Fall TV season is upon us, but some of these show titles have us scratching our heads. Here are five new shows we need explained to us before we tune in.
The Orville
September 10 – (8/7c FOX)
Funny name, right? Besides sounding like a city in Northern California (Oroville, CA), it’s actually the name of Seth MacFarlane’s new science fiction series. MacFarlane is venturing beyond the pages of animation and into the captain’s chair for this new space comedy from FOX. MacFarlane and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. alum Adrianne Palicki co-star as a divorced captain and first officer on a mid-level starship. The series was co-created by long-time Star Trek producer Brannon Braga and is set 400 years in the future. Will it be science-driven like Star Trek? Will it be tongue-in-cheek like Galaxy Quest? Or will it be something different entirely? We’ll be tuning in to find out.
The Deuce
September 10 – (9/8c HBO)
This title does not refer to playing cards, dice, or tennis. This deuce refers to the newest show from James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and The Wire alums George Pelecanos and David Simon. A series for the late-night crowd, The Deuce dramatizes the legalization of the pornographic industry in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Featuring an all-star cast, the show specifically takes place in New York City and features not one, but two characters starring James Franco — twin brothers — hence the title The Deuce. It’s also a reference to the nickname that the section of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue was given at the time.
Wisdom of the Crowd
October 1 – (8:30/7:30c CBS)
This is exactly what it sounds like: crowd sourcing wisdom. However, this series comes with a twist: the information sourced will be used to solve crimes, specifically murders. Jeremy Piven, fresh off his turn in the British series Mr Selfridge, plays grieving father and tech mogul Jeffrey Tanner. In the wake of his daughter’s murder, he creates an app called “Sophe” which collects real-time information on crimes. Piven offers a $100 million reward for anyone who can accurately catch his daughter’s killer using the app. Parenthood‘s Monica Potter stars are Piven’s ex-wife. Game of Thrones alum Natalia Tena stars as Piven’s right-hand engineer.
Ten Days in the Valley
October 1 – (10/9c ABC)
While we don’t know if the show spans exactly ten days (we’re assuming it does), we do know that “the valley” is Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley — home of Hollywood’s biggest television and movie studios. The show centers around the kidnapping of a young girl whose mother, played by Kyra Sedgwick, executive produces a television series. As her ex-husband, housekeeper and co-workers all become suspects, her life begins to bleed into her writing, and she begins to lose sight of what’s fact and what’s fiction. With an all-star alumni cast including Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost), Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead), and Erika Christensen (Parenthood), Ten Days in the Valley looks to be the kidnapping thriller of the Fall TV season.
9JKL
October 2 – (8:30/7:30c CBS)
This is not a code or the name of a military thriller staring Harrison Ford. That would be K-19: The Widowmaker. 9JKL is an address. Three addresses, in fact, shared by a mother, a father, and their two sons. After a failed marriage and a dwindling movie career, Josh Roberts (Royal Pains alum Mark Feuerstein) moves back into an apartment between his parents (played by Friends alum Elliot Gould and Sean Saves the World actress Linda Lavin) and his brother (About a Boy‘s David Walton). Josh juggles the complete lack of boundaries both his parents and his brother exhibit, while trying to recover from his divorce and land a job on Broadway. The show feels like a family comedy in the vein of both Friends and Will & Grace. The series is co-written and produced by Feuerstein and premieres this October.
Check out Fandom’s full list of new and returning Fall TV shows below.
