NEW YORK (CNS) -- In theory, networks hold back midseason replacement shows to give promising but unrealized programs time to smooth out their rough edges. But the often implausible and half-baked new crime drama "Instinct" could stand some more time in the oven.

Based on best-selling author James Patterson's novel "Murder Games," "Instinct" debuts on CBS Sunday, March 18, 8-9 p.m. EDT. It will air in that time slot throughout its 13-week run.

Since it depicts multiple murders, gun violence, suicide, adultery, a benignly treated gay romance and transvestism -- and contains some mildly offensive language as well -- the series is certainly not family fare and may not appeal to many adults.

When viewers first meet show's protagonist, Dylan Reinhart (Alan Cumming), the former CIA operative seems to be reveling in his new career teaching abnormal behavior analysis at the University of Pennsylvania. He's also the popular author of the best-selling book "Freaks." And People magazine considers Reinhart one of America's 25 most intriguing figures.

After a killer sends a copy of "Freaks" to the New York Police Dept.'s homicide division, just prior to committing a murder, the unit's lead detective, Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic), believes Reinhart's insights could help her catch the culprit. Visiting with Reinhart in the university's cafeteria, Needham convinces him to join forces with her to solve the crime.

Although Reinhart continues to lap up his students' adoration, his literary career appears to have stalled. His editor, Joan Ross (Whoopi Goldberg), isn't impressed with his latest manuscript, which she considers overly theoretical.

The producers are no doubt banking on Goldberg's star power to prop up the fledging series. But the scenes between Cumming and Goldberg are curiously flat and bland.

Reinhart agrees to help Needham largely because he hopes working on active investigations will help him get his mojo back, and inspire new books.

Although viewers sense why Reinhart would want to return to something approaching the kind of life and world he once knew, the series has yet to explain why he left the CIA in the first place. This key narrative gap weakens "Instinct."

For her part, Needham, having suffered a personal tragedy involving her former partner -- and paramour -- a year earlier, has refused to be paired with any other NYPD colleague. In the face of persistent attempts by her supervisor and close friend, Lt. Jasmine Gooden (Sharon Leal), to match her with other officers, Needham has dismissed all of them as either "stupid," "lazy" or "smug."

At the end of her rope, and having seen how well they worked together on their first case, Gooden suggests Needham and Reinhart become "partners." Police departments certainly do hire consultants like Reinhart. But this arrangement is unbelievable on two counts.

Whatever Needham's objections, she would have been compelled to pair off with another officer long before encountering Reinhart. And a civilian adviser would never be assigned to serve in the field as an officer's "partner."

Viewers who forge ahead with "Instinct" will need to suspend their incredulity and accept this unusual and unlikely development at face value -- because without this arrangement, "Instinct" wouldn't exist. To the actors' credit, however, they manage to cultivate an appealing chemistry.

Viewers may be less willing to tolerate the high level of homicidal mayhem I "Instinct." In the pilot alone, four murders occur. The circumstances of these killings, moreover, would seem to require almost preternatural insights into his victims' habits and schedules on the part of the perpetrator. And the murders' rapidity also raises a question: Don't serial killers ever take a break?

Other narrative flaws will nag viewers. Reinhart, for instance, is in a same-sex union with Andy (Daniel Ings). Even leaving aside the moral status of this relationship, its portrayal will puzzle the audience.

We're led to believe the couple has been committed to each other for some time. If so, has Reinhart been commuting all the way to his teaching job in Philadelphia? And why does Andy explain to Reinhart accommodations he's making for him -- as if the two were only now starting to cohabit?

Similarly, "Instinct" only establishes Needham in a police office in the third episode. But her nameless colleagues have surprisingly little to do, so it would seem, aside from speculating about what Gooden is doing behind her locked door. As it turns out, she's trying on wedding dresses.

With its layers of multiple improbabilities, "Instinct" feels like a show still under construction. As is the case with any building site, viewers should exercise caution before entering the premises.

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Byrd is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.