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.
When 24 returns in January, it will be without Jack Bauer (and Kiefer Sutherland). That's because Sutherland will be busy running the country and battling terrorists on ABC. The latter network's buzziest fall newcomer finds Sutherland playing a low-level cabinet official (the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development) who gets an unexpected promotion to POTUS when everyone else in the line of succession for the presidency (plus the president) is killed in a terrorist attack during the State of the Union address. Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Virginia Madsen, and Malik Yoba also star in this hybrid of House of Cards, West Wing, and Homeland from screenwriter David Guggenheim (Safe House).