But this could nevertheless provide the breakout material she craves. She's asked to play a skeptical but hard-driving reporter who feels she's seen it all. No problem for Union, whose arsenal of facial expressions, from come-again cynicism to oh-no-you-didn't threat, appears to be limitless and summoned with little effort.

Let's hope The Night Stalker doesn't make the grave mistake of boxing her in. She could easily turn out to be the helper who always arrives too early to be saved by the hero or too late to have much to do. That said, her performance in the pilot offers the right mix of drama and humor; Union has a way of bringing a feistiness to her characters that isn't always on the page. That was certainly true of her most notable role so far, the no-nonsense cheerleader Isis in Bring It On. She used her supporting role to steal the movie from Kirsten Dunst. Imagine what she could do with an ongoing presence.

Tyler James Williams, Everybody Hates Chris, UPN
He was a regular on Sesame Street and is the voice of Bobby on Bill Cosby's Little Bill. He has turned in memorable guest roles on dramas like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and has popped up in more commercials than he can count. And he's only 12.

Tyler James Williams beat out thousands of kids to win the coveted task of playing Chris Rock before he was Chris Rock. In Everybody Hates Chris, Williams is the young Rock, the eldest of three children residing in Brooklyn, New York, in the early 1980s. Transplanted to a tough new neighborhood and shipped off to a mostly white junior high, Chris labors to fit in somewhere but never quite does - not even at home, where he's forced to keep his brother and sister in check.

Williams, whose round face exhibits a certain sweetness and vulnerability that can shift on a dime, is able to put a distinct, funny spin on the everyday trials and tribulations of a kid who'll one day be considered the funniest man in America. Sounds like pressure.