Jeffrey Donovan takes over for Robson Green, who played the lead character in the original version. He stars as detective David Creegan, who was shot in the head a year before the series begins and died on the operating table. But after a miraculous recovery, it seems the bullet somehow enhanced his already formidable deductive skills, although it robbed him of both fear and shame.

Creegan is now working for the FBI — specifically, its organized and serial-crime unit, which deals with only the most high-profile cases. In tonight's two-hour premiere, he's on the trail of a brilliant serial kidnapper who snatches children, in part because he revels in outwitting the police.

Creegan is partnered with Agent Susan Branca, who doesn't know quite what to make of him — although there are some sparks between the two.

The two-hour pilot is good. And it shows promise of turning into a show that could mean that, along with "Monk," USA may just have two detective shows worth watching.

PLAYING IT STRAIGHT (7 p.m., Ch. 13): This is the latest permutation on the prime-time dating show — sort of a combination of "The Bachelor" and "Boy Meets Boy," with, perhaps, a bit of "The Price Is Right" thrown in.

The show wasn't previewed for critics, but the premise is fairly simple. Jackie, a gorgeous gal, is presented with 14 hunky guys. Eventually, she must winnow this group down to one.

The twist is that some of the guys are straight and some are gay. She has to figure out who is what. If she ends up picking a straight guy, they split a million bucks. If she picks a gay guy, he walks away with the $1 million prize.

Frankly, this seems more honest than shows like "The Bachelor," "Average Joe" and "Joe Millionaire" because viewers aren't expected to believe these people are looking for love. It's all about the money.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com