Happy Wednesday! While many of you are looking forward to new episodes of shows such as 'Modern Family' and 'Top Chef: Just Desserts,' there's a little gem that you may have overlooked: ABC's 'The Whole Truth' (Wed., 10PM ET).

Yes, the soap box is coming out once again. By tuning into 'The Whole Truth' tonight, you may be saving the series. Not to harp, but what have you got to lose? We don't want to have to call Detectives Benson and Stabler to arrest you for not giving the Maura Tierney/Rob Morrow series a try because it's a crime if you miss 'The Whole Truth' tonight.

Already a fan? There are ways for you to show ABC you're behind this fledgling series.

Why should you be watching 'The Whole Truth'? Two words: Maura Tierney.

Yes, the former 'NewsRadio' and 'ER' star Maura Tierney should be enough to get you, loyal reader, to give up an hour of your Wednesday evening to watch 'The Whole Truth' (Wed., 10PM ET on ABC). She's not enough? Fine. What about Tierney's chemistry with Rob Morrow?

'The Whole Truth' (Wed., 10PM ET on ABC) is an odd type of legal drama. Unlike, say, the 'Law & Order' franchise, the show doesn't feature bunch of lawyers who are clearly the good guys.

Instead, 'The Whole Truth' presents us with two equal and opposing viewpoints. Prosecutor Kathryn Peale (Maura Tierney) faces off against defense attorney Jimmy Brogan (Rob Morrow). But Jimmy and Kathryn both lose as often as they win -- and we're never really sure who to root for.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

On the latest episode, Jimmy takes the case of Judge Ruben Wright (guest star Judd Hirsch). The judge is accused of committing murder -- while he's in the middle of conducting a trial. Suddenly, the judge is on the other side of the law. The man who sent criminals to jail is now a suspected criminal himself. Judge Wright chooses Jimmy as his lawyer, even though the two of them have a tangled history.

'The Whole Truth' (Wed., 10PM ET on ABC) pits attorney Jimmy Brogan (Rob Morrow) against prosecutor Kathryn Peale (Maura Tierney). They're used to working on opposite sides of the courtroom. But things get unpredictable when eccentric judges are thrown into the mix.

Peale confidently cites a previous case to one judge to prove spousal privilege doesn't apply in that particular situation. In a convoluted way, she sticks to her argument. Brogan tells the judge, "This is logic wrapped in nonsense chasing its own tail."

The whole thing reminds the judge of a coffeemaker her sister bought her "which had way too many bells and whistles ... [But] after reading the directions -- which were remarkably lucid -- I figured it out and it makes a damn good cup of joe."

So ... does this mean the motion is granted?

Rob Morrow has a strong interest in the outcome of this season's 'Dancing With the Stars.' Why? Because he's good friends with current front-runner Jennifer Grey -- she and his wife used to be roommates. So Rob is clearly on Team Grey: He says that he rarely watched 'DWTS' before, but now he's got it on his TiVo, so that he won't miss an episode.

But what does Rob think about the recent controversy that has engulfed both Jennifer and Sarah Palin? On 'Lopez Tonight' (weeknights, 11PM ET on TBS), the actor dishes out his opinion on the whole "booing" incident.

Can a pair of rivals find a love connection? 'The Whole Truth' (Wed., 10PM ET on ABC) is a legal drama starring Maura Tierney and Rob Morrow -- two TV veterans who are back on the small screen. The actors play sparring lawyers who are on opposite sides of every case and, as might be expected on this type of show, the sparks fly both in and out of the courtroom.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Kathryn Peale (Tierney) is a sternly devoted prosecutor who works for the District Attorney's office. Jimmy Brogan (Morrow) is a hot-shot criminal defense lawyer who doesn't seem to care if his clients are guilty or not. Kathryn is kind of uptight, Jimmy is relaxed and "cool." But even though the duo seem like total opposites, they've been friends since their days back in Yale Law School.

Every year, and this timid fall season is no exception, the broadcast networks build shows around established actors.

Quite often, they're disappointingly contrived and formulaic, as is the case with NBC's 'Outlaw' and 'The Whole Truth' (10PM ET, ABC).

But 'The Defenders' (10PM ET, CBS) which, like those other shows, is a pretty straightforward legal procedural, has a surprising amount of fun with its familiar building blocks.

It feels like Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney have both been on TV for ages, and they've both tackled comedy and drama with equal success -- he on 'Northern Exposure' and 'Numb3rs,' and she on 'NewsRadio' and 'ER.'

That's just one reason why their pairing on 'The Whole Truth' (premiering Wed., Sept. 22 at 10PM ET) feels like a match made in heaven. Playing two opposing legal sides in a courtroom, both lawyers are sharp, witty and obviously share an interesting past. (The same couldn't be said for the original pilot, which had 'Nip/Tuck' alum Joely Richardson in the female lead role. So happy Maura was available and healthy enough to step in!)

