Staying In

Best Offering: Nikita (Thursday, Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.)

Nikita is not a CW show, and I mean that in a good way. This is by far one of the most mature, dark and adult shows the network has produced so far. Maggie Q is a breakout star. She’s sexy and beautiful and tiny — a little too tiny, if you ask me — but you also believe that she could kick some ass. Shane West’s square looks and stoic voice suit his character, Michael, the man who brought Nikita into the agency. In the pilot, he brings in a new recruit played by Lyndsy Fonseca (no longer Ted’s sweet daughter on How I Met Your Mother). She given a makeover by Melinda Clarke, who I hear has more to do and more sinister things to do in future episodes. If you’ve got Lady Heather and Julie Cooper, Urban Cougar, you don’t waste her. You hear me, show? All in all, Nikita is very promising and features an ending that I didn’t see coming, but I have to ask: Why so serious, Nikita? I hope that like its more dark and mysterious network counterparts Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, the series will find a way to add a little humor and joie de vivre to the dark proceedings.

Worth A Second Look: Hellcats (Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 9 p.m.)

I can’t decide if this show is guilty pleasure bad or just bad. On the one hand, it’s a frothy, no thinking required TV version of Bring It On, only less funny. On the other hand, the dialogue is painful. But there’s lots of cheerleading sequences. (Does ESPN still show cheerleading competitions? Because I used to love watching those.) But there’s also multiple aggressive bicycling sequences. Yeah, I can’t decide.