The ADTV gang put their heads together and identified the new and returning 2016 Fall shows they’re most anticipating.
There’s a funny thing about covering the Emmys here at AwardsDaily TV… There is literally no rest for the weary. As soon as the curtain go down on September 18’s Primetime Emmy Awards, the 2016 Fall shows will kick into high gear. Recently, Megan lamented that the Fall season isn’t quite as spectacular as it once was because new television literally never stops. Programmers constantly seek the limelight for their newest series, and the Fall season isn’t quite the launching point it once was.
Still, there are several 2016 Fall shows that the ADTV team really anticipate, so we’re here to share them with you. Have some favorites of your own? Drop them in the comments.
Jazz Tangcay
American Horror Story: 6
American Horror Story Season 6 starts tonight, and, despite the teasers (we have had 25 teaser trailers), the Powers That Be at FX are keeping mum about what the next series is. So far, we’ve seen possibilities: spiders, aliens, cornfields, and the mist. OLV showed a house in Los Angeles asking what was shooting there, and it was instantly recognizable as the AHS Season 1 Murder House. Will we be revisiting the Murder House? Lady Gaga who played The Countess in Hotel will be returning for Season 6. Just after her brand new single “Perfect Illusion” dropped, FX released a new teaser with the cryptic tag “Has it all been a Perfect Illusion? The truth is revealed Wednesday. #AHS6.” We can keep on guessing, but all will be answered tonight when we find out just what this brand new season is about. Aside from Gaga, Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Angela Bassett, Leslie Jordan and Cheyenne Jackson will all be returning.
24: Legacy
OK, technically, this is a February 2017 show, but the anticipation is still high. After leading a mission to eliminate terrorist leader Sheik Ibrahim Bin-Khalid, Eric Carter (Corey Hawkins), returns to the U.S. and finds out that he and his squad mates are targeted for assassination in retaliation for Bin-Khalid’s death. With nowhere else to turn, Carter asks CTU to help him save his life while also stopping one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil. The events will occur three years after the events in 24: Live Another Day and will take place in DC.
The show that already has a solid fan following is something I’m looking forward to. Hawkins was superb in Straight Outta Compton. This role will give him a chance to play the hero, and that’s exciting and Homeland’s Miranda Otto appears. Kiefer Sutherland won’t be returning, but it still makes this show exciting. As with its predecessor, each hour will represent 1 hour in a 24 hour day. Its trailer was explosive! The dying question we’ll be asking all season is, who is the mole?! Who’s going to betray Carter?
The Blacklist: Redemption
On NBC’s The Blacklist: Redemption, Undercover operative Tom Keen joins forces with Susan “Scottie” Hargrave (Famke Janssen), the brilliant and cunning chief of Grey Matters, a covert mercenary organization that solves problems governments don’t dare touch. While on the hunt for Liz’s attacker, Tom secretly discovered that Scottie is actually his biological mother. Now, as they team up to employ their unique skills and resources in a dangerous world of deadly criminals, Tom begins his own covert mission to find out more about his shadowy past.
If you watched Blacklist, this is its spin off. What is there to be excited about? Famke Janssen on Primtetime again following her stint on last season’s How To Get Away with Murder is one reason. But what about Tom working with his supposed biological mother? That’s going to add even more interesting plot turns to the show. The show already sounds like there’s going to be a lot of action filled with crime and plenty of thrills. Should we expect treachery? Yes! Fans of The Blacklist should hold on for an all new Blacklist adventure. The Blacklist: Redemption will now premiere in 2017, and not earlier previously expected. Yes, I’ve picked another 2017 show. Winter is the new Fall.
Robin Write
Indian Summers
Having closely followed the first season, I somehow missed the second chapter of the colonial drama Indian Summers when it first aired here in the UK, so I’d be a plonker to neglect the opportunity to play catch-up. Lavishly shot throughout, the first season was a feast for the senses in many respects. Beautiful costumes, production design, and marvellous photography played a grand part in the show’s widespread appeal. As did the finely tuned characters and simmering story-lines over the 10 episodes. Set just about a hundred years ago in British-ruled India, the slow-burning drama portrayed the lives of the locals, as well as the English settlers, including an overly success-hungry businessman and his returning, troubled sister, complete with child but no husband.
Add to the mix a complex array of magnetic romance and family feuds. The first outing had plenty going for it – historical context, genuine drama, digestible politics, social issues of race and religion – and perhaps promised more, which kept you close enough to feed the audience anticipation. And for those still not wholly convinced, Julie Walters gets free reign to chew up as much scenery as she pleases.
Lucifer
There appears to be a box to fit everything these days when you turn on your TV (or should I say laptop, iPhone, or tablet?). The crime drama genre is one of the most flourishing, that’s for sure, and has been for decades now. The genre over the years has branched out into even more unorthodox crime-solving partnerships – the official law enforcers can’t do it all, right? With Fox’s comedic drama Lucifer, detective Chloe Decker, perfectly capable and tough-as-nails, reluctantly at first is lent a hand by none other than the sharp-tongued Lucifer Morningstar. That’s right, straight to the point, the devil himself conveniently clad in human form, is actually doing some good – and boy doesn’t his conscience know it.
