ABC gave viewers a one two punch following the Super Bowl (as I shake my head in disgust over the Raider loss), with two new programs filling our Monday Night (Football) void: Veritas and Miracles. Veritas: The Quest takes viewers on ... well ... a quest, in the Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and Mummy type fashion. Folks around me seem to think this one will fail, but I, for one, am going to enjoy this series while it lasts. Look, if it's the choice between this or watching one more police story, one more doctor story, one more lawyer story, or gawd forbid one more Let's Make Fun of a Bunch of Tragic Souls while they Compete to become either the Sexiest Body or some other Non Talent ... I will happily watch this doomed show. Fantasy and Horror, as well as, Sci-Fi have had tough times finding their television audiences, and this show is no different.

Veritas: The Quest revolves around teen agnst-er, Nikko Zond (played by Ryan Merriman, Taken and Halloween: Resurrection), whose rebelious high school antics have thrust him back in his father's mysterious life. Solomon Zond (Alex Carter, Hitched) isn't really a full-time university professor, but leader of a strangely wealthy organization that follows man's history, civilization and your basic mysteries of the universe. The Veritas Foundation other team members:

• Maggie Hayes, computer scientist (Cynthia Martells, Gattica and Strange Luck)
• Calvin Banks, overly caffienated archaeologist (Eric Balfour, the upcoming remake of all-time classic horror, Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
• Vincent Siminou, wise yet mysterious sidekick bodyguard (Arnold Vosloo of The Mummy films, Darman sequels and Strange World television series)

As Nikko's mom mysteriously vanished during an archaeological discovery when he was just a child, someone needs to babysit, and this task is given to the desperately ambitious Juliet Droil (newcomer Cobie Smulders), who rounds out the cast. Of course, there are competitors, government agencies and dark organizations out to get in this small, yet savvy group of adventurers ... but ultimately, the good guys tend to make out just fine, even though they probably never get the answers to the mysterious of the universe - who ever does???

But before you pass judgement on what may appear to be a silly series, you might want to watch it to see Mr. Spock's offspring, Adam Nimoy, as he directs many of the episodes.

Premiered January 21st and airs Monday Nights at 8/7pm on ABC:

http://abc.abcnews.go.com/primetime/veritas/index.html