Televisually Speaking - 1/4/14

THE ASSETS (ABC) - This mini-series seems to be playing off the success of The Americans, about the CIA's attempt to find the mole in their organization that keep feeding information to the Soviets in the 1980's.  I watched the first hour but it never really gave me enough to want to watch more. And the ratings bear out it won't last long.

RAISING McCAIN (PIVOT) - This show might be informative if it had a different host, but then it wouldn't exist without Meghan McCain. Senator John's daughter has people smarter than her tackle issues with her about her generation. If her dad wasn't famous, she'd be a retail clerk in a Phoenix suburb.

KIRSTIE (TVLAND) - There's a circle of life with sitcoms. In the beginning, when they're aimed at teens and tweens, they're awful. Then as the kids mature, they can discover truly funny shows. But then there are shows aimed at middle-aged and senior people who watch just because it stars people that used to be funny.  Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman and Michael Richards are together on the same show, but all the jokes are broad, and the sitcom tropes trotted out without irony. When "special guest star" Kathy Griffin walks out, the live-studio audience applauds, just like they would have done on a show in 1981.

COMMUNITY (NBC) - Dan Harmon is back, and it's obvious. This show is inventive and funny again. I'll miss Pierce as part of the group dynamic, but I love the addition of Breaking Bad's Jonathan Banks as a criminalogist professor.