Every single new show, previewed
Dozens of new shows. An incredibly crowded schedule. It’s fall TV, and we’ve watched all the new series. Find out what you should check out and what you should skip.
Dozens of new shows. An incredibly crowded schedule. It’s fall TV, and we’ve watched all the new series. Find out what you should check out and what you should skip.
The premise in 100 words or less: Can a Secretary of State have it all? That’s what Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) is trying to figure out when her former boss at the CIA — now the president — has her step into the job after her predecessor dies. She tries to balance the intricacies of state dinners with her personal life, along with plenty of geopolitical escapades to provide a case-of-the-week structure.
The big question: How many House of Cards actors are in this show?
Should you watch? Yes, though it may need a little time to settle into its space. Leoni is savvy, brittle, and ultimately likable. And there's a lot of lightheartedness without making the show feel inconsequential — McCord and her interactions with her staff, holdovers from the previous SoS, are easily the best part. Madam really shines when Leoni and her team play off one another, not when the show is trying to channel the scheming, dark spirit of House of Cards.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Five.
The premise in 100 words or less: Longtime Saturday Night Live writer and standup comedian John Mulaney stretches his acting muscles to play … comedy writer and standup comedian John Mulaney. The sitcom is filmed before a live studio audience, an approach that has gone out of vogue in the decade since Friends ended, and despite the obvious similarities to Seinfeld — there are standup scenes interwoven with episodes, and Mulaney’s roommate Jane (Nasim Pedrad) bears more than a passing resemblance to Elaine Benes — the characters are, to a best approximation, not sociopaths, and the jokes are much more reference-based.
The big question: Why isn't Martin Short everybody's TV boss?
Should you watch? Mulaney is one of the finest standup comedians currently working, and so it's not that surprising that he draws heavily on material from his most recent and best special, New In Town, in the show's early episodes. The show's opening standup bit reaches all the way back to his first album, The Top Part. While that's fun for Mulaney superfans — the acting out of his story of trying and failing to get a Xanax prescription is a delight — it does feel a little stale. But by the third episode, "Power Moves," that well has dried up, and the jokes are all new, and very good. A few things don't quite click yet — Elliott Gould is more charming than he is funny as Mulaney's older gay neighbor — but the fundamentals are, to quote John McCain, quite strong.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Three.
The premise in 100 words or less: Two people (Dominic West and Ruth Wilson) cheat on their spouses (Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson) over a long summer at the beach. And, really, that’s all you should know about this one, which does some remarkable, interesting things with TV storytelling that haven’t been tried at this scale before. We don’t dare spoil you, except to say that you might think you don’t need another show about infidelity, but this one is about so much more. It’s the True Detective of realistic fiction.
The big question: [section redacted]
Should you watch? Yes. This is the best new show of the fall, hands down. And unlike past Showtime “best show of the fall” winners, like Homeland and Masters of Sex, which didn’t have much competition, the broadcast networks actually put up some good stuff this year. The Affair is just that good.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Oh, we’re watching at least three seasons of this thing.
The premise in 100 words or less: You remember that old Patton Oswalt comedy routine about how the Star Wars prequels promised to show you Darth Vader … but as a little kid? Gotham is basically that for Batman and his rogues gallery. It begins with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, then follows not the young boy trying to cope with his loss (though it ropes that in as well) but, rather, the cops trying to solve the crime, including a young James Gordon (who will grow to be Batman’s police department pal). Along the way, they meet a veritable cornucopia of Batman villains.
The big question: How many Batman characters can be introduced with huge, hackneyed gags about the characters they will become?
Should you watch? Surprisingly, yes. Prequels are a tough thing to pull off, but they’ve worked on TV before, and from the pilot, at least, there’s more to recommend in Gotham than there is to avoid. The dialogue can be cheesy, and the show is too fond of playing up its comics connections. But there’s real fun in the scenes between Ben McKenzie (as Gordon) and Donal Logue (as his partner), and the show’s visual palette is striking. It looks like somebody turned the movie Dick Tracy into a TV series. We mean that as a compliment.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? We’ll give this one a lot of latitude, so seven.
