ITV buy three shows - but will they work?

ITV have bought three new shows and one or two of them look risky.

First off is Smith which is a show following criminals. Following the failure of Heist on NBC and Thief from FX, aired here on Sky One, you have to wonder about its chances of success. Ray Liotta is the lead and while a known name, can he carry a series? Virgina Madsen and Jonny Lee Miller are also in there, and the pilot is good, but you just have to wonder if there is enough here to make a hit. Expect this on ITV4.

They have also bought the Jeff Goldblum series Raines. He's a detective who solves murders by having the dead people give him the clues. Why don't they just tell him who did it? Medium and Ghost Whisperer are already hits, is there room for another creepy crime show? It starts mid-season in the US, on ITV3 at some future date.

Finally ITV2 have the new series from Crash director Paul Haggis. The Black Donnellys is about four brothers and organised crime in New York. It sounds good, but there is just nobody in it you have every heard of, and NBC might struggle to make this one work. Haggis made EZ Streets a few years ago starring Ken Olin. It was brilliant but didn't make it past a dozen episodes. Haggis was also behind the shortlived Michael Hayes. Lets hope he has better luck this time.

The good news for ITV fans, is that ITV2 will finally begin showing the HBO hit Entourage in September - and its about time too.