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The haunting pilot episode for ABC's upcoming drama series The Nine is so full of stylistic camerawork, moody lighting and dazzling special effects that a viewer can't help but conclude: This looks and feels more like a feature film than a TV show.

And it's not the only one. Emboldened by the rousing success of lush, ambitious series such as 24 and Lost, network programmers are stocking their fall lineups with sophisticated, high-concept stories that come all decked out in the kind of glossy production values typically seen on the big screen.

TV critics who recently gathered in Southern California for television's annual summer press tour were blown away by the collective quality of the fall pilots. Meanwhile, industry insiders talk proudly of a broadcast renaissance in the making.

"Everybody seems to be raising their game," says Fox entertainment chief Peter Liguori. "It's almost like the four-minute mile. Once someone pulls it off, it becomes easier for everyone else to break it. Hopefully we're looking at the reinvention of broadcast TV."

Or as Thomas Schlamme, a producer for NBC's highly anticipated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, bluntly puts it: "You just can't get away with doing something that looks like Matlock or Murder, She Wrote anymore."

And indeed, this season nothing really does. Distancing themselves from the cheap reality fare and somewhat simplistic crime procedurals that dominated the medium in recent years, programmers have suddenly fallen in love with intricate serial thrillers with complex character development and sprawling plot lines, many of which are tied to traumatic events.

The Nine, for example, tells the story of a 52-hour hostage-taking ordeal at a bank that forges a bond among nine people. Their stories, a la Lost, are told through an elaborate web of flashbacks that trace their lives before and during the crime. The result is a breathtaking psychological thriller.

Big hitters

Other big-scale serials arriving this fall include Jericho, a CBS drama set in a remote Kansas town after a nuclear apocalypse, and a pair of shows - Kidnapped (NBC) and Vanished (Fox) - about ongoing crime-based mysteries. The former has the young son of a wealthy couple (Tim Hutton and Dana Delany) being abducted, and the latter involves the sudden disappearance of a senator's wife. Then there's The CW's Runaway, which focuses on a family that goes on the lam after the father is falsely accused of murder.

"Things are getting more and more competitive out there," notes NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly. "You've got more cable channels doing original programming and the Internet pushing in with original or pirated content. So I think we're all trying to rise to the occasion. You've got to do something that separates yourself from the pack, and that sometimes means doing full-blown Hollywood productions that are big in scope."

And, Reilly adds, in some ways television is forced to keep pace with technology. With so many consumers these days plunking down big bucks for high-definition and jumbo screens, you can bet they want to see something that looks darn good on it.

"I mean, the fact is, many people in America have better TVs than they do homes," he says.

Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros.

Television, says the industry's devotion to higher production quality actually started a few years ago when prolific movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer brought his talents to television.

Bruckheimer's TV credits include, among others, the CSI franchise, Without a Trace, Cold Case and the Emmy-winning reality series The Amazing Race. This fall, his company will bring Justice, a legal series starring Victor Garber, to Fox.

"When Jerry got into television, it was a catalytic moment for the medium," says Roth. "He elevated the production values and gave his shows a unique visual style. He raised the viewers' expectations by introducing a motion-picture look to TV that everyone wants to replicate."

TV becomes cool

And in doing so, adds Roth, Bruckheimer "made it cool and acceptable to work in television."

CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler, whose network airs most of Bruckheimer's shows, agrees. She says the overall quality found on broadcast and cable television these days is attracting feature film talent in growing numbers. For example, CBS' new legal drama, Shark, features James Woods in a pilot directed by Spike Lee. Another upcoming CBS drama, Smith, has a cast that includes Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen, and a tone and style that feels like a high-scale independent film.

"In the past, television had been an afterthought," Tassler says.

"But things are very different now. Television is a major destination for feature talent, for Broadway talent.

"People are recognizing the tremendous opportunity and creative latitude available to them in television."[[In-content Ad]]

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