5 TO WATCH WHO'S HOT THIS FALL.

Byline: DAVID KRONKE

>TV WRITER

With all the new shows each fall, the number of ensemble casts, the few episodes of each we've seen, it's nearly impossible to predict who might be the season's breakout stars.

Last year, two out of our five choices -- America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" and Masi Oka of "Heroes" -- hit it big. The shows of the other three didn't make it.

But that won't stop us from trying again. After all, if this were baseball, we'd be leading the league in hitting. So here are five actors we think should emerge from the the fall season and endear themselves to audiences.

David Kronke, [phone]

[e-mail] www.insidesocal.com/tv/

Zachary Levi, "Chuck"

8 p.m. Mondays on NBC/Channel 4; premieres Sept. 24.

Levi, who plays the title character in NBC's new action-comedy series "Chuck," describes the show quite nicely when he calls it " 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' meets 'The Bourne Identity."'

Levi's character is a bit of an underachiever, reduced to working as a member of the tech-savvy "Nerd Herd" at a big-box store called Buy More. When the government's intelligence database is downloaded into his cerebral cortex (hey, it could happen to anyone), he's considered a security risk, and the CIA dispatches operatives to seek his cooperation on cases -- or eliminate him. Naturally, he chooses the former scenario.

"It's a little bit of a leap," Levi drolly notes of his show's concept, "but then, it is an action comedy."

As Chuck, Levi is wryly and winningly shambling, a guy who knows he's in way over his head but also realizes there's not much he can do about it so he can only go with the flow.

"That's been the thing about finding our feet in this show," Levi says. "In the beginning, you need to find the rhythm and the style. Sometimes, anyone can forget what we need to achieve, and the first thing we need to remember in any scene, whether it's dramatic or has heart, is this is an action comedy. That's what you need to do, and if you can bring both at the same time, even better. No matter how scary it gets."

Levi enjoys channeling his inner geek. "I always play fight scenes with a lot of fear, in Chuck's 'Duh -- duh' way," he says. "He's not cool in any way, shape or form. He's never had a gun to his head; he's not a super spy. This is all really scary, awkward, what-the-hell-is-going-on kind of stuff. If he's too cool in this thing, we're missing the point -- he's a fish out of water, an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances. Those two worlds colliding is where the fun exists."

So don't expect Chuck to morph into Jason Bourne anytime soon.

"The writers have sworn to not put a gun in Chuck's hand for the whole first season, so I'm screwed there," Levi says. "First time he has a gun, maybe he hits a guy, maybe he doesn't -- probably, it'll go off by accident."

From the pilot on, the producers have invited Levi to do a lot of improvising within scenes.

"Within every actor, there's that writer as well -- I'm constantly looking at lines and asking, 'Is there something more we can do to take it to another level?'" he admits. "Sometimes what I come up with works, sometimes it falls on its face."

One thing the producers kept was a take in which Levi's Chuck takes some defensive pride in being a member of the Nerd Herd.

Indeed, at one point in the conversation, Levi went off on a little bit of a wonky tangent, delivering a little soliloquy about the technology of today (what is the iPhone, he pointed out, but a rough draft of the computer screens moved about by hand in the sci-fi film "Minority Report"?), and what technology will look like and how it will affect society in the future (laptops for all in schools means the end of note-taking!).

Hey -- this guy really is Chuck!

"Sorry about that -- got a little carried away," he says sheepishly.

But lest you peg Levi as too Chuck-ian, be aware he's capable of channeling his inner macho stud, as well. "I look forward to the day I get a role to play the cool guy who carries the gun," he admits.

Ray Wise, "The Reaper"

9 p.m. Tuesdays on The CW/Channel 5; premieres Sept. 25.

"The Reaper" is similar in concept to "Chuck":

Slacker/big-box-store employee receives special powers to battle bad guys. In "The Reaper," however, Ray Wise plays the ultimate bad guy: the devil, who charges lowly Sam (Bret Harrison) with capturing souls who have escaped hell and returning them to their fiery fates.