The premise in 100 words or less: Conservative, virginal Jane is in love with her boyfriend and hoping for marriage, when she is accidentally inseminated with the sperm of a man she once kissed at the doctor’s office. Yes, really. She now has to decide whether or not to have the baby and how to juggle all of these conflicting desires for her life.
The big question: Will the show be able to maintain telenovela-level drama for a whole series?
Should you watch? If you like over-the-top comedy and a show that can poke fun at itself, then yes. It's like a more diverse version of Days of Our Lives, but, at the same time, it earnestly presents the deeply felt love within a multi-generational Latino family. One of the best parts? Half of the show is in Spanish.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Three.
The premise in 100 words or less: Like the result of a weird, drunken dare to create a dramatic version of The Big Bang Theory, Scorpion features a reclusive group of socially awkward geniuses who are brought together by the US government (in the form of Robert Patrick) to solve the difficult problems the government can’t. Because this is a dramatic Big Bang Theory, the group is joined by a beautiful waitress (Katharine McPhee), who teaches them why the humans love. The first episode inexplicably concludes with one of the best action sequences seen on TV in a long time.
The big question: How can you do a show starring Robert Patrick that’s called Scorpion and not name his character Scorpion?
Should you watch? Definitely check out the pilot, which has its share of “hey, look at the nerds!” problems but features slick direction from Justin Lin (the Fast & the Furious franchise) and an enjoyably propulsive plot that doesn’t rely on dozens of dead people to provide its dramatic stakes. After that? Well, that’s iffier. There’s not a lot of show here, especially in terms of differentiating from other CBS case-of-the-week series.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Three.
The premise in 100 words or less: "Let's take all the fun out of Scandal" seems to be the battle cry of NBC's State of Affairs. CIA analyst Charlie Tucker (Katherine Heigl) is the only thing standing between us and the horrors of terrorism. She was almost the daughter-in-law of the sitting president (Alfre Woodard), but then her fiancé was assassinated … in Afghanistan. Yeah, that’s almost certainly going to be a mystery with a disappointing payoff.
The big question: Does the CIA really serve breakfast burritos?
Should you watch? Maybe. The show doesn't seem to have a good sense of what it wants to be (yet). The cast has a Grey's Anatomy vibe to it and is easily one of the best looking CIA departments on television today. But it's unclear if the show really wants to make big statements about terrorism, drones, Gitmo (all of which get a mention in the pilot), and the fragility of American foreign policy, or if it wants to really build out Tucker's personal dramas. The show seems obsessed with punching above its weight, and it might be sacrificing some of its best bits (the interaction of Tucker's team and the office politics of the presidency for starters) by taking itself so seriously.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Five.
The premise in 100 words or less: Young, pore-less, good-looking man (Grant Gustin) runs really, really fast and sometimes hangs out with another young, pore-less, good-looking man who shoots arrows from the other CW superhero show.
The big question: How many ways can you save the world with super speed?
Should you watch? Totally. The show isn't perfect and requires you to suspend some disbelief in both your understanding of physics and the notion that the winsome, sweet-faced, devilishly handsome Gustin has trouble convincing young women that he's dateable. What the show has working in its favor, though, is that it knows what it wants to be and what it's aiming for: the Teen Wolf and Arrow fanbase of comics nerds, teenage girls, young women, and gay men. And it zips along toward that goal with no apologies. The effects aren't the stuff of Game of Thrones, and Flash's super speed can stray toward cheesy, but the show shines so brightly in other areas that it's easily forgiven.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? It’s already there.
The premise in 100 words or less: Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) — yes, like Eliza Doolittle — is a self-absorbed social media queen with upwards of 260,000 social media connections. But when a horrific photo of her goes viral, she realizes that Facebook/Instagram/Twitter friends aren’t really friendly and that she needs a new image. So she hires Henry Higenbottam (John Cho) — a branding guru who specializes in self-image marketing — to help her rebrand and start making real-world connections with the same coworkers and neighbors she’s been looking down upon.
