No Ordinary Family (Tues., Sept. 28 @ 8:00 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “NCIS” (CBS), “The Biggest Loser” (NBC), “Glee” (Fox), “One Tree Hill” (The CW)

Starring: Michael Chiklis, Julie Benz, Romany Malco, Autumn Reeser, Kay Panabaker, Jimmy Bennett, Stephen Collins

Producers: Greg Berlanti (“Eli Stone”), Jon Harmon (“Tru Calling”), David Semel (“Life”), Morgan Wandell

Network’s Description: The Powells are about to go from ordinary to extraordinary. After 16 years of marriage, Jim feels disconnected from his workaholic wife, Stephanie, and two teenage children, Daphne and JJ. To encourage family bonding time, Jim decides the family will join Stephanie on her business trip to South America. When their plane crashes into the Amazon River, they barely enjoy a moment to celebrate their survival before returning to the grind of everyday life. But they will soon realize that their lives have been forever changed. Each member of the family starts to show signs of new, unique and distinct super powers. Will their newfound abilities finally bring them together or push them further apart? For the Powells, embarking on a mission to understand their new abilities becomes the key to rebuilding their family life, as they learn what defines and unifies them. Despite the fact they can collectively lift a car, run at lightning speed, read your mind and calculate the dimensions of the Eiffel Tower — all before you say “superhero” – they are first and foremost an average family with everyday problems.

The Buzz: Decidedly strong at Comic-Con, as you’d expect, and there’s no question that ABC’s treating it as a major player in the season, given all of the intrusive pop-ups promoting the series during its current programming. The big question, though, is whether or not non-nerds (and as a nerd myself, please understand that I’m simply using this phrase as to separate us cool kids from those other people) can be sold on the show.

Pilot Highlight: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the members of the family discovering their respective abilities make for the most fun, but as for the best of that bunch, it’s a tie between Jim learning how to jump and Stephanie speeding around the track.

Bottom Line: The pilot is a heck of a lot of fun, offering a sense of humor and a sense of adventure that’s more like a live-action “Incredibles” than another “Heroes,” but given the tough competition, superhero fans had better tune in from the get-go, keep on coming back for more, and spread the good word on the show for all they’re worth if they want “No Ordinary Family” to stick around.

Detroit 1-8-7 (Tues., Sept. 21 @ 10:00 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Parenthood” (NBC)

Starring: Michael Imperioli, James McDaniel, Aisha Hinds, D.J. Cotrona, Jon Michael Hill, Shaun Majumder, Natalie Martinez, Erin Cummings

Producers: David Zabel (“ER”), Jason Richman (“Bangkok Dangerous”), Kevin Hooks (“Prison Break”), David Hoberman (“Monk”), Todd Lieberman (“The Kill Point”)

Network’s Description: What does it take to be a detective in one of America’s toughest cities? Follow one homicide unit as Detroit’s finest reveal the crisis and revelation, heartbreak and heroism that characterize these inner city cops in this series shot entirely in Detroit, Michigan. There’s the damaged but driven Detective Louis Fitch, a wily homicide vet who is the most respected — and most misunderstood — man in the division; Detective Damon Washington, Fitch’s new partner, who finds the first day on the job is a trial by fire, complicated by the imminent birth of his first child; Detective Ariana Sanchez, sexy, edgy and beautiful, who has emerged from a rough background to become a rising star in the department; narcotics undercover cop John Stone, a streetwise smooth talker, clever and quick with a smile made for the movies, who is teamed with Sanchez — a combustible pairing rife with conflict and sexual tension; Sergeant Jesse Longford, a 30-year veteran and sage of the department struggling with his impending retirement from the force and the city he loves, who, together with his partner, Detective Vikram Mahajan — a fully Americanized son of Indian immigrants — form an amusing mismatch of experience and enthusiasm, intellect and instinct, old school and new world, but whose combined skills have never encountered a case that couldn’t be cleared; and all are headed by Lieutenant Maureen Mason, a strong-willed single mom struggling to balance home and work. The unit works with the primary medical examiner, Dr. Abbey Ward, who has an unusual hobby in her off-hours-roller derby. The men and women of Detroit Homicide are as smart and tough as they come. They have to be, as they struggle with their own inner demons, using only their sharp sense of humor to keep them grounded while working the neighborhoods of the historic Motor City.

