Formally speaking, the fall TV season hasn’t existed for years. Not that I’m complaining about our year-round release carousel — I mean, look over your shoulder at this summertime’s TV bounty. “Ted Lasso” came back! So did “House of the Dragon”! OK, to be honest, I found those less exciting than the magnificent pairing of Hannah Waddingham with Octavia Spencer in Prime Video’s “Ride or Die.” More of that, please. Anytime.
Real surprises are rarer in the land of Too Much TV, although we shouldn’t knock reliable comforts. I stopped viewing Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” as a can’t-miss pleasure years ago and instead think of it as an annual visit with my old friends Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), Olivia Putnam (Martin Short) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) — in London, this time, for a sixth season launching Tuesday, Dec. 8.
When I want more grit, I turn to “Masterpiece Mystery” on PBS, where a new season of “Maigret” starts Sunday, Oct. 18. If coziness is the call, there’s “Ludwig,” back on BritBox for a second season on Tuesday, Oct. 13. It can be nice to know what you’re in for.
But it’s been a long time since a show refreshed my love for TV mysteries in the way “Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence” did when I caught a preview screening at the ATX TV Festival this past spring. By BritBox decree, I am forbidden from reviewing it for now. However, I can say Josh Dylan and Antonia Thomas do justice to their modernized versions of Christie’s power couple Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley. Ditto for Imelda Staunton, who plays Tommy’s Aunt Ida, a retired detective. Tying a bow on all this is the news that its BritBox debut on Tuesday, Sept. 15, coincides with Christie’s birthday and the traditional day-after-Emmys launch of the fall season.
“Tommy & Tuppence” is far from the only new fall show worth betting on. Here are 10 more I’ll be looking out for – some I’ve seen, others I have high hopes for – along with premiere dates for a selection of returning favorites.
“The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” (Tuesday, Sept. 8 on FX and Hulu)
Three years ago, the late John Singleton’s “Snowfall” ended with a hard look at Franklin Saint’s inevitable fall from a crack kingpin to a lost soul without a home. But what lay ahead for Wanda (Gail Bean), the wife of Franklin’s best friend Leon (Isaiah John), was never fully set. This follow-up from Malcolm Spellman (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”) finds them in the early 1990s as the West Coast rap scene is on the verge of taking off, and with Wanda dead set on making her mark as a label scout. Bean impressively captures Wanda’s determined grind, but it’s Asante Blackk’s delicate combination of anxiety and ambition as her cousin Lamar, a musical prodigy, that locked me in to the first episode.
On the topic of riveting dramas. . .
Season 2 of “The Lowdown” arrives Wednesday, Oct. 14 on FX and Hulu.
“Neagley” (Wednesday, Sept. 16, Prime Video)
Following the runaway success of “Reacher” with this spinoff centering that hero’s sister-in-arms Frances Neagley is killer timing. Its premiere coincides with the “Reacher” finale drop, with Alan Ritchson showing up in her story to make a secure a hand-off. Since Maria Sten’s riveting determination and steely confidence always made her stand out in previous “Reacher” exploits, it isn’t hard to picture the audience smoothly transitioning from one to the next, much in the way we devour Lee Child’s page-turners.
As for other comebacks. . .
“Slow Horses” resumes for its sixth season Wednesday, Sept. 16 on Apple TV.
Season 2 of “Black Doves” drops Thursday, Nov. 5 on Netflix.
“Brothers” (Wednesday, Sept. 23, Apple TV)
Real-life friends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have been orbiting each other since they first paired up in 1999’s “EDtv” – yes, children, they had a life before blazing up 2014’s “True Detective” – so some reunion was all but inevitable. Most of us probably didn’t picture them extrapolating a story “based on a true rumor” into a comedy proposing the famous Texans may be half-siblings. As with all celebrity-driven vehicles, how much you enjoy this fantasy rodeo depends on how much you like these two, individually or as a team. The first episode was fine. I imagine it improves greatly with the type of floral-derived enhancement that Harrelson still favors.
As for returning comedies. . .
“The Paper” returns Wednesday, Sept. 9 on Peacock.
“Scrubs” is back Wednesday, Sept. 30 on ABC.
“Abbott Elementary” resumes Wednesday, Oct. 7 on ABC.
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” returns Monday, Nov. 2 on NBC.
