You have to hand it to the USA Network -- it knows its niche and it knows it well, as evident today by its latest pilot order.

According to Deadline Hollywood, the network has said yes to 'Common Law' about LAPD partners Wes Mitchell and Travis Marks who are forced to attend couples therapy in an attempt to save their professional relationship.

The two characters are described as completely different: Wes is a former lawyer with a passion for cars, gardening and his ex-wife, while Travis is popular with the ladies and did time in juvie.

If According To Jim is the comedy show that will not die, Jericho might be the drama.

The canceled CBS drama (saved by a nut campaign which helped it come back for short second season) is not only airing Sunday nights on The CW (and getting better ratings than some shows the network has had on that night), they're going to make a big-screen movie. Producer Jon Turteltaub tells IfMagazine.com that a feature film is indeed in the works, and that the original cast will be back.

Jericho fans, it might be time to grab your nuts again.

Last weekend, Jericho fans got a special treat at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention: a stage filled with the cast and creators of the CBS drama. The only problem? Not many fans showed up at all.

The Showtracker blog at The Los Angeles Times says that this might be because the show is neither sci-fi nor comic book-ish, but I don't know if that's a good enough excuse. It has a certain mystery/action element to it, and the first season was certainly enigmatic in a sci-fi sort of way. And plus we're talking about Los Angeles here, not a small town in Ohio, so I would think a lot more people would have showed up than did. Executive Producer Jon Turteltaub joked about the 80 fans in attendance making the ratings jump, but I don't know if that was a funny estimate by him or an accurate number.

I suppose we're lucky that this is a "season one" DVD and not a "complete series" set. The nut campaign aimed at CBS worked, and the second season of Jericho will start in a few months. It's only going to be seven episodes long, and then they'll look at those ratings and see if it warrants more episodes.

In the meantime, we have this season one set. You either like the show or you don't, which will help you decide whether you will want the DVD or not. And if you buy it, you're interested in the extras, and on this set they're actually pretty good.

'Tis the season to kiss television networks' butts. January is a big month in Los Angeles, when writers and producers are pitching their show ideas to all the networks. This week, networks placed their orders for a whole bunch of new dramas, including some created by well-knowns such as J.J. Abrams and Ridley and Tony Scott. Here is a list of some shows we know about so far:

• Six Degrees, J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), ABC: stories of six strangers in New York intertwine.
  
• Jericho, Jon Turteltaub, CBS: social, psychological, physical chaos ensue when a small town is cut off from the rest of the world after a nuclear disaster.
  
• Orpheus, Ridley & Tony Scott, CBS: a man's girlfriend is involved in a cult.
  
• Faceless, Joe Carnahan, FOX: prosecutor goes undercover to an underworld organization (a prosecutor?).
  
• Heroes, Tim Kring, NBC: everyday people discover they have super hero powers.
  
• Seeing Red, Graham Yost, NBC: a cop talks to dead people to solve cases.
  
• Untitled Alicia Keys project, Alicia Keys, UPN: inspired by the life of Alicia Keys, the show is about a 24-year-old musician who grew up in Hell's Kitchen.
• Underfunded, David Breckman & Rob Abrash, USA: a brilliant agent for the Canadian Secret Service solves cases despite the agency's severe lack of funding.

So... which of these shows do you think we'll actually see on the air next fall?

[Via The Hollywood Reporter]