‘Presidio Med’ may be DOA Tough time slot challenges new CBS offering

A series set in a big-city hospital, produced by John Wells, Lydia Woodward and Christopher Chulack.

Hmmm … must be that old warhorse “ER,” right?

Well, no. Wells, Woodward and Chulack are trying to strike gold again using their successful formula in “Presidio Med,” debuting at 10 tonight on CBS. (It moves to its regular time slot of 10 p.m. Wednesdays tomorrow.)

“Presidio Med” focuses on a tight-knit medical group affiliated with a San Francisco hospital. The staff includes Dr. Harriet Lanning (Blythe Danner), a veteran obstetrician-gynecologist; Dr. Rae Brennan (Dana Delany), a passionate oncologist; Dr. Letty Jordan (Anne Deavere Smith), a headstrong cardiologist; Jackie Colette (Sasha Alexander), a maverick plastic surgeon; and Dr. Jules Keating (Julianne Nicholson), a confident pediatrician.

On the male side, there’s Dr. Nicholas Kokoris (Oded Fehr), a surgeon who just moved from Greece to San Francisco to continue his affair with one of the group’s married doctors. A recent addition to the cast is Paul Blackthorne as internist Dr. Matt Slingerland, in what must be an effort by producers to keep “Presidio Med” from being mistaken for a Lifetime series.

Placing the series in doctors’ offices and patients’ rooms keeps it from enjoying the shot of medical adrenaline that the setting of “ER” gives it. The show it more resembles is “Chicago Hope,” but without that David E. Kelley quirkiness. The back stories of the characters need to be better explored to help make the drama less sedate and predictable.

While enjoyable, “Presidio Med” offers less to recommend it than the other new medical drama in its time slot, ABC’s “MDs,” and both have to go up against the dean of TV dramas, NBC’s “Law & Order.” At first blush, “Presidio Med” appears more likely to arrive DOA.

Another new series tonight offers a supernatural flavor, as UPN seeks a series compatible with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“Haunted,” which premieres at 9, tells the story of a private detective aided in his investigations by “lost souls from beyond the grave.”

Frank Taylor (Matthew Fox, “Party of Five”) stars as Frank Taylor, who is obsessed with finding out what happened to his young son Kevin, who disappeared two years earlier. This quest led to his leaving the police force and divorce from his attorney wife, Jessica (Lynn Collins).

After a near-fatal stabbing, Taylor wakes up to find himself haunted by those from the other side, who help him seek justice for them. He’s also haunted by Simon (John Mann), the kidnapper who stabbed him and then died falling off a roof in the resulting struggle.

The subplot of searching for his son is incredibly ill-timed considering the national epidemic of child abductions. Also, “Haunted” is difficult to follow and unbelievable, even for its particular genre. Up against such critical favorites as Fox’s “24” and The WB’s “Smallville,” it doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

Also premiering tonight, but not reviewed, are two suburban comedies on NBC: “In-Laws,” starring Jean Smart and Dennis Farina, at 8 and “Hidden Hills” at 9:30.