The big question: Is Eliza capable of dancing all night?
Should you watch? It’s based on My Fair Lady. You should obviously watch it. Except …
How many episodes will we give it to get good? It’s a cute show with a pretty solid pilot, and it probably isn’t going to evolve into that different of a show afterwards. If you don’t think it’s good by the end of episode one, then the show probably isn’t for you. But if the moral of Selfie is any indication, sometimes we have a habit of falling in love when we least expect it — so maybe give it a chance.
The premise in 100 words or less: The Fox network crosses its fingers in hopes that reality TV is ready to come back into fashion, as it sends 15 Americans off into the wilderness to attempt to build the perfect society. Because they are on TV, they’ve been selected for maximum conflict potential. And because this is Fox, they will have been selected for the maximum possibility that they will shout “outrageous!” things at any given moment. It’s based on a Dutch series, which is promising. Most of the best reality formats have been imports.
The big question: If it’s a flop, will Fox pull the show but leave the contestants stranded in the wilderness?
Should you watch? The curiosity factor, at least, is pretty high on this one. It genuinely sounds like it could be some strange combination of The Truman Show and a freshman philosophy seminar. Or it could just be weird and exploitative!
How many episodes will we give it to get good? We’ll give this one some room. Let’s say six episodes.
The premise in 100 words or less: Two attractive people (Annaleigh Tipton and Jake McDorman) date each other in New York City. You get to listen to their thoughts (through voiceovers) as this happens. Sometimes, what they say to each other is not the same thing that they’re thinking privately! It’s crazy. McDorman’s character works at a family plaque/trophy company, allowing tons of warmed over jokes about how “everyone gets a trophy” in America these days, while Tipton’s character just moved to New York from Atlanta, ensuring some equally hackneyed fish-out-of water gags.
The big question: How can two people have interior lives this stereotypical and boring?
Should you watch? The show has two very good things going for it: Tipton and veteran character actor Kurt Fuller (Psych, Scandal, Alias), who plays McDorman’s father (and boss). Fuller doesn’t get much to do in the pilot, but has solid chemistry with McDorman. Tipton — who’s perhaps still best known for her run on America’s Next Top Model — showed she could carry a lead role in Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress and brings a similarly understated approach here, a refreshing departure from the over-the-top characterization roles like hers often get. Even better, she’s suggested in interviews she’s uncomfortable with how stereotypical her character’s portrayal is, and is pushing to improve it. But the plot still feels like a romcom paint-by-numbers set, and Tipton has her work cut out for her in making the caricature she’s been cast into a real person. So does McDorman, for that matter.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Four.
The premise in 100 words or less: Six years ago, Annie (Casey Wilson) and Jake (Ken Marino, playing mid-30s but looking very 40s) fell in love over a plate of nachos. They've been dating ever since and both are ready to get married, but Jake's proposal goes horribly awry, alienating them from all of their friends and family, and also from each other. Grim though that all may sound, the show is a comedy. The creator is David Caspe, who worked with Wilson before on Happy Endings. We liked that show. Maybe this one will get better? Someday?
The big question: How long can we be expected to withstand this level of anxiety?
Should you watch? If you have an extremely high tolerance for repeated jokes and cringe-worthy situations, go ahead. Or if you were a Happy Endings fan and can remember how that show’s pilot was pretty bad, too, it might be worth a shot as well. Or just tune in eight weeks from now, when it’s on the verge of cancellation, to see that, hey, it’s gotten pretty good.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? For now, one or two more. This show is exhausting.
The premise in 100 words or less: The Navy Criminal Investigative Service has about 1,200 special agents, and damned if CBS isn’t going to make a show about every single one of them. The second NCIS spinoff (not counting the original NCIS, itself a spinoff of JAG) began as a two-hour backdoor pilot, in which NCIS lead Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) headed down to New Orleans to help solve the murder of an old colleague with local NCIS special agent in charge Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula), who helms the new show.
