Couch Potato: A second look

It’s a Couch Potato’s prerogative to change her mind.

On more than one occasion over the years, I’ve hated or loved a series upon first viewing, only to reassess my opinion the more I watched.

It’s already happened this year with ABC’s “Cougar Town,” which has improved mightily since its first episode.

It got me thinking: Would I feel the same way about other shows I panned early in the season?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve checked back in with a few of them:

Cougar Town (ABC, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday)
Synopsis: Recently divorced mom Jules (Courteney Cox) re-enters the dating scene with the help of her two best friends, neighbor Ellie (Christa Miller, “Scrubs”) and coworker Laurie (Busy Philipps, “Dawson’s Creek”).

What I said then: “It just felt tired, uninspired and full of cheap laughs. The cast is full of great actors you’ll recognize from other shows … Too bad they don’t have better material to work with.”

What I’m saying now: Even though the pilot failed to wow me, I never stopped watching and hoping it would get better with time. It has.

Cox’s Jules is still pretty inept at the dating game, but she’s much less annoying.

The rest of the cast has gelled, too. The bitter rivalry between Ellie and Laurie is hilarious, as is the man crush Ellie’s husband, Andy (Ian Gomez, “Felicity”), has on Jules’ ex, Bobby (Brian Van Holt). And Dan Byrd, who I so loved on The CW’s late, great “Aliens in America,” is fantastic as Jules awkward son Travis, who is perpetually embarrassed by his parents’ antics.

“Cougar Town” is definitely the season’s biggest improvement.

Melrose Place (CW, 9 p.m. Tuesday)
Synopsis: A new crop of beautiful twentysomethings inhabit the legendary apartment complex.

What I said then: “Much like the original, I’m feeling pretty indifferent about the show itself and its cast. Watch if you want, but my advice is to skip it — and look for something a little more original.”

What I’m saying now: It’s not as bad as I originally thought. Some of the storylines are still pretty lame, but once the snooze fest that is the Sydney murder mystery wraps up, “Melrose” has great potential as a guilty pleasure.

The standout remains Katie Cassidy’s witchy publicist Ella, who gets all the snarkiest lines. I can’t wait to see her face off with original series star Heather Locklear, whose Amanda Woodward returns to the show next week.

Also on the horizon are the departures of cast members Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (Violet) and Colin Egglesfield (Auggie). I’m more than happy to say sayonara to Simpson, whose acting hasn’t improved an ounce since the pilot, but Egglesfield’s brooding Auggie will be missed. Why not get rid of the boring David instead? His thieving seems to be more of a dead-end storyline than Auggie’s troubled past.

I doubt I’ll be tuning in every week, but the “Melrose” kids are certainly worth checking in on from time to time.

The Forgotten (ABC, 10 p.m. Tuesday)
Synopsis: Amateur detectives work to identify Jane and John Does, and help catch their killers, after the police have given up.

What I said then: “Christian Slater is trying really hard to channel one of those intuitive, driven TV detectives we all know and love. … Problem is, I’m just not buying it.”

What I’m saying now: Pretty much the same thing. Slater, who has been so much better elsewhere, continues to annoy me as the group’s leader.

His cohorts aren’t much better, and their investigative skills are still pretty embarrassing. In the episode I watched, inept sidekick Walter slid his open cell phone across the floor of a restaurant, so Slater could eavesdrop on a group of suspects from the other end of the phone. Subtle, guys.

Eastwick (ABC, 10 p.m. Wednesday)
Synopsis: Three women discover hidden magical powers after a wealthy, mysterious stranger moves to town; it’s based on the John Updike novel and the 1987 film that starred Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher and Michelle Pfeiffer.

What I said then: A lot of not-very-nice things, including calling it one of the season’s worst.

“The whole pilot just felt silly and not terribly interesting. I’m not sure there’s any amount of magic that can save it.”

What I’m saying now: Unfortunately, not much has changed.

The Halloween episode barely kept my interest, even as one of the core characters, Lindsay Price’s Joanna, was kidnapped by a crazed pastor and another character, Roxy’s younger boyfriend, met his demise.

At least I was right about this one.