Talkback: Which Movie Actress's New TV Show Will Fare Best?

Last week I asked you which Emmy nominee deserved a bigger movie career, and I decided that you answered Julie Bowen, because I want to like you. (P.S. Congrats to the madly talented Ms. Bowen on her win!) Now I’m asking a related, but opposite question: Which movie actress’s new TV show has the best shot of survival? We rank the five most promising nominees after the jump. Please tell me where I go wrong. 1. Zooey Deschanel, New Girl Can’t deny ratings: Zooey Deschanel’s new show about a quirky girl who moves in with three nondescript dudes launched big even after debuting its first episode as a free iTunes download. Nothing about the pilot is particularly novel: Zooey is likable, the guys are likable, and the show works - but it’s more a trifle than a triumph. Oh, and also? A beautiful girl with pristine hair, perfect vintage outfits, and a feigned coquettishness is better described as “cloying” than “adorkable,” Fox. 2. Kat Dennings, 2 Broke Girls Make no mistake, I love that female-led comedies are working in primetime. Dennings is just right as one half of 2 Broke Girls’s titular duo, and her role is a somewhat natural extension of her character in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. For now, she’s one of the brightest spots on CBS. 3. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ringer You might not consider Gellar a formal movie star, but she seems to dominate our Bad Movies We Love canon, so let it go. Gellar’s new series Ringer has garnered an inordinate amount of buzz for its pilot and sci-fi premise — and Gellar herself transcends the Whedon wheelhouse and has great mainstream appeal. 4. Maria Bello, Prime Suspect Forgiving Prime Suspect’s rather staid premise (and the fact that Helen Mirren’s original series is unforgettably great), Bello is a marvel as Det. Jane Timoney - self-assured, unflinching, and compellingly overreactive. The show debuted soft in the ratings, but I suspect a second-wind is coming for this solid new show. 5. Christina Ricci, Pan Am Ricci wins my unconfident fifth-place vote, and it’s mostly because I adore her. Wednesday Addams forever, am I right? Pan Am may be a flashy period drama — a genre that seems more bankable than it is thanks to Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire — but I’m not sensing a real hook in the story of Pan Am. Flight attendants live glamorous lives in a misogynistic work setting? I believe it, but is there anything else we need to know? Because if we’re talking about the cosmopolitan world of international aviation in the ’60s, I’ll just watch The V.I.P.s again. Unranked: Taraji P. Henson in Person of Interest, Minka Kelly (of The Roommate!) in Charlie’s Angels, and Madeleine Stowe in Revenge So, let’s hear it. Who’s your pick for a cinematic success on the small screen?

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