Let's start with the good news: Fall 2009 provides a far better crop of new prime-time programs than viewers got in 2008, which was damaged by last year's writers' strike.

Yes, there are too many remakes and not-great medical dramas, but there are also strong new comedy entries, which have been missing in recent years.

Depending on how you look at things, the bad news may be that NBC has given five hours of its prime-time schedule to Jay Leno to host "The Jay Leno Show" (10 p.m. Monday-Friday), which premiered last week and will be tested this week when new episodes of competing drama series begin airing. I was initially wary of NBC's gambit because it meant less time for quality dramas on the network. Despite fewer time slots available for scripted series, NBC's plan calls for more rotation of programs earlier in prime time so there won't necessarily be fewer shows -- they'll just share time slots.

If nothing else, five nights of Leno does wreck NBC's tradition of smart 10 p.m. dramas, but it may prove a financially viable enterprise even if ratings are low. And you can't discount populist love for Leno in America's heartland. If viewers head to bed after Leno's show ends, the real loser will probably be Conan O'Brien, new host of "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m. weeknights).

For what to expect from the other new fall shows, turn inside for daily listings.

Premiere dates follow each capsule review in parentheses.

"The Cleveland Show" (8:30 p.m., Fox): Cleveland Brown (voice of Mike Henry) spins off "Family Guy" and into his own show as he moves to his Virginia hometown and marries his high school sweetheart. The comedy is similar to "Family Guy" -- meaning it's rude and crude and often hilarious -- but the show's tone is warmer because Cleveland is smarter and more generous than "Family Guy's" Peter Griffin. (Premieres Sept. 27)

"Three Rivers" (9 p.m., CBS): Let the ladies swoon over star Alex O'Loughlin ("Moonlight"); the breakout player in this Pittsburgh-set medical drama is Katherine Moennig ("The L Word"), who stars as combative surgical resident Miranda Foster. She seems to feel every bit of the pain and joy among organ donors and recipients. Even the now-scrapped "Three Rivers" pilot was stronger than the similarly themed "Heartland," but the premise still seems ... limited. With Julia Ormond and her scrambled accent gone (she's been replaced by Alfre Woodard), the show is stocked with well-cast supporting actors, which is good because the stories feel too familiar and maudlin. A new first episode was not available for review. (Oct. 4)

"Accidentally on Purpose" (8:30 p.m., CBS): Jenna Elfman ("Dharma & Greg") tries another romantic comedy with this trifle about a San Francisco newspaper film critic who gets knocked up by a much younger man (Jon Foster, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh"). Cute and occasionally sappy-sweet, the show's real comedic standout is Ashley Jensen, late of "Ugly Betty," who plays Elfman's tart best friend. (Monday)

"Trauma" (9 p.m., NBC): It's not just the patients who experience the show's title; in the premiere episode, the paramedics are traumatized, too, when a rescue mission goes terribly wrong. This slightly better-than-average medical show amps up the drama to an "ER" season 10 level in its opening scenes, but it doesn't forsake character development for pyrotechnics. Paramedic Rabbit (Cliff Curtis) makes an immediate impression as a cocky chopper doc as does paramedic Nancy Carnahan (Anastasia Griffith), first glimpsed having sex in an ambulance, an unnecessarily gratuitous moment that doesn't fit the overall tone of the pilot episode. (Sept. 28)

"V" (8 p.m. ABC): The 1980s miniseries about aliens who come to Earth disguised as humans returns in this action-packed, fun remake that stars Elizabeth Mitchell ("Lost") as a Homeland Security agent who learns the Vistors -- now often called "the V's" -- are not like us. The pilot introduces intriguing twists to the original's mythology. (Nov. 3)

"Melrose Place" (9 p.m., The CW): A surprisingly wellmade pilot that returns viewers to the Los Angeles apartment complex made famous by the '90s Fox soap. Some original cast members return -- most notably Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro -- but mostly it's about a new cast of pretty young people and the investigation of the murder of Sydney (Leighton), found floating face-down in the courtyard pool. (Already premiered)

"NCIS: Los Angeles" (9 p.m., CBS): Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J take the lead in this "NCIS" spin-off about a West Coast team of investigators. But the most intriguing casting is the addition of Linda Hunt, who did not appear in the backdoor pilot that aired as two episodes of "NCIS" in May. A new episode was not available for review. (Tuesday)

"The Forgotten" (10 p.m., ABC): Imagine "Cold Case" with amateurs. Volunteers, led by Christian Slater, work to solve murder cases with unidentified victims. 2006 Carnegie Mellon University graduate Anthony Carrigan plays one of the team members. Not available for review. (Tuesday)

"The Good Wife" (10 p.m., CBS): Julianna Margulies ("ER") makes up for her last disappointing series, Fox's "Canterbury's Law," with a timely legal show that smartly blends courtroom and personal drama. Margulies stars as a woman who stands by her man when he resigns from public office after a hooker and ethics scandal. Margulies' Alicia Florrick returns to the legal field after spending 15 years raising a family. She's at the lowest rung of the law firm ladder and has to juggle work as the family's new breadwinner with creating a comfortable environment for her kids while wrestling with her own roiling emotions about her husband's infidelity. It's a potent, zeitgeisty mix given all the real-life political scandals, and Margulies is well-cast in fall's best drama pilot. (Tuesday)

"Hank" (8 p.m., ABC): A blah, bland family sitcom that does nothing to update the form, "Hank" stars Kelsey Grammer as a corporate CEO who loses his job and moves to his Virginia hometown. If the cancellation of Grammer's "Back to You" contributed to his heart attack, as Grammer asserts, the cancellation of "Hank" should come as merciful relief. (Sept. 30)