The Buzz: The show earned a few headlines when it had to deal with an impossible-to-predict change from its original faux-documentary format after a real death in Detroit during the filming of an episode of A&E’s “The First 48” led the city to ban camera crews from following cops around. The producers, of course, have put the most positive possible spin on the situation, but given that it was one of the few things that instantly helped the show stand out from its fellow police dramas, you know it had to hurt, especially since there hasn’t really been any buzz about the show.

Pilot Highlight: The conclusion to Washington’s first day as a detective. You won’t see it coming, and it wipes away many of your concerns that the show might wallow in schmaltz.

Bottom Line: The cast is strong, but the show still ends up feeling like a typical cop drama. Having both Imperioli (“Life on Mars”) and McDaniel (“NYPD Blue”) back on the beat is nice, and the last scene of the first episode will no doubt bring just about everyone who’s watching back for Episode #2, but it still may not be enough to help “Detroit 1-8-7” compete against two shows that absolutely do have buzz.

WEDNESDAY

Better with You (Wed., Sept. 22 @ 8:30 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “Survivor” (CBS), “Undercovers” (NBC), “Hell’s Kitchen” / “Lie to Me” (Fox), “America’s Next Top Model” (The CW)

Starring: Joanna Garcia, Jennifer Finnigan, Josh Cooke, Jake Lacy, Kurt Fuller, Debra Jo Rupp

Producers: Shana Goldberg-Meehan (“Friends”), Greg Malins (“How I Met Your Mother”)

Network’s Description: a comedy about three different couples at various stages in their romantic relationships. There’s a couple in a happy, long-term relationship and not married. Another couple is in a brand-new relationship and unexpectedly motivated to make a rush to the altar. Last but not least, there’s a longtime married couple who’ve been together for 35 years but may have a new take on life. Maddie and Ben have been together a long time, and the relationship they have works, but they’ll come to learn that there may be value in Mia and Casey’s impulsiveness and spontaneity. And both sisters could surely learn something about relationships from their long-married parents. With three very different relationships intertwined in one family, is it free thinkers vs. over-thinkers, or will each couple begin to see things a little bit differently?

The Buzz: It’s hard to imagine any TV critic who won’t immediately make mention of ABC’s dodgy decision to repeat the exact same mistake they made last season with “Hank,” plugging a laugh-track-ridden sitcom into a night otherwise filled with single-camera comedies. Word’s going to get around quickly that this is the weak link in an otherwise hilarious night of comedy.

Pilot Highlight: When Mia’s parents arrive for the dinner where they’re meeting Casey for the first time. If they gave an Emmy for Cutest Delivery of a Line, Garcia would win it for the way she says, “Just be yourself…but better. I’m sorry…but I mean it!”

Bottom Line: A strong contender for first cancellation of the new season…and when it happens, don’t be at all surprised to see Matthew Perry’s single-camera sitcom, “Mr. Sunshine,” find its way from the wings into the Wednesday night lineup. (Frankly, I’m wondering if that might not have been ABC’s plan all along.)

The Whole Truth (Wed., Sept. 22 @ 9:00 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “Defenders” (CBS), “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (NBC)

Starring: Maura Tierney, Rob Morrow, Eamonn Walker, Sean Wing, Anthony Ruivivar, Christine Adams

Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman (“CSI”), Ed Zuckerman (“Law & Order”), Tom Donaghy (“Without a Trace”), KristieAnne Reed (“Dark Blue”)

Network’s Description: a show which employs a unique alternating narrative structure that chronicles the way a case is built from the perspectives of both the defense and the prosecution. Portraying each side equally keeps the audience guessing – shifting allegiances and opinions on guilt or innocence until the final scene. Kathryn Peale, the product of a New England background and a sheriff father, is a Deputy Bureau Chief in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Jimmy Brogan, born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen and a friend of Kathryn’s since their days at Yale Law School, is one of New York’s rising criminal defense attorney stars. With the support of their respective teams, these two evenly matched legal aces will square off each week. The pilot episode centers on a high school history teacher and family man who’s arrested for the rape and murder of a female student. Aiding Kathryn in the prosecution is the DA’s Bureau Chief Terrence “Edge” Edgecomb and Chad Griffin, a very junior ADA and a total player. Over at Jimmy’s firm, his defense team includes Alejo Salazar, Jimmy’s faithful and extremely competent second, and Lena Boudreaux, a recent hire angling to be Jimmy’s second on the murder case. Creating two different stories from the same set of facts, this up-close, behind-the-scenes look at the legal process mirrors the excitement of a great championship match. Ultimately, it becomes evident that innocence and guilt have nothing to do with the truth – the only thing that matters at the end of every trial is what the jury believes.

The Buzz: Despite trying to put a slightly different spin on the legal drama (which is somewhat surprising, given Jerry Bruckheimer’s appreciation of the formulaic), the only real reason that people are talking about this show is that it’s bringing Maura Tierney back to work for the first time since her battle with cancer…and if Tierney hadn’t stepped in to replace Joely Richardson, who was the series’ lead in the original pilot, it’s likely there’d be no buzz for it at all.

Pilot Highlight: Ominously, ABC still hasn’t managed to provide us with a revised pilot, despite the fact that the show will be premiering less than two weeks from the date that I’m writing this line, but what’s really odd is that the original version of the pilot – the one with Richardson – still remains on the site. I guess it’s in order to at least give us some idea of the feel of the show, but I’m not going to cite a highlight from something that’s never going to see air.

Bottom Line: It’s hard to make a formal declaration without final product, but between “ER,” “NewsRadio,” “Northern Exposure,” and “Numb3rs,” Tierney and Morrow have together spent so much time on TV over the years that their familiarity to viewers may give them an edge over “The Defenders,” at least.

THURSDAY

My Generation (Thurs., Sept. 23 @ 8:00 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “The Big Bang Theory” and “Bleep My Dad Says” (CBS), “Community” and “30 Rock” (NBC), “Bones” (Fox), “The Vampire Diaries” (The CW)

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Jaime King, Kelli Garner, Keir O’Donnell, Sebastian Sozzi, Mehcad Brooks, Anne Son, Daniella Alonso, Julian Morris

Producers: Noah Hawley (“The Unusuals,” “Bones”), Warren Littlefield (“Keen Eddie”), Henrik Bastin, Peter Magnusson, Martin Persson

Network’s Description: What a difference ten years can make. In 2000 a documentary crew follows a disparate group of high school seniors from Greenbelt High School in Austin, TX, as they prepare for graduation, and revisits them ten years later, in 2010, as they return home to rediscover that, just because they’re not where they planned to be, that doesn’t mean they’re not right where they need to be. None of these students could wait to graduate and head out into the real world, but the world they were entering got very real, very fast. Personal, social and global events of the last decade shaped and altered their life courses, and when the documentarian reconnects with them, they’re faced with the questions of whether their old hopes and dreams were realized, what they’ve become and where they’re still headed.

Camera lenses takes us on a path of self-discovery, offering a window into the personal lives of these fomer classmates. There’s Steven Foster, “the overachiever,” who found it impossible to live up to his father’s expectations and escaped to Hawaii to become a surfer. Steven returns to Austin after a call from Caroline Chung, the shy “wallflower” in high school, who has decided to break the news that she’s raising his nine year old son, conceived on prom night. Kenneth Finley, “the nerd” and all-around good guy, is now a teacher and wants nothing more than to have kids and a family of his own. He has created a sort of surrogate family in the meantime by allowing his former high school sweetheart, Dawn Barbuso, “the punk,” to stay at his house until her baby is born in three months. Dawn’s husband, Rolly Marks, Greenbelt High’s former star athlete and “the jock,” is serving his country in Afghanistan. High school “beauty queen” Jackie Vachs returned to Austin when her Hollywood dreams didn’t pan out. She’s in a marriage of convenience to “rich kid” Anders Holt, and wears a thin veneer of polished marital bliss… until she bumps into Steven following his return to Austin. Brenda Serrano, the class “brain” who thought she had found her soulmate in Anders, has not fully recovered from their high school break-up, despite her high-powered job working for a Congressman in DC. A call about her ailing mother will bring her back to their old stomping grounds. And The Falcon, “the rock star” free spirit, is still chasing his rock & roll dreams. Though producing, deejaying and tapped into the underground music scene, it’s his ties to his old friends that keeps him rooted.

The scripted drama follows the personal stories of these nine friends. The promises they thought their futures held, as well as how far they’ve come and just how they got here are all told through the camera of a documentary film crew.

