USA has been using the slogan "characters welcome" for a while now, as the once nondescript channel attempts to brand itself as anti-CSI in its orientation -- a place where plot takes a backseat to personality in its original programming. Monk is the quintessential USA series in this regard; even Law & Order: Criminal Intent has gone outside that franchise's well-worn box to bring us Vincent D'Onofrio's wacked-out Detective Goren.

In Plain Sight is the latest in a line of series, most of them cable shows that air in the off-season (The Closer, Saving Grace), that is essentially a star vehicle about a woman working in a law-related field. It shares some of the clichés of the genre -- it's a given that all of these women will have little time for any sort of personal life much less a real relationship, and will be eager to "bend the rules" when necessary, but it's off to a decent start, thanks mostly to Mary McCormack's effort as U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon.

Mary works for the witness protection program in Albuquerque, relocating not just innocent people who need new identities after delivering damaging testimony, but the occasional mobster or miscreant who has cut a deal to save his own neck -- "You're the branch of law enforcement that puts criminals back on the street, right?" as one cop puts it. But Mary doesn't have much time for moral quandaries: her job is facilitating the new lives of her witnesses, regardless of what misdeeds may lie in their pasts, and keeping them safe.

McCormack's key TV roles before now, on Murder One over a decade ago and more recently on The West Wing, have featured her playing solid career women who could be harsh when needed, but she hasn't had much chance to show any comic chops. But as In Plain Sight is on USA, there's a certain amount of comedy that goes with the territory, and McCormack has had little humorous set pieces in all three episodes thus far: a close encounter with an uncooperative witness in a dive bar's bathroom in the pilot, and spending most of this past Sunday's episode in various revealing outfits as she tried to keep close to her latest witness, a con artist fond of trips to the altar.

A key part of the series will be McCormack's chemistry with Frederick Weller, who plays Mary's partner Marshall Mann (yes, he's a marshal named Marshall). The first two episodes made it appear as if In Plain Sight would be the rare series where two good-looking singles of different genders would have no sexual tension whatsoever, as Marshall's main responses to Mary were bemusement and exasperation at being treated as a flunky. But Sunday's episode indicated that things may be moving in another direction. Marshall was virtually dumbstruck at the sight of Mary's cleavage, a sign that he has feelings toward his coworker not hinted at beforehand.

Marshall is laconic but suitably macho when he needs to be, and is a solid partner for McCormack. The rest of the supporting cast, however, is a major weak link that needs to either be shored up or simply dispensed with. Cristian de la Fuente plays Rafael, the man in Mary's life, a boy toy who wants a promotion from that role. Sunday's episode revealed that Rafael is a minor league baseball player on the way up to the big time, which is not all that believable given de la Fuente's age.

But that's a small issue compared with Mary's mother and sister, played respectively by Lesley Ann Warren and Nichole Hiltz. Dysfunctional families are also a common feature of cable woman-in-law-enforcement shows, so it's not surprising that Mary, despite all her eccentricities and bouts of antisocial behavior, is the one competent adult in her household. Hiltz's character, Brandi, is a ditzy blonde who unbeknownst to Mary is working as a drug mule. As for Warren, she's playing a variation on the same oversexed airhead that has been her calling card almost from the time she could no longer work as the ingénue. It's not the idea of these characters that is so off-putting; it's more the lack of imagination that went into them. Warren didn't show up at all on Sunday, a possible sign that the producers know they have a problem and are working to either de-emphasize Mary's family or make them less by-the-numbers.

In Plain Sight is not a procedural masterpiece, but that's not the niche USA has created for itself. A nice setting, a likable co-star, and a solid lead give the show several legs up on almost everything else airing in the summer months.

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