By TERRY MORROW, Scripps Howard News Service

In the world of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," this is the mother of all crossovers.

A three-part story will intertwine all three "CSI" shows -- the original "CSI" set in Las Vegas, "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY." The crossover begins with the "Miami" episode (airing 10 p.m. Monday, CBS).

When will we Earthlings ever learn?

Whenever an alien and a spaceship pop up, it's never good news. And when 29 spaceships suddenly appear, hovering over capitals of the world, we're all taken aback before those sweet-talking aliens start making grand promises.

Frightful programming will haunt most network schedules a full week before Halloween.

AMC, as usual, has the most ambitious -- a marathon of chilling movies. "FearFest" is slated to get under way on Oct. 23 and continue through Halloween, Oct. 31. More than 50 movies are on tap, including "The Fly," "Dracula" and "The Shining."

Oh, sure, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham can sell out concerts and star in his own series, but he never wants to be the life of the party.

Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns turns his documentarian eye to the national park system in the 12-hour story "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," debuting 8 p.m. EDT Sunday on PBS.

Neil Patrick Harris -- who's been making a second career out of hosting awards shows lately -- will oversee the activity of the 61st annual Emmy Awards, slated for 8 p.m. EDT Sunday on CBS.

And a new season begins.

The emphasis this fall is decidedly on more comedy.

Some sitcoms have familiar faces in new roles (Kelsey Grammer, Courteney Cox, Jenna Elfman). Others bring back favorites in new settings ("The Cleveland Show," "The Jay Leno Show").

"The Jay Leno Show" is getting a week's jump on the official start of the fall season.

Debuting 10 p.m. Monday, "Jay Leno" has been dubbed the most anticipated new show of the season. Perhaps that's true only because of its novelty -- Leno hosting an hour-long comedy show Monday through Friday.

"Glee" -- one of the best new offerings of the fall -- serves up its long-awaited second episode (9 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Fox).

The pilot aired in May after an edition of "American Idol," and it was repeated last week. Now, after months of anticipation, we finally get to see if "Glee" can live up to its promise.

So does "Glee" sing as well this time?

Unfortunately, the death of daytime drama couldn't be more evident than at the 2009 Daytime Emmys (8 p.m. EDT Sunday, CW).

Oh, the irony: These Emmys should be a celebration of the genre. Instead, the show is a sad reminder of what's all wrong these days.