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9.5.14 DBD Fall TV Preview

So, it's September, that time of year again -- new TV shows! I have names and descriptions here (I can't tell you where I got them, because then I'd have to credit them). What are you looking forward to?

ABC

Cristela: There’s no question that it’s cool for a Latina and her family to anchor a new sitcom, even if it does repurpose the concept of "Ugly Betty." The cast, headed by show creator Cristela Alonzo, a stand-up comedian, is terrific, and the concept can work, if the writing improves to merit its laugh track. C’mon, ABC: You’ve come this far. Don’t underestimate your audience, and you can go the distance. 8:30 p.m. Oct. 10.

Forever: Ioan Gruffudd is a doctor who cannot die, at least not for long, and has been alive for 200 years. In fact, this is really ABC feeling "Elementary" envy, as Gruffudd’s Dr. Henry Morgan goes around New York with his cabdriver companion, played by Judd Hirsch, helping cop Jo Martinez (Alana de la Garza) solve crimes, with Holmesian deductive reasoning. 10 p.m. Sept. 22.

Adult Swim

Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareham create an anthology series like "Twilight Zone," except like truly sick, in a funny way. They did "Haunted House" in 2013, now they’ve got 11 eps with cool guest stars and allegedly high production values. 12:15 a.m. Sept. 18.

BBC America

The Game: The six-part series stars floppy-haired Tom Hughes as MI5 spy Joe Lambe and Brian Cox as "Daddy," head of the counterintelligence unit in 1971. Created by Toby Whithouse ("Being Human"), it’s drenched in Cold War atmosphere and seems to walk a thin line between a period spy drama and a James Bond send-up. Date TBD.

CBS

NCIS New Orleans: Spin-off of the popular CBS crime-solving franchise, with Scott Bakula in Nola. 9 p.m. Sept. 23.

Madam Secretary: Tea Leoni stars as Elizabeth McCord, a savvy, tough-minded secretary of state who is also happily married (to Tim Daly’s character) and the mother of two teenagers. Unlike other politically themed shows, such as "Veep" and "Scandal," "Madam" takes a less cynical view of politics and politicians. The president (Keith Carradine) is actually a good guy and an idealist. 8 p.m. Sept. 21.

The McCarthys: An old-fashioned sitcom about an Irish Catholic, sports-obsessed Boston family with a happily adjusted out gay son, played by Tyler Ritter, who looks more like his late dad than brother Jason. Laurie Metcalf is the mom. Although Ronny lives in another part of the city from his twin brother and his sister, and knows nothing about "the sports," as he calls it, he’s a McCarthy through and through. Heavy-handed laugh track notwithstanding, the show has potential. 9:30 p.m. Sept. 30.

Scorpion: Another show about a team of highly skilled misfits who solve crimes. What sets it apart from "Leverage," "CSI," etc., is that it’s more heavily geeky than other shows of its ilk. Elyes Gabel plays Walter O’Brien, one of the five smartest people in the world and a social misfit. Lots of preposterous action in the pilot, but if you go with it, the show is mindless fun. If the geek-speak makes sense to you, it’s brainy fun. 9 p.m., Sept. 22.

Stalker: Maggie Q’s character is none too happy to have to work with slick, slightly sleazy newcomer Detective Jack Larsen (Dylan McDermott) tracking stalkers in Los Angeles. It’s a show that takes paranoia right down the field by casting suspicion in multiple directions, including Larsen’s. Created by Kevin Williamson, but, so far (fingers crossed), not as gratuitously gory as "The Following." 10 p.m. Oct. 1.

The CW

Jane the Virgin: Like "Ugly Betty," this show attempts to adapt the telenovela for U.S. audiences. "Jane" is loosely based on the Venezuelan telenovela "Juana la Vergen" and stars Gina Rodriguez as a young woman determined to remain a virgin until she’s married. From there, the plot becomes overstuffed with enough possibility to last several seasons. 9 p.m. Oct. 13.

The Flash: The comic book spinoff of the CW’s excellent "Arrow" stars Grant Gustin as a man who’s struck by atomic-powered lightning, enabling him to run really, really fast. "Lightning gave me abs," he exclaims in the pilot. The show doesn’t have the dark complexity of "Arrow," but Gustin is appealing, in a vacant pretty-boy way, and the pilot looks promising. Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanaugh co-star. 8 p.m. Oct. 7.

DirecTV

Kingdom: Drama set in Venice (Los Angeles County) in the world of mixed martial arts, where treachery, betrayal and lust allegedly abound. Cast includes Matt Lauria, Jonathan Tucker and Nick Jonas. Yes, that Nick Jonas. 9 p.m. Oct. 8.

El Rey

Cutting Crew: Robert Rodriguez has made some smart decisions so far for his fledgling channel, so a real-life series about hair cutters who consider their work to be high art is worth a look. Can’t wait to see a clip. 10 p.m. Oct. 8.

Fox

The Red Band Society: The series, set in a hospital, focuses on children with life-threatening illnesses. It’s a tearjerker, starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer as a no-nonsense nurse with a heart of gold. It’s melodramatic with some fantasy elements, and to say that the emotions are inauthentic would be like kicking a Care Bear. Teenagers who love the movies "If I Stay" and "The Fault in Our Stars" will fall for it. 9 p.m. Sept. 17.

NBC

Bad Judge: The cast is terrific; the show could be. Kate Walsh is a good-time gal who likes her booze and her men in great quantity, but pulls her hair back when she’s working as a judge. The pilot sets us up for Kate’s character to be tamed by a cute 12-year-old whose drug-dealing parents were tossed in jail by guess who. Created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, it’s trite but could work with better writing. The finale of Walsh and Arden Myrin doing a rock take on the theme to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" suggests untapped potential. 9 p.m., Oct. 2.

