The rest of the picture on the small screen
See what you’ll find night by night and on cable
What’s our take on the rest of fall TV’s new network crop? USA TODAY critic Robert Bianco offers night-by-night evaluations based on available pilots and the talents involved. We’re focused on the broadcast networks, even in this age of increased outlets, because they alone launch full nightly schedules of original programming.
MONDAY
LIFE IN PIECES
CBS, 8:30 ET/PT, Sept. 21
Dianne Wiest, Colin Hanks, Betsy Brandt and James Brolin head a strong cast in this multigenerational comedy that links four stories every week in a way that’s reminiscent of Modern Family. There’s little question Family is a fine comedy — but we already have a Family, and the one we have is much funnier than Life’s pilot.
MINORITY REPORT
Fox, 9 ET/PT, Sept. 21
If you need evidence of the networks’ growing desperation, you’ll find it in this year’s onslaught of remakes. The problem with this update of the Steven Spielberg film is that most everything feels recycled, from the core relationship between a female cop (Meagan Good) and her secret “precog ” partner (Stark Sands) to the emphasis on computers over character.
TUESDAY
THE MUPPETS
ABC, 8 ET/PT, Sept. 22
The Muppets are back with this mockumentary exploration of their private lives, set behind the scenes at a Kermit-led talk show. Nothing but a short (and underwhelming) clip has been shown, but let’s hope ABC’s enthusiasm is warranted.
SCREAM QUEENS
Fox, 9 ET/PT, Sept. 22
If you’re a devoted fan of Ryan Murphy ( Glee, American Horror Story) and the slasher films this broad mix of comedy and horror is both spoofing and saluting, you may be delighted by his latest Fox series, about a sorority being stalked by a serial killer. Or you may find it shy on both shocks and laughs, despite a very amusing turn by Jamie Lee Curtis as a sorority-hating dean.
CHICAGO MED
NBC, 9 ET/PT, Nov. 17
With stars S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt, this latest spinoff from Dick Wolf ’s Chicago Fire likely will rise above the ranks of the season’s worst shows. But it still ranks among the least ambitious and most depressing, if only because it’s another reminder of how far NBC’s drama slate has fallen since Wolf ’s first (and best) series, Law & Order.
BEST TIME EVER WITH NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
NBC, 10 ET/PT, Sept. 15
Not that NBC is going totally ambition-free this season. It’s trying (again) to relaunch the prime-time variety genre with this live mix of skits, music and game-show stunts. With the complications of a live broadcast, the odds are against Best Time. But here’s hoping Harris and NBC beat those odds, because it would be nice to see something different succeed.
WICKED CITY
ABC, 10 ET/PT, Oct. 27
In a series once planned for midseason, and unscreened for critics, Jeremy Sisto stars as a cop on the trail of Los Angeles murderers in this 1980s-set series.
LIMITLESS
CBS, 10 ET/PT, Sept. 22
Jake McDorman steps in for Bradley Cooper in this movie sequel as an underachiever-turned-crimefighter, thanks to a brain-boosting pill. It’s possible that Cooper (who gets a cameo and a producer’s credit) was able to help viewers of the original film sail past any plot holes. Without him, alas, it’s virtually all hole.
WEDNESDAY
ROSEWOOD
Fox, 8 ET/PT, Sept. 23
Morris Chestnut, who stars as the most famous, brilliant and handsome private pathologist in Miami, is a very appealing actor. It’s just not clear that any actor could make you want to sit through yet another variation on the overly confident, House- like hero who’s good at his job and bad at his life.
CODE BLACK
CBS, 10 ET/PT, Sept. 30
The season’s most tedious new doctor show is a been-there, operated-on-that tour of a Los Angeles emergency room where, for some reason, the staff seems proud to be so swamped by patients and chaos that it has to declare a “code black.” Viewers and patients alike are advised to check in elsewhere.
THURSDAY
HEROES REBORN
NBC, 8 ET/PT, Sept. 24
Anyone whose memory of this former NBC series is limited to the first season probably is excited about this unpreviewed reboot. Anyone whose memory extends to Seasons 2 through 4 — probably less so.
ANGEL FROM HELL
CBS, 9:30 ET/PT, Nov. 5
Jane Lynch plays an outspoken, fast-living woman who may be a guardian angel in this comedy. You won’t find a role more suited to Lynch’s post- Glee persona, but the show needs to give us a better reason to spend time with the type of person many would cross the street to avoid.
THE PLAYER
NBC, 10 ET/PT, Sept. 24
You can understand why NBC was drawn to the idea of The Player, which stars Philip Winchester as a security expert recruited by Wesley Snipes’ mysterious mastermind to stop crimes while wealthy gamblers bet on the outcome. It’s less easy to understand why NBC thought this muddled, violent mess could work as a series.
FRIDAY
DR. KEN
ABC, 8:30 ET/PT, Oct. 2
As Community proved, Ken Jeong can be very funny in small doses. Whether you want to watch him star in a series depends on how large a dose you’re willing to take — and how confident you are that he will eventually turn into a better, more nuanced actor.
TRUTH BE TOLD
NBC, 8:30 ET/PT, Oct. 16
If Dr. Ken’s challenge is persuading viewers to watch another episode, Truth’s is getting viewers to stay tuned after the first five minutes of a forced, witless sitcom about two best friends (Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tone Bell) who talk about everything and say nothing.
SUNDAY
BLOOD & OIL
ABC, 9 ET/PT, Sept. 27
Miami Vice’s Don Johnson returns to prime time as a North Dakota oil baron whose monopoly is challenged by two shrewd newcomers (Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse).
QUANTICO
ABC, 10 ET/PT, Sept. 27
India’s Priyanka Chopra makes an impressive U.S. debut as Alex, an FBI recruit caught up in the investigation of a terrorist attack. As in How to Get Away With Murder, the show jumps back and forth in time as we meet her fellow recruits and try to figure out which might be the terrorist.