You may know her as Carmen, who was left at the altar by Shane on 'The L Word,' or as Dani Reese, the detective and recovering drug addict on NBC's short-lived cop drama 'Life.'

Or you may even remember Sarah Shahi from the one -- but very memorable one -- episode of 'The Sopranos,' in which her stripper/college student character spent a lost weekend with Tony in Las Vegas.

But now Shahi is back on the tube with her first cable leading lady role, as lawyer-turned-mediator Kate Reed on USA Network's 'Fairly Legal,' which premieres tonight (10PM ET).

'Fairly Legal' star Sarah Shahi grew up with a fairly permissive mother and was taught to be proud of her body. As a result, she often walked around her home naked, she said on 'The Wendy Williams Show' (weekdays, syndicated).

'Fairly Legal' (10PM ET Thursday, USA) has everything you expect from a USA show: An appealing lead actor, a glossy aesthetic, supporting characters who are either mildly quirky or majorly good-looking (or both), and stories that wrap up within the hour. What it doesn't have is anything that will make it stand out from the cable crowd.

Sarah Shahi plays Kate Reed, who left the legal profession in order to help people, in what she thinks is a more concrete and personal way, through the process of mediation. When not dealing with the fallout of her father's recent death, she finds out what issues are really bothering people and somehow gets them to drop all the negativity and come to some kind of settlement.

Shahi is charming and the show's supporting cast is certainly adequate, but 'Fairly Legal,' which clings ferociously to a very tame formula, fails to come alive in any real way.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Chuck's Zachary Levi is in a movie! He plays Ray, a half-Pakistani/half-white actor trying to make it in Hollywood and dating Life's Sarah Shahi. It's a TV bonanza! Check out the trailers for Shades of Ray over on Cinematical.
• I knew that The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan collaborated with his brother on the script for Memento, but it's his other brother who is wanted for kidnapping and murder. Get the details on Cinematical.
• With the economy in the crapper, nobody really gives a crap about the environment at the moment, but you can still do some good. If you buy a ticket to Earth on its opening weekend, Disney will plant a tree in your name.
• I really want I Love You, Man to be good. Read Cinematical's review to see if it's worth seeing this weekend.
• ...Or if Bromances aren't your thing, you can check out Julia Roberts' return to the big screen in Duplicity--but check out Cinematical's review first.

... Eleven babes worth watchin'

Oh sure, there may be 12 shows a stinkin', but there's still reason to tune in. See just like advertisers, show-runners and TV executives know that sex sells. And hot chicks sell. And hot chicks selling their sexuality sell like hotcakes ... or chicks ... I never can get that right. But just being hot and sexy isn't enough. To really sell it, they need to be as close to naked as legally allowed on the airwaves. We're talking "Oops, sorry to barge in on you standing there in your underwear bending over the bed pulling on your fishnet stockings. Nice rack."

Sometimes near-nudity, and even nudity, legitimately serves the plot. Let's face it, Anna Paquin had to bang that vampire on True Blood so she was going to have to get naked. It's a necessity. But Yvonne Strahovski on Chuck? Does she have to be in her underwear that often to protect the Intersect? Was it required by Simon Elder that Karen Darling be in her underwear in order to talk to him? Of course not. But it's hot and that's the way we like it. Hell, they made Catalina a stripper on My Name is Earl.

(S02E01) Ten months. That's how long its been since we've seen a fresh episode of Life. After the last episode aired in November there was nary a word about the show, save for reports of its renewal and a bit about casting changes. This left fans of the show in a bit of a tizzy. For Life wasn't just a dime-a-dozen criminal procedural, but a show with an underlying story about conspiracy and the search for justice. By the time the show ended its very short first season we were cheering Detective Charlie Crews as he was able to get a semblance of his freedom back.

Now we enter season two. And, as usual, the following question comes to mind: did it carry on the spirit of season one? Well yes, and possibly no. Click ahead to find out.

(S01E03) Reese: You got a pest problem?

Crews: He's not so bad. (Charlie talking about Ted)

I am starting to feel the groove of this show and it is beginning to grow on me. While it is a fairly quiet program, the pace of the story is fast enough not to leave me bored. And, while it is a criminal procedural, there are enough light moments, particularly involving Charlie or Charlie and Reese, to mute the darkness that sometimes permeates these types of shows.