ABC set to stage a comeback

HOLLYWOOD -- One of the great lessons of the network race: Don't count anyone out.

CBS was limping along until, seemingly overnight, it found new vitality with the help of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Survivor." And now ABC may be about to pull itself out of a deep rut, which has seen the network stumbling from bad idea ("Threat Matrix") to bad idea ("Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital") for years. This week, as TV critics gather to assess the new fall season, the No. 4-rated network is pushing a new slate of scripted dramas that aren't just not awful, but are awfully good.

"It's no secret to anyone that we haven't had a drama that has really broken out in the last few years," said Stephen McPherson, the new president of ABC prime-time entertainment. And with McPherson's guidance, the network has scheduled a cluster of series that are as unpredictable and colorful as its recent ones have been formulaic and generic. Indeed, its best shows -- "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" -- are original enough that they almost defy categorization.

"Desperate Housewives" could become the most talked-about new series of the fall. The title goes a ways in capturing the mixed tone of the show, which ranges from the camp effect of a John Waters movie to the dishy melodrama of "Melrose Place." Starring Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Teri Hatcher, it's about the loneliness and obsessiveness of the women of Wisteria Lane, a perfect little neighborhood with perfectly oppressed inhabitants. It's also one of those shows that -- unlike, say, a medical or a legal series -- you need to see to understand. Creator Marc Cherry says, "Our hope is that it's never going to be a traditional anything."

Cherry, whose resume includes "The Golden Girls," says he got the idea for the show when he was watching coverage of the Andrea Yates trial with his mother (Yates was the Texas woman found guilty in 2002 of drowning her children in the family's bathtub). "I turned to her and I said, `Gosh, can you imagine a woman being so desperate that she would hurt her own children?' And my mother took her cigarette out of her mouth and turned to me and said, `I've been there.' "

That may sound grim, but Cherry -- a buoyant man whose storytelling skills are David Sedaris-esque -- gives a decidedly wry spin to all things existential. In his hands, the angst and emptiness of suburban America will undoubtedly be full of life.

"Lost" is also the creation of one of TV's most imaginative storytellers: J.J. Abrams, the man behind the ever-inventive "Alias." Abrams and his co-executive producer, Damon Lindelof, have come up with a beautifully filmed drama that will be compared to "Survivor" and even "Gilligan's Island" but that deserves a category of its own.

The two-hour pilot finds a large ensemble of strangers stranded on an island after a gruesome plane crash. There's lots of character drama afoot, of course, as the scripts will explore the society that arises out of the ashes. (The huge cast includes a beefed-up Matthew Fox from "Party of Five," Harold Perrineau from "Oz," and Dominic Monaghan from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.) But there's also a mythological element to the plot, as the castaways encounter supernatural mysteries including a monster. Lest it all sound too Michael Crichton-like, Abrams is quick to note, "It's not a dinosaur." And lest it all sound overly involved in an "X-Files" kind of way, Lindelof says, "The key is not to become a slave to the mythology."

"Eyes" is another ABC winner, about a discreet private investigation firm that pushes high-tech surveillance to its legal limits -- and beyond. But ABC is banking the clever series starring Tim Daly until midseason (which NBC is now labeling "second season," in order to make TV scheduling even more confusing).

"I often find that being on midseason is a far better place to launch television shows," says McPherson. "Some of our strongest material is yet to come, and that's a wonderful thing."

Globe on NECN

Here's what's happening on "Around the Globe" today on NECN:
9:30 a.m.: "Talk of New England"
12:30 p.m.: "Globe at Home" -- Globe Magazine art director Brendan Stephens and Tony McLean, president of Broadway in Boston, on the Boston Opera House opening.
4 p.m.: "Around the Globe"
6:30 p.m.: "New England Business Day"
8 p.m.: "NewsNight" Schedule is subject to change.

On Boston.com

Noon: Globe Child Caring columnist Barbara Meltz chats about parenting.

Talk of the dial

6 a.m. WBIX-AM (1060) -- "Early Exchange." Guest: Dr. Michael Szycher, CEO of CardioTech.
5 p.m. WBNW-AM (1120) -- "PM Magazine." Guests: Terah Stearns, author; Ron Groenke, author of "Covered Calls and Naked Puts."

Other radio highlights

8 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) -- "Classics in the Morning." Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" Overture; Chopin's Polonaise No. 5 in F-minor, Op. 44; Charpentier's "Te Deum," H. 147; Milhaud's Suite Provencale; Wildor's Organ Symphony No. 4.
9 a.m. WUMB-FM (91.9) -- "Live Interview." Guest: Kerri Powers, folk musician.
8:30 p.m. WCRB-FM (102.5) -- Mozart's "Paris" Symphony; Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture; Smetana's "The High Castle."
Midnight WBZ-AM (1030) -- "The Steve Le Veille Broadcast." Guest: Johnny Pesky, discussing baseball greats.