James Woods stars as superlawyer Sebastian Stark in the new legal series “Shark” (9 p.m., CBS).

He’s a ruthless defense attorney who has an emotional breakdown after his client, recently cleared on a murder charge, goes out and kills again.

Even the premise for “Shark” is kind of dumb. Stark didn’t get the bad guy off on a sneaky technicality. As he argues quite lucidly before the jury, the prosecution overreached with a murder charge and failed to prove intent. Had they tried the bad guy on a lesser and more appropriate charge, he would have been in jail and not free to kill again. They blew it. If this were “Law & Order,” McCoy would be having a soul-searching moment.

But this is not “Law & Order” and not even close. “Shark” adheres much more closely to the Nancy Grace view of jurisprudence, where all accused are guilty and all defense lawyers are accomplices to heinous crimes. Like Grace’s graceless show, “Shark” is not about thinking; it’s about screaming.

Not only does Stark join the “good guys,” he gets to work with curvaceous prosecutor Jessica Devlin (Jeri Ryan). Ryan, best known for her formfitting outfits as Seven of Nine in “Star Trek: Voyager,” does very little here except to appear in two photo ops with her new colleague. She looks like she wishes she were still in outer space.

Considering James Woods’ considerable gifts as an actor and the fact that the pilot episode is directed by Spike Lee, there’s nothing terribly exciting, new or interesting about “Shark.”

¢ A 1950s New York-based TV drama used to open with the memorable line, “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.” But in the new series “Six Degrees” (9 p.m., ABC), only a handful of them matter. And it helps to be good-looking.

“Six” presents the stories of city dwellers whose lives intersect in mysterious ways. Mae (Erika Christensen), a troubled free spirit with dark secrets, catches the eye of Carlos (Jay Hernandez), who in turn befriends Damien (Dorian Missick), a chauffeur trying to escape from his criminal brother’s shadow. On the run from who-knows-what, Mae takes a job as an au pair with Laura (Hope Davis), a grieving widow who befriends Whitney (Bridget Moynahan), a high-powered PR type who fears her boyfriend of long-standing may be cheating. Whitney also becomes smitten with the work of Steven (Campbell Scott), a troubled, brilliant photographer with a drug-addled past. Before the pilot’s end, Steven rediscovers his muse by taking furtive snapshots of one of the characters above.

It is, as they say, a small world.

Other season premieres

¢ Earl resolves to take Joy’s side, whatever the costs on “My Name Is Earl” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ On two episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), a series retrospective (7 p.m.), the staff rallies around Izzie (8 p.m.).

¢ Jim and Pam face the consequences of their Casino Night kiss on “The Office” (7:30 p.m., NBC).

¢ Murder takes center stage at Cirque du Soleil on “CSI” (8 p.m., CBS). John Mayer and Danny Bonaduce guest star.

¢ The staff copes with the aftermath of the shoot-out on “ER” (9 p.m., NBC).