The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Welcome to the best week of the year - fall TV premiere week.

You've got new shows galore and old favorites returning. Which ones will fail? Which will succeed? Which shows are you rooting for?

Of course, last week saw the premieres of two Fox shows, "Prison Break" (Fox, 8 p.m.) and "K-Ville" (Fox, 9 p.m.), but this is the week that pretty much everything is new.

As I've posted previously, right now, NBC has the most interesting slate of new shows, followed closely by The CW. Of all the new NBC offerings, I believe "Chuck," (NBC, 8 p.m.) has the broadest appeal. Following the misadventures of a geeky store clerk, Chuck (Zachary Levi) finds himself having the entire American intelligence network downloaded into his brain by his former college rival.

Now operatives from both the CIA and NSA want the knowledge in his head and are keeping a close eye on him.

What makes "Chuck" different is that we actually get insight into the protagonist's home life. We're not just pulling for Chuck to not get killed, we're also pulling for him to get that assistant manager's job at work.

Oh, and "Chuck" also has perhaps the best-ever Ninja-vs.-geek combat sequence.

"Chuck" leads off an entire night of fantasy-based shows for the Peacock, with the season premiere of "Heroes" (NBC, 9 p.m.) and "Journeyman" (NBC, 10 p.m.) For more insight into "Heroes," you can check out this week's edition of "Entertainment Weekly," which has a great cover story on the show.

"Journeyman" is a show a lot of viewers may find confusing at first, but I think that's partly deliberate from the show's writers to reflect the confusion the lead character Dan (Kevin McKidd) is experiencing. Dan, a journalist, suddenly finds himself bouncing around through time, following the life experiences of a single family Dan accidentally meets. By the second episode, things get a bit clearer for Dan, though obviously how and why he is bouncing around through time will remain the season's big mystery.

There are plenty of other highlights tonight for a wide range of viewers. CBS kicks off its lineup with the season premieres of returning comedies "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 8 p.m.), with guest stars Mandy Moore and Enrique Iglesias, "2 1/2 Men" (CBS, 9 p.m.) and "Rules of Engagement" (CBS, 9:30 p.m.), followed by the premiere of "CSI: Miami" at 10 p.m. The Eye also premieres the new comedy, "Big Bang Theory" at 8:30 p.m. Feel free to skip it.

ABC goes the so-called reality route, with the season premieres of "Dancing With The Stars" (ABC, 8 p.m.) - go Wayne Newton! - and the 11th edition of "The Bachelor" at 9:30 p.m.

UGLY COUCH TIME: On Tuesday morning's edition of "Live With Regis & Kelly," (WMAZ, Tues., 9 a.m.) former Maconite Christina Stefano Wood will appear as a finalist in the national Ugly Couch Competition.

MORE VIRAL MARKETING: A couple of items e-mailed to me from helpful publicists may interest you. If you want to check out the season premiere of one of TV's best shows before it airs in "Friday Night Lights," it is currently running on Yahoo! at: http://tv.yahoo.com/falltv2007/friday-night-lights/show/38958/videos/4151897.

Also, for fans of MTV's "Jackass" (I don't count myself among that group), Dr. Steve-O is getting his own show on USA. You can check out a preview at the official Web site, http://drsteveo.com/.

MONDAY'S BEST BETS: There's not much I haven't already listed, but I should point out that the excellent "The War" (PBS, 8 p.m.) is continuing tonight. There are also new episodes of "Weeds" (Showtime, 10 p.m.) and "Californication" (Show, 10:30 p.m.)