The Most (and Least) Anticipated Questions of 2019-20 Television

The Challenge premiered last week, Wu-Tang: an American Saga started yesterday and Titans premieres tomorrow which means the slow start of the fall television is upon us until the flood gates upon in two and a half weeks when the networks unveil their line ups. As I usually do every fall, I am asking all the big questions heading into the new television year.

1. Will someone get into The Good Place for the first time in 521 years? You know it has gotten too hard to get into The Good Place when Doug Forcett is currently not on track to get there. But the judge has let Team Cockroach set up a new version to see if people can get in without having to worry about racking up negative point for doing things that in theory sound good like buying flowers for your mother because unfortunately too much gasoline was used to get them there. Of course The Bad Place it doing everything to keep their cupboards stocked by picking four people that will hinder The Brainy Bunch. Which adds a secondary question, who else did Shawn pick? We met an annoying blogger that triggered Tahani. When I heard Shawn got to pick, I initially thought Eleanor’s mom, Tahani’s sister. Chidi’s ex-girlfriend, and Donkey Doug, but the blogger really ruined that prediction. Chidi’s ex still seems very likely, but I really hope Donkey Doug makes an appearance.

2. Will Mr. Robot and Homeland stick the landing? Two shows that had meteoric rises that then had rough sophomore seasons. After seven seasons, Homeland has mostly ironed itself out (aside the season where Peter Quinn slowly and painfully died). Mr. Robot on the other hand has to iron itself quit quickly because this is it. Here is hoping one if not both of these shows can go out in the way they came in.

3. Will Disney+ be a Netflix killer? Netflix has been a behemoth for almost a decade now with even the deep pockets of Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube (who has already thrown in the paid streaming towel) unable to put much of a dent into it. But two companies with even deeper pockets, Apple and Disney are launching their own paid subscription streaming services this fall. Now if I am Netflix, I am not too worried with Apple (one word: Ping) who seems to be more along the lines of Amazon who seems more interested in selling other stuff (though that may change after Amazon bought the rights to tell Lord of the Rings stores for about a billion dollars) but Disney is pushing hard with big name IP (Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, along with their classic animated movies) and a very nice price point at $7, one dollar cheaper than Netflix cheapest tier. Expect Disney+ gives you four log-ins to Netflix’s one, and 4K compared to standard definition For $13, Netflix will let you stream in HD on two screens while at that price, you still get Disney+ in 4K with four streams, but you also get ESPN+ and Hulu with ads (no Hulu ad free or live TV bundles announced yet). Disney+ also has discounted yearly rates. Sure these are introductory rates and I would expect a rate hike within five year, but I would still be worried if I were Netflix. And I have not even brought up HBO Max and the unnamed Comcast streamer both coming next year which will be taking two of Netflix’s biggest performers, Friends and The Office respectively.

4. How will Shameless move on without Fiona? After nine seasons it is an end of an era as Fiona finally cashed out and went south away from the bitterly cold Windy City. But there are still five Gallagher children left since Ian, who announced right after Fiona he was leaving the show only to announce his return months later; six if you count Franny and seven if you count Lip’s who is on the way (his baby mamma has been bumped up to series regular as well as Mickey who is regaining that status). So there will likely still be plenty of trouble brewing on the south Side.

5. Who is going to die/show up on Crisis on Infinite Earths? The former may be a bit easier to answer since Arrow has already cancel and the titular character has already been cast on a dude version of G.L.O.W. which I have zero interested in. Of course the comic book had two major death so there may be a surprised death (most surprising would be if it is the same as the comic book). So the bigger question is will there be any surprise appearances. Burt Ward from sixties Batman has been already announced as well as the voice of many Batman animated shows and movies Kevin Conroy. But will there been any surprise guest? Rumor that the three main Smallville actor may show up (Chloe is, um, otherwise busy). But can the lowly CW get anyone from the movies? Can they get anyone from the DC Universe show (the Swamp Thing cast is very avaiable right now) . I hear Ben Affleck is also very available to play his Batman. I just hope they land Black Manta or anyone from the upcoming Bird of Prey movie.


