The end of summer is always a little sad, but it also signals the start of the fall TV season. There are new shows to become obsessed with and favorites giving us fresh episodes. Though the changing entertainment landscape has made TV year-round fun, there’s still something extra exciting about the anticipation of getting a solid month of fresh, rerun-free television. To prepare you for the onslaught of binging coming your way, we gathered five new series worth watching and one returning favorite you need to jump on.
Abbott Elementary - ABC - Sept. 21
Now that we’ve met the hilarious teachers and staff of Abbott Elementary and established the ridiculous world they work in, we can just jump into the story. The Emmy-winning comedy gets a full 22 episodes in Season 2, so we can’t wait to see where creator/writer Quinta Brunson goes with the extra stories to tell. While real-world schools are offering plenty of ridiculous nonsense for the Emmy-winner to use, she’s made it clear she wants to focus on telling new, fun stories.
Reasonable Doubt - Hulu - Sept. 27
Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as high-powered attorney Jax Stewart in this legal drama executive produced by Kerry Washington and Larry Wilmore. The trailer is a cross between Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder and The First Wives Club. Jax fits the classic TV trope of a woman who has her professional life together while her personal life is in shambles. Despite this well-worn trait, she still seems like a captivating character for all the action to revolve around. Perhaps most exciting is the fact that the series features an all Black writer’s room, as well as a crew that’s mostly Black, which means the stories are told from an authentic perspective.
The Rookie: Feds - ABC - Sept. 27
Niecy Nash-Betts brings her unrivaled charm to a police procedural in this spinoff of The Rookie, where she plays the oldest recruit at the FBI Academy. At this point, cop shows can be a little predictable, but the draw of The Rookie: Feds is that Niecy will almost never take the audience somewhere they’re expecting. Along with co-stars Frankie R. Faison and James Lesure, I’m looking forward to the show offering a different voice to the genre.
East New York - CBS - Oct. 2
CBS’ latest procedural, East New York, stars Amanda Warren as Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood, the new commanding officer of the 74th precinct in the underserved community of East New York. A cop show about a new hotshot boss with fresh ideas and plans to solve the area’s crime problems isn’t exactly new. But a Black woman as the C.O., who knows she only has a limited amount of time to show improvement, is something new to the genre. This may be just another CBS cop drama, but Warren’s presence gives it the potential to be something interesting.
Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire - AMC/AMC+ - Oct. 2
This updated adaptation of Anne Rice’s popular novel stars Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) as Louis de Pointe du Lac, the vampire giving the famed interview. What makes this version so fascinating is that with Louis as a Black man, it opens up the story to new avenues that couldn’t be told before. It’s not just his sexual identity that seduces Louis to Lestat, it’s also the freedom he presents as a vampire. If you’re a fan of Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, this is the adaptation you’ve been waiting for.
From Scratch - Netflix - Oct. 21
Zoe Saldana stars in this romance about Amy Wheeler, a woman who goes to Italy to find herself as an artist and falls in love with a chef. As their love story evolves and they try to blend their worlds, an unexpected tragedy threatens everything. Sometimes you just need a love story with a good cry and From Scratch looks like it offers both. Keith David and Kellita Smith co-star as Amy’s parents.