The big question: Why can’t Looking just make Bakula a permanent lead instead?
Should you watch? Well, do you like NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles? If you’re a typical American television viewer, you probably do. The shows were the third and fourth most watched of the 2013-2014 season, topped only by Sunday Night Football and The Big Bang Theory. The flagship show got about 20 million viewers, nearly double Scandal (itself hardly a flop). For whatever reason, the American people love to see Navy and Marine Corps criminals brought to justice, and CBS is all too happy to oblige. But even if you’re skeptical of the franchise, Bakula and medical examiner CCH Pounder (Captain Wyms from The Shield) are better than your average police procedural cast, and while most of the New Orleans-themed touches are unbearably cheesy, they’re just self-aware enough to be fun, rather than nauseating.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? One. You either like this kind of thing or you don’t.
The premise in 100 words or less: Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioin Gruffudd) has been alive for 200 years, dying and then being resurrected naked and swimming in the Hudson River every time. But when he survives a planned train crash, his secret is on the precipice of being revealed. His long life has also given him incredible perception skills that allow him to realize things that others don't. Because, you see, it’s a detective show, too!
The big question: How long can living forever stay interesting?
Should you watch? Possibly. Definitely if you enjoy Castle. Gruffudd plays a pretty cute medical examiner with believable chemistry with Alana de la Garza’s NYPD detective Jo Martinez. Even if the death and resurrection plotline gets old, which seems unlikely, the two should be at least semi-entertaining to watch.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Four.
The premise in 100 words or less: Detective Laura Diamond (Debra Messing) is really good at her job. This, as the show's writers assure us, means she has trouble being a mom to twin boys and has problems with her love life and almost ex-husband Jake (Josh Lucas). The show is an American adaptation of the Spanish series Los Misterios de Laura.
The big question: Did she really just drug her children with cough syrup?
Should you watch? No. This is what happens when a bad show happens to good people. Messing and Lucas are good actors, maybe even great ones. But, this show is not great. It begins with a vaguely spooky title that conjures up images of a 1980s made-for-television movie about a woman with a phobia of public speaking. It then struggles finding its stride with tone with some scenes fleeing — perhaps unintentionally — toward some bleak, even mordant humor (e.g. a scene where Diamond drugs her kids with cough syrup, or the constant homophobic reminders about a "girly" suspect). In fact, if the show went there and honestly explored the ways in which Laura might be a psychopath, it might have been better. As it is, it feels like a weird, time-traveling leftover from the fall season of 1983.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? None.
The premise in 100 words or less: A group of teenagers live together in a hospital, where they are all suffering from various life-threatening illnesses and also trying to figure out who they are, as teens are wont to do. The cast of characters includes a cheerleader with a heart defect, a cool girl with an eating disorder, and the team’s leader, who’s missing his leg. Adult supervision on the ward is provided by Octavia Spencer and Dave Annable. All of the characters’ thoughts and actions are narrated by Charlie, a kid in a coma. Does that sound twee? It’s pretty twee. But it works.
The big question: How many seasons can the narrator stay in a coma for?
Should you watch? Absolutely. The pilot already packs an emotional punch, and the characters represent various teen stereotypes without becoming cliché. If it can keep up the momentum, Red Band Society could be one of the biggest treats of the fall. Bonus points for not feeling like a Fault in Our Stars retread when it was obviously greenlit in hopes of cashing in on that book and film’s success.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? It's already good. Let’s hope it stays that way.
The premise in 100 words or less: Anthony Anderson plays Andre “Dre” Johnson, an advertising executive who’s had great success in his career and has been able to provide a good life for his family. He’s married to Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), a doctor who’s not afraid to call him on his bullshit. That could sound like any number of other family comedies, but the central tension of this show isn’t between everybody and dear ol’ dad. It’s between Andre’s ideas of what an “authentic” black life looks like and what his family’s life actually is. And that’s more interesting than most other family sitcoms.
The big question: Why does ABC keep giving its comedies weird titles?
