By Frazier Moore

Associated Press

What can you say about a fall TV season most distinguished by the leap to prime time by Jay Leno?

Not exactly a fresh face after 17 years as host of “The Tonight Show,” Leno has the most-anticipated, most talked-about new show on the networks’ fall slate. Well, at least anticipated and talked about within the media sphere, where speculation rages over whether NBC can get away with stripping a talk-comedy hour every weeknight in those five prime-time hours.

Is NBC, which continues to struggle in fourth place among viewers, throwing in the towel as it hands Leno so much of of its prime-time real estate?

As the network TV business implodes, is NBC being shrewd to make do with less? Is it giving viewers what they didn’t know they wanted: a chipper, never-a-rerun alternative to sex, crime and blood?

Meanwhile, what kind of advantage, if any, will NBC rivals enjoy going up against “The Jay Leno Show” (arriving at 10 p.m. Sept. 14) with their dramas?

Those are a few of the talking points for the new season — among those who are talking.

But do the networks have viewers talking yet?

Between revivals (“Melrose Place”), spinoffs (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) and familiar faces (Courteney Cox, Julianna Margulies), the TV landscape seems to be backward-looking this fall.

Observers of the TV scene forlornly wait for a new game-changing hit such as “Lost” or “Desperate Housewives” five long years ago. In the meantime, NBC is striking its own blow for the future of prime time: repurposing Jay Leno.

Among the broadcast networks' 21 fall series, here are 10 whose debut episodes might whet your appetite:

"Melrose Place" (CW, premieres Sept. 8): Here's romance, glamour, naughtiness, mystery and (of course) Spanish-modern architecture in trendy Los Angeles. It's a smart-but-not-too-smart reimagining of the original 1990s soap, with the apartment digs significantly posher than before. This revival could make a tired old term like "trendy" feel trendy again.

"Glee" (Fox, Sept. 9): Maybe you already saw the pilot (which Fox aired last spring and is putting online). A musical comedy about a struggling high school glee club, it was pitch-perfect. The series picks up Sept. 9 with the second episode. It, too, is quirky, tuneful, up-tempo fun.

"Community" (NBC, Sept. 17): No disrespect meant to community colleges, but this one (Greendale Community College) is an ideal backwater for goofballs, schemers and slackers. Sharp writing and a classy ensemble (including Joel McHale, John Oliver and Chevy Chase) earn the very funny pilot an A-plus.

"The Good Wife" (CBS, Sept. 22): Julianna Margulies has never been better as a wife and mother forced to pick up her long-dormant career as an attorney and return to work in a pressure-cooker law firm after her politician hubby, played by Chris Noth, lands himself in jail. There are a lot of human issues to sort out here -- apart from the legal cases -- and a splendid cast to do it.

"Mercy" (NBC, Sept. 23): A skilled, outspoken nurse, Veronica Callahan, is back at New Jersey's Mercy Hospital after a tour in Iraq, with more personal problems than when she left. "I don't need to talk to anybody about it," she tells her boss sarcastically. "You know why? Because, I'm on delicious Paxil." The Paxil's not working. But viewers, keep your fingers crossed that "Mercy" keeps on working as well as its pilot, where Taylor Schilling is terrific as its star.

"Modern Family" (ABC, Sept. 23): A lively half-hour boasting interlocked tales of three disparate families and a full-to-bursting ensemble (including Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara). Can this ambitious comedy make the most of its rich resources, and stay as brisk and funny as the pilot? Here's hoping.

"Cougar Town" (ABC, Sept. 23): Courteney Cox as a woman with cellulite?! This comedy about a 40-year-old divorced mom is riotous and strangely true-to-life as it depicts youth obsession, and how the no-longer-quite-young grapple with it. Dicey material. But Bill Lawrence is a "Cougar Town" executive producer and writer. As mastermind of "Scrubs," he proved long ago he can find the familiar and funny in zaniness.

"FlashForward" (ABC, Sept. 24): It happens to everyone on Earth, including all the characters who populate this eerie thriller: They black out for two minutes, during which they see visions of their future as they might (or might not) live it on a certain day next April. What's causing this? Will the visions come true? If you watch this episode, expect your future to include more episodes.

"Brothers" (Fox, Sept. 25): The premise sounds like a sitcom at its most cliche: Two brothers (played by Michael Strahan and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell) who, in adulthood, squabble as they did when they were boys, plus their parents (Carl Weathers and CCH Pounder), all living under the same roof. The appeal of the pilot is its execution. It's fresh, relatable, engaging. And funny.

"Trauma" (NBC, Sept. 28): Lots of action. Lots of blood. Lots of rescue. Lots of hanky-panky. The first-responder paramedics from San Francisco City Hospital are a trauma team who are themselves traumatized, on and off the job. The pilot's pyrotechnics and Bay Area locations make it look great. But what makes the series worth a second look: The complicated characters played by Anastasia Griffith and Cliff Curtis, who soar above the show's formulaic melodrama.