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Left Brain, Right Brain

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Sunday, November 12, 2006

3 Lbs.

Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS

The tagline you'll never see: Is it worth its weight?

The basics: Doug Hanson (Stanley Tucci) is a talented, gruff brain surgeon at a New York hospital. Enter Jonathan Seger (Mark Feuerstein), a talented, sensitive brain surgeon who will be working for Hanson. While the cranky doc likens the brain to a box of wires, the friendly doc tends to look at patients as people. Set amid these opposite approaches are various patients and their problems, plus other staff members with their quirks and professional jealousies -- not to mention Hanson's mysterious recurring vision of a little girl with pigtails. And the title? Three pounds is the approximate weight of the adult human brain.

The lowdown: CBS added "3 Lbs." to its schedule to replace the recently departed "Smith," the first of this fall's new shows to officially get the ax. The medical drama will compete against NBC's strong "Law & Order: SVU."

Reality check: It will be interesting to see how "3 Lbs." develops and whether it can distinguish itself from other medical dramas, such as ABC's hit "Grey's Anatomy," NBC's venerable "ER" and Fox's quirky "House." In the pilot episode, Hanson seems too stern and Seger too eager, and the many factoids and medical explanations sprinkled throughout "3 Lbs." are reminiscent of what you'd find in a teaching video. But, hey, it is brain surgery!

-- Judith S. Gillies