Chicago Tribune | `Close to Home’ pilot is stuck on the dark side

And so it does. On her first day back at her job as a prosecutor, that new mom, Annabeth Chase, learns that the fire that she spotted from her living room window was set by a woman who purposely set her home ablaze — with her two children inside.

Chase, who has a perfect record as a prosecutor, is determined to put her neighbor in jail, until Chase learns that there is much more to the story of the unfortunate woman and her two kids, who, as it turns out, have been the victims of years of domestic abuse.

“Close to Home” is a product of Jerry Bruckheimer’s hugely successful television production company, an efficient machine that has given us the three “CSI” shows as well as “Cold Case” and “Without a Trace.” “Home” shares the top-notch production values of those programs, and Jennifer Finnigan, star of the short-lived NBC sitcom “Committed,” is well cast as a lawyer who frequently alternates between stressed-out new mom and driven seeker of justice.

The trouble with this drama is that it doesn’t veer much from the often dark tone of the other procedurals from the Bruckheimer TV factory. It’s not exactly another “CSI” — it’s more of a “CSM” (“Crime Scene Mommy”) — but the material in the material in the pilot, anyway, is grim.

Hmm. Based on the previews I saw, I was prepared to watch this show, but the setup in the pilot guarantees I won’t identify much with either Suspected Murderer Mommy or Prosecutor Mommy. And although it’s the same night as TAR, I’ll probably watch something else tonight.