The 50 Biggest and Best Fall TV Shows to Watch: From More ‘White Lotus’ to ‘Abbott Elementary’
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There were 357 scripted TV series that premiered in June hahaha. (I’m laughing to keep from crying.) It’s a number that I repeat often because it’s just so astounding. That’s so many shows! And it doesn’t even include reality TV, docuseries, or sports. Who can watch all of them? Who can even watch a percentage of them?
It’s with that in mind that we realize a curated TV guide is more important than ever. I haven’t counted how many series are premiering this fall because, frankly, I’m not sure I can count that high. Moreover, I’m afraid of what my emotional reaction might be if I did.
But I have put together this list of returning favorites, buzzy-sounding new titles, and shows that I personally just plain enjoy and think you would, too. Here are 50 series that seem worth checking out—I bear no responsibility if any end up being terrible!—presented in chronological order.
Queen Sugar
Tues., Sept. 6 on OWN
Oprah and Ava DuVernay gave us one of the best drama series of the last six years and you all barely paid attention. It’s rude, is what it is. Negligence. You can atone for your sins when Queen Sugar’s final season premieres.
Chef’s Table: Pizza
Wed., Sept. 7 on Netflix
A prestige docuseries devoted entirely to pizza. Chef’s Table: Pizza, I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.
The Good Fight
Thurs., Sept. 8 on Paramount+
How does one explain how excellent The Good Fight is? How do you articulate the truest form of love? What is the meaning of life? Where do we go when we’re gone? Some questions are just too big to answer, too grand to distill into words. My beloved The Good Fight wraps up this season. Please watch.
Last Light
Thurs., Sept. 8 on Peacock
Lost alum Matthew Fox returns to TV for the first time since 2014 in this globe-trotting thriller. Was he trapped on the beach in a dream sequence for these last eight years? Was he dead the whole time? Do I even remember what happened in the Lost finale? All great, provocative questions.
Cobra Kai
Fri., Sept. 9 on Netflix
This show went from “why in the hell are they reviving The Karate Kid” to “one of the most popular shows in the world” in record time, which, let’s be honest, is a bit too on-the-nose, given the underdog nature of The Karate Kid.
Gutsy
Fri., Sept. 9 on Apple TV+
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are gassing up the car, stocking up on Slim Jims and Red Bull, and hitting the road for a cross-country trip to chat with a variety of trailblazing women. Given that the guests include Kim Kardashian, Megan Thee Stallion, and Gloria Steinem, I may be overestimating how salt-of-the-earth this endeavor will really be.
American Gigolo
Sun., Sept. 11 on Showtime
Richard Gere in the old American Gigolo? Hot. Jon Bernthal in the new one? Hot, too! The Showtime series picks 15 years after escort Julian Kaye in released from prison, attempting to find his footing in modern-day sex culture. If he ever figures it out, please pass me his tips.
Monarch
Sun., Sept. 11 on Fox
In Monarch, Susan Sarandon plays Queen of Country Music Dottie Cantrell Roman, a sentence I just giggled the entire way through typing. This is thrilling! Sarandon in a network TV, country-music soap opera! Shania Twain, Tanya Tucker, and Martina McBride are guest starring! Congrats to the Nashville gay who met a met a fairy in an enchanted forest and had his greatest wish come true.
The Serpent Queen
Sun., Sept. 11 on Starz
I don’t know who 16th century French ruler Catherine de' Medici is (I’m dumb, you see), but I am desperate to find out how, pray tell, she got the name “The Serpent Queen.” Samantha Morton—icon—plays Queen Cat.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Wed., Sept. 14 on Hulu
It feels like we need another season of The Handmaid’s Tale right now like we need another dystopian, extremist roll back of civil and human rights. “Too real” was novel and interesting when the Hulu series premiered. Now it’s just trauma. In any case, Elisabeth Moss is still TV’s best actress. Good for her.
Atlanta
Thurs., Sept. 15 on FX
It’s the farewell season for Atlanta, a true masterpiece of modern television. I don’t know what else to say. You’d be fools not to watch!
Vampire Academy
Thurs., Sept. 15 on Peacock
Every time one of these teen dramas is announced that combine the supernatural with the angst of high school, I feel like it already's been done. It turns out I’m not crazy; this one already has. Not only was it a 2014 movie, its creator, Julie Plec, was also behind the similarly named Vampire Diaries. Hollywood originality is at its peak!
Los Espookys
Fri., Sept. 16, HBO
Los Espookys is so weird. I can’t get enough of it. Julio Torres, who created and stars in the show, looks at the world in a different way from the rest of us—almost as if he’s not of this world. The result is a hilarious, quirky comedy about a group of friends who start a business to create horror experiences.
Best in Dough
Mon., Sept. 19 on Hulu
This fall it is All! About! Pizza! (That’s every fall/every season in my household. But on TV? This autumn is living for cheesy pies.) Best in Dough is a pizza-making competition. And if there was a pun-as-a-TV-title competition? This would be best-in-show.
