J.J. Abrams makes his return to television with "Duster," an eight-part action series that he cocreated with LaToya Morgan ("Shameless").

Set in 1972 in the Southwest, "Duster" stars Rachel Hilson ("This Is Us") as FBI agent Nina Hayes, tasked with taking down the Phoenix-area crime boss Ezra Saxton (Keith David). The key to her mission lies with making an informant out of Saxton's longtime, devoted driver Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway, who starred on Abrams' "Lost"). Ellis has been solving problems for Saxton for years. The series derives its title from his car of choice: a red Plymouth Duster.

"Duster" finds Abrams going back to small-screen storytelling fundamentals, after more than a decade spent largely in the cinematic worlds of the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" franchises.

He and Morgan don't aspire to anything grandiose here. They're not pouring money onto the screen, or reinventing the action genre. They're not saying anything groundbreaking about the period in question, though a viewing of the first two episodes reveals a serious attempt to confront the racism and sexism that Hayes, a Black woman, faces on the job.

Of course, there's no requirement for a TV series to attempt anything more than the basics, especially when the basics are done so well.

"Duster" showcases a strong sense of the period, or at least this version of it, so heavily inspired by movies and TV shows of the past. Every frame is rich with details that resonate, from the ways in which the camera captures the contours of the coupe that Ellis loves so much, to the diners and bedrooms and dusty backroads that serve as a backdrop for the pulpy storytelling.

It's all so seamlessly constructed that even some of the more convoluted detours work because they just feel right for this time and this place. There's no better example of this than when Ellis finds himself speeding off to Palm Springs to steal a pair of Elvis' real blue suede shoes in order to pay off one of those classic fixer-type characters.

Think about this for about two seconds and it's filled with logical holes. But dive straight into what the "Duster" creators are doing and you're sold instantly. Hilson and Holloway totally get it, too, giving performances that work on the surface — if you're going to be asked to strut around in cool shots, you'd better really own it — but that also have real depth to them.

Finally, but no less importantly, there are the action scenes themselves. They're not vast or epic or sprawling set pieces. But there's one heck of a fight scene on a bowling lane, including a creative use of the pins and the sweeper. It doesn't make any sense. But it's exactly right.

 This is a fun throwback and a return to form for J.J. Abrams.