New fall dramas long to get ‘Lost’

‘Surface’
You know how by the end of the second or third “Jaws” movie you were sort of rooting for the shark? The tedium of watching “Surface” (Mondays, 8 p.m., NBC, originally titled “Fathom”) is relieved by playing a similar game.

FREE VIDEO 'Surface' Creepy things abound underwater on 'Surface.' NBC

Who will wind up as fish bait: the plucky single mom scientist? The mysteriously accented old guy with half the Pentagon at his command? The plucky moppet who has apparently watched “E.T.” too many times?

Of course not. Let’s kill off a good ol' boy from the South instead, so that we can add his brother, the requisite hunky young white guy, to this motley group of adventurers. Their mission: to find out what strange ton of blubber is suddenly cropping up all over the world in scenic watery locations. Your mission: to stay awake.

The producers (no one you’ve heard of) appear to have spent most of their money on location shoots and special effects, and some of it is definitely stunning. But the actors (no one you’ve heard of) don’t have much to do, and what they have is pretty silly. There’s not a lot of competition in this timeslot, but in a season full of “Lost” wannabes, “Surface” seems unlikely to stay afloat.    —Lori Smith

‘Supernatural’
It would be easy to be cynical about “Supernatural” (Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET, WB). Starring not one, but two WB heartthrobs (Jared Padelecki, Dean on “Gilmore Girls”, and Jensen Ackles, Lana’s ex on “Smallville”), this tale of two brothers on a quest to find their father while pausing weekly to hunt down assorted mystical baddies has a very painted-by-numbers feel to it.

FREE VIDEO 'Supernatural' Two brothers seek to unravel the mystery of what killed their mother on 'Supernatural.' WB

But in the hands of former “X-Files” director David Nutter, the show shakes off its formula and delivers a genuinely creepy hour of television. No show exec-produced by McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “The O.C.”), could lack style, but “Supernatural” manages to stay understated (and underlit) and earns its thrills with old-fashioned suspense instead of CGI.

Ackles and Padelecki are surprisingly believable as brothers, with Ackles in particular showing some range. Less surprising are the plot twists, but the show executes them so well that you really don’t care that you’ve seen it all before.

Despite Padelecki, pairing this show with “Gilmore Girls” is an odd choice; I suspect most “Gilmore” fans will turn to “House” or “Amazing Race” in this timeslot rather than get scared out of their wits on a weekly basis. However, anyone who watched “X-Files” for the monsters would do well to give “Supernatural” a chance.    —L.S.

‘Threshold’
“Threshold” (Fridays, 9 p.m. ET, CBS), a drama about the sudden appearance of what appears to be an extra-terrestrial spacecraft, is a super-glued together amalgam of “The X-Files,” procedural dramas like “CSI,” and every invasion horror movie ever made.

FREE VIDEO 'Threshold' No, it's not 'War of the Worlds.' Or 'Invasion.' This time, it's 'Threshold.' CBS

It’s the kind of genre piece where people in distress non-ironically write “Help Us” on a chalkboard and a team of civilians assembled by the government is incapable of doing anything besides speaking in clichés. (“I’m not interested in the future, I’m interested in now.” “I think we have bigger fish to fry.” “What’s happening to us?”)

Produced by Brannon Braga, who to some is known as the person responsible for the decline of "Star Trek," the show throws up more than a few “Trek” references. But like everything else, even they don’t emerge organically. Comically bad CGI and allegedly hip music desperately try to live up the standards set by other dramas, but all that remains is a vaguely interesting premise for a serial drama. The supporting cast — including Brent Spiner, Peter Dinklage, Charles S. Dutton, and William Mapother — is the show’s savior, but these exceptionally strong actors don’t have a lot to work with yet.    —Andy Dehnart