The stars have come out for the fall television season. The real star, however, is New York. More than 23 shows are now being filmed in and around the city. (Chances are you’ve seen those TV vans parked on avenues and side streets). Of course, not even the best location shots can save a show with weak plots, bad scripts, and mediocre acting. The good news is that most of these new shows are well done and already building a following. They add to several shows into their second season and going strong.

So here’s our rundown. And you don’t have to live in New York to love these shows. (Check local listings since the networks have not finished moving shows around).

A Gifted Man (CBS)

Patrick Wilson stars as Dr. Michael Holt, a gifted neurosurgeon who runs a glitzy Manhattan clinic where we treats the rich and famous. One evening he runs into his ex-wife, Anna, who runs a free clinic that serves the poor. The two enjoy a relaxing dinner where they reminisce about times past. When Michael calls her at the clinic the next day, he discovers that she was killed in an automobile accident two weeks earlier. Anna continues to appear to Michael, much to his personal and professional distress. Never one to develop a good bedside manner, Michael finds himself caring for indigent patients at the downtown clinic.

Wilson, an award-winning Broadway performer, chose well for his first foray into television. His Dr. Holt is a multi-faceted character who may seem totally in control in the operating room, yet unable to cope when faced with a ten year-old boy asking for his father. Jennifer Ehle is luminous as Anna. Margo Martindale plays Dr. Holt’s overworked and under appreciated assistant who serves as his moral conscience. The only thing that would make this show even better is having Wilson sing.

Pan Am (ABC)

We were worried that this show would be a one-trick pony, rubbing our faces in the fact that air travel used to be fun and glamorous. Instead, Pan Am is proving to be an historical drama, showing what life was like in the 1960s. We’ve watched Cubans airlifted out of Cuba, a French stewardess distraught when she visits Berlin and relives her family’s wartime horrors, and a star-struck young woman overwhelmed when she receives a wave from the young President Kennedy. One stewardess is recruited by the CIA, and there’s much tension each time she must fit in a mission between serving tea and Champagne.

The performances are all terrific, but special kudos go to the costume and set designers who truly make us long for the recent past. (The Met Life building is once again the Pan Am building). And while we love all those New York scenes, we also love all those foreign locations. We just hope they start selling those Pan Am airline bags soon.

Prime Suspect (NBC)

We’ve always loved Maria Bello, but as New York Police Detective Jane Timoney, she has an overwhelming task stepping into the shoes worn by Helen Mirren as Deputy Inspector Jane Tennison in the British TV series. (Lynda LaPlante who wrote the British series is also involved in the U.S. Version). The American series draws heavily from its British counterpart, particularly in the first few episodes. Both Tennison and Timoney must fight to succeed in a male dominated environment. Both are very good at their jobs and that’s what gets them through.

Thankfully, Bello has been quick to put her own spin on the character, wearing mannish hats and down playing her good looks. Like Tennison, she asserts herself into investigations, even when the higher ups want her out. Her personal life is as stressful as Tennison’s was. Timoney’s partner has a son and an ex-wife, creating as much tension on the home front as she endures at work. Fortunately, this hardworking, hard drinking police detective seems up to the challenge.

Person of Interest (CBS)

Now here’s an interesting premise for a show: a mysterious billionaire, Mr. Fitch (played by Lost’s Michael Emerson), has developed a computer program that can predict future violent crimes. Mr. Fitch enlists a former CIA field officer, John Reese (Jim Caviezel) to help stop the crimes from ever taking place. It’s a tall order, but this unlikely duo manages to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

Using surveillance equipment and old fashioned spying they follow the intended victims (who may turn out to be the perpetrators), without revealing themselves. Emerson is appropriately mysterious and creepy, while Caviezel seems indestructible, dispatching a roomful of thugs with quick moves. The plots are involved enough to keep one guessing and the acting is top notch. Then, of course, there are all those New York street scenes.

Revenge (ABC)

OK, this one is shot in the Hamptons rather than New York, but we have to include Revenge because this show is deliciously evil. Fortunately, the show isn’t as over the top as we were led to believe during those early previews. Yes, Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) has returned to the Hamptons to avenge her father’s disgrace and death, as well as her own mistreatment. But she is more apt to induce angina rather than a heart attack and expose an affair rather than kill the mistress.

Emily, whose real name is Amanda Clarke, watched her father’s friends and business associates set him up and sent to prison where he died. She is sent to a juvenile facility and upon being released finds she has inherited his fortune. It doesn’t take her long to decide her next move—renting her old mansion in the Hamptons and bringing down those who brought down her father.

Her targets are unsympathetic snobs making it fun to watch Emily wage revenge. This is VanCamp’s first starring role and she is making the most of it. Her Emily can be vulnerable and sweet to a target’s face, only to turn around and unspool her next brilliant plot. We can’t help rooting for her.

Madeline Stowe, too long absent from the screen, is mesmerizing as the Hampton’s reigning queen who was once Emily’s father’s mistress and most responsible for past events. We know that Emily is saving the best for last—and we can’t wait.

Unforgettable (CBS)

“Memories” could be the theme for this show. Poppy Montgomery stars as Carrie Wells, a former Syracuse police officer, who suffers from hyperthymesia, a rare medical condition that makes it impossible for her to forget anything. After suffering a tragedy in her past, she leaves the police force and moves to New York City. A former boyfriend and one-time partner asks her to help out with a case that happens literally on her doorstep and involves someone she has met. After she helps out on that case, she is soon assisting the New York Police Department on others.

Marilu Henner, the actress who has hyperthymesia, is a consultant for the series. That such people actually exist (Leslie Stahl on CBS’s Sixty MInutes did a whole segment talking to Henner and others like her), adds credibility to the show’s premise. Less believable is that Carrie always finds herself someplace where she can witness the crime. But that’s nitpicking.

Montgomery, who had a long run on Without a Trace, should do well with this series as well. She has a face that easily register emotions and conveys them without overacting. We can see that she remembers, but oftentimes those memories are painful. Given the choice, she would probably choose to forget.

While these new shows deserve the attention, don’t forget some those that have been on the air before that play up New York.

Blue Bloods (CBS)

Tom Selleck plays New York Police Commissioner Francis “Frank” Reagan, whose father, Henry (Len Cariou) was the former commissioner. Frank’s older son, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) is a police detective, while his youngest son, Jamie, (Will Estes), a graduate of Harvard Law School, gave up his legal job to join the force. Frank’s daughter, Erin, (Bridget Moynahan), is an assistant D.A. We love the actors, particularly when the Reagan family gets together to enjoy their Sunday dinner.

Castle (ABC)

Mystery writers do make the best detectives as Richard Castle proves week after week. Nathan Fillion continues to charm as the best selling writer whose passion is solving real life crimes and staying close to Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). His personal life is filled with his diva mother (a brilliant Susan Sullivan) and growing-up-too-fast daughter, Alexis (Molly C. Quinn). Our only question: when does Castle find time to actually write those bestsellers?

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)

This Law & Order show is the only one left playing on a major network, and it’s easy to see why. Even though Chris Meloni has left, Mariska Hargitay continues to carry the show and lead a strong cast. Perhaps of all the shows shot in New York, this Law & Order series is the one people think about when thinking about police procedurals set in the city. It’s an older series (it first debited in 1999), that someone refuses to show its age. Just like New York.