This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

What's going to be the big trend in television this fall?

That seems to be the first question TV critics around the country ask when they pore through the 30-plus new fall pilots this year in preparation for their big Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.

The tour started with the cable networks earlier this week, but I won't be attending until today when the five main broadcast networks show off their fall products by introducing the casts and producers.

It's a two-week extravaganza in Beverly Hills, Calif., that I'll be reporting to you from every day. Check the front page of the Living section of The Salt Lake Tribune for quick news items from the press tour. Also, I'll have the occasional story, and I'll write columns from the annual event.

Also, I'll be updating my blog, "The Village Vidiot" at blogs.sltrib.com/tv/ throughout each day I'm there. I will have audio clips from interviews and plenty of pictures from the fall season. For the next fortnight, I'll be eating, living and breathing TV programming.

As for trends that might emerge this fall, it's definitely become the year of the nerd.

Several new series that will be premiering are either for tech geeks (a "re-imagining" of "The Bionic Woman") or are about geeks.

NBC's "Chuck" is about a tech support guy for a Best Buy-like store who unwittingly becomes the holder of important government information and a pawn for the CIA and the National Security Agency.

CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" involves two brainiacs who learn lessons in love and dating from their sexy next-door neighbor.

NBC also is debuting a mid-season replacement sitcom called "The IT Crowd," about those office techies in the basement who fix your computer and network connection.

There's also plenty of science fiction and fantasy this season for the nerd in all of us with Fox's "New Amsterdam," about an immortal 17th-century man living in modern-day New York City, and NBC's "Journeyman," about a time-traveling newspaper reporter.

So if there is one burgeoning trend this fall, it's all about getting your geek on. It is definitely going to be the revenge of the nerds.

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* VINCE HORIUCHI can be reached at vince@sltrib.com or 801-257-8607.