Josh Schwartz's two new hours-- NBC's "Chuck" and CW's "Gossip Girl"-- have gotten off to decent starts in the Nielsen ratings.  Apple's iTunes Store is a whole other matter.

Both shows have been iTunes smashes since they debuted, with each instantly landing in the top 5 list of most downloaded episodes. And as of just before 6 p.m. PT Friday night, there was no sign they were cooling down.

The teen-friendly "Gossip Girl" is proving to be one of the popular girls, with two separate episodes holding down the No. 2 and No. 4 spots on the iTunes episodic download list. "Chuck" is no slouch, either: The Oct. 1 episode is No. 6, while the pilot is No. 9.

While Schwartz's shows are the only newcomers in the top 10, Fox frosh "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Back to You" have cracked the top 20, ranking No. 17 and 18, respectively.

Hollywood types have been following the iTunes chart closely ever since NBC starting arguing that big iTunes sales of "The Office" translated into higher ratings. Whether the same will hold true for "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl" remains to be seen, but if early DVR data trickling in is any indication, don't be surprised if both skeins are more popular than early Nielsen data would suggest.

NBC's recent decision to dis iTunes didn't impact "Chuck," since the show is produced by Warner Bros. TV (which is still playing nice with Apple). But the Peacock's pullout is having an impact on the iTunes most-downloaded chart: "The Office," normally a staple of the top 10, is MIA. Ditto "Bionic Woman," which almost certainly would have been a fave of Apple's geek-friendly aud (though maybe not after the really awful second episode).

By the way, if you were a bit bummed by the second episode of "Chuck"-- I wasn't, but I know some people were annoyed by the decision to restate the pilot premise-- make sure to check out Monday's third episode, "Chuck vs. the Tango."  It's a great hour that cements Zachary Levi as a breakout star-- and "Chuck's" status as my favorite new show of the season.

--Josef Adalian

I don't think I was alone in considering the CW a network for the Clearasil set. Fair or not, it just seemed like a desination for youngsters. So imagine my surprise at the nets' high rankings among our Season Pass panel — comprised mostly of people old enough to have kids in the CW's coveted target audience age range. You know, if we'd all married young and had kids right away.

Three of the CW's new shows (drama "Gossip Girl," dramedy "Reaper," and half-hour laffer "Aliens in America") got almost all thumbs up from our group, with multiple season passes being set for each show. I initially gave "Aliens" one thumbs down indicating it isn't my cup of tea, but I've sinced flipped it to one thumb up; I would watch it again, just not every week. And none of us thought drama "Life is Wild" was unwatchable — it just skewed a bit too young for our taste.

"Gossip" is soapy and dramatic in the way the exec producer Josh Schwartz's late Fox show "The O.C." was in its first season. "Aliens" is cute, humorous and sometimes poignant. And "Reaper" is just a delightful surprise. I can't say enough good things about the latter — funny, sweet, touching, beautifully cast...

Those CW DVDs sat on top of my TV for weeks until I finally had to watch them in order to finish off my list. What a mistake on my part. It looks like the CW is growing up. I just hope auds our age give the shows a chance.

— Kathy Lyford

Whatever the virtues of the new CW high school sudser "Gossip Girl" might be, there was one nagging question that persisted for me: Shouldn't Veronica Mars be out solving mysteries at her own school instead of talking oh-so-coyly about the follies of someone else's?

The dissonance arises from the use of Kristen Bell, mere months after the demise of her CW cult favorite "Veronica Mars," as the unseen narrator of "Gossip."  Bell also provided the ongoing voiceover for her own adventures on "Mars," and if the CW expects us to forget that voice so quickly, the network perhaps has underestimated its small but devoted audience.

It's just too soon - know what I mean? Veronica's body is not even cold yet.

Perhaps Bell has such diehard fans that they'll watch her -- or listen to her -- in anything, but it strikes me that by including Bell on "Gossip" and inviting the comparison, the CW and showrunner Josh Schwartz are in effect challenging their core viewers to find their new show to be better than "Mars." That's a gambit that might be futile. 

Of course, the whole reason "Mars" isn't around anymore is that it had such low ratings, so it's not as if there's loads of viewers at stake. Much of the reason for launching a new show like "Gossip" is to draw in new auds. Still, "Gossip" has to start somewhere when it comes to gaining ratings traction, and I can't help wondering if it has imprudently risked alienating potential fans by reminding them of their fair show now departed.

Moreover, "Gossip" has to face the prospect of Bell overload, now that she has been cast in a recurring role on NBC's "Heroes."

All in all, "Gossip" will live and die on its own merits, but I think it should have taken the opportunity to completely carve out its own space, rather than link so overtly to a show that many are bitter ended up in the TV graveyard.

— Jon Weisman

Welcome to Season Pass, Variety.com’s blog for dishing about fall’s new scripted TV shows.
We wanted to give readers a wide range of opinions on the fall fare so eight of us spent a good chunk of our summer watching all of it. We like to complain, but it was really kind of fun.

Each of us has rated all the shows using four categories:

Love it, setting a season pass now

Worth another try

OK, but not for me

Won't watch again

"Reaper" (below) was one show that took us all by surprise. I did not expect to like it and it ended up being one of my favorites

The shows that rated the highest (one or two thumbs up) among our group of TV junkies were: ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” (seven season passes), NBC’s “Chuck” (four season passes), the CW’s “Reaper” (six season passes), CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” (three season passes), the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” (one season pass), Fox’s “Back To You” (one season pass) and CBS’ midseason entry “Swingtown” (one season pass).

See the chart for more details.

Our opinions are meant as a guide only. We encourage you to give all the shows a try and see for yourself what shows speak to you.

We’ll be blogging after each episode to track the shows’ progress. And we’ll weigh in on topics related to the season.

Have fun and happy channel surfing!