The 30 Most Anticipated Fall TV Shows

“Quarry”
Synopsis: A Vietnam vet returns home to Memphis in 1972 and is drawn into a web of crime and corruption.
What You Need To Know: Even by the standards of the lengthy development process that most TV shows have to go through, “Quarry”’s has had a long route to the screen. It ‘s an adaptation of a series of crime novels by Max Allan Collins (“Road To Perdition”), which Cinemax originally shot a pilot for back in 2013, with “Prometheus” actor Logan Marshall-Green, “10 Cloverfield Lane”’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Stellan Skarsgard starring, and “The Road” helmer John Hillcoat directing. Over time, almost everything bar Marshall-Green fell away, with TV veteran Greg Yaitanes now directing, and Peter Mullan, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Damon Herriman and Jamie Hector among the cast. It looks a little like Cinemax is setting this up to be a sort of successor to their recently departed “Banshee,” and if it can deliver some pulpy retro thrills, it’ll be welcome, even if it likely won’t be as artful as the earlier iteration might have been.
Airdate: September 9th on Cinemax

“The Good Place”
Synopsis: A young woman dies and ends up in ‘the Good Place’ through clerical error. To make up for the mistake, she decides to live a better (after)life.
What You Need To Know: If the network sitcom is basically dead, then Mike Schur might have been the last master of it. Over the last decade, former SNL-writer Schur wrote for “The Office,” then co-created “Parks & Recreation,” and then co-created “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which is a pretty fearsome track record for anybody (he only just turned 40). His latest attempt to prove that broadcast comedy is still a viable form is “The Good Place,” a higher-concept show that his earlier workplace comedies, given that it’s set in heaven (or a version of it). Coming across a little like a TV version of Albert Brooks’ classic “Defending Your Life,” it stars Kristen Bell, seemingly in the best role written for her since “Veronica Mars,” while Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper and Jameela Jamil also star. The slight worry is that it potentially seems more of a movie premise than a TV premise. But Schur knows what he’s doing much more than we do, so we’ll definitely defer to him on this one.
Airdate: September 19th on NBC

“Designated Survivor”
Synopsis: During the State Of The Union at the U.S. Capitol, one member of the Cabinet is asked to go to another location as the ‘designated survivor,’ in case of disaster. But when the Secretary Of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman does just that, a terrorist attack strikes, and he finds himself sworn in as president, and with a conspiracy to unravel.
What You Need To Know: As usual, broadcast network drama is a pretty uninspiring collection this year, full of movie reboots, medical dramas and shows that very few people would likely be interested in. But “Designated Survivor” is an exception. It might look a bit like a mash up of a number of popular dramas —“24,” “Homeland,” “The West Wing”— but it at least appears to be combining them in a way that looks watchable. Kiefer Sutherland returns to TV in a rather more bookish role than the one he’s used to as the new president, while Natasha McElhone, Maggie Q and Kal Penn lead the rest of the cast, and the high concept premise comes from David Guggenheim, writer of “Safe House.” This kind of show can often burn itself out quickly —as the briefly entertaining “Quantico” did last year— but the hook here is enough to get us to give it a try.
Airdate: September 21st on ABC.

“Easy”
Synopsis: This anthology series follows a selection of Chicago inhabitants as they try to make sense of love, sex, technology and culture.
What You Need To Know: Back in 2006, long before the TV revolution was fully underway, prolific indie helmer Joe Swanberg had a short lived web-series that eventually made its way to IFC called “Young American Bodies.” Now, with Swanberg having crossed over to the mainstream somewhat with “Drinking Buddies,” “Happy Christmas” and “Digging For Fire” (plus having helmed an episode of “Love”), he’s back with a show that takes a similar premise but with a rather starrier cast — the show should reach many more eyes, being a Netflix Original. A few Swanberg favorites are back —Orlando Bloom, Jake Johnson, Jane Adams— but the bulk of the cast are newcomers, with Malin Akerman, Michael Chernus, Kiersey Clemons, Elizabeth Reaser, Marc Maron, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Aya Cash, Dave Franco, Hannibal Buress and Emily Ratajkowski all set to appear. The anthology format should work on streaming platforms nicely, since viewers can watch episodes in any order.
Airdate: September 22nd on Netflix

“Pitch”
Synopsis: A young female pitcher attempts to become the first woman to play Major League Baseball when she’s signed for the San Diego Cardinals.
What You Need To Know: The sports world would seem tailor-made for a TV series —a tight group is forced to work together week after week, with all the drama that comes with winning and losing. But aside from “Friday Night Lights,” not many have done it well. Could “Pitch” be the answer? Co-created by “Crazy Stupid Love” writer Dan Fogelman (who’s the TV man of the moment with NBC hoping his ensemble drama “This Is Us” will be one of the hits of the season), the show has a clever premise that should hook into issues of race and gender that are dominating discussion in so many walks of life right now. And Fox seems to be high on the show, pitching it as a sort of “Empire” of sports. The cast, led by Kylie Bunbury, are mostly unknown to us (beyond, uh, Mark-Paul Gosselaar), and the trailer has more than a few clichés, but there’s lots of promise for a true populist network hit here.
Airdate: September 22nd on Fox.

“Son Of Zorn”
Synopsis: After years away, a Barbarian warrior returns home to reconnect with his estranged ex-wife and long-lost son.
What You Need To Know: More or less everything that Phil Lord and Chris Miller has touched of late turns to gold. The pair managed to make unlikely material like “Cloudy With Chance Of Meatballs,” “21 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie” enormously successful and critically adored, they have a Han Solo movie on the way, and even their last TV outing, “Last Man On Earth,” was a surprise long-runner, despite being like very little else on network TV. They have two shows debuting on Fox in the coming season, and while the very promising “Making History” won’t arrive until early 2017, we’re only a few weeks away from seeing “Son Of Zorn.” The show’s a live-action/animation hybrid, which is pretty ambitious for a TV comedy, but it seems to be far more than just a gimmick: a strong cast including Cheryl Hines, Tim Meadows and the voice of Jason Sudeikis topline, and the promos so far have displayed plenty of laughs. A world where Lord and Miller dominate Fox’s comedy lineup (rather than, say, Seth MacFarlane) is one that we want to live in, so we’ll be rooting for this show.
Airdate: September 25th on Fox