The Buzz: Most of the critics who’ve spoken of the pilot have been less than enthusiastic, but the question which drives the concept of the show – “How much has changed for you over the last ten years? – has the kind of mainstream appeal that results in audiences defying critical opinion, and the fact that it plays like a Richard Curtis film done by the producers of “The Office” probably won’t hurt its chances at success.

Pilot Highlight: The best moments are invariably the small characters moments, but the best is when slacker Steven is introduced to his half-Asian son for the first time, suggesting, “I could teach you how to be a ninja or something,” then hesitating and asking uncertainly, “Is that racist?”

Bottom Line: There’s an overabundance of cliches and some seriously heavy-handed placement of world events from the past ten years into the lives of the characters, but the biggest problem is that there are so many characters that the pilot doesn’t have time to develop them beyond pencil sketches, each with at least one highly defined attribute to help them stand out. Obviously, they’ll all be expanded upon as the season goes on (barring cancellation), but at the moment, I’m not sure if any of them are interesting enough that I really need to see that happen.

FRIDAY

Body of Proof (Fri., Sept. 18 @ 9:00 PM, ABC)

* The competition: “CSI: New York” (CBS), “Dateline NBC” (NBC), “The Good Guys” (Fox), “Supernatural” (The CW)

Starring: Dana Delany, Geoffrey Arend, Nicholas Bishop, John Carroll Lynch, Windell D. Middlebrooks, Jeri Ryan, Sonja Sohn

Producers: Christopher Murphey, Matthew Gross (“Dirty Sexy Money”), Sunil Nayar (“Three Rivers,” “CSI: Miami”)

Network’s Description: Brilliant and driven neurosurgeon Dr. Megan Hunt had it all, or so she thought. As the first female Head of Neurosurgery at a prominent Philadelphia university hospital, she never appreciated how the demands of her profession were taking a toll on her personal life until her husband divorced her and she lost custody of their then seven-year-old daughter. Still reeling from this emotional trauma, Megan soon suffered a physical one, a car accident that left her with a condition called paresthesia — random attacks of numbness and cramping of her hands. Tragically, this condition failed to manifest itself until Megan’s first trip back to the operating room. She lost control of her instruments and her patient died on the table. Megan’s life as a neurosurgeon was over. Five years later Megan has found a new life as a Medical Examiner. Although she’s no longer in the business of fixing what’s wrong with living patients, she’s still instinctively drawn to finding out what killed her dead patients and uncovering who was responsible and why. As she pursues the answers, the bodies of the dead provide the clues. The body is, in effect, the proof. And with her unique blend of smarts, instinct and a warehouse of medical knowledge, she can read a body like nobody else.

Megan can also ruffle feathers like nobody else. In her new career she has already developed a reputation for flouting convention and blurring the lines between the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Police Department. Dr. Kate Murphy, Megan’s boss, sympathizes to a degree. As Philadelphia’s first female Chief Medical Examiner, Kate didn’t get where she is without ruffling a few feathers herself. She hired Megan for her expertise and the results she could bring to the job. But Megan’s unconventional way of doing things presents Kate with an ongoing dilemma. Megan is brilliant but also polarizing. How much should Kate rein her in? Megan’s partner is Medical Investigator Peter Dunlop. A former cop, he doesn’t hesitate to tell her the hard truths about her work style. And he’s invaluable as a bridge between the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Police Department. Also frequent contacts at work are Dr. Ethan Gross, whose boyish, geeky ways Megan finds endearing, as well as Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Curtis Brumfield. It is Megan to whom Curtis is constantly trying to prove his medical chops. Detective Bud Morris is an old school cop and finds Megan’s Sherlock Holmes-like ways exasperating, but he can’t deny her effectiveness. His partner, Detective Samantha Baker, is eager and bright. She possesses a quiet respect for Megan’s input, even if her partner doesn’t.

Death is a fact of life. The irony is, death has brought new life to Megan Hunt. As she investigates what happened to her patients, she finds their lives and the lessons they hold are in a way a bequest to her, to learn from them what she can and to apply to her own personal journey of redemption and forgiveness. In return, Megan is determined to get them justice.

The Buzz: Dana Delany remains easy on the eyes, and teaming her with Jeri Ryan, who’s also unlikely to result in viewers suffering ocular damage, makes for a pretty hot property, even if it’s a premise that’s far from new. An egotistical, injury-hampered physician who struggles with both personal and professional relationships…? Don’t be surprised to read reviews which describe Megan as the “House” of coroners. They won’t consistently mean that as a compliment, but it’s a familiar point of comparison, and viewers love that.

