Usually I do my fall television preview in early September to coincide with some cable show that gets a jump before the networks premiere their fall state in the finale week of the month. Except this year, I already have seven shows that already started this month that will extend into the fall with one more starting today. August used to be the quietest month on the television calendar so I am not sure if this was COVID related or maybe the new normal in the streaming era where you cannot take the month off if you want to keep people subscribed.
After COVID slowed Hollywood to a halt, it seems like we have finally returned to Peak TV with a steady stream of shows coming this way this fall. Here are some of my burning questions for the next television season.
1. Is Disney Really Going to Make Nerds Have a Sophie’s Choice? Last December, Disney+ announced nine Marvel shows (four have already premiered and four have been announced since then) and nine Star Wars shows in addition to The Mandalorian and the previously announced Book of Boba Fett (one has already premiered). Thanks to COVID, it has taken some time for many of them to hit the small screen, but it seems as early as this fall, when both Hawkeye and The Book of Boba Fett are set to air, there will be Marvel and Star Wars airing concurrently setting up a Sophie Choice for us nerds as to what to watch first. Disney+ seemed like there were going to solve this problem when they moved Loki from their usual Friday premiere day to Wednesday but shortly announced all their television shows would premiere on Wednesday too and thus back to the Sophie’s choice.
So are they going to stick to this and have the conversations on Wednesday split or will they end up moving to more of a traditional network of model of premiering shows throughout the week? Most streamers have a stick release day they stick to though Hulu, which has traditions put out weekly releases on Wednesdays and binge releases on Fridays, will be releasing Only Murders in the Building on a Tuesday (FX on Hulu shows are also releasing on different days of the week). Hopefully Disney+ learns from their sister streamer and start experimenting with different release days so we do not have to decide between Marvel and Star Wars Tuesdays Nights / Wednesday mornings.
2. Who Will Win the Uncivil War Between Catherine and Peter? Okay, anyone who paid attention in history class knows who win, so maybe the better question is how it was won. While history class seemingly can also answer that, The Great took some pretty huge poetic licenses in the first season, so the second could take just as many. Though I think it is safe to say, there will be plenty of “Huzzah’s” in the process.
3. Can Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Be Saved Beyond a Movie? While there has been no official announcement that Roku will be airing a movie around Christmas, Pitch Mr. Perfect, Skylar Austin recently said in an interview that the movie is being written right now and filming will start in September so it sure seems like a done deal. Initial reports said that if the movie is successful, it can lead to another full season. Up until now, Roku has only acquired programs but have not made anything new. Zoey would be the first the original made specifically for the Roku Channel along with some recently renewed Quibi castoffs. Speaking of Quibi, those shows matched the viewership in days what those shows did over the life of Quibi, so can Zoey have that sort of success? Hopefully so because I would really like a third season even though the Roku ads can be a bit much.
4. Is Y: The Last Man Really Going to Happen? I have been joking for a while that Y: The Last Man is the Chinese Democracy of television. In development at FX since 2015 (there were attempts at a movie going back to 2007), it seems like we will finally get to see it after the titular last man, female lead and showrunners have all been replaced at some point. There is a trailer and everything, though I am not exactly convinced it was a real trailer and not one of those fan made trailers. Guess we will have to wait until September 13 when we open up Hulu to know for sure.
5. How Will These COVID Delay Shows Pick Back Up? Did the last season of Doom Patrol seem like it ended abruptly? It felt that way because they were starting to film the season finale when COVID shut everything down and they just decided to end the season there instead of coming back months later just for one episode. This will be one of the last shows to finally get around finishing telling the story that was shut down by COVID. The final episode ended with the Candlemaker encasing our heroes to wax. However this cliffhanger is resolved, hopefully it is resolved in a way that the chief’s daughter is no longer on the show. But the third season will see the addition of The Flight Attendant’s Michelle Gomez as Madame Rouge who sounds like an evil version of Elasta-Girl. The other cut off while filming was Billion which finished filming seven of twelve episodes. After fifteen months they will finally get to finish their fifth season. What happened in those first seven episodes? Who know? I vaguely remember Frank Grillo playing a painter. But on the bright side, there will not be a long wait until season six which they started filming after concluding season five and is expected to premiere in early 2022.
