Five USA in "worth watching" shock

Very clever. No longer is Five USA simply a repository of old CSIs (CSI, Scrubs and Friends are as ubiquitous on digichannels as Guinness, Stella and Carling in pubs). Now, taking a leaf out of Channel 4's book, Five has started distributing its new shows around its sub-channels. Fiver is still packed with godawful freak documentaries and Aussie soap, but Five USA has some quality shows...

The Beast

Five USA

Wednesday, 10pm (and +1)

If this new FBI show was no good, it's unlikely you'd hear any criticism, because the whole thing is viewed through the prism of its star Patrick Swayze's battle with pancreatic cancer. He is great in it though – one of those career-saving redefining roles, where the "nice guy" from the '80s convincingly turns antihero – a grizzled old agent, Charles Barker, who breaks the rules and treats people appallingly.

If it sounds formulaic – and there's even a cleancut young apprentice. However, everything's got a pleasingly ragged edge to it. The cleancut sidekick is soon sucking on bong and pistol-whipping D'Angelo Barksdale from The Wire. And the way Swayze's character "helps" his brother-in-law out of a problem is shocking. Plus there's a big question hanging over Barker - is he a dirty Fed? Or does he have dirt on his superiors?

There are possibly two reasons for this. First, if Swayze loses his cancer battle, they'll need to explain him out of the show (although it would probably not survive his loss – which is why HBO, Showtime and FX all refused to make it). But there seems to be a trend in American shows at the moment: suspicion and mistrust of organisations such as the FBI. It could be because of the success of the Bourne film trilogy, based on the betrayal-rich Robert Ludlum novels. But it's surely also a reflection of America's belated realisation that their government was shafting everyone for the past eight years.

30 Rock

Five USA

Friday, 9pm (and +1)

Talking of the Republicans, we have one Sarah Palin to thank for the return – finally – of 30 Rock. Five showed the first season, which had some slide-off-the-sofa funny moments, in 2007 and has repeated them occasionally, but there are 37 episodes ready to go. Thanks to the brilliant Palin impersonation, 30 Rock creator and star Tina Fey's profile in the UK has rocketed, so here we go.

The first episode sets the tone for the calibre of guest appearances on the show, with Jerry Seinfled appearing as himself in some great scenes with Alec Baldwin's network boss. Not to be missed.