Fall 2005 is nearly upon us, which means it's just about time to start planning the slate for the fall 2008 TV season. And by then, we'll probably all be burned out on clones of Lost and Survivor and be ready for something different -- but not so different that we've never been exposed to it in any form before. Best Picture Oscar nominees to the rescue!

The Aviator, starring Breckin Meyer, Paget Brewster, and George Segal, Sundays at 9 PM on NBC

Look to the skies, America! Dashing billionaire playboy/reclusive germaphobe Howard Hughes (Breckin Meyer) is taking off again in his fabled Spruce Goose: Destination adventure! It's Tales of the Gold Monkey meets Highway to Heaven, as Hughes -- along with his wise-cracking sidekick, Kate Hepburn (Paget Brewster) -- touches down each week in a different global destination -- London, Hong Kong, Burma -- to help a distraught local solve a problem or overcome adversity. In the premiere episode, Hughes and Hepburn fly to the hills of Kentucky, where striking coal miners (led by Brian Dennehy) are being harassed by a greedy mine owner (Jay O. Sanders) and his nefarious, Pinkerton agency-hired heavy (special guest star Alan Cumming). But Hughes salvages the situation after spreading around some wisdom -- and a little cash! Just don't try to shake his hand! Then it's up, up and away to rescue the persecuted monks of Nepal -- where Hughes must battle not only the oppressive Chinese but the operatives of his arch-rival, Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (George Segal), who've been sent to derail Hughes's acts of headline-grabbing derring-do, armed with used Kleenex and musty dish rags, left in his bed while he's away. Gross!

Finding Neverland, starring Skeet Ulrich, Melissa George, and Cloris Leachman, Thursdays at 8 PM on UPN

(WARNING: Contains movie spoilers!)
Grieving widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Melissa George) has an overbearing mother (Cloris Leachman), a mountain of debt, and a houseful of rambunctious orphan boys. She's at her wit's end as to how to solve all her problems, when a chance encounter in a London park unites her with renowned playwright J.M. (James) Barrie (Skeet Ulrich). What better way for her sons to get over the untimely death of their father than by spending nearly every day with a childless man with an anachronistic fondness for high-spirited play? Naturally, Sylvia and James's platonic friendship soon grows into passionate love, and he leaves his social-climbing wife (Cheryl Hines), marries Sylvia, and adopts the boys, who become his muses and inspire ever more fanciful stage plays. Each episode revolves around the production of another of James's works: George chases a field mouse out of the kitchen and is reimagined as St. George, the dragon slayer; Jack gets a splinter in his finger and gets remade, on the stage, into a brave crippled beggar; and so on. But it's not all cowboys an Indians in the courtyard and triumphs on the West End for the now-blended Llewelyn Davies Barrie clan: Sylvia's poor health threatens the family's happiness in a new way with each episode, as she battles croup, hysteria, rickets, housemaid's knee, and the newly identified tennis elbow. Fortunately, she always recovers just in time to attend James's premieres, supporting her beloved soulmate in a way his first wife never could. But peril stalks Sylvia and James from yet another source: Sylvia's mother bands together with the first Mrs. Barrie to plant unflattering rumours in the press about the acclaimed playwright, in an effort to break the couple up. Will it be illness or gossip that ultimately destroys this family's happiness? Take the second star on the right and fly straight on...to CBS!

Million Dollar Baby, starring James Rebhorn, John Amos, and Taryn Manning, Saturdays at 8 PM on ABC

(WARNING: Contains movie spoilers!)
Boxing meet bionics in this high-tech twist on the Oscar-lauded melodrama. James Rebhorn stars as Frankie Dunn, the grizzled boxing manager who may have taken one emotional blow too many. In the pilot, his old wingman -- the saintly custodian and former fighter Eddie Dupris (John Amos) -- tracks Dunn down at a pie shop and convinces him to take on a young female boxer named Lacey "Boom-Boom" Baron (Taryn Manning). Dunn is reluctant, for obvious reasons, given his history of blinding, maiming, and paralyzing his fighters by accident. But there's a spark in Boom Boom's eye that makes Frankie believe again -- in her, if not in himself. Boom Boom's rapid ascent through the ranks of female boxing takes an unexpected detour, however, when Frankie tries to hand her a spit-bucket, grabs the wrong bucket, and accidentally douses her with hydrochloric acid, costing her the use of her legs, her left eye, and lethal left arm. Eddie, however, has a plan -- and a friend, Dr. Masa Tanaka (Gedde Watanabe), a rogue scientist with a love of boxing and an expertise in bionics. Let's just say, Boom Boom becomes one special "Million Dollar Baby" -- and she packs a wicked, hydraulically enhanced left hook. Dunn reconciles her unfair mechanical advantage with the fact that her boxing opponents are mostly drug-addicted German whores, Nazi sympathizers, or ungrateful redneck welfare cases. Now if only she and Frankie can keep her "gifts" -- and her undercover work for the CIA -- a secret from the suspicious Boxing Commissioner (special appearance by Ving Rhames).

Ray, starring Blair Underwood, Nia Long, and Tisha Campbell, Tuesdays at 8 PM on ABC

The late R&B great Ray Charles had a fascinating life, as he broke colour barriers, fought to control his own publishing catalogue, and battled drug addiction -- all while blind! But since that was all well covered in Taylor Hackford's biopic Ray, why rehash it here, when we could just make it all about the music, baby? in 1960s Chicago, Ray (Blair Underwood) has a devoted wife (Nia Long), a fiery mistress (Tisha Campbell), and a foundering nightclub. The bank -- as represented by its heartless manager, Sid Whiteside (Dan Hedaya) -- is just itching to repossess the club and turn it into one of those new-fangled roller rinks. But as long as Ray can keep his head above water, he can stave off mortgage default. And what better way than to call on all his friends in the music business for favours, getting them to play at the club for free? And who better to portray the music greats of yesteryear than the recording artists of today? Why, there's Eve playing Diana Ross, backed up by the Supremes (Christina Milian and Kelis)! And there's Jay-Z as Marvin Gaye! And there are Busta Rhymes, Method and Red, and Nelly (1906s roles to be determined)! But will these stopgap measures be enough to save Ray's club from demolition? Ray can't watch and see, but you should!

Sideways, starring Jason Alexander, Peri Gilpin, Ted McGinley, and Margaret Cho, Wednesdays at 9:30 PM on FX

Failing novelist/oenophile Miles (Jason Alexander) and his best friend, washed-up sitcom star Jack (Ted McGinley) are on a bachelor's weekend in California wine country when they meet fellow wine aficionados (and nicely aging hotties!) Maya (Peri Gilpin) and Stephanie (Margaret Cho). Miles and Maya flirt cautiously, while Jack becomes besotted with the outrageous and potty-mouthed Stephanie, who is working as a wine pourer only until her career as a standup comic takes off! The quartet quickly commit to each other in the pilot episode, as Miles and Maya join forces to write a wine column for a Marin County newspaper (creating opportunities for plenty of snappy newsroom banter!), and Jack leaves his fiancé to become Stephanie's manager. To save money, the two couples pool their financial resources and buy a big old house to live in together -- and they're always sneaking each other's wine! But it's not all grapes and grins: Stephanie's sassy teenaged daughter (Daveigh Chase) can't stand Jack, and the two are always insulting each other in that adorably vicious way sitcom characters do. And don't forget Miles's hilarious wine binges, followed by side-splitting drunken, violent rages! Why, he wrecks three cars by October!