There should be big love for "Big Love," HBO's new polygamy drama and the network's most accessible drama in years.

		'Big Love' When: 10 tonight, HBO. Starring: Bill Paxton. 'The Loop' When: Previews 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Fox; time period premiere 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Starring: Bret Harrison.

The new series doesn't make you work hard to understand what's going on the way HBO's "Deadwood" does, but "Big Love" offers a unique look at a family that bears some similarities, thematically at least, to "The Sopranos," which it follows tonight at 10.

The best way to approach "Big Love" is with an open mind. Viewers who get past their personal objections to polygamy -- just as they put aside their negative feelings about the Mafia -- will be best equipped to appreciate the comedy and drama in this engaging series.

Bill Paxton stars as Bill Henrickson, a Salt Lake City native and father of seven who owns a chain of home improvement stores. He's not a Mormon -- "Big Love" takes great pains to make clear none of the polygamists are Mormon -- and is estranged even from whatever derivation of Mormonism is practiced on the polygamist compound in rural Utah where Bill's parents live.

Bill lives in the suburbs and recently purchased three houses in a row, one for each wife. Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), his first wife, rules the roost, albeit somewhat reluctantly. That doesn't stop materialistic, selfish, trouble-making second wife Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) from calling Barb "Boss Lady."

(Bill quarrels over money with Nicki's father, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton), the so-called "prophet" of the Juniper Creek polygamy compound and the show's titular bad guy.)

Bill seems to most enjoy his nights with third wife Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), the youngest. And yes, the wives do keep a schedule for who gets Bill on which nights; he tromps through their shared back yards after dinner to reach the appointed wife's home.

"Big Love" doesn't glamorize polygamy -- the practice allows a man to have sex with three wives, but that's just two more sources of potential conflict than usual -- yet the ick factor is high at times. (Roman has a child bride, literally; she's not yet 16 and part of a "pre-marriage placement" program until she becomes of age.)

The series isn't perfect in its first outing tonight; there's a lot of setting up to get past. But by the third episode, when Nicki plans a birthday party for her toddler, "Big Love" becomes an addictive treat. Even though I can't pretend to understand their lifestyle, I still find myself interested in the characters and what makes them tick.

'The Loop'

There are many things to like about Fox's "The Loop" (9:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. Thursday), a new comedy about young Chicago airline executive Sam (Bret Harrison) as he finds himself in a loop, torn between work responsibilities and a desire to have fun. What I like most is the show's creative attempts to create new slang.

"Crap jack," "jack knocker" and "jerk stick" are a few of the terms coined in two episodes sent for review. None is a profanity, per se, but they certainly sound naughty.

Mimi Rogers, as Sam's predatory boss, and Eric Christen Olsen, as Sam's slacker older brother, also add fizz to what's already a lively comedy infused with excellent modern-rock tracks. The young and those with an appreciation for youth culture and "South Park"-type humor ("South Park" writer Pam Brady is an executive producer on "The Loop") will want to get looped in.