Should you watch? Definitely. This is the best new comedy of the fall, and while that’s sort of by default, it’s also because the show has a unique, interesting viewpoint that we don’t always get to see on TV. And that’s worth checking out.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? We’re tentatively onboard already, so we’ll give it all of its initial 13-episode order.
The premise in 100 words or less: So the Los Angeles Police Department has a group that works almost exclusively on cases involving stalking, where Maggie Q’s Beth Davis works. Beth is the kind of tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners cop TV has millions upon millions of, but she’s disarmed by Dylan McDermott’s Jack Larsen, for whom gender politics and basic human decency are but suggestions and are free to be ignored. Anyway, the two of them track down a stalker who’s setting women on fire, because apparently the homicide department isn’t all that interested. It’s from The Following’s Kevin Williamson, so there you go.
The big question: CBS couldn’t have made a miniseries version of Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic 1979 film instead?
Should you watch? No. No no no no no no no. No. Also, no. This is such a bad show that all of the other bad shows this fall are grateful it exists, because they end up looking mediocre by comparison. It’s horrific in its treatment of violence against women (and the sexualization of same), but beyond even that, it’s utterly clueless about both the world it’s depicting and the crimes it seeks to illuminate. At times, it plays like a how-to manual when it comes to stalking.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? If you ever see an episode of this, do your best to brainwash yourself into un-seeing it.
The premise in 100 words or less: Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh) is a criminal judge for whom the word “honorable” comes in huge scare quotes. When she’s not in the courtroom handing down tough sentences, she’s rocking out on the drums with her best friend or hooking up with witnesses in her chambers. But that all changes when an 8-year-old boy — whose parents she put in jail — wanders into her life needing a place to stay. Rebecca has a soft place in her heart, but the question is, can that soft spot grow? NBC is making a new version of this pilot, focused on her relationship with the kid.
The big question: So do judges really bang people in their chambers?
Should you watch? It may be worth giving this one a shot. The original pilot, though not without its flaws, is endearing, and Walsh’s performance is funny. But the network recently fired its showrunner, Liz Brixius, around a month before the show debuts. That’s never a good sign.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Four.
The premise in 100 words or less: A young boy’s body is found on the beach of a small resort town, and everybody’s a suspect. As the series follows the investigation of two cops — a new department head (David Tennant) and the woman (Anna Gunn) who was supposed to get his job but didn’t — it also pulls in the many skeletons in the town’s collective closet, as well as the grieving process of the boy’s family. And if all of that sounds familiar, congratulations, you have watched the UK’s Broadchurch, which this is basically a shot-for-shot remake of.
The big question: Has Tennant ever spoken with, listened to, or even met an American, given the state of his accent?
Should you watch? This is tricky. The show’s producers have promised there will be deviation from the original at some point, but through the show’s first handful of episodes, the tweaks are incredibly minor. So if you’ve seen Broadchurch, you can probably skip this one, unless you’re really curious to see what the promised new ending is. (The American version will also have two extra episodes to fill.) If you haven’t seen Broadchurch, however, this might be worth a shot. It’s well-acted and well-shot, and Broadchurch was compelling TV.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? We might very well just drop in on the finale to see how it differs. All of you non-Broadchurch viewers might give it three or four.
The premise in 100 words or less: Andrew — A! — is a secret romantic who works at an online dating agency. Zelda — Z! — is a tough lawyer who doesn’t share Andrew’s beliefs in fate and true love. When the two of them meet, it’s clear there’s something there. Andrew thinks destiny brought them together; Zelda thinks theirs was a chance encounter. Will either of them change the other’s mind — and heart?
The big question: If the couple only “dates” for 8 months (as explained in the opening narration), does that mean they’ll get married at the end of season one?
Should you watch? It’s trendy to hate romcoms right now. This show is aware of that, and pokes slight fun at itself. Mostly, though, the series couldn’t care less about critics’ opinions about the death of the meet-cute. Kissing on water fountains, flirty phone conversations with your crush while watching him through his office window that conveniently faces yours — this show has it all, and you will probably clap and uglycry more than once. Long live the meet-cute!
