USA: Good Network or Best Network?

First, USA has White Collar. As that has already been discussed in detail, I'll leave it at that.

This summer, they came out with Covert Affairs, the best feel-good spy show since Chuck. The season arc is almost as interesting as White Collar's and the characters are just about as solid. The two main characters on the show, played by Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham, have a chemistry on screen together that means they are as interesting to watch together as Peter and Neal without the bromance. There are two reasons, though, that the characters seem a little less developed. First, there are just more characters to keep track of and care about in Covert Affairs, and on top of that, they've only had a summer season's worth of shows, so the characters haven't had much time to grow and develop. We'll see what the writers can do with another season to gain my love, but I have a feeling I will be following this show almost as avidly as I do White Collar. 

This spring, USA came out with Fairly Legal, which has managed a feat I didn't believe to be possible. They've made a legal drama that I don't immediately roll my eyes at. Usually I find legal shows about victorious underdogs to be ridiculous for the simple fact that it's hard to imagine that such idealistic lawyers actually exist in nature. The profession seems designed to eat away at people who have a sense of "right and wrong" until it has destroyed every shred of optimism and hope in favor of a paycheck based on loopholes and technicalities. Yet in most of these lawyer shows, we see lawyers as unrealistically idealistic as the political staff on The West Wing, fighting against a corrupt/outdated/invalid system (depending on the show) to triumph in the face of the odds. We've got the same thing here in Fairly Legal, an idealistic protagonist out to reconcile the wrongs of the world and make everyone happy. So what's the difference? At least she quit being  a lawyer when she got fed up with the system. Granted, she still works within it, yada yada yada. But at least it's a step in the right direction.

Their original shows are top notch. Plot, both episodic and seasonal, is interesting and nuanced. Characters are rich and emotional. Sometimes the dialogue seems forced, even in White Collar but I challenge you to find a show on any network where speech sounds natural all the time.

All in all, if I had to name a best network for dramedies, off the top of my head, I'd pick USA. It's funny that a lot of people forget it exists when they think of original programming.