Fall TV Preview


The Fall TV Season officially gets under way today, with Neil Patrick Harris' "Best Time Ever" among those shows premiering tonight. So now it's a good time to look ahead to the best of what's coming this fall! In this post I'll preview five I'm excited about and three that could be early cancellation victims.

The Best:
1. Blindspot, Mondays at 10 p.m. on NBC (Premiers September 21)
This looks like a fascinating new series. I like star Jamie Alexander ("Thor") and I like the potential of this to be an interesting, serialized mystery. It's getting a plumb spot behind "The Voice," and faces little competition in "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "Castle."

2. Man in the High Castle, streaming on Amazon Prime (Premiers November 20)
This show was part of Amazon's last pilot season, and I loved it. It's based on a Philip K. Dick story that imagines the United States after World War II if the Germans and Japanese had one. Basically the United States gets split in two — ala Germany — with the Eastern half controlled by the Nazis and the West Coast controlled by the Japanese. The pilot was fantastic and I can't wait to see how this series develops.

3. Quantico, Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC (Premiers September 27)
This series is about a group of FBI recruits who get entangled in a terrorist plot. It's part who done it, part serialized drama and probably part prime time soap, knowing ABC. Still, I like the set up and the potential. ABC has done this formula well before with the Shondaland empire, so let's see how it goes with "Quantico."

4. Code Black, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS (Premiers September 30)
This medical drama looks to bring a bit more seriousness to the genre than we get in "Grey's Anatomy." Marcia Gay Harden leads a solid cast, and I get the feeling this will be an engrossing look at a busy and packed ER.

5. Supergirl, Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBS (Premiers October 26)
This is the latest in the superhero invasion on the small screen. It comes from the producers of "Arrow" and "The Flash," and it puts a female superhero in the lead role. I think this has a chance to be a bit of light-hearted fun in a genre that's getting a little heavy at the movies.

Three to Avoid:
1. Life in Pieces, Mondays at 8:30 p.m. (Premiers September 21)
CBS struggles to make comedies — at least comedies I'd want to watch. This looks like another prime example. It's getting the slot behind "The Big Bang Theory," and it's got a good cast, but nothing about the trailers and clips looks funny.

2. Angel From Hell, Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBS (Premiers November 5)
See above about CBS and comedies… This one has Jane Lynch, who can be funny, but the premise feels week. And watching the clips of it makes me sad.

3. Truth Be Told, Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on NBC (Premiers October 16)
NBC isn't any better in making comedies. This is the only new sitcom for NBC in the fall, and one of only two comedies on the schedule at all. And it looks awful. It even under went a name change (from "People Are Talking"), and that didn't help.

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