Pilot Highlight: Not surprisingly, it’s whenever Delany and Ryan get the chance to square off, but beyond that, Delany shines brightest – and, most likely, defines how we’re going to be seeing her interacting with suspects on a regular basis – when she confronts a prominent businessman about his possible infidelity.

Bottom Line: It might not be original, but it feels like the kind of show that could thrive on a Friday night…but, then again, that’s what I thought about “Women’s Murder Club,” too, so I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

There was a time in this world when young people were frequently slightly ashamed of being bigger than average fans of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and especially comic books. I, personally, wasn’t embarrassed …and I paid a price. Those days may be over. In any case, the capacity crowd that showed up for Spike TV’s Scream awards, largely in costume and largely dramatically over- or under-dressed for a nighttime outdoor show after a very warm day, seemed more like club kids and less like the kind of uber geeks who become entertainment bloggers and film critics and stuff like that.

The Scream Awards are, in their fun/silly way, a big deal. Big enough to attract a good number of stars and even a few superstars like Tobey Maguire, Jessica Alba, Morgan Freeman, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp and his living legend “Pirates of the Caribbean” muse, Rolling Stone Keith Richard.

I, however, am not such a big deal and was reminded of that fact when, prior to the show I found myself with the less fashionable members of the not-quite paparazzi on the “red carpet” (actually a checkered walkway) with my little digital camera and even smaller digital recorder device, wondering whether I’d really get a chance to ask a question of one of the super-famed folks, knowing that the only question I could think of at the time would be something in the nature of “What’s it like be the most notorious rock and roll star in the world, having your blood changed, and snorting your late father’s ashes?” That probably would have been inappropriate, especially if I asked it of Jessica Alba.

What actually seems to happen at events like this is that, if you’re a small-timer especially, most of the big stars either go through another entrance or walk right by you at warp speed. Meanwhile, folks who are a bit more anxious to meet the press find their way to you with the help of PR types. As an example, for about half a second, I was almost able to talk with actor Karl Urban, who did such a great job homaging DeForest Kelly while putting his own hilarious stamp on “Bones” McCoy in “Star Trek.” However, within a nanosecond he remembered he was in a big hurry and politely scurried off.

After a few odd reality show people I didn’t recognize, and the pretty young actress who assays the part of “Female Addict” in “Saw VI,” our first actual notable was statuesque model turned actress Tricia Helfer. Helfer is, make no mistake, a true superstar to TV sci-fi fans and is best known as Number Six, aka “the hot blonde cylon” on “Battlestar Galactica.” The actress appeared with her significant other, the owner of a British accent and a Giaus Baltar-style beard, but I’m sure that’s a total coincidence. I had a not terribly consequential discussion with her — lost because I apparently forgot to press the “on” button on my digital recorder. One would expect no less an effect from Number Six. UPDATE: Yeesh! As pointed out by my PH compatriot John Paulsen, the actress was actually Kate Vernon, who played the lady-MacBeth-like Ellen Tigh. It is true, all statueseque blonde women in shiny dresses look alike to me! My apologies to all concerned or unconcerned.

The lovely Ms. Helfer Vernon was followed by the somewhat less lovely David Paymer. A first-rate character actor who is also directing television these days, Paymer is still best known for his roles in “City Slickers” and his very justly Oscar nominated turn opposite Billy Crystal in “Mr. Saturday Night.” He responded to my brilliant question, about whether he’s gotten any negative feedback from bankers for his memorably oily portrayal in Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell,” with all the seriousness it deserved.

“No one’s complained but they should realize that if they evict poor people from their homes then they’re gonna get dragged to hell!” he said with a grin that would make Paymer a great old-school TV horror movie host, if they still had those.

Paymer was followed by another terrific supporting player from Raimi’s cult not-yet-hit, Dileep Rao. Rao was not only previously interviewed by PH Editor Will Harris, but when I mentioned it, he proudly described Harris as “a bud of mine — I knew him back in the day.” (Harris and Rao bonded primarily online as fans of the Trashcan Sinatras, a Scottish pop band.)

