They include some of the year’s most highly-anticipated titles, including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the Star Wars prequel Andor and the fantasy reboot Willow. Our other top picks rum the gamut from the sexy thriller Interview With the Vampire to the satirical comedy Reboot to the mobster drama Tulsa King. Here are the 13 new fall TV shows we’re most excited to watch, plus a list of returning series release dates to circle on the calendar.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video)
The fantasy TV streaming wars heat up when Prime Video looks to get another win following Wheel of Time by launching a Lord of the Rings prequel. The Rings of Power’s majestic trailer showed us that its story will center around Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who joins the fight to avenge her brother’s death in war. In the process, Galadriel looks to be a uniter of heroes, including Elendil (Lloyd Owen), Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) and Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur). An epic adventure where our heroes will cross treacherous terrains, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power looks like the blockbuster show that will kick off the fall TV season. – Henry T. Casey Premieres Sept. 2 on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
American Gigolo (Showtime)
In this reimagination and sequel series to the 1980 noir classic film, Jon Bernthal steps into Richard Gere’s, uh, shoes as sex worker Julian Kane. It takes place 15 years after Kane was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a wealthy client’s wife. Newly freed from prison, Julian struggles to reestablish his life and come to terms with his past as an escort. He’s also hoping to reconnect with his former lover, Michelle (Gretchen Mol), and seeks answers to the mystery of who framed him for the crime and why. He’s aided in the latter quest by Detective Sunday (Rosie O’Donnell), who begins to believe that a larger conspiracy is afoot. - Kelly Woo Premieres Sept. 9 on Showtime
Vampire Academy (Peacock)
Julie Plec knows something about adapting popular YA novels about vampires into hit series. She did it with The Vampire Diaries to great success — eight seasons and two spinoffs. Now, she’s at it again, alongside co-creator Marguerite MacIntyre, delivering Vampire Academy, based on the novels by Rachel Mead. At St. Vladimir’s Academy, Moroi vampire princess Lissa Dragomir (Daniela Nieves) befriends Rose Hathaway (Sisi Stringer), a human/vampire hybrid training to be one of the guardians known as Dhampir. They become caught up in forbidden romances and threats from savage Strigoi vampires, who want to turn Lissa into one of their own. - KW Premieres Sept. 15 on Peacock (opens in new tab)
Quantum Leap (NBC)
Everything old is new again in Hollywood. NBC is rebooting the time-traveling sci-fi series, which starred Scott Bakula and ran from 1989 to 1993. The story is still about time travel, but with all new characters. Thirty years after Dr. Sam Beckett disappeared into the Quantum Leap accelerator, a team led by Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) restarts the project. When he makes an unauthorized leap into the past, his team scrambles to figure out why he did it. At Ben’s side is Addison (Caitlin Bassett), a hologram only he can see and hear. Leaping from time to time, he strives to right wrongs and help people. Meanwhile, back at headquarters, his colleagues work to bring Ben back before he’s lost forever. - KW Premieres Sept. 19 on NBC
Reboot (Hulu)
Everything old is new again in Hollywood. Wait, am I repeating myself? That’s fitting, since that’s the very premise of this new comedy from Modern Family creator Steve Levitan. It chronicles the reboot of an early-aughts sitcom called Step Right Up. The new executive producer (Rachel Bloom) wants to reunite the original cast, including the pretentious Reed Sterling (Keegan-Michael Key), vapid Bree (Judy Greer) and skeevy stand-up Clay (Johnny Knoxville). The new show even brings back the original creator, Gordon (Paul Reiser), who discovers a lot has changed in 20 years and promptly puts foot in mouth when confronted by a much more diverse writing staff. - KW Premieres Sept. 20 on Hulu (opens in new tab)
Andor (Disney Plus)
If you loved how the Obi-Wan Kenobi show gave us a brief glimpse of a group called The Path, we bet you’re giddy for Andor. While the next big Disney Plus series is seen as a prequel to the excellent film Rogue One, it follows the same path as that other group by showing an undercurrent of dissent against the Galactic Empire. Set before Rogue One (and therefore Episode IV: A New Hope, as well), Andor shows the rise of the Rebel Alliance and the role that spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) plays in it. The series will also feature other familiar faces, as Genevieve O’Reilly and Forest Whitaker reprise the roles, respectively, of rebel leader Mon Mothma and resistance fighter Saw Gerrera. Andor looks like one of the good Star Wars shows, if you ask us. Which is to say it looks more exciting than The Book of Boba Fett. – HTC Premieres Sept. 21 on Disney Plus (opens in new tab)
Interview With the Vampire (AMC)
Remakes are really the rage this fall TV season. The next one on the list is a reimagining of Interview With the Vampire, based on Anne Rice’s gothic novels (which were memorably adapted into a 1994 film starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise). Some details have been tweaked and modernized. The interview is for a podcast, while protagonist Louis de Pointe du Lac is a Black man, played by Game of Thrones alum Jacob Anderson. In 1910s New Orleans, Louis oversees brothels and gaming dens. He’s approached by Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), who offers him power, influence and immortality — but at a steep, bloody price. - KW Premieres Oct. 2 on AMC
