With the 2011 US Autumn TV schedule about to kick into high gear, there’s a whole host of new shows coming out in Sept/Oct to watch out for. Some already have UK air dates, some we’re still waiting on, but here’s a list of 6 new shows we really think you should be keeping an eye on!
Person of Interest
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK4YuIf2cIg]Person of Interest is a show that’s a little bit scifi, a little bit crime drama and, like writer Jonathan Nolan earlier work (Memento, The Prestige, and of course The Dark Knight), it has a grounding in reality. Lost’s Michael Emerson plays Mr. Finch, a reclusive billionaire computer genius who has developed a program that can predict violent crimes. Think ‘Minority Report’ without the inconvenience of having to have 3 drugged up people lounging around in a bathtub all day. The drawback of Finch’s system is it can only predict the people involved, not their involvement, or exactly when or where the crime will take place. Not being massively ‘hands on’ when it comes to the slapping people around needed to prevent the crimes, Finch hires down-and-out ex-CIA man John Reese (Jim Caviezel) to help stop the crimes.
Why are we excited:
Just look at the pedigree… It’s a screenplay by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. It’s produced by J.J.’s Bad Robot. It’s lead actors are Lost’s Michael Emerson and Jesus (aka Jim Caviezel). If this show doesn’t blow the roof off, there’s something very very wrong with the world…
UK air date:
Unknown, although I can’t believe it’s stay that way for long.
The Secret Circle
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWK0vfwYhqA]So we’ve got a few vampire shows, and some werewolf shows, and now the witches make their return to the spotlight. The Secret Circle centres around Cassie Blake (Britt Robertson – Life Unexpected) who, after her mother is killed, moves to the fictional town of Chance Harbor where her mother grew up. After a number of strange occurrences, it’s revealed to her that her new school chums are part of a circle of witches. What’s more, she is also descended from a line of witches, and she completes their coven.
Why are we excited:
The Secret Circle is based on the books of L. J. Smith, and if you know that name, it’s probably because she was also the writer of the increasingly popular Vampire Diaries series. The show also has some pedigree with its stars, as Thomas Dekker (John Connor of the Terminator TV show) is one of the male leads, and Species Natasha Henstridge is principal of the coven’s high school.
Current UK status:
Air on Sky Living – 28th September at 9pm.
Grimm
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rVy3RBJmNo]You know all those fairy tales you were read as a child? What if they weren’t stories, but warnings… Grimm stars Dave Giuntoli as homicide detective Nick Burkhardt, who discovers he’s the last in the line of ‘Grimms’ – hunters who protect the world from the supernatural creatures.
Why are we excited:
Firstly, it’s created by Angel co-creator David Greenwalt and Angel writer Jim Kouf. Secondly, the idea that the Grimm brothers weren’t story tellers, but sort of supernatural FBI profilers is a nice twist to dovetail the show in with Burkhardt detective background. From the trailer, Grimm also seems to have a very similar tone to Greenwalt & Kouf’s earlier work on Buffy/Angel, which to me is a wonderful thing.
Current UK status:
Airing on Watch in 2012
Once Upon a Time
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsoFF6BSAtc]It’s just typical isn’t it… You wait for ages for a tv drama about fairy tales, and then 2 show up together! Once Upon a Time is a rather more fantastical affair than Grimm, and takes place in the town of Storybrooke, Maine. The story follows bail bonds collector Emma Swan (House’s Jennifer Morrison) as she arrives in Storybrooke, and if you’ve ever read Stephen King, you know there’s some very weird crap that goes on in Maine… It seems the town is actually inhabited by fairytale characters who have been trapped in the ‘real world’ by The Evil Queen (24’s Lana Parrilla). The only snag is none of the residents remember anything about their fairytale lives or identities.
Why are we excited:
Once Upon a Time is created by Lost writers Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis, and they say there are similarities in the style of the storytelling. The idea of not treating the audience like idiots and “presented viewer with the puzzle pieces of these people’s lives, and empowered them as an audience to put them all together.” The show also plays much more with the traditional fairytale setting than Grimm, so although they may have similar subject matter, they’re approaching it from very different angles.
Current UK status:
Airs in the US in Oct, and UK status is currently unknown.
American Horror Story
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOugYXSfNow]American Horror Story stars Dylan McDermott (Dark Blue, The Grid) and Connie Britton (Spin City, Friday Night Lights) as Ben & Vivien Harmon, a couple who move with their daughter from Boston to an old mansion in LA. Unfortunately, what they weren’t told was the mansion is haunted…
Why are we excited:
Unlike a lot of the other shows on the list American Horror Story’s trailers give very little away. However, it’s got us rather intrigued. It’s created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk, the men behind Nip/Tuck & Glee, and for those of you that have seen the former, you know the guys can go to some pretty dark places. Murphy describes the show as a ‘psychosexual thriller’, which takes inspiration from those classic 70’s horror flicks, such as The Shining and Don’t Look Now. American Horror Story has some great buzz about it too. In fact, at the official screening of the 90 min pilot in the US, there were reports that some of the hardened journos and critics had to be escorted to their cars because it had freaked them out so much!.. This is definitely going to be one to watch out for!
Current UK status:
Airs Oct in the US. UK status unknown, although FXUK is probably the most likely place for it.
Terra Nova
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9lzcqo6sxc]It’s 2149, and we’ve screwed up the planet. The scientist’s solution? Send people back in time to the Cretaceous-period, and try again from scratch. The show focuses on the Shannon family – parent’s Jim (Jason O’Mara – Life on Mars US) & Elisabeth (Shelley Conn – Mersey Beat, Dead Set), and their children Josh (Landon Liboiron – Degrassi:TNG), Maddy (Naomi Scott – Life Bites), and Zoe (Alana Mansour). With the present dying, the Shannon’s set off on the one way trip to join ‘Terra Nova’, the first human colony millions of years in the past. A colony not only having to deal with the local dinosaurs, but also the ‘Sixers’, a group of rouge residents.
Why are we excited:
It’s produced by Steven Spielberg with Star Trek veteran Brannon Braga as showrunner, which is a pretty decent starting point. Jason O’Mara is a likeable leading man, and you throw in Avatar’s Stephen Lang as the slightly dubous commander of Terra Nova, along with a budget of $4 million an episode, you should at the very least, have a decent stab at an epic tv show!
Current UK status:
Airs on Sky1 – 3rd October at 8pm
Ringer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGcANQwCQI]Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a troubled ex-stripper who has a problem. She witnessed a mob murder, and now the mob is trying to kill her. Deciding to flee, she seeks out her estranged (and wealthy) twin sister Siobhan for help. Whilst they rebuild their relationship, the pair take a boat trip, where Siobhan mysteriously disappears. On returning to Siobhan’s home, and still needing a place to hide, Bridget assumes Siobhan’s identity, only for Bridget to find out her sister’s life is far from the seemingly perfect existence it appeared to be…
Why are we excited:
This is SMG’s first major post-Buffy small screen role, and we get her playing not one, but two leading roles. The Fantastic Four’s Ioan Gruffudd plays Siobhan’s husband, and FBI agent Victor Machado is played by Lost and The Dark Knight’s Nestor Carbonell. The show is created by Eric C. Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, both writers on the brilliant Supernatural. It may not strictly be a ‘genre show’, but it’s got enough fantasy/scifi talent behind it to make worth watching out for.
Current UK status:
Airs on Sky Living – 29th September at 8pm.
