Fall is make-a-wish time

As the planting defines the harvest, so have the patterns of the TV spring defined the new fall season. Last season’s crazy broken rhythms -- increasingly the natural condition of network television, but exacerbated by the writers strike -- had new series seeming to end almost before they’d begun, and some, barely glimpsed, are now coming back. And with relatively few new shows coming from the broadcast networks, it seems less like the big, old-fashioned fall TV season than another midseason recalibration.

It is also coming, to the bedevilment of a “fall preview,” both early and late. Several shows have begun and others are still so far off that no review copies are yet available. The critic is therefore forced to take the networks’ word not only for what these shows are about but also for how good they are. And they are all, apparently, great.

Observable trends:

One: Fantasy is going strong. Even the cop shows are couched in sci-fi.

Two: If you want to play an American lead, it helps to be British (or, failing that, Australian). Trend continues from last year.

Three: Recycling is cool. Adaptations of shows from England, Australia, Israel and even Japan abound, alongside resurrections of and sequels to old American shows. Nothing succeeds like somebody else’s previous success.

Still, the season is not without a few original ideas. See if you can spot them!

ALREADY IN PROGRESS

SUNDAYS

True Blood

Working from the novels of Charlaine Harris, Alan Ball (“Six Feet Under”) turns from the dead to the undead. In this semi-satirical Southern-fried Gothic romance, vampires -- freed from murder by the invention of synthetic blood, sold in six-packs -- have “come out of the coffin” to become yet another misunderstood, exploited minority. With Anna Paquin as a telepathic waitress and Stephen Moyer looking good for 173.

HBO, 9 p.m.

MONDAYS

Raising the Bar

Prosecutors and public defenders face off by day and party on by night in this overwrought but sincere drama from Steven Bochco, of “NYPD Blue,” “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and so on. Jane Kaczmarek (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is the strict yet arbitrary judge who confuses them all.

TNT, 10 p.m.

TUESDAYS

90210

Brand revival of the godmother of the modern teen soap opera, with tonal borrowings from “Gossip Girl” and more location shooting than the original “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Still, it’s more of a small-town story than a big-city drama. (It has sports! And school plays!) Alumnae Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth recur as the voices of experience.

CW, 8 p.m

Fringe

The season’s slickest pilot launched this moody, propulsive sci-fi thriller, with FBI agent Anna Torv (Australian, playing American) stumbling on a world-altering techno-conspiracy. John Noble and Joshua “Pacey” Jackson, appealingly matured, follow along as a recovering mad scientist and his estranged son. From J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) and the team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

Fox, 9 p.m.

Privileged

A Sandra Bullock vehicle in all but the presence of Sandra Bullock. Her nascent journalism career having abruptly tanked, plucky JoAnna Garcia -- “Freaks and Geeks” class of 2000 -- takes a job tutoring mega-wealthy Palm Beach teens Lucy Kate Hale and Ashley Newbrough. It won’t be easy! Anne Archer plays their cosmetics tycoon grandma.

CW, 9 p.m.

Somebodies

BET’s first-ever scripted series has an easy charm. Writer and star Hadjii (just Hadjii) picks up where his 2006 independent film left off, as a motley crew of friends transition from college life to real life. (Well, some of them do.) Filmed on location in the verdant university town of Athens, Ga.

BET, 10:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS

Sons of Anarchy

A Northern California outlaw motorcycle club is the vehicle for this deft mash-up of “The Wild Angels,” “The Sopranos” and “Hamlet.” Katey Sagal, the former Peg Bundy, is in fine form as the gang’s tough mama; husband Ron Perlman, with his own face for a change, is its president; Charlie Hunnam is her melancholy babe.

FX, 10 p.m.

Do Not Disturb

Niecy Nash, funny-ha-ha on “Reno 911!” and funny-strange as the host of “Clean House,” moves up to a broadcast network as the human resources chief of a chic New York hotel. Jerry O’Connell is its flirty general manager. The year’s one new traditional workplace comedy and, to judge by the first episode, almost completely about sex.

Fox, 9:30 p.m.

