Christopher Gorham

CHICAGO – Two of cable’s sexiest shows return tonight with the season premieres of USA’s “White Collar” and “Covert Affairs,” airing back-to-back at 8pm and 9pm CST, respectively. Whatever one can say critically about these inconsistent programs, it’s impossible to deny the fact that women swoon for Matt Bomer and men drool over Piper Perabo.

CHICAGO – In the mid-season premiere of “Covert Affairs,” Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) is learning what it’s like to be alone. The fact is that CIA Operatives don’t have many friends. It’s too dangerous for both sides of the relationship. How can you keep your friends and family around when you know they could get killed? And what do you when it’s your very family who you learn you can’t trust?

CHICAGO – In an era where America’s budget concerns are front and center, a TV series celebrating the awesomeness of the CIA seems a bit ill-timed. Piper Perabo portrays an undercover operative in the second season premiere of USA Network’s “Covert Affairs.”

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: TV, we have one prize pack up for grabs for USA Network’s “Covert Affairs” with Piper Perabo from the producer of “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”!

CHICAGO – “If you join the CIA, will you be able to separate your work from your personal life?” Such is the dilemma of “Covert Affairs,” a show about a tough-as-nails agent named Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) that conceptually seems to fit snugly into the USA Network model of hit, character-driven mysteries, but it’s going to take some serious work to improve on a deeply-flawed premiere.

CHICAGO – I’m still a little miffed that the “Harper’s Island” experiment didn’t work out for CBS. The show was far from perfect, but I still like the idea of a limited series with a predetermined beginning, middle, and end. Sadly, no one tuned in to watch “Harper’s Island” on CBS but the guilty pleasure could have a second life on DVD.

Television Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I’ve been looking forward to “Harper’s Island” for months. Last summer, CBS sent out a brief preview with some actors who would eventually be recast (including Bill Pullman) that laid out the general idea of this modern take on Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians”. The concept of a 13-week mystery featuring beautiful people getting whacked week to week was definitely intriguing. Now that I’ve seen the premiere, the bubble has burst.