'Bunheads' sets a multigenerational tone

Her son here is a nice-guy adult, smartly played by Alan Ruck ("Greek," "Spin City") as the persistent suitor of one lost-at-sea Vegas showgirl irreverently embodied by Broadway gem Sutton Foster. Her spunky Michelle just keeps fending off his sweet Hubbell, until one drunken night after she's had a really bad day and -- well, it's Vegas. Guess what happens.

Michelle and Hubbell's mom are soon at loggerheads, except they're both bunheads -- onetime ballet prodigies who squandered their potential in different ways, which means they're much the same. Crossing paths, and swords, at Fanny's ballet school surrounds them with a central quartet of teen dancers -- the distracted gifted girl (Julia Goldani-Telles), the big-boned hard worker (Kaitlyn Jenkins), the awkward blonde (Bailey Buntain), the bubbly brunette (Emma Dumont).

And then there's the storybook town, this time on the Pacific, with a glorious view. Eccentric townspeople to be determined.

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And again, it's got that multigeneration appeal, spotlighting both teens and adults, this time striving to (re)define themselves in ways those Gilmore girls never had to. Monday night's hour, spent setting up the premise, also drops a doozy of a conclusion that is up there with the equally stunning yet not-the-least-bit-similar twist delivered by "The Shield." It changes the game in a huge way you may or may not take to.