'The Whole Truth' follows both sides of the trial, with Tierney's by-the-numbers Kathryn Peale prosecuting and Morrow's unorthodox Jimmy Brogan defending. Audiences will get a look at how each side prepares the case and, in the last few moments of the show, find out who or what was really behind the crime. Sound too procedural? Don't let the description and commercials fool you, the series is filled with subtly revealing moments for the leads -- just how close were Peale and Brogan as classmates at Yale Law? -- and the supporting players.

I caught up with Rob and Maura to get their take on this not-always-dramatic legal drama, why it's good that the bad guys sometimes get off, how 'My Cousin Vinny' might help them prep and their phenomenal wishlists for dream guest stars.

Sendhil Ramamurthy has joined the cast of USA's 'Covert Affairs' opposite Piper Perabo. The 'Heroes' co-star will play a CIA agent in the series, about an inexperienced CIA field operative (Perabo) whose ex-boyfriend is of special interest to her boss. Ramamurthy was previously attached to NBC's 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.' [Hollywood Reporter]

More casting news after the jump.

As Jason wrote the other day, this has been a strange TV season thus far, with only two shows having been given the pink slip. That said, I think CBS's The Ex List is not long for this world. There are a couple of really good reasons I say this, and just so you know, I'm not wishing for its demise. I can just read the handwriting on the wall.

The Nielsen ratings from last Friday show that the shows around The Ex List -- Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs -- posted their highest ratings of the season to date. Nearly 10 million viewers watched the Jennifer Love Hewitt show, while another 9 million were glued to the Rob Morrow brotherly procedural at 10 p.m. In between, however, The Ex List drooped to a season low 5.6 million.

(S04E18) "I connected you to a dangerous terrorist in three links." - Charlie

I've got to say - four seasons into Numb3rs and I can't believe we got a story like this now. Brother vs. brother. As Alan said, it had to happen sooner or later. It's just such an obvious plot that I figured it would have been sooner. Better late than never I guess. That being said, I suppose we could have done without it. Blame the WGA strike, but this episode felt like a lot of stuff just randomly thrown together to make it sort of season finale-ish. Anti-climactic at best.

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(S04E17) "I think if these were Travis Tritt fans, I might have better luck." - Colby

Sometimes I just don't know what they're thinking when they come up with stories for this show. Call me crazy, but the notion of a small rap label feud just doesn't strike me as something that the FBI is going to handle. And I do mean small. Besides the fact that the only real purpose that the case served was to play up the humorous stereotypes and clichés it created (like the scene with Larry and Charlie in the recording studio), I don't think it felt realistic. The music industry is far larger than the microcosm depicted in this episode and writers just hand-picked elements for this small, almost indie, rap label. I mean, c'mon - "2x4?" Really?

(S04E16) "It's not Heat?" - Colby, amazed that the Pacino/De Niro classic isn't Don's favorite movie

I think it's a given that sooner or later, every cop show is going to have an episode about religious cults. They're just so easy to make into a bad guy, especially with all the crazy stuff you always hear on the evening news. That's part of the problem though; that it is too easy to turn into an hour episode and things can get stale fast. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Fortunately, the folks behind Numb3rs must have realized this because this episode was way more than, how did Colby put it? A bunch of religious "nut jobs."
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(S04E15) "I don't like a guy who thinks a purple heart gives him a free pass." - Colby

Well there's something you don't see too often on Numb3rs - resurrecting an old case from a previous episode. Usually, this show is pretty self-contained. Each week it's a wrap. Despite the fact that the last time we saw Clay Porter was when he escaped, his story still felt finished. But the writers took one small detail about his past and turned it into a pretty solid episode.

(S04E14) "Good morning! This is Charles Eppes. I'm in pursuit of a burgundy-ish, sort of merlot colored...um, well, what kind of car would you say that is?" - Charlie

I've got to honest, and I never thought I'd say it, but I've really enjoyed the return of Numb3rs. I can't decide if it's just because we haven't had new episodes in so long or it's because these new episodes are actually better, but I'm loving it. I even gave up reviewing Numb3rs last season because it got so stale and I reached a point where I had nothing new to say each week.

Something has changed though. It's not because the plots are unique and different, that's for sure. This entire episode pretty much mirrored last week's ep of CSI. A gang boss up for trial was sending coded messages to take out key witnesses and enemies and in each show, the ADA in charge of the cases became the next target. On CSI, the boss was using his urine to tint pages of library books with messages. Here, we had a guy using chess lessons to send out his wishes. Other than that, same plot.