The sad truth was that, after sincerely complimenting him on his on-the-money turn in the film, I had nothing interesting to ask the actor. So, I resorted to the the eternal fall back: “What are you doing next?” His answer was a new production he’s very excited but was allowed to say absolutely nothing about. That led to a discussion of another little upcoming movie he will be in, James Cameron‘s much ballyhooed, yet also still mostly top-secret 3-D sfx/CGI extravaganza, “Avatar.” Naturally, there’s not much he can say about that.  “I think they do that so the story stays intact.” Hard to disagree, but a bit limiting.

Another reporter asked him if anything spooky happened on the set of “Drag Me,” and Rao gamely came up with an anecdote about an ill-tempered goat, which doesn’t quite add up to a supernatural occurrence, but that’s probably because supernatural occurrences are, you know, fictional. Anyhow, it was time for Mr. Rao to get going. Fortunately, the interview with Will has plenty of good stuff. If only I’d remembered he was a “Jeopardy” winner I could have at least asked him what question finally sent him off the show. Nice guy, though.

Soon, we watched Quentin Tarantino and Keith Richard stroll by us at warp speed and it was time to retire to my blogger’s station where I got to watch the show…on a big screen TV in a tent a few hundred feet away from the actual festivities. Oh, the glamorous life of the entertainment press.

****

Now, the consensus on the Scream awards is that it’s a loose, fun evening. And that’s largely true if you ignore some pretty strange or artistically indefensible award choices by the fans. (A terrific cover of Bob Dylan‘s masterpiece, “Desolation Row,” by My Chemical Romance from “Watchmen” defeated by some Linkin Park ditty from the second “Transformers” movie? Ouch. ) Another interesting quirk of the evening that was a small problem for me, but most fans will doubtless dig, is that Spike TV’s standards and practices folks seemingly have no issue at all with gore. It wasn’t only during the “Best Mutiliation” award that this gore-phobe had to turn away from the television set.

The first award of the night was typically offbeat in that it went to a movie that isn’t even finished yet. The “most anticipated fantasy film” award went to Tim Burton‘s upcoming version of “Alice in Wonderland.” That proved to be a pretty good excuse to make that film’s Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp, appear on stage for the first of two times that evening.

And that led to one of the better quips in the evening when the next presenter turned out to be comic actor Justin “I’m a Mac” Long, representing his straight-man gig in “Drag Me to Hell.” Long confessed his feelings of inadequacy in comparison to Depp. “I feel like Richard Greico,” he said, risking a “21 Jump Street” gag. Moving to the award for “Best Science Fiction Actress” Long admitted that his “first boner” could either be attributed to Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia or “the triple-boobed Martian in ‘Total Recall.'” The award itself seemed to have been based more on pulchritude than on acting skill as it went to…wait for it…Megan Fox for that notorious piece of Oscar-bait, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

The actress who, as described by yours truly, got into some hot water a while back for comparing thud-and-blunder specialist director Michael Bay to Hitler (Holy Godwin’s Law, Batman!) tried hard to sound a sincere note and she certainly gave her attempt a unique ring. I’ll resist my tendency to mock and simply present the moment as is.

An entertaining combination of unintentional and intentional amusement occurred a bit later when 6’4″ Alexander Skarsgard of “True Blood” accepted his “Best Villain” award at a mike that had apparently been set up for the much shorter Kate Bosworth. Gamely leaning down, Skarsgard said that he was proud to be named the “most evil man in Hollywood” and dedicated his award to his fifth grade wood shop teacher in Sweden. “He was a very evil man and he inspires me.”

Eventually, there was the first award that went to something I’d both seen and respected. “Watchmen” — a flawed but accomplished film — won for “Best Comic Book Movie.” (If Frank Miller’s soulless travesty of “The Spirit” which, unbelievably enough, was also nominated, had won I believe the very earth would have opened up and swallowed us whole.) Accepting the award was the film’s perfectly scary Rorschach, Jackie Earle Haley, who responded with appropriate enthusiasm. “This rocks out loud!” He then wondered what director Zack Snyder would say if here there: “This is awesome!” That actually does sound like Snyder.

Then, for me, a highlight — a new trailer for Martin Scorsese‘s upcoming version of Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. It looks like Paramount is going for the full horror treatment in marketing the film, with this trailer at least. It’ll be interesting to see just how scary, or not, the new film is. One thing I’d bet on, however, about the movie: If Marty wants us to be scared, we’ll be scared.

