Homeland. A long-held prisoner of war (Life's Damien Lewis) returns home from Iraq hailed as a hero — but one globe-trotting CIA analyst (Claire Danes) thinks he may, in fact, be a secret terrorist. Of course, she's also a pill-popping, bed-hopping renegade with credibility issues of her own. ''It's one of the incredible, well-drawn ironies of the show,'' says Danes. ''They were both traumatized in different ways in Iraq and are intensely lonely.'' Might things get romantic? ''Great question,'' teases exec producer Howard Gordon (24), who recognizes the show's potential for controversy. ''We don't want to be offensive'' toward soldiers returning from the real war, explains Gordon, ''but we do want to dramatize the complexities of our world.'' Oct. 2

Pan Am is based on one woman's actual experiences. From 1968 to '75, exec producer Nancy Hult Ganis worked as a stewardess for the airline, and some of the show's key story lines — including the Pan Am flight team's rescue of Cubans in a stealth mission — are taken from real life. The show's central premise? Laura Cameron (Margot Robbie) runs out on her fiancé the day of her wedding and enrolls as a Pan Am stewardess like her sister, Kate (Kelli Garner). Meanwhile, Kate's been tasked by the government to assist with espionage — primarily because Pan Am was responsible for flying many of the world's power players. Also on board with the Cameron girls are Maggie (Christina Ricci) and French-born Colette (Karine Vanasse). Flying these ladies all over the world are the arrogant Dean (Mike Vogel, who replaced Jonah Lotan from the pilot) and Ted (Michael Mosley). Future plotlines will lean heavily on the political turmoil happening in 1963, including the assassination of JFK, which creator Jack Orman says the show will address this season. Viewers can expect the ladies to take a trip to Jakarta in the second episode, as well as the possibility of romance between Laura and Ted. (One thing they won't see the main cast doing: smoking cigarettes. The Disney-owned network nixed the nicotine.) But more than anything, producers hope that each week viewers feel like they've taken a first-class international trip — all without leaving their couch. "If we're successful," says Orman, "there will be a lot of people starting to demand better air travel." Sept. 25