The weather may be turning cold, but fall television is heating up! If you’re like me, you wait all summer for September and October, the months where you can finally reunite with your favorite TV shows, and welcome new ones. There are tons of previews out already, so let’s check out the lineup!
OLDIES BUT GOODIES:
Vampire Diaries:
Premieres: Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8/7c (The CW)
We can’t talk about returning shows without including The Vampire Diaries. Back for its fifth season, this steamy drama is usually mentioned at least once during orientation when new Emory students find out Vampire Diaries is filmed on the Oxford campus. If you were around Oxford this summer, chances are you were lucky enough to ogle Ian Somerhalder (looking that hot should be illegal).
Grey’s Anatomy:
Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 26 at 9/8c (ABC)
The tenth season of Grey’s promises to be a good one. With the season finale leaving us with more questions than answers, we’re all dying to know (SPOILER ALERT): is the Chief dead? Will Avery and April get together? Can Callie forgive Arizona? How will Meredith handle motherhood times two? Let’s not forget that in season 8 Jackson contemplated coming to Emory for his fellowship (we almost had him, but he decided to stay at Seattle Grace). Even with these burning questions, Grey’s will say goodbye to Sandra Oh, who plays Christina, at the end of the season. Will there be a season 11 with so many original cast members gone? I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.
Scandal:
Premieres: Thursday, Oct. 3 at 10/9c (ABC)
Where do I begin? I will admit, I was a late-comer to Scandal. Even so, after the first episode I was HOOKED. This show follows Olivia Pope and associates, a group of private investigators who run a crisis management firm. Scandal has everything one wants in a television show: suspense, drama, steamy romance, comedic relief, and a killer script. *Note: If you are catching up, do NOT skip ahead. Each episode builds off the next so it’s important to go in order. Any HCE Gladiators out there?
How I Met Your Mother
Premieres: Monday, Sept. 23 at 8/7c (CBS)
As we say goodbye to HIMYM, we must wonder if it will still hold a place in our hearts after discovering who THE mother is. The producers of the finale made a bold move by revealing the ending of the show before the season airs. This takes out most of the suspense from this season of HIMYM, and could possibly make it a little dry, but the only way to find out is to see for yourself. Plus, it has a special place in our hearts, so it wouldn’t feel right to ignore it in its final hour without a proper goodbye.
THE FRESHIES:
Hostages:
Premieres: Monday, Sept. 23, 10/9c (CBS)
Watch the trailer! It got my adrenaline pumping and definitely convinced me to keep an eye out for the premier. Hostages is said to be based on an Israeli series that was never produced. Toni Collette (from this summer’s The Way Way Back) plays Ellen Sanders, a surgeon who is hired to operate on the President of the U.S. When a rogue FBI agent, played by Dylan McDermott, kidnaps her family and threatens their lives unless Ellen kills the president… things heat up. It’ll be interesting to see how the storyline can stretch through an entire season, but the strong acting, writing, and plot-line promises a lot of potential.
Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Premieres: Sunday, Sept. 29, 10/9c
Anyone miss Janis Ian? Well Lizzy Caplan is back for a show that promises to be full of zest. Masters of Sex is based on the biography Master’s of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson by Thomas Maier. It is a drama about the researchers who kicked off the sexual revolution with their findings on human sexual response and disorders in the ‘50s. Masters of Sex has already been honored with the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series so we should all keep an eye out for this one.
The Crazy Ones
Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 26, 9/8c (CBS)
Robin Williams is back for another round of comedy in his first TV series since Mork & Mindy in the late ‘70s. Robin Williams plays Simon Roberts, a goofy businessman in the advertising agency he runs with his Type-A daughter Sydney, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The Crazy Ones is sure to be an engaging comedy about the difficulties of working with a father who has the same level of seriousness as a kid. The first episode includes Kelly Clarkson.*Tip: The closing-credits are sure to have some hilarious bloopers, so stick around for them!
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 8/7c (ABC)
Fans of the Marvel Comics will be excited by this new series. The creators of The Avengers bring you this series based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D (Strategic, Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). Agent Phil Coulson (Robert Clark Gregg), who we all thought was killed in The Avengers, is back for more action. Agent Coulson organizes a small team, named S.H.I.E.L.D., to tackle new cases of emerging superhuman people around the world. Along with Masters of Sex, the series was honored with the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series.
Hope this got you excited for some couch time with your remote in hand–enjoy procrastinating from your homework, and happy viewing!