"Everyone is throwing around 'geek' and 'nerd' and all this," said Zachary Levi, who plays the title role in "Chuck." "I would say they're 'cool-challenged,' maybe, if we can coin that phrase."

Why the explosion of geeks/nerds this fall? Maybe it has something to do with the popularity of superpowered sci-fi geek Hiro on "Heroes." Maybe it has something to do with the folks who are behind the scenes in Hollywood.

"As a writer, you want to write what you know," said Schwartz. "And certainly ... we know many more writers who resemble Chuck than, say, Jack Bauer (of '24'). Just saying."

And maybe it's not just the writers.

"I find myself being myself, I guess," Levi said of his "Chuck" role. "Playing video games and being a nerd, which I really, really am in so many ways."

Or maybe, despite all appearances, they're not nerds and geeks.

"Well, I don't want to be contrary just for the sake of it, but (we) started this out with the goal of writing about remarkable minds — people that were spectacular in their vision and their ability to see things that we can't see," said "Big Bang Theory" creator/executive producer Chuck Lorre. "And that somehow gets categorized as nerds and geeks and whatnot. The fact that that's kind of happening in the culture right now — we find ourselves caught up in it.

"The comedy is in their inability to deal with everything that we take for granted."

Well, that and the plaid pants, perhaps.

Whatever the reason, 45 percent of the 29 new shows premiering this fall on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW feature some degree of geek/nerd presence. It's a slate that includes comedies, dramas, reality shows, soap operas and doctors, lawyers, cops, chefs, veterinarians, news anchors, singers, scientists, billionaires, corporate climbers, amnesiacs, time travelers, demons, vampires and high school kids.

Best of all, there are a bunch of shows that have definite possibilities. And only a handful that look like stinkers from the get-go.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com