The titles say it all: Lost and The Amazing Race.

        I've seen previews for both new reality series starting tonight, and NBC's Lost (8 p.m., Channels 5, 22) left me feeling lost.

        On the other hand, CBS' The Amazing Race (9 p.m., Channels 12, 7)is, well, pretty amazing. CBS wins the first fall face-off for reality shows.

        The shows share the same premise — have people with limited money, supplies and knowledge about their itinerary race through foreign countries to reach a finish line in New York.

        For the Race, 11 two-person teams must travel 35,000 miles around the world in 31 days for a $1-million prize.

        The program is presented in Survivor style, which makes it a comfortable viewing experience. It has an on-camera host (Phil Keoghan) who introduces all 22 contestants in the first five minutes, as they arrive in New York's Central Park.

        For Lost, three teams of two must make their way to the Statue of Liberty after being abandoned on a distant continent. (NBC asked TV critics not to reveal the location.) The prize is $100,000 each and a new car.

        Lost has no on-camera host and makes no effort to introduce the six contestants as real people — which also doomed The Mole, ABC's reality series. The program opens with comments from these anonymous characters shot at weird angles, showing just an eye and part of a face.

        If you can't see them, and don't know who or where they are — why should anyone care to watch?
       

Wandering vs. scrambling

        On Lost, produced by Conan O'Brien's company, folks spend half of the show wandering around in a hot, desolate wasteland battling fatigue, thirst and confusion. (Hint: It's not any of these places guessed by the players: Asia, Argentina or the dark side of the moon.)

        But the great Race, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), is packed with excitement, as people scramble to reach their first destination: Songwe Village, Zambia. The last team to arrive each week will be eliminated from the competition.

        They travel by taxi, subway, jet, commuter plane, bungee jumping, rappelling, vans and on foot in the one-hour show.

        On their drive from a South African airport to Victoria Falls, a contestant named Frank yells at his van driver: “You've got to go fast! You've got to pass all these people!”

        At several stops along the way, CBS' racers find information packets revealing their next destination. They never know from city to city, or country to country, where they're headed.
       

Real people

        The TV audience will know more about the trip than contestants do. Slick editing helps viewers get to know the couples quickly.

        CBS' teams include grandparents David and Margaretta; working moms Patricia and Brenda; separated parents Frank and Margarita; lawyers Robert and Brennan; teachers Kim and Leslie; Army veterans Ana and Matt; fraternity brothers Drew and Kevin; mother-daughter Nancy and Emily; recently engaged Paul and Amie; friends Lenny and Karyn; and gay life partners Joe and Bill, who look marvelous in their matching outfits.

        NBC also lost out on casting. The six people, paired by producers, aren't nearly as engaging as the CBS couples. The teams are Carla and Lando; Courtland and Joe; and Celeste and Tami. Celeste, 29, is NBC's weakest link, a model and fashion designer overwhelmed by the heat and heavy backpack.

        Viewers will see snow when The Amazing Race starts. CBS shot the 13-episode series last winter as insurance against a possible TV writers' strike (which didn't happen) in May. Network executives were so impressed with the results they decided to hold the show for the fall season.

        One good thing about Lost is that the competition ends in three weeks, not 13. A second three-week Lost airs Sept. 26-Oct. 10. The best news is that NBC's charming Ed returns to 8 p.m. Wednesday on Oct. 17.
       Contact John Kiesewetter by phone: 768-8519; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com.
       

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