Upfronts Week, The Best and Worst New Shows

This week, as part of the annual Upfronts Presentation, networks unveiled their new fall schedules, including all the new shows. This fall there will be 17 new scripted series, two new reality series, and two re-boots ("Murphy Brown" and "Last Man Standing") hitting the air this fall. That's plenty of new stuff to consider.

Now that the schedules are out, you can check out my thoughts on each individual network's offerings. But in this post, I'm going to highlight the five new shows I thought looked promising, and the three to avoid. I limited it to just the 17 new scripted series (not including the re-boots with original casts).

This will likely change over the coming months, but if you want to see the full schedule and check out all the trailers for yourself, click here.

Most Promising New Shows:
1. All-American, The CW Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
About: This show is about a talented football player in a poor Southern California neighborhood that is given a chance to play for a school in a better area in Beverly Hills. For him it's a chance at a better life. But it doesn't come without its challenges. The show felt like a mixture of  "Friday Night Lights" and "The O.C.," and I feel like it has plenty of potential. It feels on-brand for The CW, but it also feels like a show that might attract a wider audience.

2. A Million Little Things, ABC Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
About: I'm not a huge fan of "This Is Us," but I generally liked the concept. An emotional, relationship-based drama can be a winner. Not too many shows sought to take advantage of that in the 2017-18 network season, but this year we might have more. The best of those, to me, was this drama on ABC. It centers on a group of friends that take a hard look at the value of relationships and life after the death of one of their group. David Guintoli, James Roday and Romany Malco in the lead group, which I also liked. This was something different, and it caught my eye.

3. New Amsterdam, NBC Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
About: Medical dramas are always a reliable ratings getter, and NBC wisely added a new hospital drama and placed it behind "This Is Us" this fall. I liked the look of it and I like the idea behind it. I think this could be a successful series, and I like the cast led by Ryan Eggold. The trailer pulled me in and I can't wait to see how the series develops.

4. The Rookie, ABC Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
About: This one goes up against "New Amsterdam," and it's in a traditionally tough timeslot for ABC. That being said, this show about a 40-year-old (Nathan Fillion) who decides to become the oldest rookie cop ever for the Los Angeles Police Department looks pretty good. Fillion is an affable lead, and I could see this developing into a steady and solid series.

5. FBI, CBS Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
About: What can I say, I'm jazzed about Tuesdays this fall. This is the third show on this list that's a new show this fall, this one coming from Dick Wolf and focusing on the FBI. It's a procedural, something the network does very well, and the shots from the pilot looked pretty interesting. So I'm excited to see what this one will bring to viewers this fall.

Least Promising New Shows:
1. Magnum P.I., CBS Mondays at 9 p.m.
About: I praised, and now I condemn. Maybe it's my affinity for the original, but I thought re-booting "Magnum" seemed like a bad idea. Then I saw the trailer for the series, and I knew it was a bad idea. This just looks like an awful misfire, and one that will likely rub fans of the original the wrong way. Poor casting, poor production, just poor.

2. Rel, FOX Sundays at 9:30 p.m.
About: FOX only has two new shows (and the re-boot of "Last Man Standing") this fall, and it looks bad. I wasn't buying the humor as I watched the trailer, nor was I buying the set up. I'm not sure what they're going for. And the show is planted behind the animation lineup on FOX, so it's scheduling feels a bit rough, too.

3. The Cool Kids, FOX Fridays at 8:30 p.m.
About: This is the other new show on FOX this fall, and it's "better," but that's a qualified observation. It's not good. It's about a group of feisty adults making the most of life while living in a retirement community and the trailer just didn't grab me. Again, I don't know what they're going for here, and I don't know what FOX is trying to establish as a network brand. But it's going to be interesting to see how it goes this fall.