Dramatic realities

THE TELEVISION TREND in recent years has been toward more realistic fiction and more fictional reality -- hence the success of gritty dramas about things like forensic techniques and the increasing outlandishness of reality TV. But the new fall TV season promises to turn that on its head. Expect more reality shows tackling real-life issues, and more dramas exploring the world of fantasy.

This fall, every major network has premiered or will premiere at least one series based on sciencefiction themes or the supernatural. Such shows have mainly been the province of Fox, UPN, the WB and cable networks, but the success of ABC’s castaway series “Lost” has all the major networks scrambling to air the next big fantasy hit.

CBS and ABC are banking on alien-invasion themes. CBS’ “Threshold” features aliens capable of altering human DNA; the aliens on ABC’s “Invasion” make their own hurricane (which prompted the network to pull its graphic advertising campaign so as not to cause offense in the wake of Hurricane Katrina). NBC forgoes aliens for sea monsters in “Surface” and the apocalypse in “Revelations.”

Shows that have premiered so far are faring well. Its marketing troubles notwithstanding, “Invasion” pulled in more than 16 million viewers, higher than any ABC drama in its Wednesday 10 p.m. time slot for the last five years. “Surface” had high viewership as well, second only to “Monday Night Football.”

Reality shows get a face-lift this season as well. Credit ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” for starting the trend in 2003, when it created a feel-good nonfiction hour of prime-time TV. The show’s hosts, culled from home renovation shows on cable, offer underprivileged families brand new homes. The new season will kick off Sunday with a show featuring the family of an Iraq war veteran.

ABC execs might be wise to borrow a page from the Iraqi spinoff of “Home Edition,” which rebuilds bombed-out houses, by heading to New Orleans to rebuild homes destroyed by Katrina.

ABC will continue the altruistic TV trend with the midseason premiere of “The Miracle Workers,” which brings breakthrough medical techniques to patients with serious medical conditions who otherwise could not afford costly treatments.

NBC joins the fray with “Three Wishes,” which follows singer Amy Grant across the country as she grants wishes to deserving folks, including at least one Katrina survivor.

Some of these new reality shows hold out hope of reinventing a genre that thrives on the basest forms of exploitation (there are no new shows that require eating bugs, for example). But whether that hope is realized will depend on whether anyone watches them. TV is only as good as its audience.