`Others’ filled with potential

Midseason is often the time when the networks are more willing to take some programming chances. After all, the conventional wisdom is that whatever they put on has to be better than that ratings stinker they canceled.

In “The Others,” premiering at 10 tonight, NBC is unveiling an intriguing drama which will be an unusually tough sell to the masses. After all, anything serious hinting of the paranormal usually gets automatically consigned to the smaller networks, or more often, cable.

“The X-Files” proves that such programming can work, but it requires patient nurturing, usually more than the networks are willing to give. “The Others” is dense with concepts that will take awhile for the average viewer to latch onto, often the curse of doom when such a show meets up with the short-term thinking of the networks, especially the “Big Three.”

The series, a good fit with NBC’s “The Pretender” and “Profiler” on Saturday night, details the adventures of a group of individuals who share an extrasensory ability to reach beyond this world and into other dimensions. (So it’s a little harder to follow than your average episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” But then, what isn’t?)

In the pilot episode, college student Marian Kitt (Julianne Nicholson, “One True Thing”) meets The Others after a terrifying experience with a ghost of a young woman who died in her college dorm room.

The other members are empathic medical intern Mark Gabriel; homeless seer Warren Day; Satori, a New Age “sensitive”; Albert, a vision-impaired grouch with a “sixth sense”; and famed medium Elmer Greentree. Miles Ballard, a professor of mythology and folklore at an unnamed Boston-area college, serves as facilitator for the group.

The standouts in the cast are veteran character actor Bill Cobbs (“I’ll Fly Away”) as the wise Elmer, who’s seen it all during his 84 years; and Melissa Crider (“Murder One”) as the mystical but practical Satori.

Both of the two preview episodes featured the same basic plotlines: spirits held up from crossing over to the other side by unfinished business. The series will have to forge off into different directions, as that story line will get old fast.

But the creative team behind the drama, John Brancato and Michael Ferris (“The Game,” “The Net”) and Glen Morgan and James Wong (“The X-Files”), know how to make shows in this genre work. So “The Others” has potential, if only NBC allows it to fully develop.