What to Watch This Fall: 15 New TV Shows You Definitely Might Watch
15 fall television previews including a Black-ish spinoff, a new Michael Schur sitcom, the entire Pitch Perfect cast on TV, and the problem of evil. Some of these might actually work!
IT’S SEPTEMBER, CRISP AUTUMNAL LEAVES BEGIN TO FALL GENTLY TO EARTH, you’re cozied up in your favorite hoodie, and football has taken over our lives again. That can only mean one thing: FALL TV PILOT SEASON IN AMERICA IS HERE WOOOOOOO!!
The pitch: Okay it’s not that exciting, network TV isn’t very good, and 75% of these shows will get cancelled within a year or two. But we found a few hidden gems last year, and the world is our oyster. A new Michael Schur show! A Black-ish spinoff! The problem of evil! Stumptown! The entire Pitch Perfect cast leaping onto on TV at once! And the return of all our favorites!!
Read if you like: TV… Humor… Nihilism… Learning new things… Being too cheap to pay for your own Netflix account after your parents cut you off… Saving countless hours you would’ve wasted on terrible shows that were doomed to begin with… Finding this year’s New Amsterdam or This Is Us…
Shows are rated from 1 to 5 stars (★). All times Central.
Here’s what I thought about the pilots…
MONDAYS
★★ Bob ❤ Abishola
7:30–8pm, CBS, September 23
The pitch: Remember Mike & Molly? This time the fat, white dude falls in love with his Nigerian nurse after suffering a heart (get it??) attack, in what CBS calls a “comedic examination of immigrant life in America”… Oh.
Watch if you like: The Neighborhood… Other Chuck Lorre hits like Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, and Mom… Shows with emojis in the name…
Skip if you: Don’t trust CBS to handle a 2019 comedy about race and immigration with a particular amount of grace
★★ All Rise
8–9pm, CBS, September 23
The pitch: Follow Luke Cage’s Detective Misty and a bunch of L.A. public defenders and prosecutors in their crazy day-to-day life. Court life is crazy!!
Watch if you like: Cookie-cutter CBS procedurals… Legal dramas (court life is crazy!!)… For the People, but a little worse and way less Shonda…
Skip if you: Feel like you can live without another CBS procedural with just about the blandest cast, name, and description possible
★★★ Prodigal Son
8–9pm, FOX, September 23
The pitch: Walking Dead’s Jesus as the son of serial killer, Michael Sheen (the one that played Dr. Masters), who makes up for his father’s wrongdoings by hunting murderers — with the help of Mellie Grant, La Bamba, and his dad!!
Watch if you like: The Blacklist meets Hannibal, plus a little Grimm for good measure… Dark comedic crime dramas… Riverdale director on network TV…
Skip if you: Don’t really like interesting actors with creative and innovative direction, or maybe if this just sounds a little too dark for you
★★ Bluff City Law
9–10pm, NBC, September 23
The pitch: NYPD Blue’s Det. Bobby and his brilliant but estranged daughter reunite after the death of the family matriarch, taking on landmark Memphis civil rights cases with the help of Hamilton and an Icelandic rapper
Watch if you like: Law procedurals, but didn’t think All Rise sounded very interesting… The intersection of Memphis, civil rights, and a diverse cast…
Skip if you: See a 9pm NBC drama and just know this baby is set to be canceled after one season and 10 episodes, no matter how interesting
TUESDAYS
★★★★ Mixed-ish
8–8:30pm, ABC, September 24
The pitch: You like Black-ish? Here’s a prequel following Black-ish mom Rainbow’s upbringing in a mixed-race family at an 80s hippie commune!!
Watch if you like: The rich Black-ish, Grown-ish world Kenya Barris created to give insight into African-American culture in a way rarely seen on TV…
Skip if you: Have a frog profile picture and need to get some fire tweets off before they take your phone away before the press briefing again. Sad!!
★★★ Emergence
9–10pm, ABC, September 24
The pitch: Fargo’s Officer Molly and her husband Turk take in a mysterious young child that survives a plane crash. Weird stuff happens!!
