This week is one of the best weeks of the fall. We are currently amid the releases of new fall TV lineups. Our favorites like “Glee,” “30 Rock,” “Community” and recent Emmy gold mine “Modern Family” are back this week along with a whole crop of new television. This is the welcome week of TV, and I'm pumped.

Sixteen new shows are premiering this week on NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX. Most likely, 80 percent of them will not be renewed for a second season. That means maybe three of these shows have staying power. And this week, TV fans will be judging each pilot to decide what’s worth tuning back in for. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a pilot episode, but everyone already knows what weight it holds. The writers, directors and producers understand this first episode must be outstanding — otherwise they’ll be canceled mid-season.

So what makes a pilot successful? I’m no Hollywood big shot. I don’t know the formula for hit television — nor do I claim there is such a formula — but there are a few things I look for when watching new TV.

First and foremost, new TV shows must have a captivating premise. If you look at the lineup of shows this fall, you will see that some people have definitely forgotten this. I keep getting “Lone Star,” “The Defenders,” “Outlaw,” “The Whole Truth” and “Blue Bloods” confused. Why is that? Because they’re pretty much the same, at least in terms of promotions. Their commercials are all incredibly similar, making it nearly impossible to tell them apart. After racking my brain, all I can remember without turning to Google is that the guy in “Outlaw” played Matt Santos on “The West Wing,” “The Defenders” is about two lawyers with opposing personalities and "Lone Star" is vaguely reminiscent of "My Own Worst Enemy," a show with Christian Slater that flopped in '08.

Last fall’s biggest hits were easy to remember because they had a new idea. You saw one commercial for “Glee” or “Community” and you knew that it was going to be worth watching, if only because you hadn’t seen it before. So in the case of “Lone Star,” “The Whole Truth,” etc., either their premises suck or their advertising sucks. If I can’t see the difference in these shows now — and I can't — the pilots better convince me there’s something worth sticking around for.

The second thing I need in a new TV show is sustainability. Maybe “S#*! My Dad Says” has a unique premise. It’s a show inspired by a Twitter feed after all, but come on, it’s a show inspired by a Twitter feed. The online version of Shit My Dad Says works when it’s 140 characters every few days, but can they stretch that into a whole season? William Shatner will act angry and offensive and the show will struggle to move past typical sitcom plots. While this is pure speculation, last fall's "FlashForward" proved the importance of sustainability. The show set itself up to depict only a six-month span of time based on how far into the future everyone "flashed." So as soon as it became clear what was going to happen at that climactic moment, there was no longer any reason to follow the series.

In all actuality, most of the shows this fall seem so unoriginal there shouldn’t be much problem keeping them moving with recycled ideas from past sitcoms, crime cases pulled from the headlines and tons of love triangles. If one of these seemingly standard shows surprises me, and it seems like they know where they’re going, I’ll consider sticking around for the end of the season, but there’s one more thing I need before I’m on board with a show and will watch it loyally.

I need characters. I need fascinating characters with real problems. I need to know them or even just want to know them, but the characters are what make or break TV. We felt for the kids on “Glee,” we fell in love with Troy and Abed’s antics on “Community” and we wish our family was as adorable as the one on “Modern Family.” I doubt we'll fall in love with all of the new cop characters to hit TV this week.