WEDNESDAY, MAY 30

SERIES PREMIERE

"HIDDEN PALMS" - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

"Pilot" (TV-PG, LV) (HDTV)

THE HEAT MAKES EVERYONE CRAZY - Johnny Hardy (Taylor Handley, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," "The O.C.") was a happy, well-adjusted teenager with good grades and a roomful of sports trophies until the terrible night a year ago that his father committed suicide and shattered Johnny's world. Now, fresh out of rehab for alcohol abuse, Johnny has relocated to Palm Springs with his mother Karen (Gail O'Grady, "American Dreams," "NYPD Blue") and new stepfather Bob (D.W. Moffett, "Close To Home"). The neighborhood teens include the beautiful and mysterious Greta (Amber Heard, "Alpha Dog"), the awkward but brilliant Liza (Ellery Porterfield, "The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio") and the secretive Cliff (Michael Cassidy, "The O.C.," "Zoom") who reveals that Greta's last boyfriend, Eddie, recently died. Sharon Lawrence ("NYPD Blue") also stars as Cliff's plastic-surgery obsessed mother, Tess, and Tessa Thompson ("Veronica Mars") stars as Johnny's friend Nikki. Scott Winant directed the episode written by Kevin Williamson (#101).