TV gambles on more serials

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2006 | by Bill Keveney

Vanished is a twisting tale of abduction woven into a shadowy, century-old conspiracy that producers hope will hook viewers into a weekly TV habit.

The Fox drama, which premieres Aug. 21 (9 p.m. ET/PT), is but one of a crop of serialized sagas looking to be the next TV hit in a line that includes Fox's 24 and ABC's Lost.

But vanished also can describe what happened to last season's Invasion, Threshold and Reunion, serialized programs that disappeared before their core mysteries were resolved. That's one risk of the storytelling style, considered on its deathbed less than five years ago -- but now responsible for some of TV's most critically acclaimed and talked-about recent shows.

Promise appears to have overshadowed potential drawbacks. Networks are rolling...