I went to the movies Saturday night and felt like I was watching television.

That’s because before the video game movie “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” and the previews began, there were promotional features on three new fall TV series.

I’ve seen just about all the new network fall series (yes, bloggers get the same access they did when they were newspaper critics) and have found most of them to be routine and disappointing.

So far, there is only pilot that I have liked a lot – a Fox series, “Lone Star,” about a handsome con man (played by James Wolk, who looks like a younger George Clooney) who goes legit and turns into a Robin Hood-like character.

Of course, promotion is extremely important these days, which is why movie audiences are seeing so many features about TV series. The features often make series look a lot better than they deserve to look.

One of the features on Saturday was on “No Ordinary Family,” an ABC series about an ordinary family that recaptures its mojo and gets some magical powers after surviving a plane crash in the Amazon jungle during a vacation.

It stars Michael Chiklis of “The Shield” as a police sketch artist married to what one would consider a superwoman (Julie Benz see above of “Dexter” and last year’s “Desperate Housewives”) even before she gets superpowers. She’s a brilliant scientist who balances family life. Or at least tries.

Dad needs the superpower more than mom because his ego appears to be bruised by his wife’s success.

It’s a decent family show, a genre that is in short supply these days. I liked the inspirational pilot, but I’m not so sure it wouldn’t have made a better Disney movie than a series.

A second feature Saturday was on NBC’s heavily-promoted “Undercovers,” in which a beautiful married couple (played by Boris Kodjoe of “Soul Food” and Gugu Mbatha-Raw of “Dr. Who”) play spies after being convinced by a sarcastic boss (Gerald McRaney) to get back in the CIA game.

It is from J.J. Abrams, the creator of “Alias” and “Lost,” so expectations are high. Too high.

Call it “Alias Light.” “Undercovers” is beautiful to look at because of the leads and the travel locations. It is a pleasure to watch, but also pretty predictable and the promo feature gives away one of the few plot surprises.

The third feature Saturday was for “The Event,” the NBC conspiracy series that features some funny business aboard a plane. Its stars include Jason Ritter, Scott Patterson and Laura Innes.

The first 15-20 minutes of the pilot jet back and forth between characters, making it almost as confusing as the movie “Inception.” Unfortunately, my DVD went bad in the final few minutes so I don’t know how the pilot ended.

It also is hard to know if audiences will be so determined to clear up the pilot confusion to keep watching on a weekly basis or whether it will just be a cult hit. I don’t see “The Event”  getting a mass audience unless NBC’s hype machine performs a miracle.

The CW fall season gets off to an early start Sept. 8 with “Hellcats,” about a pretty and poor college student (played by Disney Channel star Alyson Michalka) who turns to cheerleading to get a scholarship that will enable her to stay in school.

This being a CW series, “Hellcats” is aimed at pre-high school, high school and young adult girls and hits its target audience.

It has some inspirational similarities to “Glee” but also one major difference. Most of the high school students – including the cheerleaders — in “Glee” are misfits who are easy to root for on a weekly basis. The “Hellcats” are all pretty and popular cheerleaders.

However it a season that doesn’t like look it will have much to cheer wildly about, “Hellcats” has heart so it at least gets a passable grade from a critic who obviously isn’t anywhere near the target audience.

But, hey, I also really like “Glee.”

pergament@msn.com

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