The forthcoming fall TV season brings two things not worth mentioning: Reality shows with ever-thinner concepts ("Let's make over ... everything!") and shows set in Vegas that don't understand the city ("What if Siegfried and Roy's animals talked?"). There are, however, a few shows that may not cause you to run screaming in horror from your television set.
Thanks to its swift descent into ratings purgatory after the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? bubble burst a few years ago, ABC is in a position to be more experimental than other networks in its efforts to improve on its fourth-place status. That means fewer cheapo reality shows and more daring concepts that could make for worthwhile viewing. Dark soap Desperate Housewives (Sundays, 9 p.m., premieres October 3) has the most buzz of any new show this season, with its unique concept of a dead woman looking down and commenting on the secret lives of her suburban neighbors. Executive producer Charles Pratt Jr. spent time on General Hospital and the best, campiest years of Melrose Place, so this show has the potential to be both insightful and biting.
Another high-concept show, Lost (Wednesdays, 8 p.m., premieres September 22), from Alias creator J.J. Abrams, has plenty of potential. Sort of a dramatic version of Gilligan's Island, it finds survivors of a plane crash stranded on an island, struggling to get along with one another while menaced by strange, native creatures. The pilot is suspenseful and full of twists, and Abrams has shown a knack for both strong character drama and intricate plots.
ABC's third promising entry is Life as We Know It (Thursdays, 9 p.m., premieres October 7). The concept is your standard teen-drama fare, but its creators were both writers on the brilliant but short-lived Freaks and Geeks, and despite the presence of Kelly Osbourne in the cast, it has gotten surprisingly good advance buzz.
Other networks have potentially good shows, as well: Another teen drama with good buzz is UPN's Veronica Mars (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., premieres September 22). Like Desperate Housewives, Veronica Mars focuses on the secrets of a rich, suburban community, although here it's through the eyes of a 17-year-old aspiring private eye, played by Everwood's Kristen Bell.
NBC, which is pinning most of its hopes on the lion show that shall not be named and some Friends spin-off, brings us the glorious return of Heather Locklear (with her here, and Pratt and Marcia Cross on Desperate Housewives, it's like a Melrose Place renaissance) on LAX (Mondays, 10 p.m., premieres September 13), a quirky workplace drama that takes place in an airport. If we're lucky, it'll be like The Terminal, only as a TV series, and good.