> Last night in ratings, the freshman series Cane shut out ABC's Boston Legal, a multiple-Emmy-Award winning series -- and it's about time something canned that show!

The second episode, The Work of a Businessman, delivered stronger actor performances and a much better, if melodramatic, script, but it's still not a homerun for CBS.

When a disgruntled employee of Duque Rum Factory sets a scorpion loose in his home, Alex Vega (Jimmy Smits: NYPD BLUE) banishes him back to Cuba -- apparently the ultimate punishment for this show, even superseding death.

Sudsy from all the soap -- Cane might just be the new Knots Landing or Melrose Place, except with a restorative (that is, revitalizing) reversal of stereotypical roles -- vilified whites.