Every year when September rolls around I always get excited.  Not just because it’s my birthday month but because fall tv returns. I LOVE FALL TELEVISION.  The networks roll out all their new shows that got picked up and old favorites return.  This fall there are over 127 new and returning shows starting Sept 13th from cable and the big 5 networks.    I will be watching all of the new ones for at least 3 or 4 episodes before I decide if they are any good and cut them off. How I’m going to manage that, I don’t know. Entertainment Weekly has a nice article with tips on  how to navigate the fall tv season so it’s gonna be all good.

This season there are many shows that I’m looking forward to, both new and returning, but I have managed to narrow down the list to 10 (5 returning and 5 new) that I think everyone should watch.

Returning Shows

1. The Good Wife

This show has been on fire from day 1. It stars Julianna Margulies (ER), Chris Noth (Law & Order; Sex & The City), Josh Charles (Sports Night), Archie Panjabi (Bend It Like Beckham), Alan Cumming (X-2), Christine Baranski (Cybill), and Matt Czuchry (Gilmore Girls).  Even with such a huge cast, they do a great job of spreading love to everyone without it feeling like something is missing.  The show started out as an Eliot Spitzer type show where Julianna was playing Alicia Florrick whose husband Peter (Noth) was sent to jail after a public sex and corruption scandal.  Alicia then has to go back to her old job as lawyer and gets hired at the firm of her ex’s Will Gardner (Charles).  Moving into Season 3, Alicia is moving forward with Will after that hot hot hot Season 2 finale and discovering Kalinda (Panjabi) slept with Peter.  This season should be really good.  I can’t wait to see some of the cases they work on this year and where Alicia and Will go.  It’s gonna be wonderful.  The show returns Sept 25 on CBS at 9/8c.

2. 90210

Don’t judge me.  I was a huge fan of the original 90210 series and watched all 10 years of it.  When they said they were redoing it, I thought why? There is absolutely no need for this but of course I was going to watch.  I watched and it was ok but then it just got better and better.  It’s definitely a guilty pleasure show but it’s still great.  For whatever reason, the supposed evil character is always my favorite on shows and here is no different.  Anna Lynn McCord is my fave.  She plays über bitch Naomi and she kills it.  The rest of the characters are good as well.  They are going into their 4th season and the kids are now going to college.  It should be interesting seeing how season 3 ended with Naomi finding out she was pregnant and Liam taking off to find himself. The show returns Sept 13 at 8/7c on CW.

3. Castle

I didn’t watch this show when it started but I caught Season 1 on Netflix and Season 2 and 3 online so I’m excited to be watching this live as it airs.  Castle is a dramedy set in NYC and is about a famous novelist Richard Castle (Nathon Fillion; Flyfly, Serenity, Waitress) who shadows Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic; Quantum of Solace). Castle decides to use Beckett as the model for the main character of his next book series starring “Nikki Heat”. Beckett is not a fan at first but later warms up and recognizes Castle as a useful resource in her team’s investigations. Her team also includes Lanie Parish played by Tamala Jones who I love and I’m excited is on a steady, highly rated show.  Season 4 is gonna be interesting seeing as Season 3 had shocker after shocker and ended with Beckett getting shot.  It also looks like Penny Johnson Gerald (Sherry Palmer, 24) is going to be joining the cast as the captain. Can’t wait.  The show returns Sept 19 at 10/9c on ABC.

4. Modern Family

This show is hands down one of the best comedies on tv right now.  It’s going into season 3 this year and it’s just gonna more craziness with the Pritchetts and the Dunphys.  Last season was not as good as the first one, but it was still a solid one.  I’m just expecting more of the same funny that I’ve been getting and it should be interesting to see how they do this time jump with everyone. Glad they changed Lily because that kid had no personality. Show returns Sept 21 9/8c on ABC.

5. Nikita

I love this show.  This show premiered last fall and I was in already because I absolutely loved the 90’s tv show and wanted to see how this one would go.  I was also in because it had Lyndsy Fonseca (the best Colleen on Young & The Restless, Kick Ass) and Shane West (Once and Again, A Walk To Remember). I was not familiar with Maggie Q but I like her and I think she plays Nikita wonderfully. From the pilot, I was in.  It’s great action, good characters, lots of tension, with a little bit of romance thrown in.  It didn’t really fit with the whole teen demographic that CW tries to capture but it did well and I’m glad its back.  I don’t know how well its going to do now that they’ve moved it to the night where they send shows to die (Friday or Saturday night).  The show returns Sept 23 8/7c on CW.

