WHAT IT'S UP AGAINST America's Next Top Model (UPN), Hawaii (NBC), 60 Minutes (CBS), Smallville (The WB), That '70s Show and Quintuplets (Fox)

WHAT'S NEXT While you'll see characters scrambling for food, water, and explanations about the freaky island wildlife, story lines will be grounded in issues of ''love, betrayal, ethics, and leadership,'' says Abrams. Speaking of Lost's fearless leader, Fox says the good doctor will also have to heal himself: ''Jack, when we initially meet him, comes across as being so phenomenally heroic. But he has a lot of really complex, slightly self-destructive issues going on.'' Adds Lindelof, ''The island might be mysterious and scary, but it's the people that are really mysterious and potentially scary.'' And don't get too attached to anyone: ''There is going to be a higher death toll on this show than on most shows.'' Pause. ''No higher than CSI, I guess.'' —Dan Snierson

WHO YOU NEED TO KNOW

• JACK (Matthew Fox) A courageous doctor and the island's de facto leader.

• KATE (Evangeline Lilly) A gorgeous ingenue who's in trouble with the law.

• CHARLIE (Dominic Monaghan) A has-been rock star and current drug addict.

• MICHAEL (Harold Perrineau) A father trying to connect with his young son, who's also on the island.

• SHANNON (Maggie Grace) A bratty blonde whose rusty French comes in handy.

• BOONE (Ian Somerhalder) Shannon's even-tempered brother.

• SAWYER (Josh Holloway) The island's resident bigoted hothead.

• SAYID (Naveen Andrews) A tech-savvy former Iraqi soldier.

• CLAIRE (Emilie de Ravin) A very pregnant passenger traveling alone.

• LOCKE (Terry O'Quinn) A creepy loner with a penchant for backgammon.

• JIN (Daniel Dae Kim) The bullying half of a non-English-speaking Korean couple.

• SUN (Yunjin Kim) Jin's (seemingly) cowed significant other.

• HURLEY (Jorge Garcia) A squeamish, kooky fat guy who provides comic relief.

Five Actors We'd Watch In Anything

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Five Actors We'd Watch In Anything

TAYE DIGGS Easy on the eyes and difficult not to like, the Kevin Hill star narrowly defeated Ryan Seacrest to take home EW's prestigious 2004 Best Smile on TV award.

CHRISTOPHER GORHAM Popular alum Gorham made Showtime worth watching on Odyssey 5, and he shined as a mutated special agent on UPN's underrated Jake 2.0. And even though he's now stuck doing medical investigations on NBC's...Medical Investigation, we're still stuck on him.

DENIS LEARY The comic proved he could tackle drama on FX's Rescue Me, and he's cornered the market on pill-popping, booze-swigging, philandering civil-servant roles.

HEATHER LOCKLEAR She was the hook in T.J. Hooker, the rose in Melrose Place, the...well, LAX doesn't give us much to work with, but rest assured Ms. Locklear is always on our radar.

SARA RUE Her ABC sitcom is less than perfect, but Rue's self-deprecating charm will make this other Populargrad a sitcom staple for years to come. —DR