This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The folks at CBS are under the impression that "Bull" (8 p.m., Ch. 2) has two really big things going for it. The first is former "NCIS" star Michael Weatherly, who stars as Dr. Jason Bull.

The second is the fact that this show is supposedly based on the pre-daytime talkshow career of Dr. Phil McGraw, who is one of the series' executive producers.

Weatherly is a very appealing star. The Dr. Phil thing would seem to be more a detriment than an advantage.

Only the fact that Weatherly is so likable keeps Bull from being unbearably obnoxious.

Jason Bull is a psychologist/jury consultant who's the smartest guy in the room. Accused of murder? Your lawyer won't get you off — Bull will!

Well, Bull and his team — his former brother-in-law, Benny Colón (Freddy Rodriguez), a lawyer; Marissa Morgan (Geneva Carr), a neurolinguistics expert; former NYPD detective Danny James (Jaime Lee Kirchner); cyber whiz/hacker Cable McCrory (Annablle Attanasio; and Chunk Palmer (Chris Jackson), a stylist who remakesclients' appearances for trial.

As you might expect, the client in the premiere is hiding a Big Secret, which ultimately affects the outcome of the trial. I'm not detective and I'm not particularly adept at figuring out mysteries — but I saw the Big Twist coming a mile away. It was so obvious it was just sort of dumb.

That's not a good sign for the rest of the series.

What "Bull" really has going for it is that it's scheduled between "NCIS" and "NCIS: New Orleans." If "Bull" succeeds, that will have an awful lot to do with it.