“A Different World” (Thursday, Sept. 24, Netflix)
The legacy of this “The Cosby Show” spinoff largely escaped the taint of being associated with its creator, thanks to the lasting impact executive producer Debbie Allen had on the original’s success from the second season onward. Its modern-day continuation, created by Felicia Pride, returns to Hillman at a time when HBCUs are no longer a novelty and former classmates Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley Gilbert-Wayne (Jasmine Guy) have a child, Deborah (Maleah Joi Moon), entering its undergrad ranks as a freshman along with the prized son of their flamboyant friend Ron (Darryl M. Bell). Also returning from the original are Cree Summer, Dawnn Lewis and Allen, who directs the first episode. Beyond shifting from a multi-cam comedy to single-cam and Brandy’s changed-up theme song, this “Different World” succeeds by maintaining a wonderfully familiar energy… like coming back home.
“East of Eden” (Thursday, Oct. 1, Netflix)
Zoe Kazan returns to the cinematic classic directed and produced by Elia Kazan to provide a more nuanced view of Cathy Ames (Florence Pugh), only more akin to the way John Steinbeck viewed Cathy than her grandfather’s take. That doesn’t necessarily make Zoe Kazan’s version more sympathetic to the woman Steinbeck defined as the kind of monster that moves undetected through the world all their lives. Kazan doesn’t sacrifice much of the character’s darkness, but rather enables Pugh, an actress who ably navigates purity and corruption, to play with both closer to the surface than usual. “The trouble is that since we cannot know what she wanted, we will never know whether or not she got it,” Steinbeck says of Cathy. This series endeavors to settle that mystery once and for all.
As for other returning period dramas. . .
Season 4 of “The Gilded Age” debuts Sunday, Nov. 1 on HBO.
“War” (Thursday, Oct. 1, HBO and HBO Max)
Few delights capture our attention as completely as stories that take joy in the miseries of the mega-rich. If that’s your picture of a good time, you’ll want to check out “Lupin” co-creator George Kay’s new drama featuring Dominic West as a tech titan divorcing his international film star wife, played by Sienna Miller. The trailer alone promises a scene-chewing buffet served by a cast stacked with British TV favorites, including “Ted Lasso” alumnus Nick Mohammed.
Regarding high-profile marriages under pressure. . .
“The Diplomat” resumes for its fourth season Thursday, Oct. 15 on Netflix.
“Carrie” (Wednesday, Oct. 7, Prime Video)
With the spooky genre dominating theaters, it was only a matter of time before the studios reopened their vaults to reboot classics as TV series. “Carrie” is the fifth entry in a franchise based on Stephen King’s novel. This take is by ace horror revivalist Mike Flanagan (“Midnight Mass,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”), making me genuinely curious to check it out.
“Crystal Lake” (Thursday, Oct. 15, Peacock)
Meanwhile, “Crystal Lake” is set in the time before Jason Voorhees donned his famous hockey mask to kill, kill, and kill again. But what got my attention is Linda Cardellini’s casting as his mother, Pamela Voorhees, which at least hints that the people involved are trying to take this seriously. Hopefully not too seriously, though.
Speaking of chopping and woods. . .
“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” debuts Thursday, Sept. 17 on Netflix.
“Yellowjackets” returns for its fourth and final season Fri., Nov. 20 on Paramount+.
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“12 12 12” (Friday, Nov. 13, Apple TV)
Since eating the rich is in fashion, heist stories are the heroic fables of our time. This new drama weaves through the 12 months of planning a job, the 12 hours it takes to pull it off over a holiday in Zurich, and the 12 days after, featuring Anthony Mackie as a reputationally besmirched FBI agent seeking redemption and Jamie Dornan as the sympathetic criminal mastermind he’s tracking.
Since we’re talking about heists. . .
“Lupin” ends its three-year hiatus Friday, Oct. 23 on Netflix.
As for antiheroes . . .
Season 4 of “Tulsa King” premieres Friday, Oct. 16 on Paramount+.
And just in time for your post-Thanksgiving dinner family TV togetherness…
“The Hunting Wives” returns Thursday, Nov. 26 on Netflix.
“Blade Runner 2099” (Wednesday, Nov. 25, Prime Video)
Well, it finally happened. In 2099, artificial intelligence has taken over the planet. No longer content to coexist with natural-born beings or seeking to be more lifelike, synthetic humanoids lord over what’s left of humanity. As long as technocrats are playing God, Ridley Scott’s 1982 interpretation of Philip K. Dick’s story will never go out of style. This series sequel enlists Hunter Schafer and Michelle Yeoh to play rough in this dystopia, with Schafer as Cora, a human Blade Runner who teams with Yeoh’s Olwen, a fading replicant.
Regarding small-screen movie franchise prequels and sequels. . .
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns for its third season Wednesday, Nov. 11 on Prime Video.
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from Salon’s Culture newsletter, The Swell