HBO and Showtime break out the big guns Sunday with season premieres of five shows: "Big Love" and "Flight of the Conchords" on HBO, and "The L Word," "United States of Tara" and "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" on Showtime.
HBO, once the lone wolf with critically acclaimed hits such as "The Sopranos," "Oz" and "The Wire," has come up against stiff competition as Showtime continues to build up new and appealing projects of its own.
Here's a look at the action on Sunday nights, based on episodes made available to the Star for review.
"Big Love" (10 p.m. on HBO).
The Henricksons, America's favorite polygamists, return with a series of storylines that will test their strength as a family. Wife No. 1, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), is facing serious illness. No. 2, Nicki (Chloë Sevigny), is contemplating another pregnancy, and No. 3, Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), can't seem to avoid making monumental mistakes that might eventually come back to bite them all.
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Husband Bill (Bill Paxton) is juggling this bustling home life with the possibility of launching a Mormon-friendly casino and marrying a potential fourth wife. Add to that Bill's warring parents, and keeping the polygamy under wraps is the least of his problems.
Then there is Roman Grant, Nicki's father and leader of the Juniper Creek compound, who is behind bars, leaving Nicki's conniving brother, Alby, in control.
As in years past, the new season of "Big Love" tends to overextend itself, branching out with storylines for characters who might not deserve the screen time. I would much rather see more detailed interplay between Bill and Margene or Barb and Nicki than watch Bill's crabby old parents get violent with each other again. The show could also use more Roman, played by seasoned actor Harry Dean Stanton. His role in the first few episodes is minimal.
"Flight of the Conchords" (11 p.m. on HBO).
At the end of the first season, the big question for this HBO comedy series was, "Now what?"
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, the musical duo from New Zealand known as Flight of the Conchords, relied heavily on their live-act repertoire for comic relief and went through gems like "Robots" and "The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)" within the first few episodes.
Thankfully, the two stay on par in Season Two with a new batch of songs as they continue on their quest for fame and fortune in New York City.
Serious conflict is minimal in this half-hour comedy. Their biggest problem is their manager, Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby), who has taken on a new band, leaving the Conchords to play second fiddle.
The show's humor is hit-and-miss. Some jokes are painful. But most capture just how talented Clement and McKenzie are at delivery and timing.
"The L Word" (10 p.m. on Showtime).
"The L Word," one of Showtime's longest-running original programs, begins its sixth and final season Sunday.
The show kicks off with a murder that slowly unfolds and sends shock waves through the West Hollywood community of lesbians and bisexuals.
Storylines on the eight-episode season involve Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina (Laurel Holloman) mulling a bigger family, Alice (Leisha Hailey) and Tasha (Rose Rollins) worrying that they aren't right for each other, and Kit (Pam Grier) and Helena (Rachel Shelley) opening a new business venture.
Despite all this, "The L Word" tends to drag on at times. And, like "Big Love," the show would benefit from a few less characters to allow for more story development for some of its higher-profile roles.
"United States of Tara" (11 p.m. on Showtime).
Showtime's secret weapon in 2009 is this half-hour dark comedy helmed by "Juno" screenwriter and show creator Diablo Cody and Steven Spielberg as its executive producers.
The series centers on Tara Gregson (Toni Collette), an American homemaker who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, a condition that can result in multiple personalities.
When Tara isn't Tara, she is Buck, a beer-swilling man's man; T, a party girl; and Alice, a 1950s-style homemaker and perfectionist. The series homes in on how Tara deals with her condition and how it impacts her husband, Max (John Corbett), and her kids, Kate (Brie Larson) and Marshall (Keir Gilchrist).
It's quirky without overdoing the hipster dialogue that made "Juno" so popular. And, while not overtly hilarious, the show leaves you feeling good after seeing what lengths Tara's family goes to to protect her from herself and others.
You can watch the first full episode at sho.comonline.
"Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (11:30 p.m. on Showtime).
Billie Piper returns as Belle in this British import about a high-class call girl taking London by storm. The half-hour series plays out like "Sex and the City," with themes of family, friends and relationship pressures woven into storylines revolving around Belle's sex-fueled hijinks.
"Secret Diary" gives the sex trade a flashy, upbeat appeal while glossing over the potential for abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and other serious matters.
Is it worth watching? Sure, if you can manage to separate this fantasy lifestyle from the true realities of prostitution. It's fast-paced and entertaining. Just make sure the kids are asleep before you turn it on.