Wise's devil promises to be a comic classic: Unctuously menacing, he's like a lounge singer who has grown to hate his gig.

A veteran of Hollywood for 37 years, Wise heretofore may be best-known for his role as the equally menacing Leland Palmer in the '80s cult series "Twin Peaks." He has plenty of experience cooking up evil incarnations.

"I've seen devils like Peter Cook in 'Bedazzled,' pretty much remembering every devil that's ever been done on the screen," Wise says. "Doing my devil is a combination of probably me and every other character I've ever played, from Caligula Caesar, the mad emperor of Rome, to Leland Palmer, to a variety of villainous and terrible people."

Katee Sackhoff, "Bionic Woman"

9 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC/Channel 4; premieres Oct. 3.

When Katee Sackhoff was cast in the remake of the '70s sci-fi show "Battlestar Galactica," fans of the original were outraged: How dare they replace a womanizing character with -- a woman?"

But Sackhoff soon won them over, matching the male characters' bravado with plenty of her own. She similarly steals the show in another '70s sci-fi remake, "Bionic Woman."

Sackhoff appears only briefly in the pilot, but she takes the upper hand in the most memorable scene, a protracted catfight between her sinister character and Jamie Sommers (Michelle Ryan). She introduces herself thusly: "Without being too overly melodramatic ... I'm the original bionic woman," she declares, adding with a bitterly world-weary wit, "Ta- dahh!" that might have viewers realigning their allegiances.

In John Milton's "Paradise Lost," the devil (not Ray Wise) was a more interesting character than God. If the producers of "Bionic Woman" aren't careful, Sackhoff's bionic bitch could outshine Ryan's bionic babe.

Anna Friel, "Pushing Daisies"

8 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC/Channel 7; premieres Oct. 3.

Here's yet another standout performance by an actor playing a character named Chuck: In the fanciful "forensic fairy tale" "Pushing Daisies," Friel stars as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, a sheltered young woman killed while on a cruise but resurrected by a touch from Ned (Lee Pace), her childhood sweetheart, in order to solve her murder.

After all these years, Ned and Chuck still share a powerful frisson, but Ned's powers to revive the dead come with a caveat:

Should he touch someone a second time, they return to the great beyond.

"Pushing Daisies" is winsomely eccentric, and the British actress' performance is suited to such a sensibility: She's sweet yet spunky, and her yearning for Ned is palpable.

Friel realizes she must continue to deliver the goods on the show:

"I've behaved myself extremely well on the set," she quips, "because a simple touch and I'm out of the series."

Adhir Kalyan, "Aliens in America"

8:30 p.m. Mondays on The CW/Channel 5; premieres Oct. 1.

If anyone can coax Red-state America into embracing a Pakistani Muslim, it's Adhir Kalyan. In "Aliens in America," Kalyan plays Raja, a foreign exchange student transported to a small Wisconsin town to the initial dismay of his adoptive family: The parents were hoping for a strapping Austrian boy to make their nebbishynebbish son, Justin (Dan Byrd), nominally cool.

A Muslim -- in Wisconsin -- is the last thing they were expecting.

But Raja just might be the person to bring Justin out of his shell.

Kalyan imbues Raja with a deadpan yet soulful innocence. Kalyan was born and raised in South Africa (and is not Muslim), but is nonetheless a quick study when it comes to parodying America foibles:

"The only thing I found difficult to deal with, coming to the States, is the size of the portions of food," he says. "Really, do we need portions that big?

"Africa doesn't need Bono. Africa doesn't need Geldof. Africa needs a Denny's grand-slam breakfast."

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Zachary Levi

(2 -- color) Ray Wise

(3 -- color) Katee Sackhoff

(4 -- color) Anna Friel

(5 -- color) Adhir Kalyan