Get excited to watch these TV shows this fall
The fall TV season isn’t what it used to be — the other three seasons have long since caught up — but the months between now and year’s end still bring an embarrassment of riches. And we’re not just talking about the Roys.
From the long-awaited second season of “The Morning Show” to another “Real Housewives” scandal to a new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the saga of a media magnate’s hangers-on knifing each other in the back, you won’t be without stories to discuss at the proverbial watercooler. Here are the shows we’re most excited about this fall.
‘Only Murders in the Building’: Steve Martin co-created this citizen-sleuth comedy in which he stars along with Martin Short and Selena Gomez as residents of an upper Manhattan apartment building who come together over their love of a true-crime podcast. Soon enough, they’re investigating a mystery of their own — and maybe making a podcast about it. The humor is human, not wacky — if you get a little sad now and again, that’s part of the plan. Hulu, Aug. 31
‘American Crime Story: Impeachment’: He’s done O.J. Simpson. He’s done Gianni Versace. Now it’s time for producer Ryan Murphy to reconsider yet another scandal from the ’90s with “American Crime Story: Impeachment.” The series boasts an all-star cast including Beanie Feldstein as White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Clive Owen as President Bill Clinton and Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, the Pentagon employee who surreptitiously
recorded her phone calls with Lewinsky. With playwright Sarah Burgess as showrunner, the series treats Lewinsky, who was involved as a producer, as a sympathetic protagonist rather than a punchline. FX, Sept. 7
‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’: Filming on the second season of the franchise’s 10th addition coincided with hot-tempered Jen Shah getting arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering in an alleged telemarketing scheme. Her legal crisis will no doubt make for some slick flashback editing and “to be continued...” moments. Bravo, Sept. 12
‘Back to Life’: This quirky British series has a darkly comic vibe that may at first glance seem similar to “Fleabag,” but it’s quite distinct. Daisy Haggard, who created the show, stars as Miri Matteson, who is awkwardly trying to rebuild her life after spending
almost two decades in prison for committing a horrific crime. She meets endless obstacles, and Miri’s life is likely not going to get easier in the second season. Showtime, Sept. 13
‘Y: The Last Man’: Based on Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Eisner Award-winning comic book series, “Y: The Last Man” is set in a world where every single mammal with a Y chromosome suddenly and pretty horrifically dies one day — except for a cisgender man named Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. Besides the mystery around the tragedy and Yorick and Ampersand’s immunity, the survivors also have to figure out how to rebuild a functional society and maybe avoid human extinction. FX on Hulu, Sept. 13
‘The Morning Show’: Season two of the newsroom drama, which laid bare the cutthroat culture of chatty news programs in its freshman run, returns nearly two
years after its debut. Host Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) has quit the morning show, her relationship with co-anchor Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) is hanging by a thread and a shamed Matt Lauer-esque Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) is poised to make a comeback. New additions to the cast include Hasan Minhaj and Julianna Margulies. Apple TV+, Sept. 17
‘The Big Leap’: In 2014, a British docuseries recruited a group of average-size amateur dancers and trained them for a performance of “Swan Lake.” This hourlong show fictionalizes the endeavor with earnest emotionality about life’s second chances and follows, among others, an unemployed man hoping to win back a spouse, a single mom trying to overcome depression and a famous athlete working to fix his reputation. Scott Foley adds humor and conflict as the producer of the show within a show. Fox, Sept. 20 ‘La Brea’: The mysterious promos that aired during the Tokyo Olympics didn’t reveal much, except that a giant sinkhole has opened up in the middle of Los Angeles and plunged a lot of unfortunate residents deep, deep, deep underground — into what the program notes describe as a “mysterious and primeval” world. Natalie Zea, who has played supporting roles in “Justified,” “The Shield” and several other series, is the star. NBC, Sept. 28
‘The Way Down’: Directed by Marina Zenovich, “The Way Down” takes a probing look at Gwen Shamblin Lara, leader of the Remnant Fellowship Church in Tennessee and founder of a controversial faith-based weight-loss program called the Weigh Down Workshop. Lara, who died in a plane crash in May, became a bestselling author and media personality whose program was adopted in thousands of churches worldwide, but she was accused of promoting dangerous ideas and abusive practices. HBO Max, Sept. 30
‘Dopesick’: Based on Beth Macy’s nonfiction book “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” the eight-episode series centers on a pharmaceutical company that set off the opioid epidemic, as well as the people caught in its grip. Michael Keaton, in his first TV role since the late ’70s, stars as a doctor who finds himself embroiled in Big Pharma’s deadly secret. Hulu, Oct. 13
‘Queens’: This prime-time soap from “Scandal” writer and executive producer Zahir McGhee centers on the members of an all-female ’90s hip-hop group who attempt to mount a comeback in their 40s. Though the premise sounds similar to “Girls5Eva,” the tone and approach is decidedly different and boasts real-life hit-makers Eve and Brandy in its cast. ABC, Oct. 19
‘Dexter: New Blood’: Television’s favorite serial killer returns for a 10-part revival of “Dexter,” with Michael C. Hall reprising his role as the awkwardly charming forensics expert by day, deadly avenger by night. Jennifer Carpenter will reportedly return as his sister Deb, even though she was famously killed off in the 2013 finale of the eight-season drama. Showtime, Nov. 7
‘Hawkeye’: Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, is admittedly not the most exciting member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers. But “Hawkeye” is set to introduce Kate Bishop, who in the comics is a teen who takes on the Hawkeye mantle when she joins the next generation superhero team the Young Avengers, and that’s plenty exciting. Disney+, Nov. 24
‘The Beatles: Get Back’: “Get Back” is Peter Jackson’s hyper-extended happy cut of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 film documenting the birth of the album that would be called “Let It Be,” seemingly along with the death of the band that was making it. (It ended up being the last Beatles album released, though “Abbey Road” was made after it.) Jackson’s version, which restores the album’s original title, argues that the Fab Four were having fun and working like a band in between the scenes of passive-aggression. Disney+, Nov. 25