This Fall’s new slate of TV shows is a little less than impressive at first glance. Whether it’s the multitudes of multi-camera comedies, melodramatic dramas or redundant remakes, there just isn’t as much anticipation this September as there has been in past years.
That doesn’t mean we should just ignore all the new shows until they go away—and history tells us most of them will. There are a few worth checking out, some purely to appease our morbid curiosity, but some because they look genuinely unique and fresh.
To simplify your viewing choices, here are nine TV shows you definitely give a chance to win you over:
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Premiered Tuesday, September 17 at 8:30pm
Don’t worry, Andy Samberg doesn’t lay on his schtick as heavily as you might expect in his sitcom debut. Playing a talented wisecracking detective, he’s also surrounded by a solid cast including Andre Braugher as his uber-serious Captain, Terry Crews as his sergeant who yearns for a job far away from any action, and Joe Lo Truglio as a spineless try-hard detective. Samberg’s the centerpiece, but his backup is bound to steal plenty of scenes.
The Michael J. Fox Show
Premieres Thursday, September 26 at 9:30pm
Michael J. Fox must have been scientifically engineered to be perfect for TV. In the last few years he’s had enormously successful guest stints on The Good Wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Rescue Me, earning five Guest Actor Emmy noms, including one win, so he’s capable of carrying this show on his own. Loosely based on Fox’s own experience trying to restart his career after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the series also features Betsy Brandt (Marie from Breaking Bad) and Wendell Pierce (Bunk Moreland from The Wire).
Lucky 7
Premieres Tuesday, September 24 at 10:00pm
Based on UK TV series The Syndicate, Lucky 7 follows a group of gas station employees who win the lottery and learn the truth behind the classic Puff Daddy idiom: “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” The only faces you’re likely to recognize are Matt Long—who played that guy, you know, from that thing—and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (another alumnus of The Wire who played Senator Clay Davis), so hopefully the lack of star power means better development of characters and stories.
Almost Human
Premieres Monday, November 4 at 8:00pm
From producer J.J. Abrams comes a futuristic buddy-cop premise where each police officer is paired with a robot. Karl Urban (who played Bones in the Star Trek reboots) stars as an old-fashioned rogue cop who finds himself coupled up with a unique cyborg (Michael Ealy)—his partner is last year’s model and has a slight glitch: it’s programmed to feel (and be sarcastic, apparently). Almost Human has huge potential to delve into deeper themes explored in films like I, Robot and Minority Report, and as a police procedural is more likely to find a broad enough audience to stick around a while.
Ironside
Premieres Wednesday, October 2 at 10:00pm
Not all reboots have to be dull retreads, right? This modern update stars a dark, angry Blair Underwood as the wheelchair-bound title role and certainly seems a lot more serious than some other recent remakes (see: Hawaii Five-O). The cast also includes Spencer Grammer (Kelsey’s daughter), Pablo Schreiber (formerly of The Wire—is there a pattern here?—as well as Orange is the New Black) and TV vet Brent Sexton (who you’ll recognize from The Killing and Justified).
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Premieres Tuesday, September 24 at 8:00pm
If you’ve turned on a TV in the last month there’s no way you haven’t already seen a commercial for this superhero drama starring Clark Gregg—who also played Agent Coulson in The Avengers. The biggest draw is that it was created by geek-hero Joss Whedon, while the biggest drawback is that there won’t be any actual Avengers—though ABC is hinting at some big-time cameos.
The Blacklist
Premieres Monday, September 23 at 10:00pm
Likely the most buzzed-about TV drama, James Spader stars as a master criminal-turned-FBI informant, but we’re not sure why. He’ll only communicate through a rookie agent, though (played by Megan Boone), and again we don’t know why. But hey, it’s James Spader playing a creepy guy so how could we not watch?
MasterChef Junior
Premieres Friday, September 27 at 8:00pm
Cooking shows are trending high these days, and perhaps none is quite as hot as MasterChef. MasterChef Junior gives the tried-and-true recipe a little twist: the contestants, as you might guess, are kids. It’ll fascinating to see what concoctions they come up with, but the fun will be in watching Gordon Ramsay try to hold his tongue and his temper when things go awry.
Hostages
Premieres Monday, September 23 at 10:00pm
How are they going to turn this closed-ended drama into a whole series? That’ll be the biggest challenge for Hostages, which sports a super cast including Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott and Tate Donovan. The premise isn’t nearly as exciting on paper as a dozen other TV thrillers, but seeing how the writers unravel the story is more than enough reason to give Hostages a shot.