As the great philosopher Butt-Head once pondered, how would we know if something was cool if there weren't things that sucked; here are the five least anticipated questions:

1. Can the Titans defeat Trigon after he mind controlled Dick? Um, the trailer shows Raven with a gem in her forehead, so I am going to go ahead and guess yes.

2. What crappy IP can The CW exploit next? Half of The CW schedule is based on DC heroes (Batworman joins the fall lineup after a lackluster appearance in last season’s team up) that are not to say there is much for any new ideas. The only shows on the fall that are not based on existing IP is some football show and a show that is older than the network itself (granted two of the five midseason shows are original ideas) with dark Nancy Drew also joining the lineup. The Lost Boys has been in development there for a couple years, how long until they do dark Fat Albert?

3. Who will win the battle of Catherine the Great shows? Remember the nineties when there were two asteroid movies, two volcano movies, two Mars movies, and two insect animated movies release within months of each other? With the overabundance of airtime, we might get that version on television. Over the next couple months we are likely to have multiple shows based on a Russian Empress from the eightteenth century. Okay the two will likely be very different as seventy-four Hellen Mirren will star in the HBO adaptation starting October 21 while the Hulu version has twenty-one year old Elle Fanning playing a slightly younger version. No word when Hulu will premiere The Great but if you remember, earlier this year, Hulu surprise dropped their Frye Festival documentary just days before Netflix released their much hyped version. My guess is that the HBO show will get more viewers but the Hulu one will be much more entertaining.

4. Who’s going to watch CBS comedies? For most of this century, CBS comedies have dominated the rating but in the last couple years it has mostly being kept afloat by The Big Bang Theory. But that show is now gone and being replaced by… Bob Hearts Abishola. And as stupid as the name is, the trailer made it look really creepy as a hospital client starts to stalk his immigrant nurse. Then The Unicorn and Carol’s Second Act do not look much better. Compare that to NBC’s Thursday line up and the peacock may finally getting its Much See TV mojo back with the funniest show on television, The Good Place, the always solid Superstore and two freshmen show that look pretty good.

5. How can you make Survivor worse than Edge of Extinction? Well, have an island full of Idols that is inhabited by a giant bust of Boston Rob seems like a good start. Meh. Wake me up when they bring Lauren back.


Here is everything I will be watching this fall. Way too much on Sunday and Wednesday, the networks really need to stary spreading out their shows.

Mondays
8:00 – The Neighborhood (CBS, September 23)

Tuesdays
8:00 – The Little Mermaid Live! (ABC, November 5)
9:00 – Mix-ish (ABC, September 24)
9:30 – Black-ish (ABC, September 24)
10:00 – The Purge (USA, October 15)

Wednesdays
Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Hulu, yesterday)
Castle Rock (Hulu, October 23)
8:00 – Survivor (CBS, September 25)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (ABC, September 25)
8:30 – Schooled (ABC, September 25)
9:00 – The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 (MTV, Already Started)
9:00 – Not Just Me (October 2, FOX)
9:00 – Modern Family (ABC, September 25)
10:00 – Stumptown (ABC, September 25)

Thursdays
8:00 – Superstore (NBC, September 26)
8:30 – Perfect Harmony (NBC, September 26)
9:00 – The Good Place (NBC, September 26)
9:30 – Sunnyview (NBC, September 26)

Fridays
Titans (DC Universe, September 6)
Light as a Feather (Hulu, October 4)
Dollface (Hulu, November 15)
Reprisal (Hulu, December 6)
Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu, December 13)
8:00 – The Blacklist (NBC, October 5)

Sundays
8:00 – Ray Donovan (Showtime, November 17)
9:00 – Supergirl (The CW, October 6)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (AMC, October 6)
9:00 - Watchmen (HBO, October 20)
9:00 – Shameless (Showtime, November 3)
10:00 – Mr. Robot (USA, October 6)
10:00 – Silicon Valley (HBO, October 25)
10:00 – Kidding (Showtime, November 3)
Brain Games (Nat Geo, December 1)