Couch Potato: Lifetime's latest a predictable police drama

During the opening moments of Lifetime’s latest scripted drama, "The Protector," homicide detective Gloria Sheppard is rushing around to get her two young sons ready for school when a neighbor pops by.

It seems there have been a series of thefts in the neighborhood, and the woman hopes Gloria will look into them.

The missing items? Gnomes and other lawn ornaments.

"Let me be completely honest with you," a bemused Gloria says. "Gnomes are a little outside my jurisdiction. Now, if you find a severed head, you give me a call. I’ve had a lot of success with severed heads."

Gloria (Ally Walker, "Profiler"), you see, is one of those brash, driven detectives, and the show itself is a paint-by-numbers police procedural.

If you like TNT’s "The Closer" or USA’s "In Plain Sight," you’ll probably like "The Protector."

The hook, if you could call it that, is that the series follows Gloria as she juggles home life as a single mom — she and her adorable, mop topped sons are living with her recently sober brother — with her police work.

She has a good relationship with her partner, Michelle (Tisha Campbell-Martin) and her boss, Felix (Miguel Ferrer, "Crossing Jordan"), whom she even gives romantic advice. But she often clashes with, and regularly proves wrong, a pig-headed fellow detective.

Gloria is no Brenda Lee Johnson, for sure, and the show is no "Closer."

But it’s not terrible either. The acting is good, and Walker is likeable as a tough cookie who always goes with her gut, even when what it’s telling her seems outlandish.

"The Protector" premieres at 10 p.m. Sunday on Lifetime.