“Terra Nova”

The crown jewel of FOX’s fall schedule has been met with its share of both anticipation and skepticism. A family from 2149 gets sent back to prehistoric earth to save humanity (yeah, I think it sounds like Land of the Lost, too). While it certainly appears ambitious and grand, the thresholds for appearing that way on TV aren’t that high, which causes critics to wonder if the large budget will just lead to a very grand display of cheese from Steven Spielberg and Co.

“The Finder”

An Iraqi war veteran moves to Key West to work outside the law, solving people’s problems. It’s like The Hurt Locker meets Michael Clayton meets Ernest Hemingway. Except it’s a spinoff from “Bones,” so I think that’s probably where the Hemingway comparisons will stop. It does sound like there is a fair amount going on here, complete with co-stars Michael Clarke Duncan and Saffron Burrows. It sounds like this show may have been assembled by a focus group, which is always the best way to go about creating art.

“Alcatraz”

I could just say “this show is by J.J. Abrams” and leave it at that, but his shows haven’t proven to be such sure things. His ability to transcend fanboy adoration is no sure thing, so “Alcatraz” will be an interesting study. In “Alcatraz,” a detective follows the case of a grisly murder until it leads her to an Alcatraz inmate that died decades ago. Abrams will probably get around to telling us how that is possible in season 4.

“Touch”

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“Touch” is the most recent effort from “Heroes” adored-then-maligned creator Tm Kring. Well, if you liked “Heroes,” the plot of “Touch” will sound pretty familiar. A group of seemingly unrelated strangers affect each other in different ways, only to find that they’re all connected to each other in a mysterious way. Yeah, it’s pretty much “Heroes,” but with regular people. They should have called this “Regular People That Are Connected.”

What else do we know about “The Finder”? The character is based on “The Locator” series of books from Richard Greener. They seem to be a very literal bunch producing these shows. The finder is a locator. Got it. His partner will be played by Michael Clarke Duncan, wh I am obligated to tell you is an Oscar nominee for his work in The Green Mile.

It seems more than a little goofy that the show is being considered a spinoff when it’s pretty clear that the producers are shoehorning this character into the final three episodes of this season solely for the purpose of building an audience for the new show’s premiere. It should be more accurately be described as a “Bones”-incubated show, rather than a spinoff. But that’s wordy.

“Tune in to Fox this for “The Finder.” If you’re a fan of “Bones,” then you’ll fall in love with the new show from the people tangentially associated with it! Tuesdays this fall, after all-new episodes of “Are You Smarter Than a Haitian?”(Deadline)