Touch me, babe

I hear it from some imitation intellectual once a week; and I have grown sick of the refrain: "There's never anything to watch on television: I'd rather read a book."

Granted, not every series is PBS's Golden Globes winner Downton Abbey. And I certainly agree that four shows about hoarding, four more about filthy storage units, umpteen singing and cooking competitions and more housewives than you'll find at Wal-Mart pushes copycat-itis way past the bounds of overkill. However, to the notion that nothing on TV is worth your time or attention, I respectfully reply: Bull puckey.

Yes, I get paid to write about the stuff, so my opinion may be skewed. Then again, whose view should be more informed that somebody who's compelled to watch more TV than you? A good television critic provides value as an adviser, a barometer, much like your bibliophile friend might recommend a title you would enjoy. Tiara-wearing toddlers, Jersey jerks and Kardashian outbreaks snatch the bulk of entertainment headlines, but they are not the norm. There are a million books on Amazon: Think they're all worth reading?

In that spirit, allow me to hip you to two series arriving amid this dizzying blizzard of January TV, the so-called "winter season," that can only be described as extraordinary. First up is Kiefer Sutherland's return to FOX in the enthralling new drama Touch, unveiling a premiere "preview" after American Idol at 9 tonight (Channel 2 in Detroit) before nestling into 24's old slot at 9 p.m. Mondays March 19. Then, at 9 p.m. Sunday, sit back and behold the first starring TV role for Dustin Hoffman, topping an amazing cast on HBO's much-anticipated racetrack melodrama Luck.

Kiefer, we hardly recognize ye. It takes some Jack Bauer-sized cahones to return to television, much less the same network and time period, so soon after nine pulse-pounding seasons as one of TV's most unforgettable action heroes. But Sutherland said in LA this month he had no intention of tackling another series this quickly until someone sent him the script to Touch and "it spoke to me."

That's more than can be said for the 11-year-old son of his new character, Martin Bohm; young Jake, portrayed by doe-eyed newcomer David Mazouz, provides the show's voiceover, but we quickly learn we are hearing his thoughts. The emotionally challenged child has never spoken to anyone and doesn't communicate in any conventional way.

Martin, once a star journalist, has seen his career spiral downward since he became a widower and committed to care for Jake. When we meet him, he's working as an airport baggage handler. (And when we see him, in the act of defending Jake, take a withering punch to the stomach and not shoot anybody, we realize sensitive Martin doesn't know Jack.) A dismissive social worker (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Undercovers) insists Martin has lost all control of Jake and pushes him to institutionalize his mute son.

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