Did you see them when they were movies? In general, no! Will you watch them when the networks broadcast them right into your very own home on a weekly basis? ...Maybe! Take a look at the gold TV executives think they can spin out of box-office straw.

Babel, Josh Duhamel, Amy Smart, and Jason Gedrick, Mondays at 10 PM on NBC

Mysterious connections and unforeseen circumstances swirl at the center of Babel, a challenging -- and thrilling! -- new ensemble drama from NBC. Josh Duhamel and Amy Smart star as Richard and Susan Babel, a kind-hearted pair of American adventurers who find that, no matter where they travel on the globe, trouble is sure to follow. Hey: doesn't anyone here speak English!?! In the pilot episode, Richard and Susan plan a second honeymoon, so they check into a hotel in Turkmenistan, not realizing that the hotel's desk clerk, Gurbanguly (Dan Hedaya), once bought a Razor scooter on eBay for his son that previously belonged to Andrea (Sofia Bush), the ex-college roommate of the niece of Richard Babel's Japanese podiatrist (Gedde Watanabe). The Razor proved defective and Gurbanguly's son broke his ankle, which prompted a half-Dutch local boy (Cameron Bright) to mock him and later be slapped by his mother (Shohreh Agsashloo). Angered, the boy considers becoming a terrorist, until a vacationing retired French police officer (Jean Reno), in an act of kindness, gives the boy a Wii game system he'd confiscated earlier from an American smuggler (Jason Gedrick). The smuggler had in fact purchased the Wii in hopes of FedExing it to a Mexican woman (Shelley Morrison) who had shared some pastries with him when he'd met her at the funeral of a former acquaintance who was a landscaper and happened to be deaf (Costas Mandylor, in flashbacks). Months earlier, the deaf man had impregnated a woman (Talisa Soto) whose uncle was involved in an industrial accident while working at the Razor scooter factory, and who was misdiagnosed, contracted gangrene, and lost his finger. The Mexican women later falls into an open sewer because she's unable to read a warning sign that a visiting American contractor (John Heard) refused to print in Spanish. The deaf landscaper is shot by an overzealous alcoholic police officer (Edward James Olmos) because he can't hear an order from the officer to disembark his riding mower. Meanwhile, Susan gets food poisoning, and Richard is unable to communicate with the kitchen staff at their hotel, so her diarrhea worsens.

The Departed, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ben Gazzara, Tuesdays at 9 PM on CBS

America has long associated crime procedurals with CBS (home of Cold Case, C.S.I., Criminal Minds, Navy NCIS, Without A Trace, and many, many others). But the Tiffany network has never offered a series like this before: an exciting drama that's also a challenging mystery for the viewer to solve. The Massachusetts state police have a problem: local Irish mob boss Billy O'Flaherty (Ben Gazzara) has his fingers in everything from trafficking Slavic prostitutes to fixing underground rabbit fights, and every time the cops think they're closing in on him, he regroups and eludes arrest. How does he know?! Could it be that one of the officers tasked to apprehend him might be corrupt? Guess what? Yes. But who?! Is it Frankie Hannigan (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the hotheaded local boy made good who's always getting into shoving matches with the Fibbies? Is it Stevie McAllister (Kevin Rankin), the smooth-talking ball-buster who sometimes doesn't answer his cell? Is it his girlfriend Becky Costello (Lizzy Caplan), the force's psychiatrist with secrets of her own? Or could it by some crazily unlikely twist of the plot turn out to be gruff but lovable captain Jack Hill (Terry O'Quinn), who's just weeks from retiring to his suspiciously lavish house on Cape Cod? Well, we're not going to tell you, dear viewers: it's up to you to solve the mystery! The series will drop clues throughout the season as to the identity of Billy's rat on the force; those who guess correctly will follow those clues to a secret location in the U.S. (hint: it's somewhere in the greater Boston area!), where they'll find a container with the answer, and a voucher to win a huge cash prize! Although some might say that a trip to Boston is prize enough -- that is, as long as you're not one of the poor chumps to end up in the Irish mob crossfire and wind up among The Departed!

Letters From Iwo Jima, starring the voice talents of Michael Cera, Fridays at 11:30 PM on Cartoon Network

As part of the Cartoon Network's illustrious Adult Swim block of programming comes Letters From Iwo Jima, an exciting retelling of Clint Eastwood's acclaimed film in animated form. Against a sober backdrop -- the Pacific theater of World War II -- the Japanese experience is dramatized with sensitivity, balance, and above all, scrupulous historical accuracy. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (voice of Sam Waterston) is charged with defending Iwo Jima from the Allied forces...but that's not all he's up against. The terrain is also beset by cute but potentially dangerous monsters, schoolgirl superheroes, and a robot child with jets where his feet should be (voice of Michael Cera). What could be more distracting to the Japanese soldiers in the middle of a dogfight than the sight of an adolescent girl spinning in the air, emitting light as her clothes fly off in all directions? It's a confusing time -- truly a turning point in Japanese history -- but clarity comes at the start and end of each episode, as real letters from '40s-era Japanese soldiers are read by Janeane Garofalo (Felicity).

Little Miss Sunshine, hosted by Mo Rocca, Sunday at 8 on FOX

Get ready, America -- the little indie comedy that could is about to become the reality-TV sensation that will! Join host Mo Rocca as he combs the countryside to crown the next Little Miss Sunshine, with help from celebrity judges MC Hammer, Ron Jeremy, and former Miss USA Tara Conner. But the contest doesn't end there. Laugh along as eight finalists are formed into one happy "family" and forced to live together in a VW van for six months. No bathing, no stopping, and no rules! These bickering cross-country troubadours will put the "fun" back in "dysfunctional," and the "Ay, film!" back into "family"! And don't put down that cell phone. Each week, one contestant will be chosen by you, the public, to become "Dead Grandpa" - and spend the next week in the trunk of the bus. It's all the wack-tastic charm of the movie, with the real-time excitement of an actual pageant. This season, get your freak on -- your super freak, that is!

The Queen, starring Dianne Wiest, Mondays at 9 PM on Showtime

Elizabeth Windsor, Queen Of England (Dianne Wiest) has a problem. Her son Charles (Patrick Dempsey) is angling for her throne -- and not subtly. Her husband Philip (James Rebhorn) is constantly embarrassing himself in public making racist remarks. And as her friends and contemporaries start dying all around her, she's increasingly called upon to grieve in public, and she's just not that good at it. Enter Nigel Creedmore (Ian McShane), the most renowned psychiatrist on Harley Street. Summoned to Buckingham Palace by the Queen's favourite lady-in-waiting Dorcas (June Whitfield), Mr. Creedmore has his toughest challenge yet: helping her Majesty to get in touch with her feelings. Through flashbacks, we learn more about the younger Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), and the crushing social and political pressures that caused her to compartmentalize her emotions -- most of which came straight from her mother (Christine Baranski). But even if Elizabeth can access these memories, how can Mr. Creedmore treat a client he can't even look in the eyes? Over time, patient and doctor break down the barriers in their relationship -- bonding over a shared love of corgis and Barbour fashions -- eventually unlocking Elizabeth's emotional vault to such a degree that Philip starts to suspect that there's more going on than simple treatment. Is Elizabeth just experiencing transference...or falling in love for the first time in her life? She might not even be able to admit the truth to herself, until the season-finale cliffhanger -- in which Mr. Creedmore faces deportation to his native Australia over a decades-old drug charge -- may force her to put her guard at half-mast!