Modern Love

It's really hard to pull off a believable half-hour love story, so perhaps this anthology series can't be blamed for being uneven. Think about it: You have to build a world, introduce two characters, and make a story arc out of the connection between them, all moves that eat time. So it shouldn't surprising that Modern Love has its ups and downs, just like the column that spawned it (that's kinda hated even by those who read it regularly). At its best, this show is radiant and painfully romantic: Hathaway's turn as a charming young attorney who's been hiding her mental health diagnosis from her friends and family in "Take Me As I Am, Whoever I Am," is perhaps the season's high point. As we meet Lexi, she's riding a manic wave, wearing sequins at the grocery store, picking up a handsome man at the fruit counter, running on all pistons at work; she's so exuberant that the camera pulls away for a Broadway-style number and a Mary Tyler Moore-style hat-throwing moment.

But moments later, she's fallen into the trench, showing up for work and for dates with messy hair and a monosyllabic mumble. No one knows quite what to make of her -- until an honest admission of her struggles sets her back on the path to both a happy life and steady love. It's a simple, quite satisfying story about a woman who finds herself and is then able to seek love, instead of a woman whose redemption is found in the arms of a man. It's true, not all of Modern Love's episodes are as fulfilling, with their whiny (mostly) rich and white people, and gratuitous "THIS IS FILMED IN NEW YORK" shots of yellow taxis and subway stops and the Central Park Zoo. But when this show hits the target, you'll feel the love.