The plot thickens with new Secretary of State

WOMAN wakes up and finds herself suddenly in the hot seat as the new Secretary of State - the perfect premise for a new sitcom? Perhaps, but that could be a little too close to the popular Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom, Veep.

Plus you can trust Barbara Hall (Homeland, Judging Amy) to be smarter than that with the veteran writer-producer also finding a muse in Tea Leoni. The result is Madam Secretary, another new White House TV drama that manages to be original, intriguing and entertaining.

While the taut but over-patriotic pilot episode might bleed red, white and blue a little too much at times, the show's potential is obvious given the amount of charisma Leoni oozes in the title role. She plays Elisabeth McCord, an ex-CIA-analyst-turned-professor who gets the call-up after the plane carrying the Secretary of State …