At a time when consumers increasingly zap past TV commercials, the Super Bowl may be the only television show of the year where we not only tolerate, but actually look forward to, the ads.

Lynda Nwonye, a 21-year-old Detroiter, primarily looks at the commercials -- not the game -- during the Super Bowl.

"I'm watching for the ads," she said. "I'm rooting for Pittsburgh, but I'm not particularly interested in how they win the game."

Of course, viewers expect those ads to be highly entertaining. We want to be cracked up or choked up and have something to yak merrily about on Monday morning.

"The challenge for the advertisers is the expectations are so high," said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. This year, he said, "we're going to see more humor and more unexpected twists."

Expectations are one reason why advertisers often debut their most creative ads during the game. The fact that it's the biggest television audience of the year has something to do with it, too. But it's also a night we want to laugh and yes, even shed a tear or two.

So be prepared for everything from a comical Emerald Nuts ad with a druid conducting business under a stairway and a star-studded Cadillac commercial with the glitz of a Paris fashion show to a Dove heartstring tugger with young girls talking about self-esteem.

This year's Super Bowl ads will shock, inspire, awe and amaze -- or at least that's what their creators hope they'll do.

Super Bowl advertising is a big deal. After all, more than 133 million Americans watched the game last year. About 20 million American viewers typically tune into a Sunday-night episode of "Desperate Housewives."

As a result, advertising to the XL crowd can carry an XL price tag: an estimated $2.5 million for 30 seconds this year, up from last year's $2.4 million. An episode of "Desperate Housewives" can fetch $500,000 for 30 seconds. What's done with Super Bowl spots is as important as the exposure. After all, making a ho-hum ad that no one talks about the next day can be almost as bad as not advertising at all. Conversely, creating a spot like Coke's "Mean Joe Greene" can keep people talking for years.

Super Bowl ads can make or break a company's image in consumers' minds, so this year advertisers are pulling out their tricks. Unlike the days before the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction," advertisers for the most part will keep ads clean. Completely gone are ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs. And some top Super Bowl advertisers of past years, such as McDonald's and Visa, have opted out of the Super Bowl to advertise during the Winter Olympics, which starts five days after the big game.

Some perennial Super Bowl advertisers known for their blockbuster ads will be back:

In one of Anheuser Busch's spots, two slacker guys try to escape from a grizzly bear and Bud Light saves the day; Cedric the Entertainer walks down the aisle to get a pack of Bud Light in another. The company is expected to bring back its popular Clydesdales, too.

Pepsi, meanwhile, will use Sean (Diddy) Combs and Jackie Chan to hawk Diet Pepsi by showing how the drink can make them more successful at their craft. And Pepsi is expected to have a Sierra Mist ad.

Several advertisers that scored big with their first Super Bowl ads last year are back -- or almost back:

Careerbuilder.com, which was praised for ads that used chimps to spoof the daily grind in corporate America, will bring them back this year.

After seeing a 56% increase in sales following its first Super Bowl spot last year, Emerald Nuts will be back with a 30-second spot during the fourth quarter featuring a druid and machete enthusiasts doing unusual things to play off the letters in the brand's name.

GoDaddy.com stirred controversy with provocative ads last year featuring a big-busted model struggling to keep her spaghetti straps up during some sort of committee hearings. Reportedly the company is trying to get network clearance for another racy ad in which the scantily clad woman is washing windows this time.

Some advertisers will attempt to elicit strong emotions:

A Dove ad will have young girls talking about self-esteem as part of its "Campaign for Real Beauty." The ad campaign gained attention by using normal-sized women in their underwear in ads.

In a 30-second Toyota spot, a Hispanic father drives his young son in the 2007 hybrid Camry and tells him how the car switches between gas and electric power. The son compares that to the way his father switches between English and Spanish.

Detroit's automakers will use different approaches in ads:

General Motors' Cadillac will use a runway, celebrities and paparazzi in its 60-second "Chrome Couture" spot for the 2007 Escalade SUV.

Kermit the Frog will be in a 30-second ad for the Ford Escape, drawing a connection between the green puppet and the "greener" hybrid SUV.

Spectacular theatrical productions and stunts will be popular:

With rival Visa advertising in the Olympics, MasterCard will extend its "Priceless" campaign in a 30-second ad featuring actor Richard Dean Anderson, the star of the '80s TV series "MacGyver," in a simulated hostage situation.

McDonald's absence leaves an opening for a Burger King Broadway-musical-style ad with "Whopperettes" dressed as burgers, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes.

Unilever's Degree for Men deodorant ad will show stunts, including a man falling from a window.

And of course, celebrities will abound:

Pizza Hut will showcase pop singer Jessica Simpson and the Muppet Miss Piggy wearing matching outfits.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will feature Fabio.

Leonard Nimoy of "Star Trek" will hawk Bayer's Aleve pain reliever.