Much like the 2011 film that inspired it, “Limitless” gets by thanks to the brash combination of a clever premise and a cheeky acknowledgment of its own pulp ludicrousness. The worry is that this CBS drama, toplined by Jake McDorman (“Shameless”), will grow far more conventional after its engaging pilot, turning from a quirky character piece into a standard detective show. But for one episode anyway, “Limitless’s” potential seems … well, hardly limitless, but perhaps promising.
Familiarity with the original film, a thriller that starred Bradley Cooper as an underachieving writer whose life is upended after he takes a black-market, brain-boosting drug, helps but is hardly necessary.