'Chaos' (8PM ET Friday, CBS) initially seems like a fish out of water on CBS, but don't let the show's mild quirkiness deceive you: This buddy-spy-comedy-action hybrid is definitely a product of the network's hardy procedural factory.

There's a jokey tone to the show, which follows a team of operatives in the CIA's Office of Disruptive Services, but, as is the case with most of CBS's hour-long shows, 'Chaos' takes it as a given that the larger organization in which the characters find themselves is lazy, cowardly or just plain inept.

The agents in Team Chaos look down their noses at the pencil-pushers that surround them at the Agency; they're the only ones willing to Do What It Takes to Get the Job Done. The premise contains the kind of faint arrogance and condescension that you see on any number of CBS procedurals, in which a dedicated team is more loyal to its own insular, workaholic micro-culture than it is to anyone or anything else. Even when it tries to be a bit lighter, CBS can't help stamping its predictable formula on a given show.

Despite all that, I found little to object to in the pilot for 'Chaos,' a mostly male action-adventure hour that is energetic and mildly amusing from time to time. Freddy Rodriguez plays Rick Martinez, a naive new recruit to the Agency's Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (CHAOS), which plans and executes risky maneuvers all over the globe. Michael Dorset (Eric Close) is the team's handsome, low-key leader, Billy Collins (James Murray) is a roguish Scottish expat and Casey Malick (Tim Blake Nelson) rounds out the Chaos crew as its unlikely martial-arts expert.

Wait, a tough clandestine agent named Casey? Don't we already have one of those on 'Chuck'? And therein lies the only real problem with 'Chaos' -- I can't quite think of a reason for this show to exist. There are already a large number of spy dramas on television, from the sweetly goofy 'Chuck' to the serious, slick 'Burn Notice' and the less impressive 'Covert Affairs.' It's not as if there's anything distinctive about the writing, directing and acting on 'Chaos' that will instantly make this particular program stand out from the crowd.

Yet watching Rick's introduction to the Chaos team was not a bad way to spend an hour, and Kurtwood's Smith acidic performance as the team's frustrated boss was enjoyable. For those of us who are already devoted to a particular spy drama, adding 'Chaos' to our weekly roster won't seem especially necessary. But good for CBS for trying something a little different.

Sort of.





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