Some strange goings-on

THIS is shaping up to be network television's year of magical thinking.
As the parade of fall premieres bangs by in the coming weeks, viewers can't help but notice how many prime-time lead characters have acquired supernatural powers.
A single touch from the hero of ABC's "Pushing Daisies" can raise the dead, but another tap, and it's a one-way ticket back to the undiscovered country. The protagonist of NBC's "Journeyman" inexplicably and unexpectedly time-travels; a teen in the CW's "Reaper" becomes a bounty hunter for the devil; and a gumshoe in CBS' "Moonlight" is a human-friendly vampire.

And so it goes this fall when a half-dozen new shows -- up to nine if you include a trio of midseason programs -- are built around sci-fi, fantasy and magical elements.

No doubt opening many network eyes to superpowers' allure was the breakout success of last year's "Heroes," a comic book-like tale of mostly younger folks who discover they have extraordinary abilities -- flying, instant healing and walking through walls, to name a few. Just as ABC's "Lost" encouraged a spate of imitators and an industrywide move toward serialized storytelling three years ago, "Heroes" has let loose the pixie dust over this fall's schedule.

The NBC hit also demonstrated the Web's potent capacity to drive an audience to a show. The heat generated by bloggers and Internet chatter last year is credited with lifting "Heroes" toward the ratings heavens. This year, networks mean to exploit the Web's marketing potential once again by giving the tech-savvy crowd -- already predisposed toward sci-fi and fantasy -- what it wants.

"It's a genre that's driven in many ways by a very rabid fan base on the Internet," said Josh Friedman, executive producer of Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a sci-fi show based on "The Terminator" movie trilogy that was originally slated to air this fall but now will debut in January. "As the Internet becomes a more powerful voice, I think there may be more enthusiasm for these types of shows."

There's another factor driving the trend as well. "Viewers are getting fed up with chalk-line shows and all the gritty realism," said Tim Brooks, a television historian and an executive vice president of research at Lifetime television. "What you're seeing is a push back against dramas like 'Law & Order' and 'CSI,' where the world is a very threatening place. Instead, viewers want to lighten up."