New shows reach divine heights and ‘Evil’ lows

It seems like TV has been touched by the divine lately.

First came a high school girl shanghaied to run missions for God on “Joan of Arcadia.” Next was the morgue assistant who gets sent back in time to aid the recently dead in “Tru Calling.”

Now comes the whimsical “Wonderfalls,” debuting at 9 tonight on Fox. This time, the person chosen is underachiever Jaye, an Ivy League philosophy grad, who gets freaked when inanimate objects at the Niagara Falls gift shop where she works begin badgering her to help others.

Not that Jaye (played by Caroline Dhavernas), a stereotypical Gen-Y’er, didn’t have enough issues already. She comes from an ultrasuccessful family, while she has yet to find her calling in life (apparently it’s being a reluctant emissary for the divine). She’s fallen for the bartender at her favorite pub, but can’t commit enough to admit it. She really doesn’t need talking, bossy tchotchkes in her life.

So in one episode, she’s helping a heartbroken deliveryman find love again; in another, she assists a young journalist get her career started. Much like Amber Tamblyn in “Joan of Arcadia,” Dhavernas does a lovely job portraying a confused young girl tossed about by beings beyond her ken.

“Wonderfalls” is a lighthearted effort, for those who like their series without the sturm und drang of the heavier dramas or the risk of saccharine poisoning from shows such as “7th Heaven.” It’s frothy without being inconsequential.

Also starting tonight, at the other extreme, is the psychological drama “Touching Evil,” which airs 9-11 on USA.

The series is an adaptation of the BBC drama of the same name. And that’s the biggest stumbling block it faces. Anyone who saw Robson Green’s incendiary performance when that show aired over here on “Mystery!” will never be able to take this version seriously.

The USA treatment has such names as Bruce Willis, Arnold Rifkin and the Hughes Brothers behind the camera. The trouble lies in the casting of Jeffrey Donovan in the lead role of Detective David Creegan, who returns to work with the FBI’s Organized and Serial Crime Unit a year after surviving a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head.

The missing parts of his brain have left Creegan fearless, and only partner Susan Branca (Vera Farmiga) keeps him from being too relentless in the pursuit of justice. But whereas Green’s Creegan took viewers inside the criminal mind in his role as profiler, Donovan’s detective just stares off into space a lot, like he’s just been pole-axed. Maybe he will become more three-dimensional, but will viewers wait around for that to happen?

The brain trust behind “Touching Evil” has taken something unique and turned it into something generic, and that’s a crime.

Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 or dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.