The Mysteries of Laura: Debra Messing scored big with a sitcom ("Will & Grace") and at least emerged from the drama "Smash" with her reputation intact. So why not combine a comedy and drama with Messing playing Laura Diamond, super cop and mom to twin boys who are such holy terrors no preschool will take them? Perfect show for viewers who would have been watching "Murder She Wrote" 30 years ago. 10 p.m. Sept. 17.

Peter Pan Live! The reviews for last year’s live "The Sound of Music" weren’t kind, but the show was a huge hit with viewers, so NBC will try it again this year with "Peter Pan." It worked in 1955 with Mary Martin in the title role and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. Now Allison Williams will don the green tights and fly just out of reach of the single hand of Captain Hook, played by Christopher Walken. 8 p.m., Dec. 4.

National Geographic

American War General: A special featuring 11 generals, including David Petraeus, Colin Powell and Wesley K. Clark, from the "Last Days of Osama Bin Laden" creators. 9 p.m., Sept. 14.

Eat: The Story of Food: Six-part documentary series on how food has defined civilization. TBD November.

Eric Greenspan Is Hungry: The show follows Greenspan and Captain Mauzner on a cross-country road trip, gathering recipe ideas for Greenspan’s L.A. restaurant. TBD November.

Sleepless in America: Prime-time documentary on the "epidemic" of sleeplessness in the United States, from the producer of HBO’s superb "The Weight of the Nation," John Hoffman. TBD November.

PBS

Life on the Reef: Reefer madness hits public television with a new docu-series on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef focusing on the people who live near it. 10 p.m. Oct. 8.

How We Got to Now: Author Steven Johnson explores how modern life was shaped by ideas and innovation. 9 p.m. Oct. 12; then 10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Death Comes to Pemberley: Miniseries adaptation of P.D. James’ continuation of Jane Austen’s "Pride and Prejudice," with Matthew Rhys ("The Americans") and Matthew Goode ("The Good Wife"). Anna Maxwell Martin ("Bleak House") plays Elizabeth Darcy. 9 p.m. Oct. 26 and Nov. 2.

Sweeney Todd: Live From Lincoln Center: Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel co-star in Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece. Well, one of his masterpieces. Meat pie, anyone? 9 p.m. Sept. 26.

Porgy and Bess: San Francisco Opera’s production of the Gershwins’ American jazz opera, with Eric Owens and Laquita Mitchell in the title roles. 9 p.m. Oct. 17.

Bing Crosby: American Masters: You know you’ll still want to be hearing Der Bingle crooning "White Christmas" the day after the holiday. A look at the singer’s life and career with surviving Crosby family members 37 years after his death. 9 p.m. Dec. 26.

MTV

Happyland: A new dramedy with "Awkward" as a lead-in, "Happyland" is set in a theme park where pretty young things fall in love, but are they in for a ride to the fun house or will they get stuck on an emotional roller coaster? 11 p.m. Sept. 30.

Netflix

Uganda Be Kidding Me: Chelsea Handler Special: After seven years, late-night’s perky potty mouth has packed it in at E! and run to the welcoming embrace of Netflix, where she’ll eventually host her own talk show, which presumably will stream, as other Netflix material does. In the meantime, she has filmed her latest stand-up tour/book promotion "Uganda Be Kidding Me" for her new home. Oct. 10.

E-Team: This film, by Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, focuses on four human rights workers who rush to investigate allegations of violations around the world. It premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the award for best cinematography in a documentary. October.

OWN

My Name Is Love: The Darlene Love Story: Toni Braxton will portray the onetime backup singer and former wife of Phil Spector. Executive producers are Oprah Winfrey and Morgan Neville ("Twenty Feet From Stardom"). TBD December.

Pivot

Freestyle Love Supreme: Comic improv series from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail, creators of the hit Broadway show "In the Heights." 10 p.m. Oct 17.

Welcome to Fairfax: Docuseries about young entrepreneurs working in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. 10:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

Showtime

The Affair: A married family man and a married waitress begin an affair, and view it from very different perspectives. Oct. 19.

Starz

Survivor’s Remorse: A new half-hour comedy from former Miami resident LeBron James and others about a basketball phenom who signs a multimillion-dollar contract and becomes famous overnight. He’s played by Jesse T. Usher. 9 p.m Oct. 4.

The Missing: The eight-episode limited series, originally airing on BBC One, is about a man (James Nesbitt) whose young son goes missing during a trip to France. His obsession with finding his son destroys his marriage and wreaks havoc in his life, but he is convinced the boy is alive. Directed by Tom Shankland ("Ripper Street"). TBD.

SyFy Channel

Town of the Living Dead: A new docuseries about a town trying to create its own zombie movie. Comedy is promised. 10 p.m. Oct. 7.

Z Nation: A 13-episode series from the folks who gave you "Sharknado" about life after a zombie apocalypse, focusing on human heroics and hope that the zombies can be defeated. Tom Everett Scott, Harold Perrineau and DJ Qualls are in the cast. 10 p.m. Dec. 12.

Sundance TV

One Child: Four-hour, two-night miniseries about a Chinese-born girl (Katie Leung) adopted by British parents played by Elizabeth Perkins and Donald Sumpter, focusing on the meaning of family when the girl’s birth mother wants her to return to China. 9 p.m. Nov. 28 and 29.

Be nice. You can find the original CGB team at WriteForCalifornia.com.

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