Television shows can reveal what people in society are worried about and what they yearn for in their lives. The 2007-08 TV season features some odd and interesting themes. Two popular-culture researchers talked with me recently about society’s deeper concerns reflected in TV land.

This phenomenon is not new. The popularity of “The Twilight Zone” coincided with the Cold War. Some episodes dealt with irrational menaces, including the freckle-faced kid who turned adults into jack-in-the-boxes. In real life, people worried about the “Red Menace” sending an atomic bomb our way. And shows about big, rich families – “Dynasty” and “Dallas” – were hits during the greed-is-good 1980s.

What themes are evident this year? Take a look:

Heroes: In TV land, everyday characters in “Heroes” discover their super powers and try to use these powers to save mankind. “Smallville” focuses on Superman’s early years.

In reality, if George Bush were a TV show his low ratings would get him canceled. Same with Congress. Supernatural heroes often erupt into popular culture when people hunger for strong leaders and heroes.

“The 1930s, during the Great Depression, saw the emergence of most of the comic book superheroes who presumably gave magical promise of a solution to social ills,” said T.V. Reed, director of American Studies at Washington State University. (And yes, he really goes by T.V. The initials stand for Thomas Vernon.)

Iraq is often compared to Vietnam. “Star Trek,” the original series, debuted in 1966 and went off the air in 1969, years that paralleled the escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. James T. Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise, was a decisive leader. In real life, President Lyndon Johnson’s leadership faltered throughout the war.

Death: In “Reaper,” a comedy, a young man escorts escapee souls to hell. In “Pushing Daisies,” (another comedy) a young man resurrects dead people by touching them. Death in these shows is jaunty and often temporary.

In reality, men, women and children die brutal deaths every day in Iraq, Afghanistan and in warring places in Africa. No jaunt in these deaths. And no one communicates with the living, as the characters do in the “Ghost Whisperer.”

Edgy Spirituality: A grungy-looking guardian angel tries to spiritually rehabilitate the Holly Hunter character in “Saving Grace.” And religious imagery permeates “Lost” – priests, Virgin Mary statues and a dark force that resembles smoke from a helluva fire.

“A lot of these shows are trying to address issues we’re all trying to address: ‘Is there any meaning? What happens to us after we die?’ (TV executives) don’t think the ‘Highway to Heaven’ thing will play today. They want to seem hip,” explained Robert J. Thompson, director of the Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

Sometimes, popular culture means little beyond itself. Thompson pointed out that right after Sept. 11, a Carol Burnett reunion show garnered stellar ratings. Oh, the critics said, people are craving reminders of a more innocent era. But a decade before, when the country was in fairly good shape, a Burnett reunion show garnered even better ratings.

Thompson’s conclusion? People just like Carol Burnett.