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Fox's "Red Band Society" is about a bunch of teens with life-threatening illnesses who turn a hospital into their home/high school. NBC's "The Mysteries of Laura" is about the mother of bratty twins who is also a NYPD detective.
"Red Band Society" is far more plausible. Which isn't difficult, given that "The Mysteries of Laura" is downright dumb.
"The Mysteries of Laura" (Wednesday and Thursday, 9 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): If you thought Debra Messing ("Will & Grace") was tough to believe as a playwright in "Smash," wait until you see her as an allegedly "brilliant" detective Laura Diamond.
She's about as believable as the guy trying to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
Messing is woefully miscast as not only as a detective, but as soon-to-be single mother of incredibly bratty preschool twins. She's such a great mom that we see her dose the kids with cough syrup to keep them quiet.
The abomination that is "Laura" is by no means just Messing's fault, however. Comedy and drama mix like oil and water in this show.
In the premiere, Laura is trying to get her husband (Josh Lucas), a fellow cop, to sign divorce papers. (It's a tired old TV cliché — hard-working, frazzled mother and laid-back, useless father.) She's trying to find a new preschool for those incredibly bratty twins. And she's working on a murder case that feels like something out of an old "Columbo" — but not in a good way. The jokes fall flat, and the resolution to the crime is utterly ludicrous.
It's an insult to the intelligence of viewers who have already had to suspend disbelief in a big way just to make it through the hour. Then there's an additional twist that no self-respecting sitcom would dare attempt.
This is one of the worst new shows of the season.
"Red Band Society" (Wednesday, 8 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13): This is one of the most pleasant surprises of the new season — the premise seems impossible but the execution is amazing.
It's about a group of teens (Nolan Sotillo, Charlie Rowe, Astro, Ciara Bravo, Zoe Levin) who are dealing with cancer, heart ailments, cystic fibrosis and eating disorders. But they're still kids who want to have fun, even though they're confined to a hospital — as comatose narrator Charlie (Griffin Gluck) lets us know in voiceovers.
Overseeing are no-nonsense Nurse Jackson (Octavia Spencer) — a break-out character — and pediatric surgeon Jack McAndrew (Dave Annable).
"Red Band Society" is based on a Spanish series, as interpreted by executive producer Margaret Nagle. And she has some experience in this area — her brother was in a coma as a child.
This is not a tear-jerker. It's sort of "Glee" — early "Glee," when it was good — in a hospital and without the music. And it shows promise of being one of the better teen dramas we've seen in quite some time.
Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.r