"Hawaii" is sort of a return to old-time cop shows, with characters who are characters — lots of wise-cracking detectives and their earnest colleagues, played by Michael Biehn ("The Terminator"), Sharif Atkins ("ER"), Ivan Sergei ("Jack & Jill") and Eric Balfour ("Six Feet Under"), among others — cars and shootouts. With, of course, some icky, "CSI"-like forensics thrown in.

It's relatively entertaining, but the content is more than a bit rough for its 7 p.m. time slot.

"Hawaii" previews Monday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m., and moves to its regular time slot on Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.

LAX (Mondays, 9 p.m.) is an odd choice in this post 9/11 world — a rather light-hearted show set at an airport. In the opening scene, the guy in charge of Los Angeles International offs himself by getting in the way of a landing jetliner.

That leaves the gorgeous blond runway chief (Heather Locklear) and the suave terminal boss (Blair Underwood of "L.A. Law") to battle it out for control of the airport. And treat everything with a mixture of determination and sly wit.

In the pilot, everything from a bomb scare to an airliner crewed by drunken pilots is played for comedy. And you know they're not going for realism when Locklear steps in front of the drunken pilots' plane on the runway and screams at them to stop.

"LAX" also appears to be relatively entertaining, but you're certainly not going to grow any new brain cells watching it. And I shudder to think how some of this is going to look if (heaven forbid) there's some sort of trouble at a real-life airport.

"LAX" premieres Monday, Sept. 6, at 9 p.m.

Joey (Thursdays, 7 p.m.) arrives with a couple of heavy burdens — the expectations of "Friends" fans and the expectations of NBC. Even carrying baggage like that, however, this sitcom looks like it may just be a winner.

It doesn't hit the ground running, like "Cheers" spinoff "Frasier" did 11 years ago. But it has the makings of a sitcom that could be around for a while — thanks in large part to Matt LeBlanc, whose portrayal of good-hearted, dimwitted Joey remains winning.

Joey has moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of bigger, better things in his acting career. Which aren't going to happen anytime soon. And he's reconnected with one of his sisters, the wise-cracking Gina (Drea de Matteo of "The Sopranos"). And you've got to love when Gina's son, Michael (Paulo Costanzo) — a real-life rocket scientist — moves in with his Uncle Joey.

They're still feeling their way with this show, even recasting the part of Joey's married neighbor lady, but de Matteo is great, Costanzo is good and there are some genuine laughs in the pilot. "Joey" is not as good as "Friends" got to be — but then neither were the first few episodes of "Friends."

"Joey" premieres Thursday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m.