Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen aren't TV stars, but Simone DeVeaux and America Ferrera are. Ordinary people with extraordinary powers are interesting. Hostage dramas? Boring! Stephen McPherson's big gamble paid off, Aaron Sorkin's hasn't and we're still looking for laughs.

	Craig Sjodin, ABC via AP America Ferrera, right, shown with Ashley Jensen, stars in "Ugly Betty." Click photo for larger image.

More than a month into a new prime-time television season, and some lessons are starting to emerge. As is often the case, many buck conventional wisdom.

"The shows that the networks were highest on creatively were not the shows that people flocked to," said Jeff Bader, head of scheduling at ABC.

Witness NBC on Monday nights: Creator Sorkin's much-anticipated return to TV, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," studded with stars like Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet, is struggling to hang on. "Heroes," littered with unknowns like DeVeaux, is a hit. Before this week, the last time they ran back-to-back the "Heroes" audience was nearly twice as big as "Studio 60's".

ABC scheduled Ferrera's "Ugly Betty" for the television graveyard of Friday nights until, sensing a buzz, the network switched it to Thursdays. It instantly became ABC's biggest new hit of the season.

Meanwhile, despite pundits predicting the nuclear catastrophe drama "Jericho" would be a bomb itself, it's been a pleasant surprise for CBS.

The CBS crime drama "Smith" figured to be a strong candidate for success with names like Liotta and Madsen. Instead, it was gone before the leaves had started falling in most parts of the country.

Even for a business accustomed to more failure than success, to have only three modest new-season hits is something of a letdown for many in the television business.

"There were higher expectations because there was a perception -- true to a certain extent, I think -- that the quality of the [new] programming was better than it had been in a while," said Preston Beckman, chief scheduling executive at Fox.

Even with "24" on vacation until January, the airwaves were choked with cliffhangers like "Standoff," "Vanished" and "Runaway." NBC's now-departed "Kidnapped" required squeamish viewers to check in on the progress of saving a child in danger.

Other shows were simply too difficult to grasp. ABC is concerned that viewers have wrongly pegged "The Nine" as a hostage drama when it's really about relationships. And what exactly is "Six Degrees" about, anyway?

"There are reasons why people watch television shows instead of a movie," Beckman said, "and that's where we fell down a little bit."

There's only so much time and a lot of TV in this multi-channel universe.

"Your brain just hurts," said Mitch Metcalf, NBC's chief scheduler. "Just try and scroll through your electronic guide [with its] sheer number of choices, and good choices. It's frustrating as a programmer, and I'm sure it's frustrating for viewers."

Since television is the most reactive of mediums, expect the response to be development of more self-contained shows that don't keep story strings untied from week to week. Also, "next year there will be a lot of 'Grey's Anatomy' rip-offs," Beckman said.

Dr. McDreamy and the gang have settled in as television's new kings and queens, all the more remarkable because it moved to a new night opposite the powerhouse "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." The two shows have been topping the Nielsens all season. ABC entertainment chief McPherson's move is paying off handsomely. Coupled with the success of "Ugly Betty" before it, ABC is suddenly a major player on Thursday, the most lucrative advertising night of the week.

(David Bauder, Associated Press)

Griffin expresses sorrow

Marty Griffin, the KDKA-TV investigator who reported an unaired sweeps month story on alleged "public and illegal sexual behavior" by a local pastor who committed suicide last week, mentioned the tragedy at the start of his KDKA-AM (1020) radio show yesterday morning.

Griffin reiterated the TV station's statement from last week, saying, "It was a month-long, extensive investigation [into] reports and allegations of public and illegal sexual behavior by a minister."

Promos for the story that clearly showed the pastor's face aired for several days last week. The story was scheduled to air at 11 p.m. Thursday but "because I and because the station was concerned about the possible well-being of the minister, we decided not to air the piece. The minister took his own life over the weekend.

"I want to say the station and myself offer condolences to the family and friends of the minister at a difficult time. I hope people understand, because folks are filled with sorrow right now, this is not the appropriate time to discuss this issue. ... Everybody has opinions here. [There are] a lot of folks who are frustrated and angry. We are deeply sorry for the loss of the minister. As we have stuck to on this program from day one, we won't mention his name or his church."

Griffin repeated that it was an investigation of "public and illegal behavior and that's why it was pursued, for that reason and that reason only."

After his opening statement, it was business as usual for a pre-election day radio show, in which he asked viewers to participate in a mock vote.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)

Channel surfing

Fox's "American Idol" returns for its sixth season with a two-night, four-hour season premiere Jan. 16 and 17. ... After disastrous ratings in its season premiere last week, Fox will air new episodes of "The O.C." at 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday this week. "The Rich List" and "Happy Hour" were canceled. ... NBC yanked "Twenty Good Years" ahead of schedule, effectively canceling the sitcom. ... Billy Bush ("Access Hollywood") will host NBC's "You're the One That I Want," a competition to cast new leads in the Broadway show "Grease." It premieres Jan. 7, with Pittsburgh native Kathleen Marshall as one of the judges. ... Gay-themed channel Here! has renewed supernatural soap "Dante's Cove" for a third season to air in early 2007. ... Former Pittsburgher Adam Shuty will discuss "Jaws" on AMC's "Date Night" at 8 p.m. Monday.

(R.O.)