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TEL AVIV -- Noa Rothman bears an uncanny resemblance to her grandfather Yitzhak Rabin -- so much so that when Rami Heuberger tried out for the prime minister's role in Ms. Rothman's television series, ''The Prime Minister's Children,'' he had trouble looking at her. ''In November 1995 I felt like my own father was assassinated,'' Mr. Heuberger said, referring to the murder of Rabin, the Israeli prime minister, at the hands of a right-wing Jewish extremist. ''When I met Noa at the auditions, I couldn't look at her face because I was afraid I would burst into tears. Even now, two years later, it's hard for me.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There's morbid, and then there's prime-time morbid. Add up the shows that involve communicating with dead people or investigating how they died and you'll find that just under half of the dramas on the big-four networks are predicated, week in and week out, on death. (The CW, by comparison, is the land of the living, though even there ''Supernatural'' and ''The Vampire Diaries'' contribute to the body count.) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The CW network, with its interchangeable casts and its New Mexico-size audiences (current population: around 2 million), is often dismissed as the kid's table of prime time. It's not a bad place to sit, though: with ''Gossip Girl,'' ''The Vampire Diaries'' and ''Supernatural'' representing 30 percent of its nighttime schedule, CW has as high a percentage of purely enjoyable programming as any broadcast network. It's too early to tell whether ''Life Unexpected,'' beginning Monday night, will increase that ratio. CW shows tend to walk a thin line between escapism and soap opera, and after its witty pilot the show spends Episodes 2 and 3 massaging the tear ducts, hard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

9 P.M. (CW) SUPERNATURAL The demon hunters Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles, above right, with Mr. Padalecki, center, and Michael P. Northey) are taken aback when they come across a comic book titled ''Supernatural'' that is clearly based on them and chronicles their adventures in astonishing detail. They confront the writer (Rob Benedict), who says he has visions that compel him to write their stories. 7 A.M. (ABC) TODAYNoah Wyle reminisces about ''ER,'' which has its finale Thursday (see below). Stevie Nicks performs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article introduces several television programs including "Supernatural," starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, "Kate & Allie, starring Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James, and "Life in the Undergrowth," directed by David Attenborough.