ABC jumps into the fray with new fall programming tonight as they introduce 11 more stars for your dancing pleasure and Anne Heche looks to men in trees for inspiration for her characters next book. FOX continues their early foray into the fall season with House and Standoff. For links to primetime schedule grids, fall show video previews and more check out the Ultimate Guide to the Fall 2006 TV Schedule.

Prime Picks

House (FOX): New. House has been affected by not solving his last case, which he actually did but Cuddy and Wilson are hiding that fact from him. In a new case regarding a little boy who claims to have been abducted by aliens that previous case may affect the outcome here.

Standoff (FOX): New. An air traffic controller hijacks the control tower where many think he was responsible for a recent plane crash. The FBI negotiators are sent in to try and talk the guy out.

Men in Trees (ABC): Series Premiere. Looks to be sort of a female version of Northern Exposure. This time instead of a doctor, a relationship expert who finds out that her fiancé has been cheating on her decides to head up to a small Alaska town to write her next book. There eccentric characters abound, most of who are men. This is not its regular timeslot. It will be on Friday night in the second hour of primetime starting this Friday the 15th.

Solid Selections

Dancing With the Stars (ABC): Season Premiere. Eleven new stars and their professional dancing counterparts compete for one of the ugliest trophies ever given out for anything. At least after reading the competitors’ names I recognized eight of them, so that is pretty good, I guess. I still don’t totally get the fascination with this show. Will you be watching? Runs two hours and 2 minutes.

NCIS (CBS): Repeat. The second part of the “Hiatus” episode is replayed which was last season’s finale. The season premiere is next Tuesday the 19th.

Cable Choices

Dead Like Me (Sci Fi): Repeat. This quirky show about Reapers and how they acquire souls when someone is scheduled to die ran for two seasons on Showtime.

Eureka (Sci Fi): New. Fargo invents a mouse that allows a user to operate a mainframe computer with their brain.

Nip/Tuck (FX): New. Sean and Christian have to come to terms with not owning the practice anymore. Runs 63 minutes and plays twice.

Other Options

• Road Tasted (Food Network): New. The Dean boys taste their way through Wisconsin.
• Veronica Mars (UPN/CW): Repeats. First up is the episode where Veronica and others testify against Aaron Echolls followed by last season’s finale, “Not Pictured.”

Sports Notes

Wow after the last few days with all the college and pro football games today is quite the sports let down.

What will you be watching tonight on the tube?