What are the most anticipated fall TV shows? Look ahead to Stumptown, Batwoman and the rest of these top 10 must-watch new TV shows.
Fall TV is here, which means there’s no shortage of new shows to choose from. This fall once again brings with it a wide variety of fresh programs, from crime dramas to historical dramas and everything in between.
There are more than three dozen new shows premiering this fall, from the broadcast networks to streaming series and premium cable channels. Everyone will be vying for your attention, and they all believe they have the next TV hit.
But with so many choices, which ones should you be watching?
These are the 10 most exciting fall TV shows headed fans’ way. Check out our watchlist to find out why they’re so anticipated, and why you absolutely can’t miss their premieres.
The I-Land (Netflix, Sept. 12)
It’s like Lost, if Lost had a crossover with The Prisoner. Netflix’s new series is one-part survival drama, one-part psychological thriller, described by the streamer as a “sci-fi adventure,” and the entire concept sounds crazy.
Kate Bosworth (in her first TV role since 2017’s The Long Road Home) and Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike) star as two of 10 people who wake up dumped on an island. Naturally, they don’t know how they got there, and it’s got a ton of secrets for them to uncover, or potentially be killed by. Created by the sharp and often cynical playwright Neil LaBute (Van Helsing, The Shape of Things), this is definitely not Bachelor in Paradise.
Criminal (Netflix, Sept. 20)
Speaking of Netflix, they’ve got a potential gem on their hands with Criminal. It’s a crime drama, but don’t call it a procedural. Instead, it’s neatly set up as an anthology series, with a rotating set of cast members from different countries — as if to say that crime and punishment are their own universal language.
It’s a genuinely interesting concept for a show, with each episode taking place entirely inside the confines of an interrogation room, meaning that viewers are essentially getting a small play. That will bring out the best in a star-studded roster of actors, which includes a pair of top-notch British stars: David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter). Both have done crime shows before, in Broadchurch and Life of Crime respectively, so they’ll shine here.
Prodigal Son (FOX, Sept. 23)
This series hails from Chris Fedak, one of the co-creators of Chuck, but this is something unlike we’ve ever seen from him before. What if the son of a notorious serial killer grew up and decided to fight crime? We’ve seen father-son dynamics in procedurals before, even on FOX (remember Second Chance), but this one has a distinctly Dexter flavor to it.
It stands to be deliciously outrageous because said serial killer is played by Michael Sheen — who was adorable in Good Omens and downright insane as the controversial Roland Blum in the latest season of The Good Fight. Tom Payne (The Walking Dead) plays the son while Scandal’s excellent Bellamy Young completes the trifecta as mom. That’s one heck of a TV family!
Plus, FOX fans will get a kick out of seeing former Orville star Halston Sage back on a new series, and don’t sleep on Aurora Perrineau playing the partner who has to keep up with all of the chaos.
Stumptown (ABC, Sept. 24)
Stumptown is one of the most talked-about fall TV shows, and with good reason. Cobie Smulders is definitely leaving How I Met Your Mother‘s Robin behind with this literally kick-butt role, playing a private investigator who puts the “fun” in dysfunctional. Smulders is an incredibly underrated star (see her role as Maria Hill in the MCU and her performance on Broadway in the recent revival of Noel Coward’s farce Present Laughter), and the character of Dex Parios is perfect for her.
The show also includes Michael Ealy (Almost Human, Common Law) as the cop who has to put up with Dex’s nonsense. That’ll be an incredible pairing, and this show should be a wild ride.
The Unicorn (CBS, Sept. 26)
Sitcoms are a dime a dozen in TV. Every fall TV schedule has at least one half-hour comedy, and it’s usually either about someone’s family or their neighborhood. The Unicorn has taken both of those tropes and combined them in a way that makes them fresh by making the neighborhood deal with family dynamics.
The biggest reason to watch, though, is Walton Goggins. Goggins is one of the most undervalued actors on TV and generally more known for his intense roles in shows like Justified and Deep State. But anyone who saw him on HBO’s Vice Principals knows how funny he is, and now he’s in the lead of a network sitcom. He really will be a unicorn, standing out and making this show far more than the average comedy.
Sunnyside (NBC, Sept. 26)
Here’s a sitcom that’s more traditional, but could be a breakout because of its lead. Sunnyside is the story of a disgraced former city councilman who picks himself up off his sister’s couch with the help of local citizens, who also look to him to better their lives. It’s timely to have a comedy about the American Dream with all of the things going wrong in the world today. This positive way of looking at modern America is exactly what we need right now.
The show also marks a return to comedy for former Designated Survivor star Kal Penn, who goes from playing a White House employee to a down-and-out politician. That transition alone will be fun to watch, but viewers know from the Netflix series that Penn is great when his character gets passionate about something. Sunnyside will let him do that and hopefully brighten up fall TV.
Godfather of Harlem (EPIX, Sept. 29)
Big names are attached to EPIX’s Godfather of Harlem, which dramatizes the true story of 1960s mobster Bumpy Johnson as he returns to his neighborhood after a decade behind bars, only to find out the Italian mafia have moved in. What follows is a mob war for control of Harlem. And when the cast is led by the always great Forest Whitaker (who won an Oscar for playing another real figure in The Last King of Scotland), it’s a contest everyone will want to watch.
Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) is also brilliant in everything he does, so to see him opposite Whitaker will be worth the price of admission alone. But that’s not all: the show also has John Ridley (American Crime) directing the pilot.
Batwoman (The CW, Oct. 6)
Batwoman is the biggest superhero or sci-fi show on the fall TV schedule, and it’s been building up hype ever since the character made her first appearance on Arrow. There are so many reasons for viewers to be curious about it: it provides us a new Bat-hero to root for, as well as another LGBTQ hero and another strong female character. It’s everything fall TV is searching for on a platter.
But beyond its talking points, there’s a lot of creative intrigue surrounding Batwoman. Now that Gotham is over, this show is picking up the torch for the Batman world on TV. How will it match up to that prequel? Will it go off in different, sometimes odd directions like Gotham did? And most of all, will it fill the void in the DCTV universe that’s going to be left behind when Arrow concludes? It could be The CW‘s new tentpole series.
Treadstone (USA, Oct. 9)
DC isn’t the only franchise represented on the fall TV schedule. Treadstone is one more attempt at broadening the Jason Bourne world, this time as a TV series. Can it succeed the way that The Bourne Legacy didn’t? It will certainly have opportunities to tell more complex and interesting stories since it doesn’t have to wrap things up in two hours.
Here’s the thing, though: Bourne Legacy wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. It made the people behind Treadstone interesting and raised questions that still don’t have answers. This show can keep fleshing out characters, find those answers, and be more than just another spy drama. It already has one big plus: Michelle Forbes, fresh off her fierce and intimidating role in espionage thriller Berlin Station.
Catherine the Great (HBO, Oct. 21)
This is a project that will be great even if you’re not a history buff. The casting of Catherine the Great blows any other fall TV show out of the water, because the title character is played by living legend Helen Mirren. Mirren is always brilliant, and particularly has a knack for humanizing figures from history, as in her jaw-dropping performances as Queen Elizabeth. She could read the phone book and this would be worth watching.
But equally compelling is Jason Clarke, who returns to TV for the first time since 2011. He went off and became a major movie star since then because he’s the kind of actor who only comes around once in a while. He previously starred with Mirren in Winchester, but here they’re head-to-head (he portrays Catherine’s lover Grigory Potemkin), and it’ll be so intense and spellbinding we’ll still be talking about this show during the next fall TV season.
For complete coverage of the Fall TV season and everything happening in TV, follow the Television category at FanSided.