10 NEW SHOWS WORTH MAKING TIME TO WATCH
This fall, everything old is old again. Do you like military shows? There are three, so interchangeable they might as well be called Gun Go Bang. There are three more superhero shows, all from Marvel, and three reboots — Dynasty, S.W.A.T. and Will & Grace — with a fourth, Roseanne, due later this season. In other words, if you thought last fall’s creative standouts This is Us, Atlanta, Speechless and Insecure were going to spur the TV industry to ever greater heights — they didn’t. Every season has its high points, but as a whole, this one is shaping up to be far less impressive than the last. Still, there are some good options out there, spread among broadcast, cable and streaming networks. Finding them in this era of near-daily premieres, however, is the trick — which is why USA TODAY’s Robert Bianco offers this guide to fall’s 10 best bets, in chronological order. Mark your calendars and plunge in.
THE DEUCE HBO, SEPT. 10
(Sundays, 9 ET/PT)
James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in this incredibly evocative series about the birth of the porn industry in a decaying, decadent early-1970s New York City. While that sounds interesting, here’s what should put the show on top of any must-see list: It’s co-produced by David Simon, who gave us what might be TV’s greatest drama series, The Wire. Which means that once the eight-episode season gets going (and it’s a somewhat slow starter) you can count on it being about much more than just porn and sex and the ’70s, delving deep into where we are as a society today.
THE VIETNAM WAR PBS, SEPT. 17
(Sundays through Thursdays, 8 ET/PT, times may vary)
With their latest film for PBS, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick tackle what may be their most controversial topic yet: a war that ripped apart our nation’s social and political fabric, creating divisions that exist to this day. For 18 hours over 10 nights, they attempt to explain the war and its effects, offering as many perspectives as possible while trying to answer a question that still haunts so many who lived through the conflict: “How could this have happened?” It’s a hard question to face, but the wounds may never heal if we don’t.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
CBS ALL ACCESS, SEPT. 24
(first episode airs on CBS, Sunday at 8:30 ET/PT)
Fans have seen no more than a trailer so far, but that’s been enough to thrill many Star Trek devotees while enraging a few others. (The “rage” part mostly
comes from those who seem unable to cope with the very idea of a Star Trek series being built around a woman of color, Sonequa Martin- Green.) The trailer is certainly impressive — far more impressive than any new drama on CBS — so Discovery probably ranks as the most highly anticipated new series. Let’s just hope that anticipation is rewarded.
YOUNG SHELDON CBS, SEPT. 25
(special preview Monday,
8:30 ET/PT; moves to Thursdays, 8:30 ET/PT Nov. 2)
If you’re looking for the show that has the clearest path to success, look no further than this Big Bang prequel, narrated by Jim Parsons, that focuses on a 9-yearold version of his Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) and his mother — Zoe Perry, whose real-life mom, Laurie Metcalf, plays Sheldon’s in Big Bang. The pilot, while promising, is also a shade underwhelming: It’s more sweet than funny, and sometimes more sour than sweet. But there’s no one better than producer Chuck Lorre at tweaking a good pilot into a great series, fixing what went wrong as he goes. As he did with Bang.
WILL & GRACE NBC, SEPT. 28
(Thursdays, 9 ET/PT)
Yes, there are far too many remakes coming — and most for shows that would be better left dead. But this one, well, the time just could be right for Will’s return. The stars seem excited and on top of their games; the creators are back on board; and we’re all in dire need of a comedy that is laugh-out-loud funny, as Will was at its height. Maybe it will all still go the way of Netflix’s dismal Arrested Development return, but as long as optimism remains free, why not be optimistic?
TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY ABC, OCT. 1
(Sundays, 10 ET/PT)
I’m not in favor of TV shows coming back to life, but I’m all for great TV actors returning — and few are finer than Kyra Sedgwick. This time she plays a TV producer whose daughter is kidnapped, a crime that reveals the secrets of everyone it touches. This 10-episode limited series gets off to a beautifully taut start, and you don’t have to worry about being left hanging. The producer promises the main story will be wrapped up in the finale.
THE GIFTED FOX, OCT. 2
(Mondays, 9 ET/PT)
Goodness, it’s an odd year for Marvel. The company has given its corporate cousin ABC what looks ( based on an admittedly incomplete pilot) like the season’s worst new series in Marvel’s Inhumans, while handing rival Fox the best series it has yet produced. So what sets apart this X-Men offshoot, about a family on the run from anti-mutant agents, from those failures? Stakes. The pilot and the actors immediately make you care about these characters and their plight, and make you eager to see what happens next. For this company’s TV division, that’s a marvel.
THE MAYOR ABC, OCT. 3
(Tuesdays, 9:30 ET/PT)
In a weak season for new sitcoms, this amusing ABC effort stands out on the strength of its appealing cast, led by Brandon Micheal Hall as a young rapperturned-accidental-mayor and Yvette Nicole Brown as his mom. The premise (he runs for office as a publicity stunt and is dismayed when he wins) comes across as silly, even with its current-events overtones, but that may not matter. The show itself seems to turn on the relationship between the young mayor and his mom, and that looks rock-solid.
MINDHUNTER NETFLIX, OCT. 13
Charlize Theron and Gone Girl’s David Fincher produce this new series, based on Mark Olshaker and famous profiler John Douglas’ non-fiction book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. That’s pretty much all we know about it, but the source material, Fincher’s involvement and that of stars Jonathan Groff, Anna Torv and Holt McCallany are enough to earn the series a spot on your calendar.
FUTURE MAN HULU, NOV. 14
Seth Rogen brings his unrestrained sense of humor to this amiable fantasy comedy about a janitor (Josh Hutcherson) whose video-game skills may prove the key to saving mankind — if the game’s heroine-come-to-life (Eliza Coupe) doesn’t get him killed first. As you might expect from Rogen, Man’s a little on the raunchy side, but underneath it are some good performances and some sly comments on our neverending affection for violent entertainment.