The success of the USA network’s cheeky comedy-drama blends from “Burn Notice” to “Psych” can be seen in “CHAOS” (7 p.m., CBS), the new network dramedy set in the CIA. The show’s title refers to Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (CHAOS). It’s also a nod to “Get Smart,” the 1965 TV spy spoof written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. In that comedy, CHAOS were the bad guys who tangled with Maxwell Smart and the good guys of CONTROL.

Don’t go looking for shoe phones or slapstick here. In fact, the humor sometimes revolves around how low-tech the CIA can be because it’s a government agency and therefore adapts to new technology at the speed of the post office or the DMV. Their computers still run Windows ’97.

Rick Martinez (Freddy Rodriguez) wants to be a spy very badly but discovers that his job has been downsized before he’s even done interviewing for the position. Or at least what the big boss H.J. Higgins (Kurtwood Smith) tells him. Higgins hires Rick to spy on the CHAOS group, a clandestine outfit with their own agenda. But once ensconced with CHAOS he seems smitten with their he-man derring-do. Being spies, they’re also hip to his mole status and entrap him in a compromising position so he belongs to them.

The pilot episode ricochets all over the globe with neither the viewer nor hapless Rick entirely aware of which end is up. With the exception of a brash Scotsman, the CHAOS spies seem particularly generic and the show never really finds its center. As a thriller, it’s rather tepid and as a comedy it’s only sporadically funny. And if it were on USA, that network would have the good sense to air it for grown ups at 9 p.m. and not squander it at 7. Ultimately it’s a hybrid that reminds us that there’s only one letter separating “blend” from “bland.”

• Filled with swordsmanship, exalted talk of destiny and damsels in undress, “Camelot” (9 p.m., Starz) becomes the latest expensive, critic-proof sex-and-violence mythic drama from the pay-cable network.

Like most re-imaginings of the Knights of the Round Table, it borders on parody. Arthur (Jamie Campbell-Bower) looks and acts like a medieval surfer, a righteous dude with blond locks more interested in deflowering the local damsels than discovering his destiny. But fate arrives in the person of Merlin (Joseph Fiennes), who looks a lot more like a Wall Street Hedge fund manager than a sorcerer. Whatever.

We soon learn that Arthur is the secret son of the just poisoned king Uther and that makes Arthur’s existence a threat the fetching and scheming Morgan (Eva Green) who just bumped off her royal daddy to inherit his realm. Guinevere (Tamsin Egerton) also appears in the pilot, but only in Arthur’s dreams. And rather racy dreams at that. Like “Spartacus” and “Pillars of the Earth,” this “Camelot” is a lot more about spectacle than making sense.

I think Starz is on to something here. Television appears to have gotten smaller at the very time that people’s entertainment centers got bigger. Sure you can watch a lot of reality fluff better suited to the web, or inspired by YouTube. But that’s not why a lot people bought huge digital TVs and home theater systems. They’ve got the hardware. They need something spectacular to watch. Starz has set out to fill that void. It’s a smart idea.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Gwyneth Paltrow explores her roots on “Who Do You Think You Are?” (7 p.m., NBC).

• Brothers bicker on “Kitchen Nightmares” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Jo’s daughter becomes a murder witness on “CSI:NY” (8 p.m., CBS).

• Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future”) guest-stars on “Fringe” (8 p.m., Fox). Last week Fox announced that “Fringe” would return next season.

• Steve Watson shares landscaping tips on “Yard Attack!” (8 p.m., DIY).

• The fashion world turns venomous on “Blue Bloods” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Joel McHale hosts “The Soup Awards” (9 p.m., E!).