Girls will be boys

This morning's column deals with TBS' "My Boys" and the rape finale of "Veronica Mars." On the former:

P.J Franklin has a gender identity crisis. A sportswriter who covers the Chicago Cubs, she's a switch-hitter of sorts: She looks womanly, talks manly. A pretty, outgoing blonde who knows her way around a makeup case, she's most comfortable hanging out with her all-male posse of friends, playing poker, drinking beer and talking sports. Put her into a romantic situation, and both she and the man tend to get confused about who's who.

At the end of a first date, she gets handsy with the guy, and after assuring him that she doesn't expect any kind of cuddling or emotional connection afterwards, he freaks out, insisting, "Guys act like that! Girls say things like, 'Wait! Why is this happening so fast?'"

PJ is the lead of the new comedy "My Boys" (10 & 10:30 p.m., TBS), and like its heroine, the show borrows from both sexes. It's a relationship show in the vein of "Sex and the City," but also one that a man can watch without feeling like he's just taking one for the team.

And one paragraph on "Veronica" that you should keep an eye on:

The streamlined approach has turned out fairly well so far, but with some bumps. Despite only running nine episodes, the rape storyline still followed the season-two pattern of dragging in the middle, and while there's been enough time to lay out a half-dozen or so legitimate suspects, some important clues flew by in a hurry. (In particular, anyone who has easy access to previous episodes may want to rewatch the second one before they get to the rape finale, and that's all I have to say about that.)

To read the full column, click here.