Then, Johnny Depp comes back and I start to get annoyed. Not by Depp, but by the youngish guy next to me whose tweeting obsessively while having an argument with either his girlfriend, sister, or coworker, I couldn’t quite tell. (Let’s hope she isn’t all three.) Was he even watching? And, two rows back I’m being treated to a live commentary one older guy’s inside-dope on what’s going on behind the scenes that makes absolutely no sense. Fortunately, for you, however, the Spike TV people did provide a short video clip of the evening’s most historic moment.

Nice to see Keith looking about as hale and healthy as you can expect the guy to be, and in fine verbal form as well. His quotable line for the evening referred to a 1989 lifetime achievement award. “I liked the ‘living legend,’ that was all right, but immortal is even better.”

The next presenter was Jennifer Carpenter who was announced as the winner for “Best Supporting Actress” for her work as the title’s character’s endearingly emotional, foul-mouthed younger sister and homicide detective coworker on “Dexter.” I’m a fan of the show and I was happy to see her get the award. Like the rest of the show’s supporting cast other than Julie Benz, she’s taken some hits for her acting, especially as compared to the virtuosic efforts of star and her now real-life husband, Michael C. Hall. Her work on the show has always been solid in my opinion and she’s made what could have been a grating character into a sympathetic and integral part of the show.

Delivering some rather dumb lines that had been written for her with aplomb, it fell to Carpenter to present the award for “Best Horror Movie” which turned out to be “Drag Me to Hell.” Apart from lead Alison Lohman, who was not there, the entire main cast appeared on stage alongside cowriter/director Sam Raimi. After Raimi thanked the cast and his wife, the actors had their turn. Lorna Raver, who really did deserve an award of some sort for her role as the exceedingly unpleasant Mrs. Ganush, was very much in the spirit of the evening, despite looking shockingly normal, returning her director’s compliments and proclaiming “Raimi rocks!”

Next, it was the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” presenting a special farewell award to the multiply awarded “Battlestar Galactica.” Writer/producer David Eick made a comment about how a few years ago, the mere mention of BSG would elicit laughs (for good reason, I’d add) and thanked the fans for transforming that perception. Actress Grace Park made a gag about members of the audience getting “Oprah” style gifts of memorabilia.

The show’s Admiral Adama, Edward James Olmos, was in his usual philosophical frame of mind and still enjoying his role as a leader of sorts while recalling a past example of first rate science fiction in which he appeared. “‘Blade Runner’ got accepted more on its 30th birthday than it did when it was born,” Olmos said. “Battlestar Galactica” will do the same. We love you fans more than you love it. So say we all! So say we all!” The crowd seemed to like that.

Steven Moyer of “True Blood,” accepting the “Best Horror Actor” award from Liv Tyler was more in vein of a stiff upper lip. He acknowledged his real-life British accent as part of a growing number of English actors playing Americans on U.S. television. “If you think this is some sort of vampiric affectation, I’m channeling Hugh Laurie.”

Then came the most important award of the evening for the cinephile and movie geek set. Quentin Tarantino, dressed like a character from the proposed “Kill Bill” sequel in a polka dotted suit suit with perhaps one button too many fashionably undone (have we learned no fashion lessons from the seventies?) came on like a horror evangelist, hurling praise at the recipient of the “Scream Mastermind Award,” the man who basically invented the flesh-eating zombie in the original 1968 “Night of the Living Dead, 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” and so on, George A. Romero. Though I quite literally have to get myself drunk to see his best known movies, that’s at least partially testimony to the Pittsburgh-based film-maker’s absolute command of his craft, and it was easily the most deserved award of the evening. Romero was characteristically good-natured and relatively low key, recalling his first job on that early horror classic, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” He also worked in a plug for the newly renamed next installment in his career-spanning zombie epic, “Survival of the Dead.”

After Anna Paquin accepted her “Best Horror Actress” award for “True Blood,” Harrison Ford presented the best director award to J.J. Abrams for “Star Trek,” who thanked Leonard Nimoy “for spreading the magic and Gene Roddenbery for doing all the hard work.” The audience was then told to “set your phasers on stud” for the appearance of Trek co-stars John Cho and Karl Urban, who presented a deleted scene from the film involving bad-guy Eric Bana and some violent action.

