Fall Preview

How can you tell fall has arrived in eternally sunny Southern California? Well, one way is by the start of the autumn arts and entertainment season. This special fall preview section provides listings of events from today through the end of the year and our critics' picks for the best bets in film, pop music, jazz, stage, music and dance and the visual arts. (Some box-office telephone numbers may not be in operation yet.) Pacific Heights (Friday).

A big thank-you to KDOC Channel 56 for showing reruns of two series from the 1960s, "Combat" and "The Fugitive." After watching these shows, which were both critically praised at the time, and then reading the new fall preview of TV Guide, I am more sure than ever that neither fast cars nor flashy life styles nor color can improve on good drama and suspense. We've caught the "feeling of the Southland" on Channel 56. Debbie Sheldon, Santa Ana

Television's latest triumvirate of program czars made their Hollywood debut Tuesday in what amounted to an official coming-out party for their newest member, ABC's Brandon Stoddard. Stoddard appeared alongside fellow network entertainment presidents B. Donald (Bud) Grant of CBS and Brandon Tartikoff of NBC at the annual "Fall Preview" luncheon meeting of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society, which lured a record-breaking attendance to the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Not that long ago, e-books were an oddity: Devices were expensive, and those who invested in them struggled to find something good to read. But the age of preferring paperbacks is starting to look like the late era of CDs — e-books are ascendant. This summer, Amazon.com announced that shoppers on its site purchased more e-books for the Kindle than hardcovers in its spring quarter. If you're not already carrying around an e-reader, you might find yourself giving one a try before the year is out. E-reader price wars When Amazon.

In young-adult fiction, look for the fall to squeeze every last drop of — excuse the expression — blood out of the vampire and supernatural creature trend. We've seen werewolves, ghosts, warrior fairies, zombies … where can we go next? Well, into younger age groups, for one. With her new novel "Radiance" (Square Fish/Feiwel and Friends, ages 9-12), for example, Alyson Noël spins off a new series about the ghostly younger sister from her "Immortals" books for ages 12 and older.

Thursday: Pullout guide to autumn's arts and entertainment. Saturday: Give a hand to puppets--they're everywhere. Sunday: Fall Sneaks--a look at the coming movies. Sept. 18: Howard Rosenberg reviews the new television series. Sept. 20 TV Times: Our complete season preview.

One of the most popular new shows of the fall television season is NBC's "Revolution," a drama about post-apocalyptic America. But the real revolution is how people are watching it. About 9.2 million viewers tuned in to a recent episode, a so-so performance. But that number jumped by nearly 5 million when the Nielsen ratings service added in the people who recorded the show and watched it later or saw it through video on demand or online. Full coverage: Television reviews "Revolution" isn't the only show whose popularity can no longer be measured solely by traditional TV ratings.