You’ve settled into your new room, given up on your resolution to get up early and eat breakfast this year, and are already sick of running your highlighters dry trying to keep yourself focused on your reading. It’s that time of year again.
The first official day of Fall is just around the corner, though and the leaves are starting to turn. You know what that means: a whole new means of procrastination is right around the corner. An entirely new crop of TV shows begins any minute now. Read on if you, like me, can’t decide where to start.
1. If you liked The Wonder Years, you should watch The Goldbergs
Starring Wendi McLendon-Covey as a big-haired, big-mouthed mother struggling to keep her cool, The Goldbergs takes us back to the 80s. Despite being narrated with a little less nostalgic charm than the aforementioned Wonder Years, The Goldbergs leans on the comedic timing of TV Dad Jeff Garlin. Garlin, of Daddy Day Care fame, hilariously tackles milestone moments like teaching his son to drive, blasting the radio, and belting his heart out. When Mom and Dad need a break, they ship the kids over to Grandpa’s house, where they learn about life’s harsh realities from their frank but sweet grandfather (George Segal). The kids, played by Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, and Hayley Orrantia, remind us that slamming doors and wriggling out of Christmas sweaters is timeless, though the show is as firmly rooted in the 1980s as legwarmers. The Goldbergs premieres September 24 on ABC and airs Tuesdays at 9.
2. If you like Once Upon A Time, you should watch Sleepy Hollow
Based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and mirroring the fairy-tale-time-warp trope of Once Upon A Time and its new spin-off Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow begins when Ichabod Crane, played by Tom Mison (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), finds himself transported to 2013. The Headless Horseman follows Crane from fairly tale to future, and what comes next is a flurry of folk story characters meeting the modern day criminal justice system. As the Horseman continues a murderous rampage, Mison’s Crane meets Detective Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), and, if Sleepy Hollow is as Once… as it seems, I’m predicting a love affair before you can say ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ Sleepy Hollow premieres September 16 on FOX and airs Mondays at 9.
3. If you like Revenge and Scandal, you should watch Betrayal
If your idea of unwinding on a Sunday night includes cold-blooded murder and forbidden sex, Betrayal is just what you’re looking for. It chronicles the budding romance between Sara Hanley (Hannah Ware) and Jack McAllister, (Stuart Townsend) which seems innocent enough. The catch is that both Sara and Jack are married. Plot twist! The two, who conveniently travel in high-powered (and often political) circles, face another roadblock when someone they know is murdered. Curious to watch it unravel? Betrayal premieres September 29 on ABC and airs Sundays at 10.
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4. If you like The Lonely Island, you should watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine
If you have been pining over Andy Samberg since his departure from SNL as I have been, calmed only by his presence on your TV in commercials for his new sitcom, then have no fear: the wait is over. He’s back! This time, Samberg plays a young cop who may need handcuffs of his own. Samberg, playing Detective Jake Peralta, finds his proclivity towards goofing off a point of conflict with his new partner, Melissa Furnero’s straight-laced Detective Amy Santiago’s more serious demeanor. Though early reviews say some jokes fall flat, Samberg’s presence is enough to draw me in, at least for an episode or two. Brooklyn Nine-Nine premieres September 17 on FOX and airs Tuesdays at 8:30.
5. If you liked The New Normal, you should watch Welcome to the Family
With a plotline that is a little bit Juno and a little bit Romeo and Juliet, a young couple from feuding families discovers they are pregnant and joins the ranks of the ever-popular single camera comedy. The expectant mother, Molly—played by Ella Rae Jones, who you probably remember from her role as Lola on Gossip Girl – is a ditzy and irresponsible high school grad who can hardly keep track of her iPhone, let alone handle a pregnancy. Her boyfriend (and high school valedictorian) Junior, played by Joey Haro, disappoints his parents by letting this unexpected twist interrupt his plans to head to Stanford. For their children’s sakes, both sets of parents agree to try their best at a relationship. Though the Hulu preview was cute, it left me more impatient for the Modern Family premiere than ever. Welcome to the Family premieres October 3 on NBC and airs Thursdays at 8:30.
Bonus Section: “Shows That Make Me Miss Other Shows”:
If you like Malin Ackerman, you should watch Trophy Wife. Though seeing Bradley Whitford just makes me desperately pine for Josh Lyman, this show was a little funnier than I anticipated. Ackerman plays the titular “trophy wife” to Whitford’s Pete, now on his third marriage. The show premieres September 24 on ABC and airs Tuesdays at 9:30.
If you want your Tony Shalhoub fix, you should watch We Are Men. Though Tony Shalhoub seems to be holding his own alongside comedian co-stars Kal Penn and Jerry O’Connell, there’s something deeply unsettling about seeing MOnk sit in a hot tub without pointing it out as a bacterial cesspool. I can’t quite get over his character Frank’s ability to engage in unprotected handshaking, let alone unprotected sex, but maybe that’s just me. We Are Men premieres on September 30 on CBS and airs Mondays at 8:30.
[Photo Sources: ABC, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, GlobalTV, IMDB, Buzzsugar]