The Cleaning Lady
Mon., Sept. 19 on Fox
Double lives: Always a thrill. The Cleaning Lady’s version centers around a mother who is in the U.S. on an expired visa because her son needs medical treatment. At home in Cambodia, she’s a doctor. But in the U.S., she takes a job as a cleaner—until she witnesses a crime and is offered a job within the elicit organization as both a cleaner and a doctor.
Quantum Leap
Mon. Sept. 19 on NBC
I was not old enough to watch Quantum Leap when it came out (I’m so young and vibrant), and I just read a plot description of the original series and did not understand a word of it. But I know it was a popular show, and so I can assume there will be at least an iota of interest in this reboot.
Reboot
Tues., Sept. 20 on Hulu
Oh, hey, speaking of reboots! This one is actually a commentary on the cynical phenomenon, a comedy in which an attempt to capitalize on nostalgia by reuniting a 20-year-old sitcom’s dysfunctional cast might be more chaotic than it’s worth. The cast is very cool, too: Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, Keegan-Michael Key, Paul Reiser, and Rachel Bloom.
Abbott Elementary
Wed., Sept. 21 on ABC
I don’t think there’s ever been as much goodwill towards a television program as exists for this show. And you know what? It’s what it deserves. It is sharp and funny, touching without being treacly, and manages to be important without being pedantic. I’m counting down the days until Janelle James’ Ava Coleman is back in my life.
Andor
Wed., Sept. 21 on Disney+
Andor marks the fourth live-action Star Wars series to debut on Disney+, as well as the fourth that I will be ignoring entirely. But if this is your thing: Bless, and enjoy.
The Goldbergs
Wed., Sept. 21 on ABC
Last year, Jeff Garlin parted ways with the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs after an HR investigation into his on-set behavior. Later that season, his character appeared through hilariously bad CGI to tie up storylines. Now, news has come out that when the series returns, his character will be killed off. It’s the F-U energy I want to see more of.
The Kardashians
Thurs., Sept. 22 on Hulu
You can’t be kaught up if you’re not keeping up, so you better katch up. (I’ve been writing about the Kardashians for what seems like decades now, and I’m delirious.)
‘The Kardashians’ Season Finale Deprives Us of Pete Davidson Once More
Law & Order Franchise
Thurs., Sept. 22 on NBC
The respective Law & Order series—SVU, Organized Crime, and original flavor—will crossover for a three-hour event, which means three hours of seeing Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler together again. It’s a special event for NBC, but a nightly occurrence in my dreams.
The Rookie: Feds
Tues., Sept. 27 on ABC
There is one reason this show is on this list: Niecy Nash. When one of TV’s best actresses, who finally in recent years has earned the accolades she’s long deserved, signs up for a new series, we sign up for a new series. That the new series is a spinoff of a broadcast-TV police procedural is…a choice. But where Niecy Nash goes, we follow.
Ghosts
Thurs., Sept. 29 on CBS
It’s always a treat when a new show starts airing, you hear rumblings that it’s pretty good, so then you check it out and it turns out to be a total delight. That’s what happened last season with Ghosts, a charming, surprisingly touching series that ended up being one of the most-watched comedies of the season.
So Help Me Todd
Thurs., Sept. 29 on CBS
I am conflicted as to whether I am obsessed with or absolutely aghast at that pun of a name. That said, I will watch—and basically have watched—anything Marcia Gay Harden is in. And Skylar Astin, who plays her son who gets a job at her law firm, is so handsome. Bonus!
Floor is Lava
Fri., Sept. 30 on Netflix
This is the stupidest show on TV and I cannot wait for it to return.
Ramy
Fri., Sept. 30 on Netflix
Ramy is both one of TV’s most complicated and its most accessible shows. The series is Ramy Youssef’s look at a young man trying to reconcile his Muslim identity and his desire to live what he considers a “normal” modern life. It’s often provocative and enlightening, and consistently just very…cool.
The White Lotus: Sicily
Oct. TBD on HBO
This is easily my most anticipated series of the fall. Jennifer Coolidge is reviving the character that was the vessel for her career-best work in this Italy-based season, which, from creator Mike White, promises to satirize rich people behaving badly. Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, Haley Lu Richardson, and Theo James are among the new cast.
Jennifer Coolidge Didn’t Think She’d Live to Hear Your Raves About ‘The White Lotus’
Saturday Night Live
Sat., Oct. 1 on NBC
There’s a bit of a changing of the guard happening at Studio 8H this year. Veterans Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Alex Moffat all won’t be returning for the new season. Honestly, that’s exciting! This show is nothing if not at its best when fresher talent rises to usher in a new era.
Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire
Sun., Oct. 2 on AMC
If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout history, it’s that nothing is sexier than vampires. Anne Rice’s ones are the sexiest of them all. Brad Pitt! Tom Cruise! Hell yeah, interview me daddies! (I have never seen the movie and therefore do not know what this show is about.)
Alaska Daily
Thurs., Oct. 6 on ABC
My colleague made me laugh when this show was mentioned and he said, “Hillary Swank hive, rise up!” And you know what? We will. In this series, from Spotlight writer-director Tom McCarthy, she plays a disgraced reporter attempting to rebuild her life in Anchorage. It’s giving very ABC-circa-2005 vibes, which, let’s just say it, was a Golden Era. I am here for this.
