By Iris Harris, Special to The Chronicle

For avid television watchers, the primetime fall lineup comes around like a five-day vacation at the beginning of the school semester; with the memory of how fantastic that new sitcom “Community” was looming in the back of their minds, along with the anticipation of perhaps finally finding out how Ted Mosby met his children’s mother, fans will tune into channels like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox hoping to find the new “Glee” (at least until “Glee”itself returns) or a replacement for an old companion like “LOST.”  Fans won’t have to look hard for new fixes, either; in scouring the TV Guide website one can encounter at least fifteen new series set to air in late September. This has the potential to be overwhelming for any given audience member, regardless of how much television he or she is accustomed to regularly watching. A time-starved student who already has seven established favorite shows certainly does not need to invest in seven more, so let the following list of this fall’s most buzz-worthy shows serve as a guide to navigating the treacherous waters of new primetime television (after all, you don’t want to miss out on this year’s best new drama because you’ve been spending an hour a week watching the new “The Beautiful Life”).

The Walking Dead (Sundays, 10 pm AMC)

It is no accident that “The Walking Dead” is going to premiere on Halloween this fall. The zombie-thriller tells the tale of officer Rick Grimes, who after being shot down in a wild car chase, wakes up to find out that the world was thrown into chaos after the occurrence of a zombie apocalypse.  Grimes must search for his wife and children in a southern land infested with the virus-stricken “Walkers,” which propels him to band together with a group of fellow survivors looking to settle anywhere they can. As it is on AMC, hopefully this show will have its fair share of campy gore, legitimate thrills and lots of drawling swearing.

Premieres October 31.

The Event (Mondays, 9 pm, NBC)

Ironically, one of the most highly anticipated shows of the fall 2010 season, “The Event”is also the one with the most covert advertisement strategy. At first, ads for the show are somewhat difficult to distinguish from over-dramatized cell phone commercials that come on before the previews in a movie theater. As it turns out, this conspiracy thriller is about Sean Walker, who becomes the biggest threat to the American government after he inadvertently discovers a magnificently enormous cover-up, all while simply trying to locate his missing girlfriend. With Jeffrey Reiner of “Friday Night Lights” on board to direct, it might be safe bet to tune in for at least the first few episodes. Premieres September 20.

Hawaii Five 0 (Mondays, 10 pm, CBS)

The appeal of “Hawaii Five-0” is rooted in the success of the classic twelve-season show it is based upon and its already stellar cast (including Daniel Dae Kim of “LOST” fame, and Grace Park ofthe remade “Battlestar Galactica” series). It is rumored that James Marsters, who played everybody’s favorite punk-rock vampire of the 90’s, will even be guest-starring in a few of the episodes. The show debuts on the same network that aired the original series aired on, which hopefully speaks to the producers’ desires to preserve the spirit of the old show in this revamped version. Premieres September 20.

Viewers looking for a low-investment, light-hearted television series to get into might also consider checking out ABC’s “No Ordinary Family,” essentially a live-action adaptation of Pixar’s “The Incredibles,” as well as “$#*! My Dad Says,” a sitcom starring William Shatner based on a best-selling book of the same name.