NETWORK broadcasters were in New York last week, unveiling a new TV season that looked a little more normal than the one they'd announced a year ago, when the aftereffects of a writers' strike left them with little to show.

There's a summer-full of television to live through first, but until then, here's a first look at some of the fall fashions:

The doctors (and nurses) are in. NBC's "ER" ended its 15-season run this spring, but with ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and Fox's "House" still among TV's most-watched dramas - and ABC's "Scrubs" and "Private Practice" returning - it's not as if hypochondriacs were in danger of running out of ideas.

Yet not every show on television can be about cops, lawyers or time travelers, so expect to hear more characters than ever shouting "Stat!" next season.

Look for: CBS' "Three Rivers," which stars Alex O'Loughlin ("Moonlight") as a transplant surgeon in Pittsburgh; CBS' "Miami Trauma," a midseason entry about trauma surgeons whose stars include British actor Jeremy Northam ("The Tudors"); NBC's "Trauma," from producer/director Peter Berg ("Friday Night Lights"), which focuses on first-responder paramedics in San Francisco; and NBC's "Mercy," a midseason drama that'll join Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" and TNT's "Hawthorne" in concentrating on nurses, not doctors.

Handicapping the trend: "ER" fans could probably use a substitute for that weekly adrenaline rush and most of the new shows are being promoted for their high-stakes action more than their quirky characters - but no one needs this many. Look for some to flatline.

Friday night fights (for the remote). With the exception of CBS, which never forgets that not everyone goes clubbing on Friday night, networks have tended to treat their Friday schedules as an afterthought.

Not this fall. Though ratings expectations still may be lower for the end of the week, CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" isn't exactly being left in peace to talk to the dead.

Look for: ABC's "Ugly Betty," CBS' "Medium" (which is moving from NBC), NBC's "Law & Order," "Southland" and "The Jay Leno Show," Fox's new sitcom "Brothers" and " 'Til Death" and the CW's "Smallville," as well as Fox's returning "Dollhouse" and CBS' "Numbers."

Handicapping the trend: "Medium," which has always felt more like a CBS show, anyway, should do fine at 9 p.m. Fridays, but with rivals "Dollhouse," "Southland" and "Ugly Betty" already struggling for ratings, that time slot could literally be a show-killer.

It's all geek to us. As networks try to find their way in a landscape where Nielsen ratings seem to be sinking lower and lower even as more viewers than ever are watching online, the save-our-show campaigns that sprang up on Twitter and Facebook for nerd-friendly entries NBC's "Chuck" and Fox's "Dollhouse" actually seem to have worked, with both shows returning next season despite the kind of ratings that usually get shows canceled.

Look for: More such campaigns in the future to focus on targeting advertisers - as "Chuck" fans did with Subway - and for network programmers to be looking closely at how effective both shows' fan bases are in expanding their audiences.

Handicapping the trend: All other things being equal, networks will probably continue to give the benefit of some doubt to shows thought to have some young-male - or even critical - appeal. ABC's "Better Off Ted" also survived the cut, along with NBC's "Friday Night Lights," which won two more seasons through a deal that gives DirecTV first-run rights.

But sooner or later, the ratings do count, and "Dollhouse," in particular, will need more than Internet support to make it.

Comedy makes a comeback (again). In making the case for turning five hours a week over to Leno, NBC executives cited surveys that found we're all looking to laugh more.

They must've heard the same thing at ABC, which is launching an all-new lineup for Wednesdays, including four new half-hour sitcoms. CBS, which already has a couple of comedy blocs up and running, is adding one sitcom to its Monday night lineup, and Fox has a new one for Fridays.

Look for: ABC's "Hank," "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town," CBS' "Accidentally on Purpose," Fox's "Brothers" and NBC's "Community" as well as dramedies like Fox's "Glee" and NBC's "Parenthood," and the return of "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursdays."

Handicapping the trend: I wouldn't bet against Leno at 10 p.m., when some of his fans will be thrilled to be able to get to bed earlier. But ABC's Wednesday lineup of all-new shows is probably a better test of how ready we are to return to a comedy-heavy schedule.

It's a family thing. Laughing or crying, the kinfolk matter next season.

Look for: ABC's "Hank," which stars "Frasier's" Kelsey Grammer as a corporate hot shot whose downsizing finds him actually spending more time with his family; ABC's "The Middle," which stars Grammer's "Back to You" co-star, Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), as a wife and mother in Indiana in a sitcom "about raising a family and lowering your expectations"; ABC's "Modern Family," which looks at family in all its many flavors; NBC's "Parenthood," the second TV show to be inspired by the 1999 film; CBS' "The Good Wife," which stars Julianna Margulies as a political spouse who goes back to work as a lawyer when her husband's sent to jail in some sort of scandal; and CBS' "Accidentally on Purpose," a romantic comedy starring Jenna Elfman that's based on the story of a San Francisco film critic who found herself pregnant after a one-night stand and decided to keep the child and co-parent with the much-younger father.

Handicapping the trend: As always, too much of a good thing is too much. But it makes sense for TV to be paying attention to families again. Because while jobs may come and go, family's forever. *

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