Fall TV: ABC becomes predictable

In our ongoing fall TV project, I picked two new ABC shows, "Detroit 1-8-7" and "Better With You."

"Better With You" is a comedy airing Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. It stars Jennifer Finnigan and Joanna Garcia as sisters in two different stages of their relationships. Finnigan's Maddie is happily unmarried to her boyfriend of nine years Ben, while Garcia's Mia is rushing into marriage after just seven weeks with the out there Casey.

Maddie and Ben over think and thoroughly plan everything which makes them predictable and a little too crazy. Mia and Casey are the generic young, spontaneous couple, which also makes them really predictable.

What saves this show from becoming a mediocre mess is Kurt Fuller and Debra Jo Rupp as the girl's parents. Their comedic timing and experience makes every scene they're in better and lifts the quality of the whole show.

For the show to get better it needs to make the couples and jokes less predictable.

On Tuesdays at 10 p.m. the cop drama "Detroit 1-8-7" tries to blend the grittiness of "NYPD Blue" with the feel of "Southland." It has a stellar cast that includes Michael Imperioli, James McDaniel and Aisha Hinds.

Unfortunately, the best thing about this show is the soundtrack. It tries a little too hard to be edgy and ends up coming off as a by the book procedural.

Compared to "Sons of Anarchy" which airs at the same time on FX, this show is about as edgy as an episode of "Glee."

The ratings weren't great, but I don't think ABC has anything to replace it with. However, I wouldn't get too attached.