I watched the second episode of Lifetime’s “State of Mind” Sunday night and was hoping I liked it better than the first one, but I didn’t. In the first episode, Ann Bellowes, played by Lili Taylor, is a therapist who has recently separated from her husband, but she keeps having hallucinations where he appears at her counseling sessions, at home and every place imaginable. I was hoping that wouldn’t be happening in the second episode, but it’s worse. Now Ann is having more hallucinations, but they are of her. So much time is wasted while she talks to herself and her husband even though they aren’t actually there and no one else can hear the conversations.This seems like a total waste of time to me and very distracting. It certainly doesn’t improve the flow of the show.

Monday night I watched the first episode of “Saving Grace” on TNT and wasn’t too impressed. In all the ads, Grace (Holly Hunter) is portrayed as a hard drinking, smoking, sleeping around type of girl . . . not that there’s anything wrong with that. But in the first couple of minutes, she’s shown having wild sex with her cop partner who’s married, then grabbing a cigarette, taking some kind of pill and pouring booze in her soda can. All this before she heads off to work early that morning. None of this sort of thing bothers me, but the show is all caught up in God, faith and religion. That is not entertaining to me. They are trying to show how far Grace has sunk, and how she will find redemption some way and maybe start believing in God.

Early on an angel appears in the form of a guy who chews tobacco and spits into on old, dirty-looking green jar. That’s a real turn-off! He also sprouts wings and transports Grace to other places where they talk about God and faith. He is her “Last Chance Angel” and is going to save her. This is totally unbelievable to me. I can’t imagine why someone came up with an idea like that and is trying to make something out of it. Religion has its place, but certainly not being crammed down your throat on some gritty TV show. “Saving Grace” premiered following “The Closer” which is a big hit. That show is so well written and entertaining – I love it. That must be the reason for the decision on the placement of “Saving Grace.” I was turned off by the ads and I can now see why.

Tuesday night I watched the premiere episode of “Damages” on FX again. I wrote about it in an earlier posting, but now I’ll mention one verbal exchange Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) has with an opposing attorney concerning a case very early in the show. I think this exemplifies Patty’s character and what we can expect from her in the coming episodes. Patty has just pulled off an extremely dirty trick on the attorney, and he realizes it and says, “If you were a man, I’d kick the livin’ dog shit out of you!” Patty smiles and replies, “If you were a man, I’d be worried.” This show should have an interesting run, and I’ll be watching.

Last night I watched FX and my favorite – “Rescue Me.” I was not disappointed as the show just tickles me! It can get grim, but it’s also very funny. It ended very ominously, and I’m wondering what’s going to happen next week. I’ll just have to wait and see.