NBC: 'CHUCK,' A REAL GOOD-TIME CHARLIE

'Chuck'

"Chuck" makes a compatible lead-in to NBC's lonely new hit drama from last season, the no-doze "Heroes," but "Chuck" substitutes charm and humor for apocalyptic traumatics. The eponymous hero, played winningly by Zachary Levi, is the head geek of the "Nerd Herd" at a Buy-More store in L.A.'s Echo Park -- and thus living a blissfully sedentary existence when, whack, a dying former roommate sends an e-mail to Chuck's BlackBerry that will turn his life upside down and inside out. Chuck finds himself racing mell-pell (worse than pell-mell) through a land-mine life of spies, pies and Hitchcock-movie references. More (amusing) spills than (the usual cheap) thrills, "Chuck" is like summer vacation all year long, or for as long as the show lasts. (Mondays at 8 p.m.; debuts Sept. 24.)

'Journeyman'

"Journeyman" is the second of two new fantasy-action shows with which NBC is bookending "Heroes" -- and, executives hope, making the network irresistible to young viewers, especially male, for three solid hours of Monday-night prime time. Unfortunately, "Journeyman" is wearily serious instead of lightheartedly larky (a la "Chuck"). It's the confused adventures of a borderline-narcoleptic time traveler who keeps bumping his head on the past and dragging his feet into the future. When he sees Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley still hosting the "Today" show, journey-dude Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd, a real McDud) knows something's definitely amiss with the ye olde space-time continuum! Something's amiss with the premise of the show, too; this is one of those high-concept deals that seem to get high on their own concepts. (Mondays at 10 p.m.; debuts Sept. 24.)

'Bionic Woman'

She's ba-ack, but she's not your daddy's Bionic Woman, or even your big brother's. This time, she's reluctantly superhuman, having survived a hellacious car crash that would be a shocking jolt if NBC hadn't already shown it 10,000 times in promos during the summer. Anyway, she's not only hot; she's also "hot-wired" for "highly specialized warfare," the heroine (played by Michelle Ryan) is told as she regains consciousness in a think tank's clinic and notices her set of spare parts. Gloomier and of course edgier than the cheesy original, this "B.W." shows the influence of "Terminator" and "RoboCop," among other dark sci-fi fantasies, with far snazzier special effects than on the now-laughable '70s edition (come to think of it, it was then-laughable, too). The very intense Miguel Ferrer, as the brooding bureaucrat who runs the top-secret project, is looking more like his father, Jos?, than ever -- and fortunately not a bit bionic himself. (Wednesdays at 9 p.m.; debuts Sept. 26.)

'Life'

No relation to the CW's new "Life Is Wild," or to the Chris Elliott cult classic "Get a Life." Let's just go ahead and say it: "Life" has little relation to life, period -- except incidentally and accidentally. It's a hard-to-swallow pill about a wrongly convicted cop who, finally released from prison, wins a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city and surprises friends and foes by returning to the police force, all the better to locate "the real killer" ("The Fugitive," anyone?) while solving miscellaneous crimes and foiling nefarious capers. Gee, the show hasn't even started yet and we're yawning already. (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.; debuts Sept. 26.)