Considering the volume of hype it received before its premiere, “Six Degrees” is supposed to be the next big thing for ABC. It has big-name stars: Jay Hernandez (“Crazy/Beautiful”), Erika Christensen (“Traffic”) and Bridget Moynahan (“Sex and the City”). It’s produced by J.J. Abrams – the super successful executive producer of “Lost,” “Alias” and “Felicity.” ABC executives even gave it a winning lead-in show by moving “Grey’s Anatomy” to Thursdays at 8 p.m. So with all this, I expected quite a spectacular show.Unfortunately, “Degrees” was lackluster at best.

The premise of the show sounds interesting, but when put into effect, it proves to be boring and uninspiring.

It’s based on the idea that everyone in the world is connected by six people or less. The show features six main characters, each with their own story lines, who, for the most part, don’t know each other. Each character’s choices somehow affect the lives of the other characters, without them knowing it.

Sound confusing?

Well it is. But even more confusing than the premise, are the six different story lines.

It’s impossible to keep track of everyone’s individual drama. More importantly, the separate stories make it impossible to get emotionally attached to any character. You’re shown, at most, 10 minutes of each character’s life in the entire hour-long show. As the credits roll, you realize that you know virtually nothing about the characters you have just watched for an hour.

The show also lacks the intensity of a typical prime-time drama. “Six Degrees” is so slow moving that it’s nearly impossible to feel even the slightest tinge of suspense.

There are definite attempts at making the show dramatic and suspenseful, but they continually fall short. In a quick, two-minute scene, one of the main characters kills a man. But with no time to actually build up the story, the shooting seems tame.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only bored viewer. According to Thursday night’s Nielsen ratings, “Six Degrees” lost more than 25 percent of its viewers before the show was even half over.

The chance Abrams will see “Lost”-like success with this show is highly unlikely. My guess is “Six Degrees” won’t even last six episodes.