New Shows

1. Ringer

Number one reason to watch this show SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR IS BACK!!! Buffy The Vampire Slayer is one of my all time favorite shows and when it ended SMG kind of went away and did the family thing and has not been on television for a while. When I heard this show was coming I got very excited because not only is SMG back but I also love Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected).  The synopsis of the show is twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan (both played by Gellar) have been at odds for the last eight years and find that their lives are both unraveling at the same rate. Bridget, a recovering alcoholic, is on the run from the mob after witnessing a murder. She flees to her twin sister Siobhan’s home. The sisters seem to be repairing their broken relationship until Siobhan mysteriously disappears overboard during a boat trip the sisters take together. Bridget soon discovers her sister’s seemingly perfect life is full of secrets after she is attacked in Siobhan’s home – Wikipedia. I’m always a little hesitant when it comes to shows with twins in them and there was what seemed like a teenaged version of this show that came out this summer on ABC Family called The Lying Game. The premise for the 2 shows seemed to be the same but I’m sure the acting and writing on The Ringer is going to be way better.  The series premieres Sept 13 9/8c on CW.

2. New Girl

This show stars Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) as one of the many quirky, cutesy characters she always plays. She plays Jess, who just broke up with her cheating boyfriend and is starting new.  She finds a new place and moves in with 3 male roommates and with their help she tries to get back in the dating scene and move on with her life.  This show looks good because it has Zooey in it and I like her.  It also had Damon Wayans Jr attached to it as well but his other show Happy Endings got picked up for a second season so his role was recast.  The promo looked cute and it’ll be another nice comedy that I pick up so yay.  Series premieres Sept 20 9/8c on FOX.

3. American Horror Story

This show is about a family that moves into an old mansion in Los Angeles and they soon find out that the house is haunted.  This sounds like the premise to a bad horror movie but the selling points for me on this show are it’s created by Ryan Murphy, creator of Nip Tuck and Glee, and so I know it’ll be a good; at least for the first season.  The other selling point is it has Connie Britton who I watched for 5 seasons as Tami Taylor on another great show Friday Night Lights. It also has Dylan McDermott, whom I have loved since The Practice.  Series premieres Oct 5 at 10/9c on FX.

4. Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea

The show is about a woman named Chelsea Newman and her circle of working-class twenty-something friends in LA. It stars Laura Prepon (That 70’s Show) as Chelsea and Chelsea Handler as Sloane, Chelsea’s sister. This show is based on Chelsea Handler’s best-selling book with the same name. I’m curious to see how this show is going to be because Are You There is a hilarious book and highly inappropriate for anything on network television.  I loved the book and I think Chelsea Handler is funny so we shall see.  Series premieres Midseason on NBC.

5. Person of Interest

This is show stars Michael Emerson (Lost), as Mr. Finch a mysterious billionaire who developed a computer program that predicts the identity of people connected to violent crimes that will take place in the future. It can’t predict whether the person will be a victim, killer, witness of the crime, or where the crime will take place. Finch hires John Reese played by Jim Caviezel (Passion of The Christ, Count of Monte Cristo) a former CIA agent who is presumed dead, to help stop the crimes from taking place. The show also stars Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Baby Boy) as a detective that crosses paths with Jim Caviezel’s character.  This show looks great.  It’s another procedural for CBS and they have pretty good ones on the network.  It is also created by Jonathan Nolan (cowriter of Dark Knight, Momento) and executive produced by J.J Abrams (Lost, Alias, Super 8, Star Trek).  Great cast, great producer and writer, I’m definitely in.  Series premieres Sept 22, 9/8c on CBS.

So there goes my list of shows.  There are definitely many more that I will be watching.  Here TVaholic has a schedule with when all the new and returning shows premiere and when they air for cable and networks.

Cable Schedule       Big 5 Network Schedule

Happy Fall Watching!!