If you’re in a post-Stranger Things TV slump, we suggest you go outside and run around for a few weeks, because your show addictions are about to multiply tenfold and we foresee a pretty sedentary fall ahead as a result. Not only are favorites coming back—You’re The Worst, Narcos, Jane the Virgin, Fear the Walking Dead, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Masters of Sex, American Horror Story, The Affair and Empire among them—but a host of promising new shows are slated for release between now and the end of November as well. Notable among their stars are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristen Bell, Christina Ricci, Mandy Moore, Minnie Driver and more. Here, the shows we’re most excited to see this fall.
Good Girls Revolt
Good Girls Revolt is probably the show we're most excited to see this fall season. It's set in 1969 and centers around a group of women who petition for fair treatment in the misogynistic environment of a newsroom. (Sadly, if you Google "Ailes" right now, you may see that not much has changed.) We're excited for the fashion as well as the feminist premise, as we're sure it'll inspire us to scour the racks of our favorite vintage meccas in much the same way Mad Men did. Good Girls Revolt premieres Amazon on October 28, but you can watch the first full episode here now.
Divorce
So, Divorce is not supposed to have anything in common with Sex and the City, but we can't help but feel like it simply picks up a good decade or so after the ending of that which is our favorite show of all time. SJP plays a woman who, after ten years of marriage and two children, has decided on a divorce. Molly Shannon plays her best friend, who is happily married but has no children, and Talia Balsam plays another girlfriend, who has been widowed. We sort of prefer watching a fictional representation of the dating portion of our life's program to the sad divorce/premature death portion, but it's SJP, so we're sure it'll be magic no matter what.
Pitch
Pitch, which was created by Fox in collaboration with the MLB, centers around the first female to play major league baseball (she is fictional, of course, as no women play major league baseball as of yet). We'd tune in based on the premise alone, but it doesn't hurt that Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris) from Saved by the Bell, duh) plays the team's catcher. With the talents of IRL female ball players becoming increasingly hard to ignore, we're hoping this show paves the way from fantasy to reality for all of the women out their with big league dreams. Pitch debuts on Fox on September 22.
This Is Us
This show comes to us from the writers of Crazy, Stupid, Love, and to be honest the previews had us hooked the minute we saw Mandy Moore crying in a close up. It centers around a random group of people, many of whom share the same birthday, as their lives intertwine in strange ways. This Is Us debuts on NBC on September 20.
Insecure
Issa Rae, creator and star of YouTube sensation The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl finally has her own show on HBO, and we couldn't be more excited. The talented girl boss is executive producer, writer, and star of the 30-minute comedy, which promises to be a something akin to a more polished version of the YT original. It centers around the friendship of two modern black women, and will debut on HBO on October 9.
The Good Place
It's increasingly tough for network TV to compete with Netflix, Amazon and the like, but The Good Place is actually getting great reviews. It stars the insanely adorable Kristen Bell as a dead woman who gets mistakingly sent to "the good place." Ted Danson stars alongside her, and the show, which premieres on NBC on September 19, promises to be something you can watch with your parents without feeling either bored or uncomfortable.
Star
Star is destined to be our newest guilty pleasure. Co-created by Empire creator and executive producer Lee Daniels, Star centers around three young women as they navigate the music business and all its trappings. All three of the main players are new actresses, but Queen Latifah, Lenny Kravitz and Benjamin Bratt will star alongside them for some megawatt support.
One Mississippi
One Mississippi is a dark comedy based on comedian Tig Notaro’s life. It’s co-written by Notaro and Juno writer Diablo Coty and executive-produced by Louis C.K., and we’ve heard really good things about this one. It debuts on Amazon on September 9, but you can watch the first episode here now.
High Maintenance
This quietly unassuming Vimeo web series about a weed delivery guy has had some seriously amazing moments—we suggest you plug in your headphones and watch the “Qasim” episode stat. HBO will bring us a full 30-minute-per-episode version of the series on September 16.
Speechless
ABC Comedy Speechless stars Minnie Driver, who we’ve been obsessed with since Good Will Hunting, as the mother of a special needs child. The creators and stars, however, promise it’s to be a family comedy that all can relate to as opposed to an “issues” show or an after-school special type of program. Speechless premieres on ABC on September 21.
The Great Indoors
The Great Indoors, which stars our secret boyfriend Joel McHale, is allegedly aiming to offend millennials. McHale plays an aging editor who is brought into a newsroom full of young things and, as women who work in editorial in 2016, we can only imagine how ripe this premise is for comedy—journalism school circa twenty years ago didn’t necessarily prepare anyone for the Snapchat era. Great Indoors premieres on ABC on Oct 27.
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
By now you’ve likely heard more than enough about this revival, even if you are a superfan of the original series. It’s finally coming to Netflix on November 23, so you have around two months to binge watch OG Gilmore Girls before the big event.
Z: The Beginning Of Everything
This show centers around the infamous Zelda Fitzgerald. If nothing else, we love that 36-year-old Christina Ricci was cast to play a teenager (at the show’s outset), which is a refreshing change of pace for ageist Hollywood. Though the pilot, which you can watch here now, is a bit overacted, we think this show will grow into itself. As an added bonus, we’re looking forward to the show’s inevitable influence on fashion—we could use a break from the ‘70s and the ‘90s and wouldn’t mind throwing back to the ‘20s as an alternative.
Highston
This Amazon show follows a 19-year-old whose best friends are random celebrities or, rather, his best imaginary friends are random celebrities. In our celeb-obsessed culture, this quirk makes a lot of sense, and it’ll be fun to see all the cameos this premise enables (Flea and Shaq star in the first episode). Highston doesn’t yet have an official release date, but you can watch the pilot here now.
Designated Survivor
This ABC show, which stars Kiefer Sutherland, has been getting a lot of positive buzz. It centers around Kiefer, the “designated survivor” who is assumes the highest office in the land after the President and every other member of his cabinet is killed in an attack. Designated Survivor debuts on ABC on September 21.
Imaginary Mary
Imaginary Mary stars the lovable Jenna Elfman as a woman whose imaginary friend—voiced by Rachel Dratch, ha!—reappears in midlife to give Elfman’s character some guidance. We sort of wish this was a non-network show so the premise could take it crazier places, but we’re willing to give it a chance regardless.
Notorious
The blogger behind Suri’s Burn Book co-wrote a TV show, and Notorious is it. It’s central conflict was inspired by the relationship between criminal defense attorney Mark Garagos and long-time Larry King Live executive producer Wendy Walker, and the show has been described as a “provocative look at the interplay of criminal law and the media.” It stars Piper Perabo.
Better Things
Yes. This show stars Pamela Adlon, who we absolutely adore and who you may recognize from Californication and Louie. It's also co-created by Louis C.K. It centers around a single mom (Adlon) who is raises 3 kids, caring for her mom, and trying to eek out an existence as an actress in L.A. Better Things premieres on FX on September 8.
I Love Dick
I Love Dick comes to us from Transparent creator Jill Soloway and is based upon a book of the same name. In the pilot, actress Kathryn Hahn plays a woman "straddling 40" who develops an obsession with her husband's colleague Dick. That character is played very—ahem—compellingly by Kevin Bacon, who we cannot believe is 58-years-old. Give the pilot, available now on Amazon Prime, a watch to see what we mean.
