Josh Duhamel stars in “Battle Creek”

Half the battle: Anyone who follows the news -- especially literary news -- has to have noticed that a sequel to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is forthcoming. The announcement that the manuscript, written and then set aside before Lee's only published novel, had been found in an attic set off a media firestorm in early February.

It just goes to show that a big success can lead to earlier works that had been rejected or put aside finally seeing the light of day. Case in point: "Battle Creek," premiering Sunday, March 1, on CBS.

The drama was conceived and pitched to networks by Vince Gilligan a decade ago, then abandoned. So what changed? Another little Gilligan show called "Breaking Bad" happened, thrusting him into the spotlight and forcing producers and studios to give a second look at his earlier works.

Whereas AMC's "Breaking Bad" was a hard look at two hardened criminals, "Battle Creek" flips a coin and ends up on the law enforcement side. Two detectives, as different as can be yet forced to work together, put their crime-fighting skills to work cleaning up the streets of Battle Creek, Michigan.

And just who is playing these detectives? The handsome Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," 2011) stars as Special Agent Milton Chamberlain alongside TV veteran Dean Winters' ("Oz," "30 Rock") Det. Russ Agnew.

The cast is rounded out by Janet McTeer ("Tideland," 2005), Kal Penn ("Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," 2004), Aubrey Dollar ("Guiding Light") and Damon Herriman ("Justified").

With friends like that, who needs enemies? Of course, being a detective drama -- and a Gilligan creation, no less -- these boys in blue will no doubt have enemies aplenty.

Gilligan's newest (and not-so-newest) creation hits the screens Sunday, March 1, on CBS.

Murder most foul: It's happened before, and it will doubtless happen again: someone being accused of a crime that he or she didn't commit.

When the crime in question is murder, the stakes for the poor accused soul couldn't be higher.

"Secrets and Lies" is coming to ABC, and that's the premise behind the drama. Based on the hit Australian show of the same name, it premieres Sunday, March 1, on the alphabet network.

Ben is a respected citizen and a Good Samaritan, but when he finds the body of his neighbor's son in the woods, he becomes the prime murder suspect. His life is turned upside down by the accusation, and he launches his own hunt for the real killer.

Ryan Phillippe stars as Ben, the prime suspect in the killings. Despite his boyish and youthful good looks, Phillippe's an experienced and versatile actor, having starred in Academy Award-winning films ("Gosford Park," 2001, "Crash," 2004), teen slashers ("I Know What You Did Last Summer," 1997) and a TV soap opera ("One Life to Live").

And, of course, there's the detective investigating the crime. In this case, it's Det. Andrea Cornell, whose claim to fame is that she has the highest close rate of any detective in her department. Played by Academy Award and Emmy nominee Juliette Lewis ("Cape Fear," 1991, "From Dusk Till Dawn," 1996), Cornell is relentless in her pursuit of the killer.

At Ben's side are his wife Christy, played by KaDee Strickland ("Private Practice," "The Grudge," 2004), and his daughters Natalie (Indiana Evans, "H2O: Just Add Water") and Abby (Belle Shouse, "A Million Ways to Die in the West," 2014).

The Australian version of "Secrets and Lies" has been a big hit across the Pacific, and with the acting talent on screen, the American version is shaping up to be just as good. "Secrets and Lies" premieres Sunday, March 1, on ABC.

From hero to villain: He's no stranger to comic book geekiness, so Milo Ventimiglia should feel right at home in Fox's "Gotham."

The actor has signed on to the Batman prequel for a recurring role as the villainous Ogre, a new character in the DC comic book universe. He's no stranger to this sort of thing: he played Peter Petrelli in the NBC superhero show "Heroes."

While there have been other Ogre characters in the DC Universe in the past, this particular villain reportedly has no connection to them.

Using his handsome looks and natural charm, the Ogre lures women to him in the search for his perfect mate. His standards, though, are exceedingly high -- and he kills those who don't live up to them.

In "Gotham," his murderous ways will no doubt put him on a collision course with the show's protagonist, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, "The O.C."). Along with Jada Pinkett Smith ("All of Us"), Robin Lord Taylor ("Another Earth," 2011) and Cory Michael Smith ("Camp X-Ray," 2014), Ventimiglia joins a veritable rogue's gallery of villains who face off against the idealistic young police officer.

Watch for Ventimiglia's Ogre to show up in "Gotham" later this season.