Chicago Tribune

You’ve heard of cops and robbers. Get ready for cops and monsters.

This year the fall TV schedule is littered with yet more law-enforcement and crime-scene shows, and a whole bunch of spooky monster/alien dramas. Though no monsters (aside from the human variety) have shown up on the crime procedurals yet, the only real surprise on the schedule is that there’s no outright attempt to strand a bunch of cops on an island with a killer creature. (Don’t bother pitching “Law & Order: Mysterious Island” to the networks; we’ve already copyrighted the idea.)

Still, despite the lack of shows as original and groundbreaking as “Desperate Housewives” or “Lost,” the schedule has several promising dramas on it, and a few of the comedies even made us laugh. Out loud.

So there’s hope for the old TV beast yet.