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. Who Thought Ordinary Joe Would Do Better Than Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and/or Good Girls? Neither Zoey nor Good Girls were a ratings goldmine, but do the people at NBC actually think Ordinary Joe is going to do any better?
2. Why Did Netflix Revive Manifest? NBC made some questionable decision for the 2021-22 season, but the smartest thing they did was finally put Manifest out of its mystery after a particularly bad season where everyone became extremely unlikable. It was easily one of the worst shows I have watched in my life. But then Netflix inexplicably saved it forcing me with my inability to stop anything I started to watch 20 more episodes of that crap.
3. Just How Bad Was the Powerpuff Girls Pilot? There is nothing The CW loves more than IP, I believe they are just down to two non IP shows on their channel, one if they opt not to renew the currently airing Republic of Sarah which is currently getting ratings in the just friends and family are watching range. So it came as a shock when they chose not to pick up their biggest IP Pilot of last Pilot season The Powerpuff Girls. Makes me wonder just how bad it could possibly be that The CW will not air it. The show is being retooled and may make it to air later this season but without Chloe Bennett who seemingly was wise not to get her contract renewed.
4. Just How Much Dick Wolf Is Too Much Dick Wolf? When the networks schedules were announced, Dick Wolf controlled the entire night for a network on three different nights: FBI Tuesdays on CBS, Chicago Wednesdays on NBC, and Law and Order Thursdays also on NBC. Now NBC did pull the plug on the latest Law and Order and replaced it with The Blacklist, but still remains a lot of Dick Wolf. Who exactly watches all those crime shows?
5. Is Anyone Really Going to Watch Tik-Tokers on a Television? Hulu has a very impressive fall line-up, the have seven of maybe the fifteen shows I am most looking to this fall. Then there is The D’Amato Show. Sigh. It seems like they are trying to recreate their version of the Kardasians, except they already poached the Kardasians from E! so why do they need The D’Amato’s too? Plus has anyone actually successfully transitioned their social media fame to the small screen? This seems to have disaster written all over it.
Here is everything I plan on watching this fall and when they premiere:
Mondays
Reservation Dogs (already started, FX on Hulu)
Y: The Last Man (September 13, FX on Hulu)
8:00 – The Neighborhood (September 20, CBS)
Only Murders in the Building (Today, Hulu)
8:00 – DC’s Stargirl (already started, The CW)
9:00 – Supergirl (already started, The CW)
9:00 – La Brea (September 28, NBC)
Nine Perfect Strangers (already started, Hulu)
Wu-Tang: An American Saga (September 8, Hulu)
Dopesick (October 13, Hulu)
Hawkeye (November 24, Disney+)
8:00 – The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies (already started,
MTV)
8:00 – Survivor (September 22, CBS)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (September 22, ABC)
8:30 – The Wonder Years (September 22, ABC)
Titans (already started, HBO Max)
Doom Patrol (September 23, HBO Max)
8:00 – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (already started, NBC)
8:00 – The Blacklist (October 21, NBC)
8:00 – Annie Live! (December 2, NBC)
9:00 – Ghosts (October 7, CBS)
9:30 – B Positive (October 7, CBS)
10:00 – What We Do in the Shadows (September 2, FX)
10:00 – Big Sky (September 30, ABC)
Fridays
The Great (November 19, Hulu)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (already started, AMC)
9:00 – Billions (September 5, Showtime)
9:00 - Fear the Walking Dead (October 17, AMC)
9:00 – Dexter: New Blood (November 7, Showtime)
10:00 – American Rust (September 12, Showtime)
10:00 – The Walking Dead: World’s Beyond (October 3, AMC)
10:00 – Yellowjackets (November 14, Showtime)
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