Fall might mean that it’s time to hit the books again, but it also means that new television shows are starting almost every night. This season, there is a little something for everyone.
“Revolution” (NBC September 17 at 10 pm) is one of the most anticipated shows of the fall. From “Lost” creator, J.J. Abrams, and “Supernatural” creator, Eric Kripke, comes a futuristic dystopian drama where electricity stops working. New governments form and society has to learn how to function without technology, which seems to result in a lot of people learning archery and swordplay.
The show takes “Supernatural’s” road trip tone as our heroine Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) who has to track down her uncle (Billy Burke) in Chicago after a group called The Militia to take her brother and kill her father. We watch Charlie travel, encounter enemies that her father has made, and learn what’s lurking in the world outside of her quiet farm town. Electricity might not be as lost as everyone believes.
The show is almost guaranteed to be good. Abrams/Kripke might be the best sci-fi combo. Abrams can do big drawn out stories on an epic scale, as seen on “Alias” and “Lost,” and Kripke, who also flawlessly mapped out “Supernatural’s” first five seasons (also known as before “Supernatural” went downhill), is a mastermind of character development. At its core, the show will be about family and character development will end up being one of the most important things.
Another show about family is “The New Normal” (NBC September 11 at 9:30 pm), a new com- edy from “Glee” and “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy.
When Goldie (Georgia King) wants to make a better life for herself and her young daughter (BeBe Wood), she moves to California and volunteers to be a gay couple’s (Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha) surrogate in order to earn enough money for law school. Of course she and her precocious daughter end up way more involved in the guys’ lives than they ever thought possible. “The New Normal” displays exactly how the typical definition of a family is changing.
The show is hilarious. Rannells was sidesplitting in Broadway’s “Book of Mormon” and secondary characters played by Ellen Barkin and Nene Leakes have great oneliners. Murphy’s raunchy sense of humor shines in this script, though one has to wonder if the show will follow the patterns Murphy has set with “Glee” and “Nip/Tuck”: great first season and all downhill for the next few years.
Equally hilarious is “The Mindy Project” (FOX September 25 at 9:30 pm), Mindy Kaling’s (“The Office”) new comedy about an OB/GYN who doesn’t have much luck in love. At first glance, it looks a lot like it’s lead in “New Girl,” and while they share similarities, “The Mindy Project” actually glides over the bumps that “New Girl” hit last year. The show is fast paced, not only with the story but also with the humor. Mindy’s character is very crass and honest. She has the personality that most shows seem to give the male characters, but it’s really refreshing to see a female be confident and care more about herself than others.
“Beauty and the Beast” (CW October 11 at 9 pm) doesn’t really do anything for gender stereotypes. “Smallville” alum Kristin Kreuk plays the beauty, Catherine, in this take on the classic fairytale, which is a remake of the series that ran on CBS in the late 1980s. They’ve made plenty of changes to this version.
The story takes place in modern times and Catherine is a homicide detective. The beast, Vincent (Jay Ryan), is a bit Hulk-like in this version though: Vincent is a man who only becomes a beast when he gets angry. What will the main plotline be? It’s really hard to tell, but it’s likely that it will be a tortured romance between Vincent and Catherine. The dialogue is boring, the acting is stiff and overall it just feels a bit too predictable.
“Nashville” (ABC October 10) is a soapy drama that looks like a new guilty pleasure. It follows fading country star Rayna James (Connie Britton) as she begrudgingly has to team up with a new teen country sensation Juliet Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) in order to keep her record deal.
Britton tends to be on shows that are worthwhile (“Friday Night Lights,” “American Horror Story”) and this doesn’t seem to break that trend. She plays a strong country veteran attempting to keep her career afloat while Panettiere’s Taylor Swift-like character does everything she can to destroy the veteran’s reputation (expect backstabbing and seduc- tion). “Nashville” is a must watch for country fans.
“Arrow” (CW October 10 at 8 pm) could be great or it could fail massively. The show is an adaptation of The Green Arrow origins mythology from producers of “Smallville.” Stephen Amell seems like a great Oliver Mc- Queen and the action sequences look really well done. However it could easily take the route of “Smallville” and twist the mythology a little too much, irritating comic purists.
The Green Arrow is a rich philanthropist who decides to become a vigilante to fi nd justice for his family and right the wrongdoings of society. The Green Arrow was actually shown on “Smallville,” but this version seems to be much darker and grittier, and they’ve ditched the campy qualities of “Smallville.” They appear to have a nice bit of romance sprinkled amongst the action and brooding.
