things will work out better for Terriers. While fast forwarding through the ads during Louie, I saw flashes of title cards for the show but never watched the actual ads. Well, it's not like I missed much since it's just a teaser but the show is executively produced by The Shield's Shawn Ryan so I'll give it a shot.