Mortality and morality play their part in the show’s captivating narrative, but centrally the character of Lucifer, with all his suave and swagger, becomes more vulnerable as the good deeds mount up. The balance of the serious, the surreal, and the sustained wit is well-weaved and extremely effective here. Lauren German holds her own as a hard-shelled detective as the cracks emerge, but Tom Ellis as the super-charismatic, sarcastic, know-it-all runs the engine throughout, having tons of fun while showing depth of character. More of the same, please, after all the devil makes work for idle hands. Lucifer returns September 19 on FOX.
Joey Moser
Timeless
If you tuned into Hulu’s 11/22/63 and thought the James Franco-JFK time warp was lame, you have another opportunity to be entertained by a jump through time with NBC’s Timeless. Abigail Spencer, Malcolm Barrett, and Matt Lanter are recruited to stop a different disaster from happening every episode. The flashy previews show the historian, soldier, and scientist racing against time to stop the Hindenburg disaster, but can NBC keep this show from crashing and burning week after week? Unlike the Hulu streaming show, Timeless will jump from era to era, so we can look forward to Spencer, Barrett, and Lanter donning different period outfits and trying to prevent disasters from happening every week. If they succeed in changing history for the better, what type of repercussions will that have for the rest of time? The ripple effect could make for great television. Timeless debuts on October 3 on NBC.
Pitch
A woman has never played professionally in Major League baseball, but that all changes in FOX’s new drama, Pitch. Kylie Bunbury stars as Ginny Baker, a young woman who joins the starting lineup of the San Diego Padres as a rookie pitcher. Her entrance into the game causes quite the media firestorm, and all the attention and pressure looks like it makes Kylie questions her love of the game. Bunbury might be a new face, but she’s surrounded by television veterans. Dan Laurie plays the team’s manager, Ali Larter is Kylie’s manager, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar portrays the Padres’ catcher. Everyone loves an underdog story, and Pitch looks like it addresses that on multiple levels. Most men (and some women) consider the field sacred ground, and Kyle’s presence will no doubt shake that up. The trailers show she faces both disgruntled teammates and nonstop scrutiny from the press, so she has to play a game both on and off the field. Another reason to watch? The potential to see Gosselaar in a locker room. Pitch debuts on FOX on September 19.
Crisis in Six Scenes
Woody Allen has been involved with show business for over five decades. His work has received critical acclaim, countless awards, and an entire legion of haters. Hey, whether you love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Allen keeps himself busy. We don’t know a lot about Allen’s first foray into television, Crisis in Six Scenes, but people will no doubt tune in to see what he’s churned out. The casting is also quite interesting considering it stars Allen, Elaine May, John Magaro, Miley Cyrus, Becky Ann Baker, Michael Rapaport, and Christine Ebersole. According to the Amazon press release, the show is set in the 60’s, and a new visitor throws a wrench into a middle class family’s idyllic living situation. The only clip that has been released features Allen asking for a James Dean haircut, so there’s not much to go on. In traditional Allen fashion, he doesn’t think he delivered. A few months back, he told the LA Times, “It was a catastrophic mistake. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m floundering. I expect this to be a cosmic embarrassment.” Crisis in Six Scenes debuts on Amazon on September 30.
Clarence Moye
Westworld
My most anticipated 2016 Fall show is a bit of a cheat because I’ve already seen it. Membership has its privileges. Anyway, based on the trailers, HBO’s Westworld is a feast for the eyes and the mind. The setting is an adult Western-set playground where visitors pay mega bucks to interact with a series of extremely lifelike robots. The too-good-to-be-true mountain vistas and cool-blue interiors of the robotic lab are rendered with amazing vitality, and the screenplay provides a larger, fascinating spin on last year’s Ex-Machina. With a cast that includes Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, and Thandie Newton among others, Westworld feels almost too good to be true. Sure, there were production delays, but wouldn’t you rather have the writing team get it right rather than rush it. Vinyl anyone? Westworld premieres on HBO October 2.
Divorce
No, I’m not an HBO whore. I’m legitimately fascinated by two of their new 2016 Fall shows. Divorce is the other. Two reasons. One, it marks the great Sarah Jessica Parker’s return to HBO comedy. Now, let’s put the two Sex and the City films aside and focus on the TV show. Sex and the City was a very, very good show made great by Parker’s effortless charm and charisma. Here’s hoping she brings an ounce of that to Divorce. Two, Divorce is written by the great Sharon Horgan, recently Emmy-nominated for her brilliant work on Amazon’s Catastrophe, the best sitcom you’re most assuredly not watching. The combination of these two extremely talented women is irresistible. Divorce premieres on HBO October 9.