Fall TV: A day-by-day look at new shows
Monday
State of Affairs
NBC, Monday, 10 ET/PT, Nov. 17
Katherine Heigl returns to TV in this off-kilter vehicle that seems to imply that the CIA analyst who puts together the daily briefing book for the president (Alfre Woodard, adding gravity to an otherwise weightless project) is essentially in charge of all foreign and domestic policy. It's an interesting concept for a spoof, but if there are any actors on earth who could sell that idea as a drama, let's just say State hasn't found them.
Tuesday
Selfie
ABC, Tuesday, 8 ET/PT, Sept. 30
Having thrived as a myth, play and musical, Pygmalion transforms into a sitcom about friendless, self-obsessed social media fanatic Eliza Dooley, who's rebranded by marketing guru Henry Higenbottam. Karen Gillan and John Cho are appealing as the My Fair Lady stand-ins and the pilot has some amusing moments — but as sturdy as the premise has proven to be, it's not clear that it can support weekly installments.
Manhattan Love Story
ABC, Tuesday, 8:30 ET/PT, Sept. 30
Take one of TV's most problematic genres, the romantic comedy, and layer on the medium's most overused gimmick, voice-over narration, and what do you get? A headache — and a very good reason to avoid this bottom-rung effort that allows us to hear everything a newly involved couple is thinking. Odds are what you'll be thinking, ABC won't want to hear.
Marry Me
NBC, Tuesday, 9 ET/PT, Oct. 14
Here's good news for fans of ABC's Happy Endings: Its star, Casey Wilson, is back on TV as a slightly crazy woman engaged to a slightly saner man (the always charming Ken Marino) in this comedy from Endings' creator (and Wilson's husband) David Caspe. Here's the bad news for NBC: Most people were not fans of Happy Endings, and it's not clear why Marry Me would change their minds.
NCIS: New Orleans
CBS, Tuesday, 9 ET/PT, Sept. 23
CBS, at least, certainly hopes that all you need to know is in the title. But for those who would like to know more than the obvious — this is yet another spinoff of NCIS, this time set in New Orleans — we can also supply the names of the stars, including Scott Bakula, CCH Pounder and Lucas Black. CBS isn't the only place where shock will abound if that doesn't add up to a hit.
Wednesday
The Mysteries of Laura
NBC, Wednesday, 8 ET/PT, Sept. 17
Will & Grace's Debra Messing shines in this cop/comedy hybrid about a NYPD detective who's great at solving murders and terrible at controlling the twin boys she's raising without much help from her soon-to-be-ex-husband (Josh Lucas). If you like shows of the Castle/Bones/Mentalist variety, you'll see promise in Laura — assuming the writers can get past their apparent belief that misbehaving kids are always hilarious and working mothers are some kind of exotic species.
Red Band Society
Fox, Wednesday, 9 ET/PT, Sept. 17
Mix Grey's Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars with The Fault in Our Stars, throw in some spirituality in the form of a comatose boy who miraculously communicates with other seriously ill teens, spice it with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer as a tough but loving nurse, and what do you get? A show about a group of mostly high-school-aged sick kids living in an L.A. pediatric ward that may appeal to their peers — and will most likely leave adults wishing Spencer were spicing up something else.
Stalker
CBS, Wednesday, 10 ET/PT, Oct. 1
Kevin Williamson, the writer behind such hits as Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries, Scream and The Following, goes the thriller route with this drama about an LAPD anti-stalker unit. Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott star, but the question raised by the pilot is less whether you want to watch them than whether you want to watch a show that sets a woman on fire as an opening come-on.
Thursday
Gracepoint
Fox, Thursday, 9 ET/PT, Oct. 2
If you've seen Broadchurch, the terrific British mystery on which this show is based, you're likely to be non-plussed by the seeming shot-for-shot similarities of the pilot's direction, which can't compensate for some weaknesses in the casting — and put off by Broadchurch star David Tennant's uncertain American accent in this version. And if you haven't seen Broadchurch? Well, really, just see it.
Bad Judge
NBC, Thursday, 9 ET/PT, Oct. 2
So here's the rule. If you're going to put "bad" in your title, you can't complain if unimpressed critics latch on to it as an evaluative description. Yes, it's lazy. In this case, it also happens to be accurate.
A to Z
NBC, Thursday, 9:30 ET/PT, Oct. 2
When the overly romantic Andrew (Ben Feldman) meets the overly practical Zelda (Cristin Milioti), sparks don't exactly fly, but romance does result. As you'd guess, NBC would love it if you followed their affair from beginning to end, or A to Z. Whether you want to commit depends on how fond you are of extended romantic comedies — or of any comedy that tends toward the coy and cute.
The McCarthys
CBS, Thursday, 9:30 ET/PT, Oct. 30
Laurie Metcalf, Jack McGee and Tyler Ritter lead an able cast in this sitcom about a close-knit, sports-crazed Boston family whose only non-fan, the gay son (Ritter), ends up working for his father as an assistant high school basketball coach. The pilot is a little strained and extremely conventional — but that cast may be enough to keep you watching for a few weeks as you wait and hope for improvement.
Sunday
Mulaney
Fox, Sunday, 9:30 ET/PT, Oct. 5.
Oh my. Manhattan Love Story is a more abrasive sitcom, but it is, at least, a recognizable sitcom. It's not clear what Saturday Night Live writer and standup John Mulaney thinks he's doing with this painfully laugh-free, Seinfeld-inspired comedy, which plays like a series of unrelated scenes pieced together at random. If you watch, try to figure out how the show signed Martin Short and Elliott Gould, both of whom should know better.
Here's when to expect your returning favorites:
Sept. 11: The Biggest Loser (NBC)
Sept. 15: Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Sept. 16: New Girl (Fox), The Mindy Project (Fox)
Sept. 21: 60 Minutes (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS)
Sept. 22: The Voice (NBC), Sleepy Hollow (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The Blacklist (NBC)
Sept. 23: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC), NCIS (CBS), Chicago Fire (NBC), Person of Interest (CBS)
Sept. 24: The Middle (ABC), The Goldbergs (ABC), Modern Family (ABC), Nashville (ABC), Survivor (CBS), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Sept. 25: Grey's Anatomy (ABC), Scandal (ABC), Parenthood (NBC), Bones (Fox)
Sept. 26: Shark Tank (ABC), 20/20 (ABC), The Amazing Race (CBS), Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), Blue Bloods (CBS), Dateline (NBC)
Sept. 27: 48 Hours (CBS)
Sept. 28: Once Upon a Time (ABC), Resurrection (ABC), Revenge (ABC), CSI (CBS), The Simpsons (Fox), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox), Family Guy (Fox)
Sept. 29: Castle (ABC), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), 2 Broke Girls (CBS), Mom (CBS)
Oct. 1: Criminal Minds (CBS)
Oct. 2: The Vampire Diaries (CW), Reign (CW)
Oct. 3: Last Man Standing (ABC)
Oct. 5: Bob's Burgers (Fox), America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
Oct. 6: The Originals (CW)
Oct. 7: Supernatural (CW)
Oct. 8: Arrow (CW)
Oct. 22: The 100 (CW)
Oct. 24: Grimm (NBC)
Oct. 30: The Millers (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), Elementary (CBS)