The Midnight Club (Netflix)
Christopher Pike’s beloved young adult horror novel The Mystery Club — which sees a group of terminally ill teens finding a common bond in scary stories — is getting the Netflix treatment. Co-created with Leah Fong (The Haunting of Bly Manor), with episodes directed by executive producer Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House), The Mystery Club has all the right bona fides and goes for a delightfully meta twist. Each kid tells a story that’s an adaptation of one of Christopher Pike’s books. Through each story, the teens will face their own personal demons and their fears about mortality. – HTC Premieres Oct. 7 on Netflix (opens in new tab)
From Scratch (Netflix)
For everyone who says “it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all,” this is a story just for you. Zoe Saldaña stars in Netflix’s upcoming limited series From Scratch, which is all about how Amy falls in love with a chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea) in gorgeous Sicily, only for their future to be threatened. Saldaña calls From Scratch “a profound true story of love and family, deprivation and nourishment,” which has us expecting to ugly-cry throughout each episode. It’s based on a memoir from author Tembi Locke, and comes to us from Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine production company. – HTC Premieres Oct. 21 on Netflix (opens in new tab)
Blockbuster (Netflix)
How very ironic that this series, set in the last Blockbuster video store in America, is on Netflix, which helped put the company out of business. The show is essentially a workplace comedy, with Randall Park as the movie-loving boss Timmy. His second-in-command, Eliza (Melissa Fumero) left Harvard after one semester to start a family with her high school sweetheart, but now their relationship is on the rocks. Their other co-workers include aspiring filmmaker Carlos (Tyler Alvarez), naive financial whiz Hannah (Madeleine Arthur), motherly Connie (Olga Merediz) and strip mall owner Percy (JB Smoove). They band together with the local community to try to save a dying business in a dying retail market in a dying town. - KW Premieres Nov. 3 on Netflix
Tulsa King (Paramount Plus)
The Stalloneissance that began on Prime Video with Samaritan — a dark superhero movie — is continuing as Sly stars in modern day TV hit-maker Taylor Sheridan’s latest project (you may know that name from Yellowstone and its 1883 spinoff). In Tulsa King, Stallone plays a mafia capo named Dwight “The General” Manfredi, who just spent 25 years in jail only to be shunted off to Tulsa, Oklahoma by the current dons. Far from his home base in New York, Dwight has to build a new crew, and see if he’s still got what it takes. Co-stars include Silicon Valley’s Martin Starr, The Wire’s Domenick Lombardozzi, and I’m Sorry’s Andrea Savage. – HTC Premieres Nov. 13 on Paramount Plus
Willow (Disney Plus)
The fantasy epic beloved by ‘80s kids gets a reboot/sequel series featuring original cast member Warwick Davis as the titular dwarf sorcerer. Davis is surrounded by a bunch of fresh faces as they embark on a new adventure in the magical realm filled with mystical creatures. Princess Kit (Ruby Cruz), the daughter of warrior Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), leads an unlikely band of heroes including knight-in-training Jade (Erin Kellyman), kitchen maid Dove (Ellie Bamber) and thief Boorman (Amer Chadha-Patel). Their quest is to rescue Kit’s twin brother, but many obstacles and dangers lie in their way. - KW Premieres Nov. 30 on Disney Plus (opens in new tab)
Wednesday (Netflix)
Netflix loves to try and prove it can release a novel edition of a beloved character or show. And so the streamer is releasing its Wednesday Addams series hoping that it’s more of a Witcher or a Sandman than a Cowboy Bebop. And while social media is agog with adoration for the casting of Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams (whose cara mia Morticia is played by Catherine Zeta Jones), know that this show isn’t really about the Addams family (snap snap). Instead, this is what happens when OG goth girl Wednesday goes to school. First, she gets kicked out of Nancy Reagan High School, and then she’s off to Nevermore, where Gomez and Morticia met, and an eerie mystery — plus a headmaster played by Gwendoline Christie — awaits. All in all, Wednesday looks to thrive or wither on the performance of Jenna Ortega, who stars in the titular role. She’s not mimicking Christina Ricci’s iconic performance, but offering an edition that looks plenty interesting. – HTC Premieres this fall on Netflix
Our favorite returning fall TV shows: premiere dates
Queen Sugar season 7 (Sept. 6, OWN) The Good Fight season 6 (Sept. 8, Paramount Plus)Cobra Kai season 5 (Sept. 9, Netflix)The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 (Sept. 14, Hulu) Atlanta season 4 (Sept. 15, FX) Abbott Elementary season 2 (Sept. 21, ABC) The Other Two season 2 (Sept. 22, HBO Max)The White Lotus season 2 (October, HBO)The Walking Dead season 11C (Oct. 2, AMC) Yellowstone season 5 (Nov. 13, Paramount Network) The Crown season 5 (November, Netflix) Mythic Quest season 3 (Fall, Apple TV Plus)
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