"Mercy" (8 p.m., NBC): This show is basically "Nurse Jackie" if "Jackie" were a generic drug. Like Jackie, Veronica (Taylor Schiling) has a complicated love life, a bolder friend nurse and a stubbly male nurse buddy. Like Jackie, she also stops a naive, "practically Amish" newbie nurse (Michelle Trachtenberg, "Gossip Girl") from killing a patient. The big difference: "Jackie" is subtle and its characters ring true; on "Mercy" the characters and situations all feel like things you'd only see on TV -- never in real life. (Wednesday)

"The Middle" (8:30 p.m., ABC): A "Malcolm in the Middle" set in middle America, this single-camera comedy stars Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Neil Flynn ("Scrubs") as parents of an Indiana family. Sometimes the show seems to be trying too hard to be quirky, but much of the oddball humor generates laughs, especially scenes involving youngest son Brick (Atticus Shaffer), whose best friend is his backpack. (Sept. 30)

"The Beautiful Life: TBL" (9 p.m., The CW): Never thought a show would make me long for the comparative subtleties of "Models Inc.," but "TBL" does just that. Executive produced by former model Ashton Kutcher, this scripted drama follows young, hot New York models -- guys and gals -- as they try to make it in the big city. Mischa Barton ("The O.C.") plays a model who returns from a mysterious absence, but the real focus is on the young'uns, including Chris (Benjamin Hollingsworth), a farm boy so pure he has no cell phone. A predatory modeling agent plucks Chris from obscurity, and one of the nicer female models takes him under her wing. It's worth watching for the unintended laughs -- but not much else. (Already premiered)

"Glee" (9 p.m., Fox): A jock joins an Ohio high school glee club, upsetting the social order, in this winning comedic drama with musical numbers. (Already premiered)

"Modern Family" (9 p.m., ABC): After years of unsuccessfully attempting to launch funny single-camera comedies, ABC scores twice in 2009: First with "Better Off Ted," returning at midseason, and now with fall's best new comedy. Told using the mockumentary format -- the characters sit for interviews with an unseen producer -- "Modern Family" takes realistic situations and heightens them just enough for laugh-out-loud comic effect. The three families profiled include a suburban couple (Julie Bowen, Ty Burr), a gay couple (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stone-street) who adopt a baby, and an older-man-younger-woman combination (Ed O'Neil, Sofia Vergara). (Wednesday)

"Cougar Town" (9:30 p.m., ABC): A frantic comedy from the creator of "Scrubs," "Cougar Town" stars Courteney Cox as an undersexed single mom, who, at 40, finds herself attracted to younger guys, much to the chagrin of her teenage son (Dan Byrd). Cox proves herself to still be a fearless comedy actress as she plays a character slightly less strident than Monica on "Friends." "Cougar Town" attempts to show the dilemmas faced by a fortysomething woman seeking love and affirmation, but too often the pilot defines her life only by opportunities for sex. (Wednesday)

"Eastwick" (10 p.m., ABC): Based on the John Updike novel and the 1987 film "The Witches of Eastwick," this light drama follows three women (Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Jamie Ray Newman) who become friends just around the time a devilish dude (Paul Gross) shows up in their Norman Rockwell-esque small town. Seems like there should be potential for a fun series in this premise, but the pilot is a dull slog. (Wednesday)

"Community" (8 p.m., NBC): Joel McHale ("The Soup") stars as a lawyer who gets caught in a resume lie and is forced to go to community college where he puts together a study group to get closer to an attractive woman (Mt. Lebanon native Gillian Jacobs) from his Spanish class. Fast-paced and filled with snarky pop culture references, "Community" is a perfect fit with NBC's existing Thursday night comedies. The show will initially air at 9:30 p.m. but shifts to 8 p.m. after "SNL Weekend Update Thursday" finishes its brief run. (Already premiered)

"FlashForward" (8 p.m. ABC): When everyone on the planet blanks out for a little more than two minutes, many bad things happen: Airplanes crash, cars run into other vehicles, patients die on operating tables and, in at least one instance, a man's suicide plan is foiled. Weirder still: Many people have memories of a date in the future: April 29, 2010. What's it all mean? The answers will be parceled out in upcoming episodes as two FBI agents, played by Joseph Fiennes and John Cho, investigate. The pilot is suspenseful, disaster-filled entertainment. But will what comes next be as entertaining? If only we could flash forward to find out. (Thursday)

"The Vampire Diaries" (8 p.m., The CW): "Twilight" for TV. Simple as that. Virgina high schooler Elena (Nina Dobrev) returns for a new school year after the death of her parents in a car accident. When she's not trying to smack some sense into her stoner brother (Steven R. McQueen), she's running into the new guy in school, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), a vampire who looks like a twentysomething guy playing a high schooler on a CW show. Stefan's a good vampire unlike his evil, mutilation-inclined brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder, "Lost"). "Vampire" gets points for making the jock who used to date Elena a nice guy and not a jerk, but for the most part it's a predictable pilot -- no better or worse than "Twilight." (Already premiered)

"Brothers" (8 p.m., Fox): Now that The CW has canceled all of its comedies with African-American leads, Fox is stepping in with this occasionally funny family comedy about a retired football star (Michael Strahan) who returns home to help his paralyzed brother (Daryl "Chill" Mitchell) run the family restaurant. There are three jokes too many about the gap between Strahan's front teeth, but it's nice to see a show with some genuine heart amongst the yuks. It's also fun to see CCH Pounder ("The Shield") in a comedic role again. (Friday)