Primal Screen: Getting 'Jerseylicious' with Jason Isaacs

“Look, you have two choices,” says Olivia, showing someone an extravagant dress and a crazily extravagant one. “Glamorous or Jersey.”

I’ll take Jersey.

Army Wives (8pm Sun, Lifetime)

Beginning its sixth season, Army Wives is the most successful series in Lifetime’s history. It’s easy to see why: The men, women, and kids on this Army base are a pleasure to hang out with. Army Wives is a soap opera, but a dignified one, featuring characters who make sacrifices to serve their country.

The season premiere reminds us how tough and resourceful most of them are. Fort Marshall is being decommissioned, meaning the longtime friends (Kim Delaney, Catherine Bell, Sally Pressman, Brigid Branagh, Wendy Davis) must say goodbye. It’s a blow, but these women are adept at handling whatever life throws at them, albeit with occasional grumbling.

One of them, fretting about moving her children, is told that Army kids are resilient. “Resilient!” she snorts. “I’m beginning to hate that word!”

Funny — I’m beginning to love it.

Breakout Kings (9pm Sun, A&E)

Starting its second season, this drama pairs convicts with the U.S. Marshal’s office to track down prison-breakers on the run. Breakout Kings is set in a pleasingly unreal universe, where escapees are likely to be geniuses and everybody from the cops to the criminals are gorgeous. For all the jokey banter, however, the series gets you involved in the chase, not to mention the dynamics of this unconventional team.

In the season premiere, another hunky mastermind escapes from prison and goes on a killing spree. He has a vendetta against team member Lloyd (Jimmi Simpson), the nerdy psychiatrist/con who testified against him in court. Just when I thought I was watching the episode with detached amusement, an unexpected tragedy struck, and I groaned involuntarily. Not until then did I realize how skillfully Breakout Kings had hooked me.