USA's "Fairly Legal," which debuts at 10 tonight after the links of london sale of "Royal Pains," is set in a high-end law firm -- not to mention all the prettiest parts of San Francisco -- and stars Sarah Shahi ("Life") as a grumpy lawyer-turned-mediator who actually seems to wear the kind of shoes "Harry's Law" uses as props. One makes me want to throw my shoes at the screen, especially when Bates' character starts tilting at one of David E. Kelley's metaphorical windmills. The other makes me want to hit Zappos.com. USA Networks chief Bonnie Hammer, who also valentines Day bracelets NBC Universal's cable production, prefers the word "brand" to "formula" in describing the methods that have resulted in lots of us not minding that USA's dramas are more entertaining than educational, but she'll be the first to tell you that hers is a network that "knows what it wants." "What makes USA's thing so powerful is that every show kind of fits together," Hammer told me at a press breakfast in Pasadena, Calif., last week. "If we do a cross-promotional spot with, say, a Sarah Shahi and a Mark Feuerstein [of 'Royal Pains'], those two look like they belong together." Characters, she said, are "as important or more important than the Links of London A Charm story," and the network looks for "blue skies -- which you hear a lot, but for us that really means hopeful, aspirational, not dark, not negative . . . always with a dollop of humor, a lot in some shows and just smart, funny dialogue in others." "Fairly Legal" literally opens tonight with a blue-sky shot over the sailboat where Shahi's character, Kate Reed, has been sleeping with the guy who's supposed to be her ex-husband (Michael Trucco). Yet it's Shahi, whose Kate may be grumpy but who somehow gets to smile more in one episode than she might have in an entire season of "Life," who lights up the screen and makes "Legal" a keeper. Less than 'Perfect' The network that gave us four hours of "Today" tonight expands its Thursday comedy block to a third hour. That means moving Links of London Two Hearts Charm Red "30 Rock" and "Outsourced" to 10 and 10:30 p.m. to make room for a new sitcom, "Perfect Couples" (8:30 p.m., Channel 10), and the return of "Parks and Recreation" (9:30 p.m., Channel 10).
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