Grade: B+ photo (c) 2009 Art Streiber

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From its title, TNT's newest quirky dramedy, Trust Me, sounds like it would be better suited to a team of lawyers or confidence men (and we can argue the semantic difference between the two at some other time) than the crew of a Chicago-based advertising agency. And, at first blush, I thought, "Isn't this ground that Mad Men has already trod, albeit it in a sixties setting?"

And yet the idea works, and works well. The chemistry between partners Mason (Will & Grace's Eric McCormack) and Conner (Eli Stone's Thomas Cavanagh) is evident from the opening scenes and doesn't dissipate as the show progresses. Mason is an art director, Conner a copywriter, and both find ways to do as little as possible while coasting on the sparks of brilliance that make it appear as though they've labored intensively for the newest catch phrase or product portfolio.

Trust Them. Monica Potter, Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh (Photo: Art Streiber)

Their long-standing friendship is tested, however, when their ogre-like Creative Director temper-tantrums himself to death, leaving a corporate vacuum for the agency manager, Tony Mink (Griffin Dunne), to fill -- and he chooses to fill it with Mason. Now Mason is not only Conner's partner, but he's his boss as well. This alteration to the buddy dynamic leads to a rift at a critical time as Mason is tasked with performing triage on the doomed ad campaign left in disarray by his deceased predecessor.

A victim of bad timing, Sarah Krajicek-Hunter (Boston Legal's Monica Potter) reports for her first day of work at the agency, expecting an office with a window and a partnership with the creative director. What the fragile neurotic finds instead is a cramped cubicle and a dead body. With an obsessive/compulsive need to prove herself and a brittle personality, Sarah's character is poised to be either a constant pain, a brutal and undermining competitor, or an unexpected source of day-saving.

Ultimately, Trust Me is watchable and enjoyable, but whether it has enough of a hook to catch on has yet to be seen. TNT is launching the new series January 26th at 10pm/9pm CT, following the highly anticipated return of The Closer.