For the past two years, as it has in regular life, Sept. 11 has had fallout in the TV world. Most production staff have had the common sense to use the effect of that day on the American psyche sparingly, as part of the backdrop, or as an episode at most.

But no one has had the nerve to exploit the national tragedy as the impetus for an entire series.

Until now.

“Threat Matrix,” debuting at 8 p.m. Thursday on ABC, refers to a report given to the president each morning that outlines the most active threats against the United States. The series follows the adventures as a highly specialized, elite task force whose mission, quoting the producers, “is to keep our country safe from enemies determined to destroy our way of life.”

Laudable goal. Bad TV.

This task force is staffed by a regular Rainbow Coalition of agents, two of whom used to be married to each other. That’s the extent of the characterization in the premiere. Unlike “The Agency,” a somewhat similarly themed show that had fairly well-drawn characters, “Threat Matrix” uses one-dimensional cartoons in its pursuit of terrorism.

Instead, the series focuses on the wonderful devices these people use. There’s nothing like filtering for key words in e-mails and phone calls to get the blood pumping.

The trouble with a show that seeks to mirror reality is that reality keeps intruding, showing how unreal a program like “Threat Matrix” really is. As the daily headlines show, the battle against terrorism isn’t nearly as simple as this drama would have viewers believe.