Katherine Heigl stars in State of Affairs tonight (Monday, November 17th) in the NBC slot that housed The Blacklist throughout its intense and wildly popular fall season. Can Heigl draw in fans the way The Blacklist’s James Spader lured them on Monday night TV?

The former Grey’s Anatomy star plays the role of Charleston Tucker–known as Charlie–who works as the president’s most trusted national security adviser. The president is played by Alfre Woodard.

The New York Times describes State of Affairs as having “some of the sex and high-stepping melodrama of Scandal on ABC, but actually resembling Madam Secretary, the CBS series that stars Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, a maverick secretary of state who suspects that the death of her predecessor was no accident,” even more. Like Elizabeth, Charlie, “is more enmeshed in current affairs than extramarital ones.”

She will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe. @KatieHeigl stars in #StateofAffairs TONIGHT at 10/9c on NBC. pic.twitter.com/2WptCcEP7a

— State of Affairs (@NBCStateAffairs) November 17, 2014

The Times continues, saying, “the narrative of State of Affairs is not as outré as the one in Scandal, but it’s still preposterous and at times laughable. That’s not a disqualifier; it’s pretty much a prerequisite for a network action-adventure series. Plausibility isn’t the measure, panache is. The Fox series 24 in its heyday had it. So does Scandal. Now, The Blacklist on NBC has it–mostly because James Spader is the star.” That said, can Katherine Heigl do for NBC during this run of State of Affairs what James Spader did? She definitely has huge shoes to fill. The Blacklist is, after all, returning for its upcoming season in a coveted slot following the Super Bowl in February, in what will be a two-part season premiere. Grey’s Anatomy experienced a draw of 37.9 million viewers when it premiered in that slot back in 2006.

1 day… https://t.co/ydgLD108oO

— State of Affairs (@NBCStateAffairs) November 16, 2014

Katherine Heigl, as most everyone knows by now, has a reputation for being difficult to deal with. Will her reputation follow her on to the set of State of Affairs?

See who #TheBlacklist has cast as the villain for its big post-Super Bowl episode http://t.co/Qo4T1Mkkes @NBCBlacklist

— TV Guide (@TVGuide) November 13, 2014

Will you be tuning in to see Katherine Heigl in her new role as Charlie Tucker Monday nights on State of Affairs? Will The Blacklist fans watch, too, hoping it fills that void that likely no one but Red Reddington can fill?