Looking At The New Fall TV Season of 2013-14 - May 21, 2013

It's that time of the year again.  Time when we all stress over our favorite shows.  Which will survive?  Which will be canceled?  What new shows are there out there that might be worth checking out?  Well, we got our answers this week.  Let's run through it.


Fox:

Returning shows: American Dad, American Idol. Bob's Burgers, Bones, Family Guy, The Following, Glee, The Mindy Project, New Girl, Raising Hope, The Simpsons, The X Factor.

Not returning: Ben and Kate, The Cleveland Show, Fringe, The Mob Doctor, Touch

New shows:
Almost Human: cop drama set in the future pairing LAPD officers and androids together.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: detective comedy starring Andy Samberg of SNL about a detective getting a new boss with a very big clashing of personalities with the boss being by the rule book while the detective does not take anything very seriously.
Dads: comedy that stars Seth Green and Giovani Ribisi.  They play the roles of best friends from childhood who have become very successful professionally at their jobs but things go bad when their fathers move in with them.
Enlisted: Military comedy about a group of brothers.  One is put in charge of a military base which houses his brothers.
Gang Related: Terry O'Quinn stars in this drama about a gang member that is being used to see the inner workings of the San Francisco Police Department. 
Junior Masterchef: Gordon Ramsey series with kids competing in the kitchen.
Murder Police: animated police comedy.
Rake: drama about a defense attorney played by Greg Kinnear who has all sorts of problems outside of his job.
Sleepy Hollow: drama with Ichabod Crane teaming with the town sheriff to solve mysteries.
Surviving Jack: comedy about a dad who has to balance being a dad to a newborn and also a teenager.
Us & Them: long distance dating show about a couple played by Alexis Bledel and Jason Ritter having to deal with the troubles of their families in their relationship.

Overall thoughts.  Fox has a lot of success with their hit shows that they are bringing back.  We'll see how these new shows do and there are some in that mix that could be interesting. 


NBC:

Returning shows: The Biggest Loser, Chicago Fire, Community, Grimm, Law & Order: SVU, Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, Revolution, Sunday Night Football, The Voice.

Not returning: 30 Rock, Animal Practice, Do No Harm, Deception, 1600 Penn, Go On, Guys With Kids, The New Normal, The Office, Rock Center with Brian Williams, Smash, Up All Night, Whitney.

New shows:
About A Boy: comedy about a bachelor bonding with the new kid next door who just moved in with his single mother. Jason Katims is involved with this project. 
American Dream Builders: Home renovation competition show.
Believe: drama and JJ Abrams has his name on this as an executive producer.  A man is out from prison and is given the job of protecting a young girl from those that want the gift of power that she has.
The Blacklist: James Spader stars as the most wanted criminal who turns himself in and is ready to give up all the information that he knows along with everyone he has worked with as well.  The twist is that he'll only work with one particular new FBI agent whom he seems to have no connection to.
Chicago PD: drama following the stories of district 21 of the Chicago Police Department.
Crisis: drama about oliticians including the president get blackmailed into a conspiracy.
Crossbones: the legend of Blackbeard set in 1715.
Dracula: this is inspired by the novel by Bram Stoker and stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers with Dracula arriving in London in the late 19th century.
The Family Guide: comedy revolving around a family that has just been effected by a divorce.
Ironside: drama and the remake of the 1960's police drama.
The Michael J. Fox Show: comedy inspired by actor's life.  NY news anchor going back to work.  Excited to have Michael J. Fox back on TV.
The Million Second Quiz: trivia game show that will be online and also in primetime.
The Night Shift: drama with ex-army doctors working the late shift at a trauma center.
Sean Saves The World: Sean Hayes stars in this comedy as a father dealing with a teenage daughter and a new boss.
Undateable: comedy about friends named the "undateables" add another to the mix that is unlike the rest of them with being more confident.
Welcome To The Family: comedy about two families coming together with different cultural backgrounds when a couple falls in love and have an unplanned pregnancy.

New show that I will definitely check out is The Michael J. Fox Show.  Huge fan of his and I will check out his return to TV.  Here is a look at his new show.


Overall thoughts.  It is no secret that NBC is struggling.  NBC is still trying to get rolling and they have a bunch of new shows to see if they have success with.

ABC:

Returning shows: Castle, Dancing With The Stars, Grey's Anatomy, Last Man Standing, Modern Family, The Middle, Nashville, The Neighbors, Once Upon A Time, Scandal, Shark Tank, Suburgatory, The Bachelor, America's Funniest Home Videos.

Not returning: 666 Park Avenue, Apt. 23, Body of Proof, Family Tools, Happy Endings, How To Live With Your Parents, Last Resort, Malibu Country, Private Practice, Red Widow, Zero Hour.