A Friend of the Family
Thurs, Oct. 6 on Peacock
This is a true-crime-inspired series with a fascinating, if incredibly creepy, premise: A family’s daughter is repeatedly kidnapped over several years by a neighbor who somehow keeps evading their efforts to keep her safe. Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, and Colin Hanks lead the cast.
Grey’s Anatomy
Thurs., Oct. 6 on ABC
Before you drop the world’s laziest line in reaction to this: Yes, this show is still on. In fact, it’s still incredibly popular. I can’t say that I’m a regular viewer anymore, but any time I do pop in, I am very much entertained. The power of Meredith Grey!
The Midnight Club
Fri., Oct. 7 on Netflix
I was very much into Christopher Pike’s books as an adolescent, and all of their angsty, horny, high-school horror. I don't know if I, an adult male, am the target demographic for this Netflix series. But that hasn’t stopped me before—bring back Baby-Sitters’ Club, you cowards!—and it won’t stop me now.
Let the Right One In
Sun., Oct. 9 on Showtime
More vampires! They’re really having a moment this season, and good for them.
High School
Fri., Oct. 14 on Freevee
I am intrigued by this show, which is based on a memoir by the music duo Tegan and Sara, and the possibility of it getting me to find out what “Freevee” is.
Shantaram
Fri., Oct. 14 on Apple TV+
Sons of Anarchy alum Charlie Hunnam plays a fugitive on the run from an Australian prison, which is, quite honestly, the quintessential Charlie Hunnam role. How did it take so long for this to happen?
Documentary Now!
Wed., Oct. 19 on IFC
It has been seven years since Documentary Now! gave us Bill Hader and Fred Armisen starring as avatars of Little Edie and Big Edie in a mockumentary spoof of Grey Gardens. It is the greatest episode of television there’s ever been, and I do not mean that facetiously. That, over its three season, the series has remained that brilliant should have us all excited for Season 4.
From Scratch
Fri, Oct. 21 on Netflix
Even though this has been a thing for, like, a decade or more at this point, it’s still exciting when Big Glamorous Movie Stars deign to do a TV series. And so we reluctantly admit feeling a bit of a thrill at the news that Zoe Saldana is going to star in this eight-episode romantic drama for Netflix.
The Peripheral
Fri., Oct. 21 on Amazon
The plot of this futuristic sci-fi series is one of those things that gave me a bit of a headache trying to untangle; “hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind—and what lies beyond” is a string of words in the press release. But it stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor, and boasts Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers.
Guilllermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Tues., Oct. 25 on Netflix
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is a horror anthology series, with different episodes directed by the likes of Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), Vincenzo Natali (Cube), and Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight). More importantly, it has a fabulous name. What a title!
Blockbuster
Thurs., Nov. 3 on Netflix
The series is inspired by the real-life story—and recent documentary—about the last functioning Blockbuster location in Bend, Oregon. As a child of the ’90s, when roaming the aisles of a Blockbuster was as much the event as watching the rented movie itself, I love the idea of this show, especially after reading the cast is led by Randall Park (Always Be My Maybe) and Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).
The Missing
Thurs., Nov. 10 on Peacock
Listen, David E. Kelley admittedly has a wonky track record. For every Big Little Lies, there’s a The Undoing. (Egads, the ending of that show…) But when he hits, he really hits. So we’re definitely going to check out The Missing, about a NYPD detective who believes that his spirituality is to credit for his success at work.
The English
Fri., Nov. 11 on Amazon
That thing we mentioned before about it still being embarrassingly exciting when movie stars do TV? Apply it again here to The English, which will star Emily Blunt. And it’s a western series! Who’d have predicted that for Blunt?
Tulsa King
Sun., Nov. 13 on Paramount+
The Grand Poobah of Paramount+, Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone), expands his suite of seemingly a million series for the streamer with Tulsa King. It’s about a New York mafia captain who is sent by his boss to run an operation in Oklahoma, played by…wait for it…Sylvester Stallone! It’s Stallone’s first TV role. Hell yeah.
Yellowstone
Sun., Nov. 13 on Paramount
Speaking of Taylor Sheridan and Yellowstone, the series is back Nov. 13. Tell your dad!
Welcome to Chippendales
Tues., Nov. 22 on Hulu
And a little over a week later, the new stripper-empire origin story Welcome to Chippendales premieres. Tell your mom!
Willow
Wed., Nov. 30 on Disney+
This is a sequel to Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy film, which meant a lot to many growing up. I was not one of them—never seen it!—but go off if you’re excited for this series.
The Crown
Nov. TDB on Netflix
The closer we get to modern day, the juicier this series gets. The new season features the debut of the third evolution of the royal cast, including Imelda Staunton taking over as Queen Elizabeth II, Dominic West as Prince Charles, and, as we saw in paparazzi photos that nearly broke the internet of her wearing the dress, Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.
The Idol
Fall TDB on HBO
For Euphoria fans/youths, the new series from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, nightlife mogul Reza Fahim, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye seems thrilling. For me/olds, it sounds exhausting. Nevertheless, expect the internet to be talking about nothing besides this series when it comes out.
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