TV Lookout: highlights (and lowlights) for the week

As a spy drama, "MI-5" doesn't do much that hasn't already been done on dozens of series going back to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." 40 years ago.

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It's just that "MI-5" does it better. This British drama is sharper, grittier, smarter and more topical than any crime show you might find on the U.S. broadcast networks.

But this will come as no news to "MI-5" fans as they joyfully welcome it back for a third season on A&E.

"MI-5" focuses on Section B, where a team of intrepid (and eye-appealing) spies runs the counterterrorism department of MI-5, the United Kingdom's security intelligence agency.

Harry Pearce (played by Peter Firth) is the boss of Tom Quinn (Matthew Macfadyen), Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo) and Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes), who will be joined this season by new spook Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones). Armed with courage and cool gadgets, they thwart terrorists, immigration rings, arms smugglers and drug cartels while coping with the psychological toll of living life by deception.

Airing Saturday at 10 p.m. EST, the first "MI-5" picks up from last season's cliffhanger - Quinn has vanished after he is accused of assassinating the Chief of the Defense - and the action may initially be a bit puzzling for newcomers. But stick with it. "MI-5" is well worth investigating.

Other shows to look out for:

- It's hard to explain why silly series (however beloved) from long ago warrant twice-as-silly movies promising a behind-the-scenes look. Never mind. The latest in this silly trend is "Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure," which bills itself as "a satirical yet poignant look" behind the 1981-89 prime-time soap. Actors not worth mentioning struggle (and fail) to portray one-of-a-kind "Dynasty" stars like John Forsythe, Linda Evans and especially Joan Collins. Guilty? Yes. Pleasure? Maybe not. ABC airs it Sunday at 9 p.m.

- Here's the reality special everybody is upset about. "Who's Your Daddy?" gives a woman who, as an infant, was given up for adoption a very public chance to reunite with her birth father. But to ensure the show's obligatory squalid tone, this young woman will be presented with eight men, all claiming to be her father, among whom she must identify the real one - with a $100,000 prize at stake. Activists in the adoption community have blasted the special. "It takes a deeply personal and important experience and turns it into a money-grubbing game show," said the executive director of the Evan P. Donaldson Adoption Institute. Probably. If you just can't think of anything better to do, watch and see for yourself at 8 p.m. Monday on Fox.

- Say hello to Craig Ferguson as he begins his reign as host of CBS' "The Late Late Show" late Monday at 12:37 a.m. Best-known from "The Drew Carey Show," where he played Carey's boss, the Scottish actor also wrote and starred in the feature films "Saving Grace" and "The Big Tease." He is replacing Craig Kilborn, who stepped down in August.

- TV newsman Robert MacNeil, whose love affair with the English language was displayed two decades ago in his PBS series "The Story of English," hits the road to find out how Americans use their language today, as well as where American English is headed, in his new PBS special "Do You Speak American?" Why do people of different regions and different groups say things differently? And why is the way we speak always changing? The three-hour program will explore how language expresses who we are, and who we want to be. It airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday (check local listings).

- Joan Lunden is host of the new reality series "Wickedly Perfect," which pits 12 people in a competition to crown a new authority on at-home living. Events include party planning, gardening, cooking, sewing, crafts and decorating. The winner scores six appearances on CBS' "The Early Show" and a development deal for a lifestyle-oriented television show. With this much at stake, tempers will flare. "You're a snake and the gloves are off," snarls one contestant to another. But shouldn't she have said "kitchen mitt"? "Wickedly Perfect" premieres Thursday at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.

- Another CBS reality series, "The Will," finds Bill Long, a wealthy, 73-year-old rancher looking to name someone to inherit his large Kansas spread. Who will be named sole heir in Long's will? It'll be one of 10 friends and family members, who will compete to eliminate the others. Viewer advisory: The men are mostly schlubs and the four young women are very busty. But no word on whether, in the series' final installment, the winner will eliminate Long in order to collect the prize. Time will tell. "The Will" premieres Saturday at 8 p.m. EST.