More midseason TV: Early reviews

[WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.]

Just in time for those of you still figuring out your new midseason viewing schedule, Entertainment Weekly weighs in on several new series and season premieres popping up over the next few days. Below, excerpts about what to see and what to skip (get more in the upcoming issue of EW, on stands Friday):

Jennifer Armstrong on ABC’s new sitcom Emily’s Reasons Why Not (debuting Monday, Jan. 9, at 9 p.m.): ”Emily (Heather Graham, pictured with Matthew Marsden) comes off as a regressed teenager who calls physical chemistry ‘the flutter-flutter’ and doesn’t notice that a man with whom she’s been on several dates has yet to kiss her.” C-

Lynette Rice on the new season of FX’s The Shield (premiering Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 10 p.m.): With the addition of Forest Whitaker as an internal affairs officer hellbent on taking down Vic (Michael Chiklis, left), ”television’s most compelling cop serial has figured out a way to make up for the loss of Glenn Close and Anthony Anderson.” A

Whitney Pastorek on UPN’s new sudser South Beach (debuting Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m.): ”It’s The O.C. meets Miami Vice, the MTV Video Music Awards, and Models Inc., plus a dash of Hamlet for flow. It’s also not all that good.” C+

Nicholas Fonseca on ABC’s new Thursday-night series Crumbs (debuting Thursday, Jan. 12, at 9:30 p.m.): ”Fred Savage’s new sitcom is airing directly opposite NBC’s divine The Office, which is a shame, because Crumbs has promise… [It’s] fizzier than its laugh track suggests.” B

After the jump: Blurbs about the new seasons of The L Word, Beauty and the Geek, and Battlestar Galactica, plus the debuting AMC series Hustle.

Abby West on the new season of Showtime’s The L Word(premiering Sunday, Jan. 8, at 10 p.m.): For the most part, ”the girlsare still dealing with the everday problems of being gay and fabulous– which looks a lot like straight and dull. Witness new parents Betteand Tina: sexless, argumentative, and more than a little boring.” B-

Gillian Flynn on the season 2 of The WB’s reality show Beauty and the Geek (premiering Thursday, Jan. 12, at 9 p.m.): ”While Average Joe and The Bachelorare stocked with dead-eyed pretties, the women here are in the amiable,smart-dumb Jessica Simpson vein… The geeks — including a guy who”tracks monkeys with laser” and a D&D dungeon master — arepainfully aware of their lowly social status, and articulate enough tobe amusing about it.” B+

Neil Drumming on the two-part season premiere of the Sci Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica(part 1, Friday, Jan. 6, at 10 p.m.; part 2, Friday, Jan. 13, at 10p.m.): ”It’s good that Commander Adama and the crew of the Galacticastumbled upon Helena Cain during last season’s finale. Theblood-thirsty admiral (Michelle Forbes) lit a much-needed fire underAdama’s relationship with President Roslin. Now, Roslin gets downrightcutthroat over her man.” A-

Alynda Wheat on AMC’s new drama about grifters, Hustle(debuting Saturday, Jan. 14, at 10 p.m.): ”These cons tell us exactlyhow they’re running their game, while the cops explain who’s who andwhat they’re up to. It’s a tidy bit of business run by Mickey Bricks (Primary Colors‘Adrian Lester), who seems a touch too slight to carry the weight of thelong con on his shoulders. But he, like Hustle, does have style.” B

Surprised by any of these reviews? Will they affect what you watch over the next week or two?