FALL FLASH: Diane Holloway assesses the 2010-11 lineup

Diane Werts here . . . to let you know that the words below come from our Diane2 -- Diane Holloway, who's digested the news from last week's network upfronts to let you know what's new, what's back and what's gone for good.

For more fall details, click the links below to see show descriptions, video clips, and more.

But broadcast TV is no longer the be all and end all of prime time. Cable and satellite are just as active these days. And fall isn't where all the premieres are, either. We'll be back shortly to report on the summer goodies coming from networks and cable.

TV has become a year-round business. That's why TV Worth Watching is here 365 days a year.

(Make that 366 in 2012.)

Fall highlights, lowlights and dead ducks

By Diane Holloway

Last week, the broadcast networks unveiled their new fall schedules. This used to be a big, flashy affair that every newspaper, magazine and TV station covered with fervor.

Thanks to the networks' decimated audience levels these days, the new fall "reveals" aren't as big a deal. Of course, that doesn't mean devoted TV-aholics such as myself don't pay attention. Close attention.

Here's my handy-dandy "charticle" of the new fall season. (I have exercised my TV-critic option to totally ignore the CW.)

ABC ditched or ended 10 series, the most noteworthy of which were Lost and Ugly Betty. Of the seven newcomers that will join the lineup, arguably the most talked about right now (as in: sight unseen) is No Ordinary Family, a family superhero drama starring Michael Chiklis, formerly the tough-as-nails Vic Mackey of The Shield.

The alphabet network's other highlights: Rob Morrow, fresh off the canceled Numb3rs, in The Whole Truth; Dana Delany in the whodunit Body of Proof; and My Generation, an Austin-filmed series with a large cast that includes Austin's own Mehcad Brooks (True Blood, Desperate Housewives). Yes, I feel compelled to acknowledge my hometown.

CBS is adding only five new shows, but axed plenty, many of which most people will not remember (Three Rivers, for example). Some folks may mourn Cold Case and Ghost Whisperer -- but probably not for long.

As usual, CBS has more big names on its schedule than the other guys. Alex O'Loughlin will star in a remake of Hawaii Five-O, Tom Selleck will headline Blue Bloods, and Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi will go Las Vegas legal in The Defenders [photo above]. Oh, and the always hilarious William Shatner will star in the Twitter-inspired (and nearly impossible to type) $#*! My Dad Says.

Poor, downtrodden NBC, which killed off Law & Order and Heroes, has what appears to be a woeful schedule. Not to be defeated, producer Dick Wolf has conjured up Law & Order: Los Angeles; Jerry Bruckheimer serves up yet another action drama, The Chase; Jason Ritter stars in the espionage thriller The Event (which sounds a lot like 24, by the way); and -- this one pains me deeply -- Jimmy Smits stars as a Supreme Court justice who quits to fight crime in The Outlaw. This series airs on Friday nights, so we probably won't have to suffer long.

Fox, which is finally closing 24 but still has American Idol to sustain it, offers a couple of new sitcoms and a Dallas-inspired sudser called Lonestar. As a Texan, I'm dreading this one. But one of the comedies, Running Wilde, a romantic romp starring Keri Russell and Will Arnett [photo at right], sounds promising -- on paper.

Are you breathless with anticipation? If so, hang onto my little fall wrap-up, and you can begin scratching off the dead ones in early October.

FALL 2010 PRIMETIME (new series in caps)

SUNDAY
ABC: America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters
CBS: 60 Minutes, Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, CSI: Miami
NBC: Football Night in America, Sunday Night Football
FOX: The OT, The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad

MONDAY
ABC: Dancing with the Stars (2 hrs), Castle
CBS: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men, MIKE & MOLLY, HAWAII FIVE-O
NBC: Chuck, THE EVENT, CHASE
FOX: House, LONESTAR

TUESDAY
ABC: NO ORDINARY FAMILY, Dancing with the Stars, DETROIT 1-8-7
CBS: NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife
NBC: The Biggest Loser (2 hrs), Parenthood
FOX: Glee, RAISING HOPE, RUNNING WILDE

WEDNESDAY
ABC: The Middle, BETTER TOGETHER, Modern Family, Cougar Town, THE WHOLE TRUTH
CBS: Survivor, Criminal Minds, THE DEFENDERS
NBC: UNDERCOVERS, Law & Order: SVU, LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES
FOX: Lie to Me, Hell's Kitchen

THURSDAY
ABC: MY GENERATION, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
CBS: The Big Bang Theory, $#*! MY DAD SAYS, CSI, The Mentalist
NBC: Community, 30 Rock, The Office, OUTSOURCED, LOVE BITES
FOX: Bones, Fringe

FRIDAY
ABC: Secret Millionaire, BODY OF PROOF, 20/20
CBS: Medium, CSI: NY, BLUE BLOODS
NBC: Who Do You Think You Are?, Dateline NBC, OUTLAW
FOX: Human Target, THE GOOD GUYS

SATURDAY
ABC: College Football
CBS: Crime-time Saturdays (reruns), 48 Hours
NBC: Series reruns
FOX: Cops, America's Most Wanted

Canceled or ending series:
ABC: Better Off Ted, The Deep End, Eastwick, Flash Forward, The Forgotten, Romantically Challenged, Hank, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, Lost
CBS: Accidentally On Purpose, Cold Case, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Whisperer, Miami Medical, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Numb3rs, Three Rivers
NBC: Law & Order, Heroes, Mercy, Trauma
FOX: 24, Brothers, Dollhouse, Sons of Tucson, 'Til Death