How many episodes will we give it to get good? It’s cute already, but give it until episode 3 for the characters to really win you over.
The premise in 100 words or less: Ronnie is the only gay son of a big Boston family with a lot of drama. His sister is pregnant. His brothers bully him, and his father has just made him assistant basketball coach, even though he's the least athletic member of the family. Now, he has a new job offer in another state. Will he move away? C’mon. This is television.
The big question: Can Ronnie evolve out of a gay stereotype?
Should you watch? Maybe. The show is corny and falls into many easy tropes from the get-go, but it’s pretty funny. Given time, it could end up highly entertaining.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Four more. All of this show's drama is yet to come.
The premise in 100 words or less: It's like The Good Wife's younger, dumber sibling, as conceived by Scandal/Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) turns bright-eyed law students from all walks of life into future litigators that will, inevitably, help someone (or themselves) get away with murder.
The big question: If Viola Davis had won an Oscar, would she still have done this show?
Should you watch? Yes. Davis is great, and it's fun seeing her in an Olivia Pope-ish role. Her students, at times, seem like ornamental window dressing, but them getting out of the way and letting Davis work is why we're all watching anyway. The show seems to have a good sense of how campy it is, and how campy it could be in the future. How to Get Away knows that it's more Revenge than it is Scandal or The Good Wife.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Four.
The premise in 100 words or less: The Fox network crosses its fingers in hopes that reality TV is ready to come back into favor in the Nielsens, as it sends 15 Americans off into the wilderness to attempt to build the perfect society. Because they are on TV, they’ve been selected for maximum conflict potential. And because this is Fox, they will have been selected for the maximum possibility that they will shout “outrageous!” things at any given moment. It’s based on a Dutch series, which is promising. Most of the best reality formats have been imports.
The big question: If it’s a flop, will Fox pull the show but leave the contestants stranded in the wilderness?
Should you watch? The curiosity factor, at least, is pretty high on this one. It genuinely sounds like it could be some strange combination of The Truman Show and a freshman philosophy seminar. Or it could just be weird and exploitative!
How many episodes will we give it to get good? We’ll give this one some room. Let’s say six episodes.
The premise in 100 words or less: Cristela (Cristela Alonzo, who also created), a first-generation Mexican American, is in her final year of law school and is in the running for a prestigious internship at a well-known law firm. The only problem is her career aspirations are sometimes at odds with her more traditional Mexican family, which thinks she should settle for the first job that comes her way. The entire family lives together, which leads to sitcom moments: the mom loves her “When I was a kid in Mexico” lectures, the brother-in-law wants his houseguest to leave, and Cristela’s sister is trying to keep everyone happy.
The big question: Alonzo’s winning, but will she figure out how to calm down?
Should you watch? Absolutely! Alonzo is hysterical from the first line she delivers. And the female and minority perspectives she brings to her writing are refreshing, without being pedantic. She finds nice moments to joke about white privilege, but never in a heavy-handed way. This show has all of the classic sitcom trappings, but because the show is about Latinos and honest about their lives, it seems fresh and original.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? You’ll know it’s worth watching once Cristela delivers her second line.
The premise in 100 words or less: Demon-hunter Constantine’s soul was damned to hell long ago, and after that, he gave up fighting evil. But after an unexpected turn of events, Constantine finds himself back in the game, fighting on behalf of the innocent. Based on DC Comics’ Hellblazer, the series follows around a guilt-ridden Constantine as he tries to protect humanity from the terrors of Satan.
The big question: Can Constantine redeem his soul from Hell?
Should you watch? Constantine is in a class of its own as far as major network television goes. For that reason, it might be nice to check out the pilot and see if it hooks you. The visual effects of the show are well done, and the scale of the good vs. evil plotline gives the series a cinematically epic flavor. In addition, Constantine the character is certainly charming enough to make you tune in on a weekly basis. And if you’re a fan of being spooked, some of the sequences will definitely make you jump.
How many episodes will we give it to get good? Two.
