In "The Fugitive," only one person was on the lam, running to avoid capture for a crime he didn't commit while tracking the real criminal. In "Runaway," you have a whole family trying to evade the long arm of the law.

That they do so practically despite themselves cracks the foundation on which the series was built. At times, things veer so far off center that running from the feds seems like a distraction from the more important story of teen romance and angst, just another annoyance like a sudden zit or a dropped call.

Technically, the feds are after only Dad, Paul Rader (Donnie Wahlberg), a successful lawyer who jumped bail rather than face overwhelming circumstantial evidence in a murder trial. The wife and three kids are along for the ride because, as we learn late in the pilot episode, whoever framed Dad is threatening them as well.

There's another new series, "Six Degrees," in which a character running for her life seeks anonymity in New York. In "Runaway," the Rader family takes the exact opposite tack, hiding from the law in a small Iowa town. Which strategy works better? We'll find out by who gets captured last. Or canceled first.

Intuitively, it would seem that prying small-town eyes would focus long and hard on these strangers with no identification. Mom (Leslie Hope) gets around all that by telling everyone they were caught off guard by Hurricane Katrina, an explanation that works much better for her than it did for FEMA.

Although it's the father who's in the biggest pickle, this is the new youth-oriented CW (indeed, this is the very first new CW series), and creator-writer Chad Hodge keeps closer tabs on the two teens in the family: sullen and angry Henry (Dustin Milligan) and sweetly sociable Hannah (Sarah Ramos).

That, in turn, considerably dilutes the suspense from any story about people trying to escape authorities. While Mom and Dad weigh every word and gesture, Junior is busy using traceable anytime minutes to call the squeeze he left behind. Sis, meanwhile, is concentrating on looking hot for her new social circle. Danger? What danger?

The Toronto area stands in nicely for Iowa, and director Peter Markle is skillful at juggling flashbacks with real time, as well as finding some interesting angles. Wahlberg and Hope show some emotional range, with their expressive faces perhaps the most palpable indication of danger throughout the pilot. The show will get a boost from its "7th Heaven" lead-in, but if NBC's "Heroes" catches on in the same time period, the only option for the Rader family will be surrender.

Cast:

Paul Rader: Donnie Wahlberg

Lily Rader: Leslie Hope

Henry Rader: Dustin Milligan

Hannah Rader: Sarah Ramos

Tommy Rader: Nathan Gamble

Gina Bennett: Susan Floyd

Agent Huntley: Karen LeBlanc

Executive producers: Darren Star, Ed Zuckerman; Co-executive producers: Chad Hodge, Susie Fitzgerald, Dana Baratta; Producers: John E. Pogue, Luke Schelhaas, Abram Hatch, Lynn Raynor; Director: Peter Markle; Creator-teleplay: Chad Hodge; Director of photography: Ron Stannett; Production designer: Ian Brock; Editor: Scott Vickrey; Set designer: Ian Wheatley; Casting: Susan Forrest, Sharon Forrest. (Barry Garron)