Seeing double

Duplicate shows are nothing new—when a premise is trendy or promising, you can expect a few networks to give it a try. But as cable channels distinguish themselves with increasingly creative and original shows—FX, HBO, Sci Fi, Bravo and USA to name the top players—the broadcast big boys are looking more and more alike. While a few pilots, which are in production to air in September, are bucking the imitate-the-hit trend (seriously, enough with the forensic science shows), we're still starting to think networks are sharing the same brain. We'll help you sort it out before any of these shows sees the light of a cathode-ray tube.

GET REAL...ESTATE

Finally, the rip-roaring excite-ment of the never-say-die world of real estate gets its prime-time respect.
Westside, ABC
A one-hour drama set in the hottest real-estate agency in L.A. ABC is touting it as a Nip/Tuck–style drama, so cross your fingers for kinky sex and emotional breakdowns. We certainly are.
Hot Properties, ABC
A half-hour comedy about the hottest real-estate agency in New York.
Our prediction: Real estate? How dramatic or funny can selling houses possibly be? If we have to pick a winner here, it's Westside—Peter Facinelli trumps Gail O'Grady any day of the week. We're not sure how ABC could support two real-estate shows, but it's comforting that neither is a cop show, a hospital show or a fat-dad–hot-mom–cute-kid sitcom.

FIRST AND TEN

Football players haven't had it this good since Playmakers.
Bobby Cannon, ABC
When we watch Hercules reruns, all we think about is how Kevin Sorbo so deserves his own comedy; Bobby Cannon is that show. Sorbo plays an aging pro football player who has to mentor his replacement.
Dante, NBC
Morris Chestnut (Ladder 49, but we only recognize him from Like Mike), stars as an aging pro football player, this time with a wacky family and entourage. Like Frasier, but with black people. So...not that much like Frasier.
Our prediction: We're tailgating for Dante on this one. Chestnut is sweet and likeable, and Sorbo is...not so much. Also, the fantastic Tony Cox (Bad Santa) plays Dante's three-foot-tall uncle. Hut, hut!

THE BREEDERS

Infertility has been the go-to plotline for ages, and at long last it's getting its own one-hour drama. It might even get two.
Born & Bread, Fox
A group of talented doctors at an infertility clinic fertilize while bantering about zygotes and stem-cell research. Sean Jablonski, who has written for and produced Nip/Tuck, teamed with Jason Katims, who created Roswell, to write and produce the pilot.
Inconceivable, NBC
See above, but with lawyers and therapists, too. Ming-Na (ER) is on board as a star, and Alfre Woodard will appear as a recurring character, which certainly beefs up the show's cred.
Our prediction: It's a toss-up. B&B has the behind-the-scenes advantage, but it's tough not to love the cast of Inconceivable. Now if only we could stop thinking of The Princess Bride every time we mention it.

GOD SQUAD

God is so hot right now. Networks are going nuts God-ing up everything; it'll be a miracle if we escape these hour-long dramas with our hedonism intact.
Book of Daniel, NBC
Any show that lists Jesus Christ as one of its characters is going to make some waves. The big Jay Cee appears in visions to a pill-popping Episcopalian minister (Aidan Quinn) on Book of Daniel. How Ellen Burstyn got attached to this project remains a mystery to us. We're hoping for a combo of the grouchy, drug-addled personal crises of House with the proselytizing of 7th Heaven.
Briar & Graves, Fox
Elizabeth Rohm plays Dr. Briar, who teams with Father Graves, described by press materials as a "hard-living priest," to investigate religious phenomena. How does the worst ADA ever on Law & Order get another show? Rohm, your agent deserves a raise. Get your fan fiction websites up and running now, oh ye of little faith.
Our prediction: God loves all his children equally. You can't ask us to pick.

CRAZY BITCHES

Who says there aren't any good parts for women on television? Probably someone who doesn't have a boyfriend.
Queen B, Fox
Alicia Silverstone stars in the half-hour comedy as a mean girl who's all grown up. She's learning, slowly, that her nasty high-school ways don't work anymore. Snooze.
Crazy, UPN
Lara Flynn Boyle plays a therapist who is almost as nutso as her patients, hence the name. And the star. A full hour of Boyle means plenty of time to say, "Wow, she's skinny," and "What's up with the lips?" but even that will grow tiresome.
Emily's Reasons Why Not, ABC
Emily's Too Long Title seems to be the watered-down answer to Sex and the City, with Heather Graham playing a saucy self-help writer who can't take her own advice.
Everything I Know About Men, CBS
Everything I know about men tells me that no man will be caught dead watching this Jenna Elfman show about an ad exec and her love life. Dammit, Dharma, can't you just stay gone?
The Ghost Whisperer, CBS
Perennial joke-butt Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a baby Medium as the titular ghost whisperer. Pass the tampons.
Our prediction: Blond power, of course. Boyle's been off TV for too long, and Hewitt hasn't been off long enough—you're dragging all the brunets down, ladies.