Ellen Gray: Odd-couple crime fighters debut on USA

WHITE COLLAR. 10 tonight, USA.

When it comes to knowing its niche, few cable channels have been as successful as USA Network, whose "Characters Welcome" campaign fits its dramas like a good light- to medium-weight suit.

On USA, quirky characters combine with plots that don't strain the brain - you want to dig out your old philosophy books, then stick with "Lost" - for a viewing experience that's not likely to keep you up nights.

It's a formula that's worked so far, and if you've already loved shows like "Psych" and "Burn Notice" and "Royal Pains," why shouldn't you love "White Collar," which premieres tonight?

Tim DeKay ("Tell Me You Love Me") plays an FBI agent named Peter Burke who specializes in reeling in con men and Matt Bomer ("Chuck") is Neal Caffrey, the biggest fish he ever landed. Maybe there's a world where these two would live out their lives separately, but that world isn't on USA, where naturally they're about to become odd-couple partners.

It doesn't hurt that producers have salted this unlikely buddy show with quirky secondary characters - "Sex and the City's" Willie Garson plays an old associate of Caffrey's, and Diahann Carroll pops up in what I'm hoping will be a recurring role as a widow who takes him under her well-appointed wing. Hey, even Tiffani Thiessen, who plays Burke's long-suffering wife, seems to be having more fun than that description implies.

No reason you shouldn't, too.

- Ellen Gray