Turning up the heat in Hollywood: Khandi Alexander, Shemar Moore & Kimberly Elise

For much of the U.S., fall offers colorful leaves and mercifully cooling temperatures. In Hollywood's television industry, autumn means that show cliffhangers of the spring are finally resolved and a new crop of shows compete for an increasingly fragmented audience. This fall, Black performers are a major force in the mix, adding spice and intensity to veteran shows as well as new projects. Some of these performers are as cerebral as they are sexy, and they bring strength and depth, sensuality and serenity to varying roles. The number of Black actors on television shows has fluctuated from dismal to dramatic. But they hang in there for work that, in a single night, can reach an audience larger than a hit movie.

Some of the hottest Black talent currently on prime time are showcased on hit CBS dramatic series. Khandi Alexander is the elegant, compassionate pathologist on CSI: Miami, a show that consistently is a major fan favorite, attracting huge numbers that keep it near the very top of the Nielsen ratings. Though known for his sex appeal, Shemar Moore is all business in prime time. He is a behavior specialist on Criminal Minds, a psychological thriller that has captivated millions of television fans and impressed network brass by sometimes finishing in the Top 5 of the weekly ratings during its debut season. And Kimberly Elise is a sharp, dedicated prosecutor in Close to Home, another new series that is one of the most-watched prime-time shows on Friday nights. Neither is new to Hollywood, but each is making a mark on one of television's hottest shows.

Shemar Moore, long a sexy staple of the daytime drama The Young & The Restless, successfully made the transition to success in prime time in Criminal Minds. Moore portrays Derek Morgan, a member of an elite team of FBI profilers who focus on psychotic killers. Derek's specialty is obsessive crimes. "As much as I loved my time on Young & The Restless, and the family atmosphere that I had there with the other actors, I knew that eventually I was going to have to spread my wings and fly," Moore says.

Buoyed by the success of friends, Moore was determined to test movies and prime time. "Halle's out there getting Oscars. And Denzel [Washington] and Jamie [Foxx]. And now Terrence [Howard] got a nomination [for best actor]. I want to catch that bus. I'm not in a hurry to catch it, but I want to know that I'll be allowed to be at that bus stop when that bus comes. So, I had to say goodbye to Young & The Restless."

He also had to say goodbye to Soul Train, the syndicated dance and music program he hosted for four years. That show, he says, gave him what he calls street credibility. "It gave me a male fan base. I didn't have it with the soap," he says. "Soaps were [for the] ladies. Soul Train was something guys could relate to. It gave me a comfort zone with the urban community."

Before Soul Train, Moore says some viewed him as "whitewashed" and "bourgeois." "I'm a product of how I was raised," adds Moore, who has a Black father and White mother, and grew up in Oakland, Calif.

While The Young & The Restless and Soul Train made his name and face famous, Moore stayed focused on the big screen and prime-time television. He got a chance to show his diverse acting skills in Brothers and the Tyler Perry hit Diary of a Mad Black Woman. "Criminal Minds changes the conversation people are having about me," he says. "It shows a different side. I get to show that I'm smart and cerebral, and that I can handle serious drama."

As was the case with Diary of a Mad Black Woman, for which he grew a beard and wore a wig, the series does not cash in on Moore's good looks and legendary abs. "I don't take my shirt off on the show for a reason," he says. "I don't smile a lot on this show. This is a very serious show." He adds: "I don't mind having fun and giving the ladies a little something, and I'm flattered that they want a little something."

CSI: Miami is also a serious show. As Alexx Woods, Khandi Alexander successfully integrates intelligence, science and compassion for homicide victims in South Florida.

Alexx is a brilliant forensic pathologist who does not fit the stereotype. She's sexier than any scientist most prime-time viewers have ever seen, and she often shows up on crime scenes with perfectly manicured nails and decked out in designer suits and shoes.

"On the show, they can make you look all dull and certainly not the way Black women carry themselves," says Alexander. "We always get our hair and nails done--no matter what and no matter how broke we are. I think it might have been the Sisters who started painting the landscapes on their fingernails. We like that."

Her sexy, professional attire was immediately acceptable to CBS and fans of the hit show. However, some in the medical community have raised a few eyebrows. "I get in trouble with real doctors and nurses, because when they see me, the first thing they say to me is: 'Scrubs don't look like that. You walk around with all those silks and low cuts.' And I say, 'Dear, it's a television show.' And I tell them, 'Why not? Feel good about yourself.'"