Ellen Gray | SNEAK PEEK

NEW YORK - FOR some people, fall starts in mid-May.

The weather was mostly warm, even a bit muggy, last week as the major broadcast networks descended on midtown Manhattan for the annual feeding frenzy known as "the upfronts," when advertisers and media buyers get their first look at the next season's TV programming and begin deciding just how much money they're willing to pay - up front - for their commercials to be a part of it.

But on Thursday, inside the Theater at Madison Square Garden, where the Pussycat Dolls performed and strobe lights threatened to blind the multitudes gathered for a glimpse at the CW's second season, the focus was on September and beyond. It was the same at Fox's "24"-themed New York City Center shindig later that day, at CBS' Carnegie Hall extravaganza the day before, and at NBC's and ABC's gatherings earlier in the week.

Mostly, network suits were there to assure the advertising community that their shows, new and returning, were so amazing that viewers wouldn't dream of looking away.

Especially during the commercials.

With the future looking bright and shiny and full of lucrative digital tie-ins, no one really wanted to dwell on the past, or on the disappointment of fans whose numbers hadn't been large enough to save shows like the CW's "Veronica Mars," CBS' "Jericho" or NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

We've been given a summer full of "reality" programming to get over it.

Until then, here's a first look at the fall TV trends:

NBC's multitalented "Heroes" can expect some superpowered company this fall, as all five broadcast networks add shows about not-so-ordinary people.

NBC's multitalented "Heroes" can expect some superpowered company this fall, as all five broadcast networks add shows about not-so-ordinary people.

And we're not just talking ABC's "Cavemen," a sitcom about the characters in the Geico car insurance commercials.

Look for: NBC's "Journeyman," a time-traveling newspaper reporter; NBC's "Chuck," a guy who accidentally downloads classified material directly into his brain and becomes a secret agent; NBC's "Bionic Woman," a remake of the '70s series about a woman whose survival depends on some very cool prosthetics; CBS' "Moonlight," about a vampire private investigator who uses his powers to protect humans from the undead; ABC's "Eli Stone," about a lawyer whose hallucinations may have meaning beyond his inoperable brain aneurysm; ABC's "Pushing Daisies," about a guy who can bring the dead back to life; Fox's "New Amsterdam," about a New York police detective who's lived in New York since the 1600s (but still looks to be in his 30s); Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," based on the character from the "Terminator" series; and the CW's "Reaper," about a 21-year-old who discovers his parents have sold his soul to the devil, who now wants to put him to work as a sort of bounty hunter.

Handicapping the trend: Remember when "Lost's" early success inspired a rash of sci-fi shows? Remember what happened to them?

the serial killers

We're talking reruns, lengthy hiatuses and anything else that derails serial viewers in their devotion to conspiracies that could drag on for years. Everyone in television may admire Fox's commitment to airing "24" in an unbroken stretch, but not even Fox can afford to do that for every show.

We're talking reruns, lengthy hiatuses and anything else that derails serial viewers in their devotion to conspiracies that could drag on for years. Everyone in television may admire Fox's commitment to airing "24" in an unbroken stretch, but not even Fox can afford to do that for every show.

Look for: More shows to start later or end earlier in the season, NBC's "bulked-up" "Heroes" to add six standalone episodes of "Heroes: Origins" to keep fans from straying; those 16-episode "Lost" seasons, which ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson likens to "the British model"; and some lighter, brighter serials - think "Ugly Betty" rather than "The Nine" - so missing one episode doesn't become a matter of life or death.

Handicapping the trend: Any way you slice them, serials demand a commitment. Finding a better balance between serials and closed-ended shows might help keep shows like "Lost" and "Heroes" from going the way of "Jericho."

(to join Hugh Laurie)

"House's" surly doctor and "Without a Trace's" Marianne Jean-Baptiste might want to form a support group for British actors dealing with American accents as producers continue to outsource roles. (There are also a sprinkling of natives of other countries, including France, Denmark, and, as always, plenty from Australia and Canada.)

"House's" surly doctor and "Without a Trace's" Marianne Jean-Baptiste might want to form a support group for British actors dealing with American accents as producers continue to outsource roles. (There are also a sprinkling of natives of other countries, including France, Denmark, and, as always, plenty from Australia and Canada.)

Brits to look for: Frances O'Connor and Julian Ovenden in ABC's "Cashmere Mafia"; Jonny Lee Miller as ABC's "Eli Stone"; Anna Friel in ABC's "Pushing Daisies"; Linus Roache, co-starring as Julianna Margulies' husband in Fox's "Canterbury's Law"; Bermuda-born, England-raised Lena Headey in the title role of Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles"; Lloyd Owen, star of CBS' "Viva Laughlin"; Polly Walker, in CBS' "Cane": Kevin McKidd, star of NBC's "Journeyman"; Michelle Ryan, star of NBC's "Bionic Woman"; Damian Lewis, star of NBC's "Life"; Richard Ayoade, in NBC's "The IT Crowd"; Adhir Kalyan, of the CW's "Aliens in America" (I could find no information about his birthplace, but most of his credits are for British shows); and Calvin Goldspink, of the CW's South Africa-set series "Life Is Wild," who also co-starred in the British-made original, "Wild at Heart."

Handicapping the trend: British actors, coming as they do from an accent-conscious society, usually nail ours. But given how much most Americans love a British accent, why are so many of these actors being forced to play Yanks? In any case, let's not hear any more complaints about Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellweger taking jobs away from them.

"Nerds are really in right now," declares CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff, who'll be relying heavily this fall on the returning "Beauty and the Geek."

"Nerds are really in right now," declares CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff, who'll be relying heavily this fall on the returning "Beauty and the Geek."

She's not alone.

Fox still has "House"; CBS, "Numbers." And with all due respect to "Cavemen," smart is the flavor of the fall.

Look for: That computer-geek secret agent in NBC's "Chuck"; CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," a sitcom version of "Beauty and the Geek" about a pair of brainiacs and their very pretty neighbor; and, of course, the return of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

Handicapping the trend: After a summer filled with series like ABC's "National Bingo Night" - described last week by Jimmy Kimmel as "a show for those who are put off by the complexity of 'Deal or No Deal' " - smart's going to look good. And who doesn't think the TV world would be a better place with a few more people like "24's" Chloe running around?

commercial break

Every network's touting its plan to make sure viewers don't tune out advertisers even as national digital video recorder penetration is being estimated to reach 20 percent by the end of the year.

Look for: More online and on-demand players that won't let you fast-forward through commercials; shorter ads (the CW's five-second "cwickies") and longer ones (the same network's "content wraps"); shows that integrate the ads even more than product placement already does; and ever more things to attach ads to, from online content to clips and shows on cell phones. The CW's digital tie-in plans, for instance, include a Second Life-like virtual upper East Side where "Gossip Girl" viewers will be able to create avatars and, no doubt, shop till they drop.

Handicapping the trend: You can't sell to people who aren't watching, so the shows still matter more than the bells and whistles. And the generation that's most targeted is also the hardest to reach. *

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