Watch if you like: Creepy kids with weird electrical powers and cryptic behavior… Faint whiffs of sci-fi myster yhits like Lost and Stranger Things…
Skip if you: Always get sucked into this sort of show that has a premise but no answers or ending and gets canceled before they can figure it out
WEDNESDAYS
★★★ Almost Family
8–9pm, FOX, October 2
The pitch: The Brains from Leverage used his career as a fertility doctor to conceive over 100 children. Now Pitch Perfect’s Chloe finds two new half sisters in Arrow’s Vixen and Lilly from Hannah Montana. Hijincks ensue!!
Watch if you like: Other Jason Katims dramas like Parenthood and Friday Night Lights… Hit Australian series adaptations… Soapy sister drama…
Skip if you: Feel like the premise is a little too far-fetched in a #MeToo world and don’t see enough chemistry between the star half-sisters
★★ Nancy Drew
8–9pm, CW, October 9
The pitch: You know how Riverdale took the Archie story and threw a bunch of super hot actors into a hit soapy format? It’s Nancy Drew!!
Watch if you like: Riverdale and its ludicrously over-the-top drama and hot people… Remembering kid mysteries like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys…
Skip if you: Seriously, this is a clear Riverdale double down, so you already know if you’re in or out
★★★★ Stumptown
9–10pm, ABC, September 25
The pitch: Robin Scherbatsky as a sharp-witted army veteran private investigator in Portland, Oregon, joined by inevitable future love interest Nick from New Girl along with her frustrated boss, the hot guy from Barbershop
Watch if you like: Complicated anti-heros that break every rule and are intrigued by a woman getting the role for once… Graphic novel adaptations… Getting some of your favorite sitcom actors back into your life in a new role…
Skip if you: Just can’t talk yourself into this one after the literally 17 billion commercials you’ve seen for it this summer
HALFTIME!!
We’re focusing on all the new network shows, but don’t forget to set your DVR for these 12 great shows returning this fall!
- The Voice… 7–9pm, NBC, M Sep 23… Gwen Stefani replaces Adam Levine on the judges panel, but the real judge is you at home
- All-American… 7–8pm, CW, M Oct 7… Last fall’s Friday Night Lights meets The O.C. returns for Season 2 as the small-town Crenshaw football star adjusts to the big life in Beverly Hills
- The Good Doctor… 9–10pm, ABC, M Sep 23… Freddie Highmore gives one of the best acting performances on network TV as a young, autistic doctor, and the supporting cast ain’t half bad either
- This Is Us… 8–9pm, NBC, T Sep 24… If you’re here, you know the best show on network TV. Last season was weaker but they’ll bounce back — and they better never question the Randall and Beth relationship again
- Black-ish… 8:30–9pm, ABC, T Sep 24… Pair it with Mixed-ish as a funny and important look into African-American culture with kenya barris
- New Amsterdam… 9–10pm, NBC, T Sep 24… The best new 2018 show, a medical drama with an affecting cast and moving stories, plenty of drama, and a shocking Season 1 cliffhanger we’ve been waiting all summer on
- The Masked Singer… 7–9pm, FOX, W Sep 25… The weirdest reality show competition on network TV is back, if you’re into that sort of thing
- Modern Family… 8–8:30pm, ABC, W Sep 25… This award-winning sitcom has run its course, but it’s the final season, so let’s see how they go out
- Superstore… 7–7:30pm, NBC, R Sep 26… The funniest sitcom nobody’s talking about, with a delightful cast and a laugh a minute as characters navigate the daily mundane life working in a knockoff Walmart
- The Good Place… 8–8:30pm, NBC, R Sep 26… The best network sitcom returns for one final season as Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, Jason, Janet, and Michael take one final run at getting into the good place
- A Million Little Things… 8–9pm, ABC, R Sep 26… ABC’s 2018 attempt at This Is Us was dark with an opening scene suicide, marital affairs, cancer, and more, but it’ll make you laugh and cry and love the characters
- God Friended Me… 7–8pm, CBS, S Sep 29… Despite a goofy name and too many Facebook references, a delightful vehicle for Brandon Michael Hall and Violett Beane, a modern-day 7th Heaven
THURSDAYS
★★★★ Perfect Harmony
7:30–8pm, NBC, September 26
The pitch: The dad from Get Out as a washout Princeton music professor who stumbles onto a small-town church choir led by Pitch Perfect’s Anna. Think Pitch Perfect as a sitcom!! We all forgot about Glee, right??
