Fall TV Preview: 30 Notable Shows
If you think that fall is the time for broadcast networks to introduce the bulk of their new programming while cable and streaming services hold their best shows back for midseason, it may be time to reconsider your assumptions. Critics are already buzzing about September's surprisingly strong new comedy slate, while the coming months will also bring high-profile newcomers like HBO's Westworld and Netflix's Luke Cage as well as the return of the much-loved Gilmore Girls, among other highlights.
We've picked out the most notable fall TV debuts (both new and returning shows) below, ordered by date. For more premiere dates and details on every upcoming show (including those not profiled here), visit our Fall TV Premiere Calendar.
Does HBO have its next Game of Thrones (i.e., an R-rated genre hit) ... or merely its next Vinyl (i.e., a very expensive, high-profile failure)? After a few hiccups—including a two-month production shutdown, resulting in a delayed launch—we'll finally know the answer in October when this ambitious (and loose) adaptation of Michael Crichton's 1973 film debuts. Writers Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight, Person of Interest) and Lisa Joy (Burn Notice)—plus producer J.J. Abrams—have created what appears to be a very dark sci-fi drama about an Old West-themed, adults-only "amusement park" where anything goes, and one that's populated by lifelike artificial intelligence that theoretically has been programmed never to murder the paying customers. (Like any technology, it may be a bit buggy.) The loaded cast includes Anthony Hopkins (in his first ever regular TV role), Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Tessa Thompson, and Sidse Babett Knudsen. Some of those stars (the ones playing androids, at least) could appear as multiple characters throughout the show's 10-episode run and beyond. Westworld already has at least one thing in common with Thrones: attracting controversy for graphic scenes of violence against women.
Debuts October 2 on HBO
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