The next big award was for “Best TV Show” and, not surprising given the vampiric/romantic trend of the night, that award went to “True Blood.” Creator Alan Ball followed the trend of night by complimenting the audience for being “crazy!” and happily proclaimed Scream the “most fucked up award show I’ve ever been to in my life, and therefore the best.”

The pro-vampire-love-story trend also continued with Elijah Wood presenting the “Best Fantasy Film” award to, no surprise, “Twilight,” which won in a number of categories. Wolf-boy hunk Tyler Lautner accepted the award for the movie, quickly followed by the now justly derided clip from the upcoming sequel.

Actress Rhona Mitra then presented the “Break Out” film award to “Zombieland.” Accepting the award, a surprisingly wholesome looking Woody Harrelson appeared, looking like a balding version of Woody Boyd, the “Cheers” bartender. His speech, on the other hand, went in a more traditional Harrelson direction. “A little confession, I hate scary movies because they scare me, honestly. They the shit out of me. I couldn’t watch TV after ‘Poltergeist.’ I gave up surfing after ‘Jaws.’ I can’t go near a kitchen ever since ‘Julie and Julia.’ You know, nightmares.”

That was followed by the appearance of  real-life science fiction fan Morgan Freeman, along with some spiffy camera work, who presented the award for “the Ultimate Scream” to J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek.” In a fit of absolute brilliance by the Spike TV folks it was accepted by…well, I could tell you, or I could show you.

Really, this clip doesn’t begin to do justice to the brilliance of having the infamously non-featured Trekker William Shatner appear. Say would you will about the original James Tiberius Kirk, the man knows how to suck up attention. Sheer brilliance.

Still, the Scream organizers cleverly avoided too much of an anticlimax with the next and final presentation. The Comicon Icon Award was presented by an extra-personable Tobey Maguire at his most Peter Parkerish, to the most famed creator in comic book history, Stan Lee. Accepting the award, Lee was his usual theatrical and avuncular self. He was also clearly a bit overwhelmed, but not with gratitude and humility. He was brought on to the stage by a “Spiderman” themed device that USA Today called “a flying sled,” but which reminded me of a theatrical “god in the machine” kind of devices. Anyhow, poor Stan the Man thought the machine wasn’t entirely stable and was apparently scared witless. Nevertheless, he dealt with it in typical good humor, praised Sam Raimi and Maguire, and closed with a hearty “Excelsior!”

The clip I’m going to close with leaves out the best part of the moment, but it will give you a general sense of the evening’s somewhat calculated zaniness. Whatever else is true of “Scream,” it’s not stodgy.

For more on the Scream Awards including, as of this writing, a complete list of nominees but not the winners, check out Spike TV’s site here.

Thanks to some unusually humid weather, greater L.A. — and its air quality — is just beginning to recover from the still ongoing Station Fire. Hollywood is similarly recovering from the news of the Disney/Marvel merger. Still, there are a few items.

*  If you’re a member of the cult around 1999’s “The Boondock Saints,” you’ll be happy to hear that Troy Duffy and company are back and that “The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day” has been picked up for distribution. I missed both the original film and “Overnight,” the documentary about misbehavior and rank miscalculations of its director. Now, maybe, I should see both.

The movie has a lot of fans  of the young and male variety, and I’m one of those two things. Still, I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion I’d hate the movie and love the documentary, but we’ll see. The cast for the sequel looks very good, however. Two favorites of mine are included, stand-up genius and highly underrated thesp Billy Connolly is back from the original and the excellent Julie Benz of “Dexter” and “Angel” is featured as well.

* Guy Ritchie is apparently recreating himself as a franchise film director these days, and in the wake of his upcoming “Sherlock Holmes,” he’s been signed to do an adaptation of DC’s “Lobo,” which I take it will be some form of violent space opera. Nothing wrong with that.

* Presumably with inglourious cash in its pocket, The Weinstein Company has made an acquisition. Colin Firth will be taking the lead in an upcoming film about England’s King George IV VI, “The King’s Speech.”  Back in 1994, the very good stage adaptation, “The Madness of King George” dealt with the mental issues of George IV’s dad ancestor, George III. According to legend, the title was changed from “The Madness of George III” because of a fear that prospective filmgoers might assume it was a third sequel. They might as well re-title this one “The Speech Impediment of King George.”