THURSDAYS

Hole in the Wall

American version of the simple yet fascinating Japanese-sprung worldwide sensation in which contestants contort themselves to fit through differently shaped openings in a moving wall. “Why didn’t I think of that?” you are probably asking yourself right now.

Fox, 8 p.m.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

MONDAY, SEPT. 22

Worst Week

Adapted from the British series “Worst Week of My Life” but fundamentally “Meet the Parents” strung out to series length (and better than that sounds). Kyle Bornheimer (“Jericho”) takes the Ben Stiller-ish role of a man whose every effort to impress his girlfriend’s upright parents leads to farcical, slapstick disaster.

CBS, 9:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23

Opportunity Knocks

Ordinary families find an entire game show brought to their doorstep, with themselves the surprised contestants, as they are forced to answer questions about one another. (I had a nightmare like this once.) Prankster producer Ashton Kutcher lurks nearby.

ABC, 8 p.m.

The Mentalist

The anti-”Medium.” CBS takes a hopefully charmed third shot with Simon Baker (“The Guardian,” “Smith”) as a haunted, possibly crazy, former phony psychic who uses his Holmes-like powers of deduction and cold-reading skills to manipulate witnesses and break cases. (My own powers of deduction were sufficient to break the case in an early preview episode, however.) CBS, 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24

Knight Rider

“My Partner, the Car.” A souped-up sequel to the ‘80s automotive buddy series that gave the world David Hasselhoff and a car named KITT. Will it be the next new “Battlestar Galactica”? Or the new next “Bionic Woman”?

NBC, 8 p.m.

Gary Unmarried

The usually acid Jay Mohr and more typically adorable Paula Marshall are cast against type as an easygoing guy and his controlling ex-wife, whose new significant others join their barb-trading, fractured family circle in an “Old Christine” sort of way. Taped before a studio audience.

CBS, 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28

Little Britain USA

More of a spinoff than a redo: “Little Britain” creators and stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams import themselves and their characters -- including “only gay in the village” Daffyd Thomas and self-excusing teenager Vicky Pollard -- straight into an American setting. A kind of reverse British invasion, worth surrendering to.

HBO, 10:30 p.m.

The Life and Times of Tim

Adult Swim/Comedy Central-style (crudely) animated cartoon sitcom follows luckless, eponymous everyman Tim (created and voiced by former Clio-winning ad man Steve Dildarian) at work and home. “Dr. Katz” fans will recognize the vibe.

HBO, 11 p.m.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 30

Paris Hilton: My New BFF

It’s terribly sad that Hilton should have to depend on a reality competition to find herself a new best friend (forever). Thank goodness, then, for MTV, which will help the heiress (and apparent presidential candidate) find one “hot” female friend or “fabulously fierce guy” to be her new Nicole Richie.

MTV, 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 3

The Ex List

Upscale chick-flick variation on “My Name Is Earl,” in which Elizabeth Reaser receives the mystical news that she must marry within the year and that her soul mate will be someone with whom she’s already been involved. So she sets off to kiss old frogs -- this show looks to be hard on men -- to find a prince. Diane Ruggerio (creator of the under-loved “That’s Life”) adapts from Israel’s “Mythological X.”

CBS, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 5

In Harm’s Way

A basic-cable-style reality show about people with dangerous jobs -- war photographers, minesweepers, oil-well cappers, TV critics. OK, I added that last one. (But eyestrain is no joke.) From at least one of the producers of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.”

CW, 7 p.m./6:30 beginning Nov. 2.

Valentine

Wobbly romantic fantasy from Kevin Murphy (“Reaper,” “Ed”) in which Greco-Roman gods set up shop in Los Angeles to minister to humans too dumb to see a soul mate when he/she is staring them in the face. (I guess we’re in need of special help here.) Part of the CW’s subcontracted Sunday night lineup (produced by Media Rights Capital).

CW, 8 p.m.

Easy Money

Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider (“Northern Exposure,” “The Sopranos”) offer an improbable but highly intriguing drama about a strip-mall, high-interest loan business and the family that runs it. Laurie Metcalf is here in a red wig as a hot matriarch -- a new trendlet, counting Katey Sagal in “Sons of Anarchy.” With a cameo by Paul Johnson’s great historical tome, “The Birth of the Modern.”

