Every year, network programming gurus try to figure out what the television-viewing public wants.

Sometimes they get it right (ER, Everybody Loves Raymond). Sometimes they get it wrong (anyone remember last year's fleeting Emily's Reasons Why Not, with Heather Graham? How about Cop Rock?).

Sometimes, even the experts are surprised. Such was the case with ABC's Lost. A huge cast with a Byzantine labyrinth of twists, turns, clues and red herrings, Lost impressed critics and mesmerized audiences when it premiered in 2004.

The networks seem to have taken that to heart as they created their 2006-07 lineups, which include a preponderance of large casts with complex storylines that (they hope) they will be able to expand upon during the course of the season.

Some will make it to May. Many won't.

ABC - WJBF (Channel 6)

'Ugly Betty'

PREMIERES: 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28

SUMMARY: Betty Suarez is bright, energetic and way too unfashionable to make it in the fast-pace world of New York magazine publishing, but that doesn't keep her from catching the eye of media mogul Bradford Meade. He hires her as an assistant to his womanizing son, Daniel, who, as the new head of the high-fashion magazine Mode, tends to ask his assistants to spend more time in bed than at a desk working.

HEY, I KNOW THAT ACTOR!: Betty stars America Ferrera, who was last seen in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the award-winning Real Women Have Curves. Singer/actress Vanessa Williams channels her inner Eartha Kitt as Wilhelmina, the vindictive magazine exec passed over for the prime position at Mode.

THE GOOD: Ms. Ferrera is a jewel as Betty, making her character pull on the audience's sympathies even amid the humiliations that are heaped upon her. Watch out for executive producer Salma Hayek's hilarious turn as a character on a Hispanic telenovela seen in passing on Betty's television.

THE BAD: If you're uncomfortable at all with other people being humiliated, Ugly Betty can be a trial. It can be wince-inducing to watch.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL: Everyone loves a Cinderella story, and Ugly Betty (based on the popular Hispanic telenovela Yo Soy Betty, la Fea) has the potential to be a breakout hit.

CBS - WRDW (Channel 12)

'The Class'

PREMIERES: 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18

SUMMARY: A late-twentysomething, Ethan Haas decides to throw his fiancee a party commemorating the first day they met by assembling as many of their former classmates as possible. Small twist: The couple met in the third grade.

HEY, I KNOW THAT ACTOR!: Jason Ritter (he's John Ritter's son and used to star in Joan of Arcadia); Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls); and Sean Maguire (Eve, the UPN sitcom starring the rapper).

THE GOOD: Lighthearted laughs abound, and the characters are quirky enough to be interesting without being stereotypical.

THE BAD: It reeks of the Friends formula, and you find yourself asking why none of their nonwhite classmates decided to show up to the party - and thus to the show.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL: Right up there with lightning striking the same place twice.

FOX - WFXG (Channel 54)

'Happy Hour'

PREMIERED: Thursday (airs at 8:30 p.m. Thursdays)

SUMMARY: Two disparate views of love - one cynical and one sappy - are at odds when two single men become roommates. The title seems to come from their willingness to swig some midafternoon martinis.

HEY, I KNOW THAT ACTOR!: Not a one.

THE GOOD: The snappiest, swingingest credit sequence in sitcom history.

THE BAD: Unless you've spent the afternoon with the aforementioned martinis, the title sequence is the best part.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL: If there's any justice in the world, poor.

NBC - WAGT (Channel 26)

'30 Rock'

PREMIERES: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11

SUMMARY: After years of toiling on other shows, New York producer Liz Lemon finally has a hit on her hands, only to have it snatched away by the new vice president of development for NBC/GE/Universal/Kmart.

HEY, I KNOW THAT ACTOR!: Film heavyweight Alec Baldwin makes his sitcom debut; Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey developed the show, gets the writing credit and also stars as show producer Liz Lemon. Ms. Fey is joined by other Saturday Night alums, including Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch.

THE GOOD: Mr. Baldwin's deadpan delivery; Mr. Morgan's twitchy, slightly mental attitude; the small talk at the writers' table.

THE BAD: Jerky at times, 30 Rock has already been retooled, renaming the show within the show Friday Night Bits and making Mr. Morgan the center of the action.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL: If they can iron out the rough spots, 30 Rock could possibly rock.

The CW

'The Game'

PREMIERES: 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1

SUMMARY: Another football story, this time focusing on the wives and girlfriends of professional players.

HEY, I KNOW THAT ACTOR!: Tia Mowery is one of the Mowery twins. Tamera Mowery is her sister.

THE GOOD: It's only 30 minutes

THE BAD: They manage to pack every "very special episode" of Blossom into that 30 minutes.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL: Poor. Not funny enough for a sitcom and too silly to be a drama.