Watch if you like: Brockmire, but a musical… Pitch Perfect, Glee, and other fun musical comedies… A new comedy from a director of Modern Family…
Skip if you: Hate Pitch Perfect and sitcoms and goofy casts of mismatched characters just finding their way in this crazy thing we call life
★★★ The Unicorn
7:30–8pm, CBS, September 26
The pitch: Boyd Crowder was awesome in Justified — let’s neuter him as The Unicorn, the attractive widowed father of two teenage girls ready to get back out there into the dating world. Dads can be single too!!
Watch if you like: Walton Goggins, who is awesome and needed to be back on TV… Having friends like Casual’s Valerie, the chubby black dude from Ballers, and Rob Corddry presents Rob Corddry… Classic sitcom tropes…
Skip if you: Just don’t like sitcoms, cuz this is about as sitcommy as they get
★★★★★ Sunnyside
8:30–9pm, NBC, September 26
The pitch: Washout politician Kumar (but actually!!) finds his calling leading a group of immigrants learning civic lessons in search of the American dream
Watch if you like: Kal Penn creating a show ostensibly about his own life… Other Michael Schur productions like Parks & Rec, The Office, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine… Relevant conversations about immigrants and the American dream in 2019… A deep, diverse cast of interesting characters…
Skip if you: Honestly if “Michael Schur and Kal Penn” isn’t enough to do it for you, I’m not really sure what we’re doing here. It’s a Thursday night NBC comedy and it’s literally right after The Good Place, so…
★ Carol’s Second Act
8:30–9pm, CBS, September 26
The pitch: Everybody Loves Raymond’s wife as a 50-year-old divorcee mother heading back to med school as an intern, and you won’t believe this, but all the other interns are barely half her age!!
Watch if you like: Medical sitcoms in the Year of our Lord 2019… Tired premises you’ve seen a million times before… Believing 50-year-olds deserve a second chance at this thing we call life, against all odds and millennials…
Skip if you: Don’t mind Patricia Heaton but a CBS multi-cam sitcom with a laugh track in 2019? Come on…
★★★★ Evil
9–10pm, CBS, September 26
The pitch: A psychologist, a priest, and a carpenter walk into a bar, as Westworld’s Emily teams up with Benjamin Linus and Luke Cage to investigate if there’s a logical, scientific explanation for the supernatural
Watch if you like: The X-Files… The stylings and writing of The Good Wife… The problem of evil… Science versus religion… The Church’s unexplained mysteries including presumed miracles, demonic possessions, and more…
Skip if you: Don’t like creepy television thrillers with the perfect cast trying to determine if the supernatural world can be explainable
SUNDAYS
★★★ Batwoman
7–8pm, CW, October 6
The pitch: Batman’s been missing three years, and Gotham City is in disarray. Enter OITNB’s Stella Carlin as Batwoman, the newest dark knight vigilante!!
Watch if you like: Batman… The CW Arrowverse shows like Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and many others… Our first gender-fluid television superhero…
Skip if you: Prefer old Batman reruns (BIFF!!), even if he’s definitely too expensive for network TV ■
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Shouts to some of my favorite TV readers Jody, Curt, Brianne, josh.mullan, Luke, serge, Lindsey, Gutbloom, Allan, Jim, Todd, Matthew, David, Sam, Ianic, Dan, Gwenna, Mike, Eric, Lon, Michael, Ryan, Scott, Marissa, Derek, and others!
