Five Reasons to Watch Saving Grace

Though the best new show on cable may be Mad Men, the most watched is Saving Grace, a Highway to Heaven update starring the commanding Holly Hunter. I chalk this up to everyone who's read The Left Behind series, but of course, that lead-in from Kyra Sedwick's The Closer, of whose audience SG retains 91 percent, doesn't hurt.

The show is rough around the edges—critics bemoan the angel-saving-the-wicked-woman premise, and I wish they'd give up on the tidy, police procedural plotlines and just let the actors act already—but it stands up, and hasn't become tired like the "get to the point already" Damages on FX.

Just in time for you to catch the last two episodes of the season before Heroes starts up on Mondays, here's five reasons to watch:

1. Holly Hunter
I know I don't need to convince you that Holly Hunter is a good actress. In the show, Hunter's nuanced acting makes her a joy to watch in any scene, even those suffering from often-cheesy dialogue (much of it penned by The Closer's Nancy Miller). And I don't think I could ever get sick of watching her drink, smoke, and fuck (all of which she does a lot of). Bonus points for scenes of her and a hot cowboy cop galloping on horses.

2. Oklahoma
I bet that it's actually filmed in LA, but the show takes place in Oklahoma (which is this state by Texas). The characters are always climbing trees and hanging out in barns and hick bars. And as we are continually reminded, Grace's sister died in the Oklahoma City bombing. Watching a series that takes place in a red state is kind of interesting, and there are some very pretty landscape shots.

3. Laura San Giacomo is more Kit than Maya
Laura San Giacomo, who plays a forensics expert and has all of the "CSI" lines, is so likable you'll forget having to watch her as annoying Maya Gallow, lecturing David Spade on Just Shoot Me, and remember her as Julia Robert's lovable BHF (best hooker friend) in Pretty Woman.

4. Earl the Angel Isn't the Only One in Heaven
Like all Shield fans (yes, I'm bringing up The Shield again), I've felt that the world hasn't been quite right ever since Lem fell victim to the ol' grenade-dropped-in-the-backseat. But here, we get to see Lem in his perfect afterlife. Instead of getting left by Vic to babysit three Salvadoran drug runners (and subsequently having to fight them all off), Lem—oops, I mean Ham—is left by Grace to sit in a one of those wooden porch chairs outside of her grandfather's trailer, gazing at the sun (Lem almost gets shot in the head with a rifle; Ham, pooped on by a bird). Adding to the Oz-esque atmosphere of Lem's redemption-filled afterlife are his old nemeses in new roles: the woman who turned him in to IAD as a helpless rape victim, the IAD guy she talked to as Kit's husband. Pretty soon Forrest Whitaker is going to show up as his uncle or something.

5. Grace is an atheist
I think the whole angel thing would do me in, but the show's saving grace (ha! get it?) is that Grace herself is an atheist. Unfortunately I don't think the show can go on for many more seasons before she converts, but as long as she keeps up her bad behavior, I may just be hooked.