David Bianculli

Three new prime-time TV series premiere this week: scripted dramas on ABC and CBS, and a new quiz show on ABC. This week also brings the season finale of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and lots of other activity involving first-run weekly television shows. Our TV critic says that all this action is related -- and little of it is cause for celebration.

Helen Mirren introduced the character of British police inspector Jane Tennison in the first Prime Suspect miniseries, imported by PBS 14 years ago. This weekend and next, the PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre presents the last entry: Prime Suspect: The Final Act.

David Bianculli reviews a new episode of the popular British crime series, Cracker. The program was originally produced in the 1990s, and Robbie Coltrane returns to star as Edward Fitzgerald, an abrasive criminal psychologist. The new two-hour show, Cracker: A New Terror, airs at 9 p.m. on BBC America.