San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Intriguing shows to look out for this season.
Even in the age of constant streaming premieres, fall remains the season in which television offers up its biggest and brightest releases. From original shows to highly anticipated returns, autumn marks the start of a brand-new chapter in serialized entertainment.
What’s worth checking out? Here are the best bets across network, cable and streaming services coming in fall 2021:
“American Rust”: Based on the incredible novel by Philipp Meyer, “American Rust” is a character study about a small-town sheriff ( Jeff Daniels), who is forced to protect the son of the woman he loves (Maura Tierney) after he is suspected of being involved in a drug-related murder.
Bleak and tense-looking, the show explores the fall of the American rural middle class. It won’t be a comforting show, but if it manages to capture even a fraction of the heartbreak and beauty of its source material, it will be more than worth watching.
Watch it: Drama. 10 p.m. Sundays starting Sept. 12 on Showtime.
“Our Kind of People”: The year’s most compelling new network drama looks to be the latest from producer Karen Gist (“Mixed-ish,” “Grey’s Anatomy”), who tackles the lives of the Black 1% in Fox’s “Our Kind of People.”
The series follows Angela Vaughn (Yaya DaCosta), a single mom who recently made a splash with a revolutionary line of hair care products highlighting natural Black beauty. She invades Martha’s Vineyard to reclaim her place among her mother’s kin, who look down on her as a low-class offshoot, unworthy of being in their midst. Trouble ensues as Vaughn begins uncovering the dark secrets hidden behind the finery. Watch it: Drama. 9 p.m. Tuesdays starting Sept. 21 on Fox. Streaming on Hulu starting Sept. 22.
“The Wonder Years”: Reboots of ’90sera favorites are in right now, with “Doogie Howser,” “Charmed,” and “Roseanne” all getting major revivals in recent years. The latest offering is a new version of “The Wonder Years,” which this time will focus on a Black family in 1960s
Montgomery, Ala.
The show stars Elisha “EJ” Williams as Dean Williams, our coming-of-age hero navigating sports, family and romance; with Don Cheadle (“Iron Man 2”) set as the narrator looking back on his life. Original series star Fred Savage, an executive producer of the new series, is also set to return, but this time behind the scenes as director.
Watch it: Comedy. 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays starting Sept. 22 on ABC. Streaming on Hulu starting Sept. 23.
“Queens”: Four women (played by Eve, Brandy, Naturi Naughton and Nadine Velazquez) who ruled the hip-hop charts in the 1990s find themselves middle-aged and largely left behind by the new generation. Despite having new lives as suburban family women, talk show hosts and a struggling singer-songwriter career in dive bars for Brandy’s character, the team feels they have one last shot to live up to their previous potential.
Aided by their manager (Taylor Sele), who is going through a crisis of conscience over his past mistakes, the unruly quartet try to reconnect with each other as well as a return to stardom.
Watch it: Drama. 10 p.m. Tuesdays starting Oct. 19 on ABC. Streaming on Hulu starting Oct. 20.
“Succession”: Producer Jesse Armstrong (“In the Loop”) crafted the perfect show for Trump’s America in “Succession,” a Machiavellian drama loosely based on the family of conservative news titan Rupert Murdoch. The show follows the corrupt and treacherous family of Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as they try to wheel and deal their way into greater positions of power, even as the crimeridden empire begins to crumble. Season two saw a major turn in the family, as one member finally pointed media scrutiny toward the patriarch; but the ending left some hints that this might have been part of Logan’s plans all along.
Assuming you haven’t gotten enough high-level intrigue from the news, season three of “Succession” looks like it will continue its horrifying but fascinating exploration of the closest thing America has to rotten nobility.
Watch it: Drama. Premieres in October on HBO and HBO Max.
“Dexter: New Blood”: The gruesome show about an altruistic serial killer remains one of the best things that Showtime has ever produced, so it’s not surprising that a new limited series is on the horizon, set 10 years after the apocalyptic finale of season eight. Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is now living a quiet life under a new name in Iron Lake, N.Y., hoping to have put his “dark passenger” (the voice that compelled him to kill) to rest. However, a set of incidents in his new life might be starting to trigger the passenger’s return.
The limited series is not meant to serve as a ninth season, but rather a side story starring Dexter that changes the usual settings that appeared in the main series. Whether this will lead to more “Dexter” episodes in the future is unknown, but for now, it’s a chance to check in on one of television’s most engaging monsters as he tries to be a better person. Watch it: Drama. Premieres Nov. 7 on Showtime.
“Doctor Who”: It seems as though fans can expect an incredibly impactful season of the long-running British science fiction series, which centers around a time traveling alien called the Doctor, who fights monsters across the universe. Earlier this year, current star Jodie Whittaker announced that she would be leaving the role at the end of this season and a couple of specials, thus closing the door on the first (and hopefully not the last) woman to assume the role of the Time Lord.
Precautions from COVID-19 put a huge monkey wrench in the production, and series 13 will consist of only six episodes. All that’s known for sure at this point is that the Doctor and Yaz (Mandip Gill) will be joined by a new companion, Dan ( John Bishop), who is rumored to be the descendant of a previous traveler in the Doctor’s ship, and that the Weeping Angels (beings that masquerade as stone statues while you’re looking at them but who can attack in the blink of an eye) will be making an appearance this season. It’s the end of an era, and hopefully the beginning of a new one.
Watch it: Drama. Premieres late 2021 on BBC America.