Here are this fall’s new, broadcast-network TV shows — a meager list,
Lumping together six networks, there are still only eight new series. ABC and Fox each contribute zero.
Networks seem to be waiting for mid-season, when they’ll have “Baywatch” and “Rockford Files” reboots, a “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off and more.
Some of the new fall shows — especially “Cupertino” (shown here) — are instantly likable, some not. The list is chronological, by category; three of the eight — “Newlyweds,” “NCIS: New York” and “Private Eyes West Coast” — still didn’t have episodes available for review, as of Sept. 16:
DRAMAS
“Trespasses”
(10 p.m. Sundays, PBS, starting Sept. 20)
Against the backdrop of “the troubles” in Northern Ireland, here is a wrenching drama with three brilliant actors.
Lola Petticrew (who is Irish) is alternately tough and fragile, as a Catholic teacher and bartender, enmeshed in fierce events. Tom Cullen (who’s Welsh) plays a Protestant lawyer who feels young Catholics are being falsely accused. Gillian Anderson (an American who moved to England) is startling as a drinking, smoking widow, down on the world.
This is only four weeks, which is plenty to stir emotions. Afterward, the second season of PBS’ “The Gold” has Cullen in a totally opposite role.
(PBS also has “Marble Hall Murders” at 9 p.m. Sundays, but that’s just a fresh title for the third season of a crafty murder mystery.)
“Line of Fire”
(10 p.m. Mondays, NBC, Sept. 21)
Imagine shows like CBS’ “Blue Bloods” and “Boston Blue,” with an extended family of law-enforcement people. That’s sort of what we have here, except the people often don’t get along.
Mike (Peter Krause) is a Secret Service agent, trying to retire. His estranged wife Jane (Hope Davis) is a U.S. marshal. Their daughter is in the FBI; their sons are in the Secret Service and the Department of Justice.
That’s a lot … with yet another twist piled onto the end of the opener. And at times, it’s too much, trying too hard. People snap at each other a lot, in the sort of arbitrary way that happens when writers want to create conflict.
“Private Eyes West Coast”
(8 p.m. Mondays, CW, Oct. 5)
The “Private Eyes” series had a five-season run on Canadian TV, with Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson working for a Toronto agency.
It ended in 2021 and Priestley went on to other things, including CW’s fun “Wild Cards” (from the same producers). But now comes a fresh spin-off: These two leave Toronto for a quiet life on the coast; they promptly run into a murder case.
“NCIS: New York”
(9 p.m. Tuesdays, CBS, Oct. 6)
For 342 episodes, LL Cool J played NCIS agent Sam Hanna in California and Hawaii. Now Sam returns to his hometown in New York.
There, he’s paired with Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan). They’re opposites, physically and personally; Caan, 5-foot-5, compensates with a steady stream of words and attitude. Their boss (Jennifer Beals) tries to make it work.
“Cupertino”
(10 p.m. Thursdays, CBS, Oct. 8)
It took two seasons for “Matlock” to get to where it will be this season — a story of a scrappy, two-person law firm battling the big guys. “Cupertino,” by comparison, gets there in one episode.
Mike (Mike Colter) — big, booming and confident — has been a partner in a law firm; Olivia (Rachel Keller) — young, small and (at first) quiet — has been a new lawyer there. Soon, they have a common cause.
This is from the people who created “Elsbeth,” “The Good Wife” and more, so it ripples with side characters (you’ll love one of the judge), while also having an abundance of passion.
COMEDIES
“Eternally Yours”
(8:30 p.m. Thursdays, CBS, Oct. 8)
Max really likes Emma, but she never lets him meet her parents. Obviously, she’s hiding something … which is that she’s in a family of vampires.
It’s a big concept, but “Yours” skips the wild (and hilarious) extremes of another vampire comedy, “What We Do in the Shadows.” Instead, it goes with the quietly likable tone of “Ghosts” … which is from the “Eternally Yours” producers and will return at mid-season..
“Newlyweds”
(8:30 p.m. Fridays, NBC, Oct. 23)
On TV, romance is usually confined to the young. This show, however, pairs Tea Leoni, 60, and Tim Daly, 70.
He plays someone who proposes after dating for six weeks, something Leoni sort of understands: In real life, she married one guy (David Duchovny) after eight weeks … and last year married Daly, after an 11-year romance.
The show gives her character two children and his an ex-wife — played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who helped concoct “Newlyweds” and is also one of the shows writers and producers.
REALITY SHOW
“The Traitors: New Blood”
(8 p.m. Thursdays, NBC, Sept. 17)
The original “Traitors” has thrived on Peacock, with Alan Cumming inviting celebrities (well, semi-celebrities) to a Scottish castle, for challenges and a spot-the-traitors mystery.
The result has drawn three straight Emmys for best reality show and three straight for Cumming. Now he hosts a new version that has regular folks, including a doctor, a nurse, an astrophysicist and two lawyers, plus a dog groomer, a rodeo guy and a funeral director.