While many of our favorite shows may or may not be returning this Fall, many new shows will also be premiering in those time slots perhaps previously reserved for your favorite show that was cancelled. The wounds might not yet have healed, but you have a chance to fall in love all over again – or even maybe just rebound – with one of the many new shows vying for your viewership and fighting already fighting for season two. Be warned though, season one is a rocky time for a show and you might not yet want to get too attached if the numbers don’t play in your favor.
Supergirl (Mon. Oct. 26, 8:30PM on CBS)
I’m a little apprehensive about this show for a couple reasons. Firstly, its a CBS show and I honestly feel like that’s reason enough to worry. Secondly, the trailer for the series plays out like a misaimed chick flick/rom com sort of thing, so much so that I thought it must be a parody of the genre somehow. That being said, there aren’t enough female lead shows on television – and even fewer in which the lead is a superhero and even fewer that are remotely relatable to female viewers. One can only hope that this very female driven show lives up to its potential and redeems Supergirl’s much abused name.
https://youtu.be/Lm46-envrHo
The Muppets (Tues. Sept. 22, 8PM on ABC)
The Muppets have always walked a fine line between family friendly and adult, the original The Muppet Show (1976) drawing the talents of countless entertainers like Steve Martin, Harvey Korman, Julie Andrews, Elton John, John Cleese, and too many others to name. The upcoming ABC comedy, however, seems to make that line even finer as Kermit and Co. film a behind the scenes documentary series against the backdrop of Piggy’s talk show. Kermit and Piggy appear to be on the rocks as Kermit pursues another pig and Piggy draws the affections of Nathan Fillion (at least as seen in the promos). As with the original The Muppet Show, guest stars abound as the Muppets deal with their personal lives and relationships amidst the responsibilities of putting on a television show.
https://youtu.be/x2B5d-8H588
Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Fri. Nov. 20 on Netflix)
Having seen Daredevil twice through since its release at the beginning of the year, I can say that I am very excited for what Netflix and Marvel have coming up next. Jessica Jones is the second in a collection of four series leading up to The Defenders, which will bring the four stories together in one epic adventure. Jones is about a former superhero who becomes a private detective as she fights her personal demons. Krysten Ritter plays Jones, who is more concerned with getting through her own life than with fighting crime, but who still wants to do something good. David Tennant co-stars as Kilgrave, a mysterious man from Jones’ past whose reappearance complicates her life and stability. I am extremely excited to see another female lead series by Marvel, and considering the unexpected and delightful renewal of Agent Carter, the Marvel Universe just became an even better, more inclusive place for women to live.
Scream Queens (Tues. Sept. 22, 8PM on FOX)
Genre television is making a big time comeback and the anticipation surrounding Scream Queens is evidence of its increasing popularity. Scream Queens takes a very specific style of classic horror – that realm which prominently featured Jamie Lee Curtis in the 70s and 80s in movies like Halloween, The Fog, and Prom Night – a collection of female lead horror movies that pits a desperate heroine with a healthy set of lungs against a relentless homicidal maniac. So of course it was a coup for Scream Queens to actually cast Jamie Lee Curtis in this series about a sorority and a college campus plagued by a series of brutal murders. I anticipate a lot of screaming and hopefully an intelligent exploration of genre conventions and their limitations.
https://youtu.be/-FtenR69qmk
Minority Report (Mon. Sept 21, 8PM on FOX)
Remember that Tom Cruise movie about the future police who arrest people for future crimes based information from mysterious psychic people in the future? This is a series set ten years after the decommissioning of the Precrime Unit about one of those psychic people (or precogs) attempting to live a normal life while still suffering the visions that predict possible future crimes. Early reviews of the pilot have it being a bland but glossy procedural wrapped in a snazzy futuristic setting. Whether or not the show can find its voice and some originality to survive through to season two only time can tell. Then again, people do love procedural drama.
https://youtu.be/_fLl-DMzxrk
The Catch (ABC, TBA)
This one is technically premiering mid-season, and while its start date has yet to be confirmed, its likely to launch sometime in January. I don’t know much about this show other than the fact that its another female lead drama starring the phenomenal Mireille Enos. If you watched any of The Killing, you know Enos as the tenacious, complicated, and intelligent Detective Sarah Linden. While The Killing could be hit or miss, Enos always gave a transcendent, compelling, and desperately human performance. The Catch is about a forensics accountant who herself becomes the victim of fraud at the hands of her fiancee. The series is the story of Enos’ journey to catch the criminals responsible and expose the truth. The fact that the show is produced by the same people behind Grey’s Anatomy makes me suspect that The Catch might be a little too soapy and predictable for me, but Enos is a powerhouse of an actor and she looks incredible in the trailer, which is a pretty solid selling point for me. Then again, not even my love for James Spader can induce me to keep up with The Blacklist, so if the show is bad there’s not much to be done.
https://youtu.be/_oANG1XrLqA
