Crossing Jordan (NBC)

In CROSSING JORDAN, Jill Hennessy plays Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a medical examiner who goes above and beyond her job description to solve the crimes perpetrated on the victims who "cross" her table. Jordan is smart, sexy, and complicated. Before getting her current job, she'd been fired several times for being too gutsy (or inappropriately overstepping her job's bounds, depending on how you look at it). But after she returns home to the comfort of her retired-cop father's arms, she starts breaking cases all over town.

While the idea of a strong female lead in a traditionally male role is appealing, the writing is unfortunately treacly. ("Working so close to death must make you really appreciate life." "Every day ... every day.") Mix the corny sentimentality with the graphically brutal violence of the weekly storylines, and the result is ugly.

Clearly the show is not appropriate for younger viewers, and new parents and pregnant women may want to avoid it as well. Not all episodes are as graphic as the one described above, but many storylines focus on children and other vulnerable folks. The series is so full of clichés and hackneyed storylines that it blends in with the rest of the genre's more mediocre shows.