CW, 9 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 6

Magic’s Biggest Secrets Revealed

Or how to make an hour disappear. Val Valentino, the unmasked Masked Magician from a series of similar Fox specials, returns after a decade for more of the same. (He’d left a few secrets out, evidently.)

MyNetwork, 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8

World’s Funniest Moments

Did Grandma fall into the wedding cake? Uncle Benny get a whiffle bat to the crotch? Did baby Daisy get in a stare-off with the family cat? Groundbreaking series uses home video to explore the lighter side of the human condition.

MyNetwork, 8 p.m.

The Tony Rock Project

Chris Rock’s little brother (“All of Us”) gets his own show, featuring man-on-the-street interviews, pranks and hidden cameras.

MyNetwork, 9 p.m.

THURSDAY, OCT. 9

Kath & Kim

The casting of Molly Shannon, Selma Blair and John Michael Higgins gives me hope for this domestic recast of Australia’s favorite comedy, about a slightly dim divorced mother and her slightly dim separated daughter living in too-close quarters.

NBC, 8:30 p.m.

SNL Thursday Night Live

At last ready for prime time, “Saturday Night Live” colonizes Thursday for a while to capitalize on the impending election. Or perhaps just to get closer to Tina Fey.

NBC, 9:30 p.m.

Life on Mars

British cult hit moves from Manchester to New York. Jason O’Mara (Irish, pretending otherwise) plays Det. Sam Tyler, who’s hit by a car in 2008 and wakes up in 1973, the Golden Age of American cop shows. Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli and Gretchen Mol are there waiting. Originally entrusted to David E. Kelley but finished by the team that brought you “October Road.”

ABC, 10 p.m.

Eleventh Hour

CBS goes head to head with ABC with yet another remade British sci-fi cop show, Jerry Bruckheimer’s Americanization of a short-lived series that even the presence of Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jensen could not save. Briton Rufus Sewell, talking American, plays a brilliant polymath professor who investigates strange crimes of science. (See also: “Fringe.”) Marley Shelton is his FBI bodyguard.

CBS, 10 p.m.

Testees

Canada’s Kenny Hotz, creator of Comedy Central’s “Kenny vs. Spenny,” is behind this sitcom about two friends who work as professional test subjects. They’re “testees” -- get it? The place they work is called Testico. (Say it out loud.) Expect side effects.

FX, 10:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10

The Starter Wife

The middling yet popular Emmy-nodded miniseries with Debra Messing as a Hollywood wife dumped for a younger model -- as if! -- returns as a not-quite-mini series. Self-actualization is the best revenge. With Judy Davis, an Emmy winner.

USA Network, 10 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 13

My Own Worst Enemy

Christian Slater’s dramatic range will be tested to its limit in this sci-spy thriller, in which two mutually unaware personalities inhabit his single body: one a mild-mannered family man, the other a trained killer working for one of those secret organizations that are popping up like mushrooms in the world according to TV. Alfre Woodard is in it, always a good thing.

NBC, 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 17

Crusoe

As in Robinson. A 13-part fantasia on the Defoe novel, including a swashbuckling lady pirate and a really neat treehouse. Philip Winchester reverses a trend: He’s an American playing British. The trailers for this are exciting, as trailers usually are, but that treehouse really does look cool. It may be enough. Tongayi Chirisa is Friday.

NBC, 8 p.m.

Crash

Paul Haggis’ Oscar-winning festival of racial prejudice inspires a 13-part TV series. Dennis Hopper is the big name here, stretching out as a drug-addled record producer, with D.B. Sweeney as a real-estate developer and a cast of cops and citizens of many colors and classes. The first dramatic series for the mostly movies channel Starz.

Starz, 10 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22

Stylista

A sort of backward twist on “Project Runway,” with echoes of “Ugly Betty” and a dash of “I Want to Work for Diddy.” Contestants scramble to serve Anne Slowey, the fashion news director of Elle magazine, in hopes of an editorial position with, you know, pay. For those who’d rather be Nina Garcia than Michael Kors.

CW, 9 p.m.

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robert.lloyd@latimes.com