Ever since Carrie Bradshaw first slid into a pair of Manolo Blahniks in 1998, television audiences have been doomed to endure Sex and the City's oversexed girlpower knockoffs. The same can be said for the recent flux of television shows attempting to capitalize on the success of Desperate Housewives. Yet, while Cashmere Mafia is not as sexy as SATC, nor as funny as DH, it's still better than most other imitators and worthy of spending a frigid evening in.

Lucy Liu heads this dramedy about four successful women executives living in New York who lead glamorous television lives that don't actually exist. You'll be glad to know, too, that they suffer problems that stem from NYC high society you could never, ever attain—battles for executive positions, adulterous husbands, nanny troubles, and ... becoming a lesbian? That last development is one of the many that makes Mafia entertaining mid-season filler.

It knows it's not inventing the wheel, and Mafia manages to avoid the pitfalls of other horrible series of its ilk with punchy, amusing dialogue and an assortment of unexpected plot lines. It's also thankfully lacking an annoying voice-over to guide the story's action. What's more, it's actually quite plausible that these women are friends beyond the fact that they share the same area code! Wait. Is that plausible?

Oh, and then there's the Gawker reference we've all been waiting for. We're treated to a scene where Liu's character is slammed on the NYC media blog, making it obvious the writers are at least attempting a fresh approach. Even when they fail, the show is enjoyable and can be taken for what it is: A fun escape in the middle of the week during writers' strike-induced reruns. And compared to Lipstick Jungle, this show is like caviar. Albeit caviar that will appeal exclusively to single women and gay men—which is of course precisely ABC's demographic.