Test driving some imports

Importing and retrofitting foreign-developed concepts isn't a new thing in the television business. A sizable chunk of Seventies comedies were based on British series -- "Sanford and Son," "Three's Company," even one of the most acclaimed sitcoms in American television history, "All in the Family."

ABC's virtually unkillable "America's Funniest Home Videos" was born out of segments from a Japanese series. Even this year, shows as divergent as CBS's romantic drama "The Ex List" and Fox's slapstick contest "Hole in the Wall" are based on imported concepts.

Last night, three more reworked imports premiered, but are any of these Americanized series worth your time?

CBS follows up the 8 p.m. "CSI" with another procedural from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the British-born "Eleventh Hour," at 9. It has more of a science fiction angle in its crime-solving, along the lines of "The X-Files," and Fox's new sci-fi series "Fringe." Unlike those shows, however, "Eleventh Hour" seems to have no interest in setting up a deep-rooted (and potentially tangled) mythology.

Rufus Sewell is darkly interesting, if familiar, in the lead role as an FBI consultant, but the show has a decidedly same-song- different-verse sensibility, even with queasy early plots about cloning and young boys suffering fatal heart attacks. I admit, though, there's potential here, and if you're a "CSI" fan, this one will likely be right up your alley. Two and a half stars (out of four).

NBC's "Kath and Kim" (Thursday at 7:30 p.m.) is also about potential, but this time about how much of it has been wasted. Based on a very popular (and indescribably funnier) Australian series, it's the story of a none-too-bright mother and daughter who spend their days in a sort of white-trash malaise, dreaming of rising above their station as quickly and easily as possible. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair play the duo; both are talented actresses, but neither one connects with their characters or the audience. Shannon tries too hard to wring laughs out of the lazy material, while Blair seems to disappear while on-screen, and their relationship doesn't come close to reading as familial. Scenes that are supposed to be funny in their awkwardness or discomfort just come off as dull. The original series was breezily broad and brassy; here, it all just feels forced. One star.

"Life on Mars," airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC, is based on a critically-acclaimed British cop drama which had, at its center, one humdinger of a premise: after being struck by a car, a police detective finds himself thirty years in the past. The original version ran for two years, and completed its story arc in 16 episodes, something that American television series don't tend to do. The initial American redux -- written by multiple Emmy-winner David E. Kelley, and set in Los Angeles -- apparently didn't satisfy the network; they scrapped the pilot and everyone involved in it (save the lead actor, Jason O'Mara), then ordered wholesale changes, including a new supporting cast. The good news is that the rocky road the series traveled has apparently led to a tougher, smarter show than before.

The central hook of the main plot -- a 2008 detective's culture shock, combined with the fact that he doesn't know whether he's dreaming vividly or truly a time traveler -- is stronger and more resonant now that it's set in a rough-and-tumble New York City, ca. 1973. (The final seconds of the opening act, in particular, knocked me for a loop.) The new cast -- including Oscar-nominee Harvey Keitel and Emmy-nominee Michael Imperioli -- is confidence-inducing for the long-term. There is the question of how the story will pay off; can a show that originally aired 16 episodes sustain itself for 22 -- or more?

After seeing this first hour, I, for one, certainly hope so. Three and a half stars.