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However much executive producer J. J. Abrams is actually involved in this tedious series of interlocking melodramas—and rumor has it that the mastermind of Lost keeps his distance—it’s still not enough to make us care.

Don’t miss executive producer Salma Hayek’s hilarious guest appearance in the pilot, as a sexy maid in a Spanish-language telenovela.

For years, Sara Ramirez was the actress whom knowledgeable Broadway insiders consistently pegged for breakout success. Then she found that success, winning a Tony for her role as the Lady in the Lake in Spamalot. Then she found it again, joining the cast of Grey’s Anatomy as orthopedic surgeon Dr. Callie Torres, girlfriend of the hapless intern George. Ramirez spoke to Jada Yuan about finally living large on TV.

Smith seems to be shot inside the head of Orson Welles, kaleidoscopically noir enough to frighten even the French.

Kyle Chandler is the new coach, Connie Britton his terrific wife, and Scott Porter the star quarterback injured in the first game of the season. The rest is claustrophobic hope and dread.

Despite cast changes, rewrites, and producer musical chairs, this brainy soap checks in with promise.

Justice and Shark are superslick but lack a crusader’s soul, while 30 Rock stumbles and Studio 60 soars.

The 12- and 13-year-olds we meet in this P.O.V. installment have fathers in prison, dealers on the corner, bullets in the street, and public schools so ludicrously inadequate that leaving for Africa is a better bet.

We’re delighted by the return of Emily Deschanel as forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and David Boreanaz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.

The newest shows track one complex plot over a whole season. But are they really worth the investment?