The good news for TV networks so far this fall: New shows are being sampled. The bad news is that none are breakout hits and few seem to be catching fire.

One surprise has been Jericho, panned by some critics (but not here at The Sun; we had it in our Top-5 new shows). The apocalyptic drama is one of two series that went up in its second week, pulling 11.4 million CBS viewers Wednesday.

That's good news for CHUM, which bought the show in Canada and airs it on A-Channel locally. CHUM could have a second import winner in Ugly Betty, which premiered last night.

Less fortunate has been dominant player CTV, which went on its usual buying spree in June. What do they have to show for it? Too many clunkers like The Class, a so-so sitcom that lost 19% of its already disappointing first week audience on Monday.

CTV has already had to shelve two of its U.S. pickups: The much-promoted Justice, starring Canadian Victor Garber, and the lame sitcom Happy Hour (featuring another Canadian, former Sunshine girl Brooke D'Orsay), which CTV had buried on Saturday afternoons. Both shows have been yanked by Fox throughout the baseball playoffs.

More troubling for CTV has to be the soft openings stateside of both Smith and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, two big-budget, big-expectation shows splashed on most of the billboards and bus shelters around downtown Toronto.

Smith, a dark, well made crime drama, lost 14% of its audience in week two Stateside. Worse, another 10% bailed at this week's half way point. Studio 60 lost 12% week-to-week in both Canada and the U.S.

The news is better so far at Global. They have the Top-2 U.S. rookies so far: Brothers & Sisters (which opened with 15.7 million viewers Sunday) and James Woods' courtroom drama Shark, which drew 14.74 million last Thursday.