New shows:
Back In The Game: comedy about divorced single mother moving in with her estranged father who is a former baseball player.  She ends up coaching her son's little league team and back into the world of sports that she wanted away from.
Betrayal: drama about a married photographer who has an affair with lawyer.  The lawyer ends up representing the defendant in a murder trial but the prosecutor is the photographer's husband.  Hope you can follow all of that.  LOL.
The Goldbergs: family sitcom about growing up in the 80's. Being pushed as a dysfunctional Wonder Years.
Killer Women: drama with the focus being on the only woman in the Texas Rangers.
Lucky 7: drama on a group of people that work at a service station and win the lottery.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: based off of the Joss Whedon Avengers.  Really excited about this one and love the trailer. 
Mind Games: drama about brothers heading an agency that deals with using science to deal with their client's problems and manipulate people.
Mixology: comedy with singles looking for love in a bar with all of this happening in one night.  Can I ask why singles shows always have to be placed in a bar scenario?  Bugs me.
Once Upon A Time In Wonderland: drama follows the story of Alice learning of this new land after going down a rabbit hole.
Resurrection: drama about people that have passed away suddenly come back to life and go about things like nothing ever happened.
Super Fun Night: comedy starring Rebel Wilson about three girl friends that have a tradition of having fun every Friday night.
Trophy Wife: comedy about a former party girl who gets involved with a man with a family of three children and two ex-wives.

My favorite of the new show list will be no surprise.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  This looks all kinds of awesome and I am loving the casting.  I am definitely in for this show.


Overall thoughts:  ABC has all their hits in a row there with so many shows returning.  I was happy to see Nashville get brought back for another season.  I love the show.  I'm not crazy about all the storylines including the political storyline where I just want the focus back on the music part of the show.  I can see Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being a bit hit and I really hope it is.  There are several of those new shows that I see either being a hit or being a big miss. 

CBS:

Returning shows: 2 Broke Girls, 48 Hours, 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, CSI, Elementary, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Person of Interest, Survivor, Two and a Half Men, Undercover Boss, Criminal Minds.

Not returning: CSI: NY, Golden Boy, The Job, Made In Jersey, Partners, Rules of Engagement, Vegas.

New shows:
The Crazy Ones: comedy focusing on a father/daughter advertising work team starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
The Millers: comedy about a man that just was recently divorced and suddenly has to deal with his parents having their own problems with their marriage. 
Friends With Better Lives: comedy involving a group of friends who are secretly looking at the other's lives as better than their own and stars James Van Der Beek. Roswell fans will also recognize the name Majandra Delfino on the cast list.
Hostages: drama about a female surgeon who gets asked to operate on the president but it ends up putting her family into a political conspiracy.  Dylan McDermott also stars in this show and is put in the role of helping them.
Intelligence:  It's Josh Holloway of Lost starring in this show.  Almost didn't recognize him with the short hair.  He plays the role of a U.S. Cyber Command agent with a gift.  He has a microchip in his brain that helps him be able to get into any info online or through any other sorts.
Mom: comedy with Anna Faris playing the role of a single mom who recently just got sober and and battling back in her life while also having to deal with her mom who causes trouble for her in her life.  Allison Janney plays the role of the mom.
Reckless: drama of opposites attract between a man and woman involved in the legal world.
We Are Men: comedy about a group of men living in an apartment complex comparing their love lives.

New show pick for me is The Crazy Ones.  I am always going to check out a show with SMG in it and a pairing of her and Robin Williams sounds hilarious. 

Overall thoughts.  CBS is doing what is successful for them.  They've got a mix of veteran shows and new ones.  I see this lineup doing well and CBS will have another successful year.


The CW:

Returning shows: Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, The Carrie Diaries, Hart of Dixie, Nikita, Supernatural, America's Next Top Model, The Vampire Diaries.

Not returning: 90210, Cult, Emily Owens, M.D., Gossip Girl.

New shows:
The Originals: Vampire Diaries spinoff drama.
The 100: drama where 100 juvenile delinquents are sent back to Earth on a spaceship a century after a nuclear war destroyed all of civilization in an attempt to re-populate Earth.
Reign: drama where Mary Queen of Scots makes her arrival in France as a 15 year old.
Star-Crossed: This show is very Roswell like.  Aliens are put into a regular high school with everyone knowing their origins.  One of them falls in love with a girl there at the school.  Very Roswell like except for the part of everyone knowing their secret.
The Tomorrow People: drama about a group of young people with special abilities.

Overall thoughts:  Interesting what I read lately and I assume this is true that Arrow is the top rated show on The CW now.  I think that has definitely influenced some decision making on that network with the fall schedule.  I'm surprised it took them this long to figure out there was an audience there with how popular Smallville was.  Sad that the show was overlooked with promotion by the network despite being so popular.  By the way, I really miss Smallville and thank you comic books for the fact that season 11 is now underway there in comic form.  :) I wouldn't mind checking out a couple of these shows to see how they are including The 100.