It's pilot season in Hollywood, when 100 new projects for next season compete for the affections of network programmers — and a slot on their fall schedules.

Unlike last year, when "Lost" sparked a wave of sci-fi-tinged mysteries ("Threshold," "Surface," "Invasion"), there are fewer obvious inspirations. But "Lost" and "24" have emboldened networks to take more risks with serialized story lines, flashbacks and high-stakes thrillers.

CBS, already well-stocked with procedural crime shows, has none in development. ABC, with several hit dramas, is most in need of comedies. Fox is targeting development around the "American Idol" calendar, seeking companions for returning hits such as "House," "24" and "Prison Break."

And NBC is looking for, well, just about everything: More offbeat comedies in the vein of "My Name Is Earl" and a few "forward-thinking dramas," says programming chief Kevin Reilly. "We're reaching a little more ambitiously."

Often, the emphasis is on strong characters as opposed to crime-solving plot twists. New CBS projects are "digging deeper into relationships, and exploring and exploiting what connects us to one another," says entertainment chief Nina Tassler. Her ABC counterpart, Steve McPherson, says viewers have "fallen in love with the McDreamys, Matt Foxes, Ty Penningtons" of the network. "That's our core audience driver, in whatever (genre) we're doing."

Perhaps one in every four of the 100 pilots being readied for fall will get the go-ahead come May, when broadcast networks announce their new schedules to advertisers.

Already picked up is NBC's "The Black Donnellys," from the team behind Oscar-winning "Crash," about four Irish brothers who turn from boys to mobsters in New York. CBS won a bidding war for "The Class," a comedy from "Friends" co-creator David Crane, so it has a strong shot. With an ensemble class led by Jason Ritter, it's about a third-grade class reunited after 20 years when one member proposes to another, changing the lives of others.

"There seemed to be a lot of focus on government and political themes," says Starcom Media's Tom Weeks. And though it's often the case, he says this year the networks found more "big-name" talent familiar to TV viewers: Matthew Perry, John Lithgow, Dylan McDermott, Calista Flockhart, Angie Harmon, David James Elliott, James Woods, Ted Danson, Blair Underwood and Kim Cattrall, among others, are featured in new pilots.

In scheduling adjustments, NBC airs NFL games on Sundays this fall, knocking out a night of programming, while ABC will get Mondays back, a possible new home for "Grey's Anatomy." CBS is likely to drop its Sunday movie.

A look at other trends: