NBC

Ordinary Joe

Life is all about the choices you make – and sometimes, what you do in a single moment can change everything. This new heartfelt, life-affirming drama follows Joe Kimbreau, who faces one of these decisions at his college graduation. The three parallel stories that diverge from that night find Joe and the people around him with different careers, relationships and family lives, showing the unexpected ways that things change – and stay the same. But when it comes down to it, there is no “right” choice; no matter what happens, Joe’s life is always messy, exciting, tough, unpredictable… and beautiful.

Starring: James Wolk, Natalie Martinez, Charlie Barnett, Elizabeth Lail, David Warshofsky, Teddy Sears

Quick Thoughts: Oh Ordinary Joe, I do love me some James Wolk but how can you expect us to trust this shiftiest of white men after Watchmen, Mad Men, and Lone Star? I’m mostly kidding, I’m all for high concept network dramas. At least it’s not another cop or doctor sh-Oh wait. At least 1/3rd of it isn’t another cop or doctor show.

Premieres September 20th

La Brea

An epic adventure begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find a way back to each other. 

Starring: Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jon Seda, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chiké Okonkwo, Karina Logue, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Veronica St. Clair, Rohan Mirchandaney, Lily Santiago, Josh McKenzie, Chloe De Los Santos

Quick Thoughts: Whatever happens with this show, at least I’ll have the memory of my Dad reacting with utter excitement every single time a promo for this comes on. He seems really concerned about whether or not the museum fell into the Dinosaur Hole.

Premieres September 28th

Fox

The Big Leap

The Big Leap is a modern tale about second chances, chasing your dreams and taking back what’s yours. The show revolves around a group of diverse, down-on-their-luck characters attempting to change their lives by participating in a potentially life-ruining reality dance show that builds to a live production of “Swan Lake.” Inspired by a U.K. reality format, The Big Leap is an innovative show-within-a-show that takes viewers on a journey of self-acceptance and empowerment at any age.

Starring: Piper Perabo, Scott Foley, Teri Polo, Mallory Jansen, Ser’Darius, Kevin Daniels, Simone Reccasner, Anna Grace Barlow, Jon Rudnitsky, Raymond Cham Jr.

Quick Thoughts: So this is based off a British reality show called Big Ballet, where normal people got to live their dance dreams by joining the show’s dance troupe. And instead of just making a Big Ballet US reality show, they made this.

God. I miss So You Think You Can Dance.

Premieres September 20th

Our Kind of People

The series takes place in the aspirational world of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, a historical stronghold where the rich and powerful black elite have come to play for over 50 years. OUR KIND OF PEOPLE follows a strong-willed, single mom as she sets out to reclaim her family’s name and make an impact with her revolutionary haircare line that highlights the innate, natural beauty of black women. But she soon discovers a dark secret about her own mother’s past that will turn her world upside-down and shake up this community forever.

Starring: Yaya DaCosta, Morris Chestnut, Alana Bright, Nadine Ellis, Rhyon Nicole Brown, Joe Morton, Kyle Bary, Lance Gross

Premieres September 21st

Alter Ego

Alter Ego is an all-new original singing competition where lost dreams and second chances are reignited when singers from all walks of life become the stars they’ve always wanted to be. However, these contestants won’t perform as themselves. Rather, they’ll be given the chance to show how they’ve always wanted to be seen, creating their dream avatar Alter Ego to reinvent themselves and perform like never before.

Starring: Alanis Morissette, Grimes, will.i.am, Nick Lachey, Rocsi Diaz

Quick Thoughts: Everything about this is weird. How do you come up with that lineup of judges? Is this The Masked Singer‘s fault? Is this The Voice‘s fault? Just…what?

Premieres September 22nd

CBS

NCIS: Hawai’i

The world’s most successful television series continues on the seductive shores of Hawai’i as the first female Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor takes command. She and her team balance duty to family and country, investigating high-stakes crimes involving military personnel, national security, and the mysteries of the island itself. This NCIS: Hawai’i team is a skilled mix of mainland transplants who’ve re-located to the tranquility of the Pacific and wizened locals who know their mahalo from kapu.

Starring: Vanessa Lachey, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Noah Mills, Tori Anderson, Alex Tarrant, Kian Talan

Quick Thoughts: Oh hey. That guy from 800 Words is in this. Australian Rory Gilmore’s very patient and hot boyfriend that sort of drowned and started communing with the spirits. I’m glad he’s getting work.

Also remember to pay your Asians, CBS.

Premieres September 10th

FBI: International

FBI: International is the third iteration of the successful FBI brand that follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel the world with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they may be. Not allowed to carry guns, the Fly Team relies on intelligence, quick thinking and pure brawn as they put their lives on the line to protect the U.S. and its people. The Fly Team’s Special Agent Scott Forrester, their accomplished and dedicated leader, puts his missions ahead of his personal life and is rarely seen without the team’s “secret weapon” – their trusty Schutzhund dog, Tank. Second in command is Special Agent Jamie Kellett, not afraid to tussle – in an alley or courtroom – and her extensive network of informants is a powerful resource. Special Agent Andre Raines shines in the field and makes good use of his accounting background in tracking criminal enterprises’ moving money; and the group’s newest member is Special Agent Cameron Vo, a competitive West Point grad who excels at interrogation and strategy. A key part of the mix is the unflappable Europol Agent Katrin Jaeger, a multilinguistic liaison between the FBI Fly Team and each host country they inhabit. Always at the scene where American interests are at risk, FBI: International is a globe-trotting depiction of law enforcement overseas.

Starring: Luke Kleintank, Heida Reed, Vinessa Vidotto, Christiane Paul, Carter Redwood

Premieres September 21st

ABC

The Wonder Years

Inspired by the beloved award-winning series of the same name, The Wonder Years is a coming-of-age story set in the late 1960s that takes a nostalgic look at a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama, through the point of view of imaginative 12-year-old Dean. With the wisdom of his adult years, Dean’s hopeful and humorous recollections show how his family found their “wonder years” in a turbulent time

Starring: Elisha “EJ” Williams, Dulé Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki, Julian Lerner, Amari O’Neil, Milan Ray, Don Cheadle

Premieres September 22nd

FX

American Crime Story: Impeachment

Impeachment: American Crime Story is a limited series examining the national crisis that led to the first impeachment of a U.S. President in over a century. It tells this story through the eyes of the women at the center of the events: Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and Paula Jones. All three were thrust into the public spotlight during a time of corrosive partisan rancor, shifting sexual politics and a changing media landscape. The series shows how power lifts some and disposes of others in the halls of our most sacred institutions.

Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Sarah Paulson, Annaleigh Ashford, Clive Owen, Margo Martindale, Edie Falco

Premieres September 7th

PBS

Future of Work

Since early 2020, the world has been rocked by triple crises: the global pandemic, the ensuing economic disruptions, and the fore fronting of long existing racial inequities. U.S. unemployment was at a rate not seen for more than a century. A majority of Americans now report economic distress and concern about the future for themselves and their families. The usual ladders to security – education, hard work, life-long employment – appear to have broken down. These realities are not distributed equally; many high-earning white-collar workers stay employed virtually. Frontline and service workers, disproportionally people of color and recent immigrants, have been hit hardest by Covid-19 and the ensuing economic hardships. Is the U.S. about to enter a future of entrenched haves and have-nots? With education becoming virtual, long-standing debates about the value of post-secondary schooling and training programs are creating more uncertainty about how to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. How to protect and preserve opportunities for work that sustains families, communities, and the nation–a fundamental aspect of the American Dream? All of these questions are explored by Future of Work through a series of content presentations: a three-part broadcast series, a six-part digital series, and a 12-part social media series. Outreach collaborations with national organizations dedicated to the topic of work, and with public television stations, as well as a media campaign, will offer ways for Americans to connect with the stories of those experiencing these new realities and share their own views, hopes and concerns.

Premieres September 1st

Guilt

A drunken drive home from a wedding lands two brothers in increasingly hot water, as they commit more and more serious crimes to hide their culpability in a hit-and-run.

Starring: Mark Bonnar, Jamie Sives, Ruth Bradley

Premieres September 5th

Nickelodeon

The Smurfs

The Smurfs are back and Smurfier than ever! Join these beloved blue characters as they go on ALL NEW adventures that will push the charm, absurdity, and humor of the original series to even greater heights! Smurf we go!

Starring: David Freeman, Berangere McNeese, Youssef El Kaoukibi, Lenny Mark Irons, Catherine Hershey

Premieres September 10th

Cartoon Network

Teenage Euthanasia

Set in near-future inland Florida, Teenage Euthanasia centers around the owners of Tender Endings funeral home, the Fantasy Family: Grandma Baba, her adult children Uncle Pete and Trophy, and Trophy’s teenage daughter, Euthanasia (“Annie”), a name accidentally given to her during the time of Trophy’s own unbearable suffering. Back when Trophy was a teen herself; she ran away from home after giving birth to Annie, leaving her newborn to be raised by Baba and Uncle Pete. Now, 15 years later, Trophy returns to Tender Endings…as a corpse, for burial. When a bolt of lightning strikes Baba’s homemade embalming fluid and one of Annie’s tears, Trophy comes back from the dead. As a resurrected woman, Trophy has a variety of quasi-useful death powers. But more importantly, she has a second chance at unplanned parenthood.

Starring: Maria Bamford, Jo Firestone, Tim Robinson, Bebe Neuwirth

Premieres September 19th

HBO

Scenes From a Marriage

A modern adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s classic Swedish series of the same name, Scenes from a Marriage re-examines the dilemmas probed by the original, exploring love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage, and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple. The limited series mines the full complexity of Jonathan and Mira as individuals who ultimately know their marriage isn’t being torn apart by any one event or flaw, but who themselves are torn between feelings of hate and love.

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, Sunita Mani, Nicole Beharie, Corey Stoll, Tovah Feldshuh

Premieres September 12th

Nuclear Family

Nuclear Family is a three-part documentary series following filmmaker Ry Russo-Young as she turns the camera on her own past to explore the meaning of family. In the late 70s/early 80s, when the concept of a gay family was inconceivable to most, Ry and her sister Cade were born to two lesbian mothers through sperm donors. Ry’s idyllic childhood was threatened by an unexpected lawsuit which sent shockwaves through her family’s lives and continues to reverberate today. 

Premieres September 26th

Showtime

American Rust

 In an economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, a complicated and compromised chief of police is forced to decide how far he’s willing to go when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder. A harrowing journey into the lives of a small town with big secrets, where people are driven by loyalty, love and desperation – and bad choices come far too easy.

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney

Premieres September 12th

Epix

Fiasco

Based on Leon Neyfakh’s podcast of the same name, Fiasco will transport listeners into the day-to-day reality of our country’s most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. Season One of Fiasco will tell the story of the Iran-Contra affair, the Cold War-era debacle — involving a secret war in Nicaragua and an arms-for-hostages deal with Iran — that almost took down the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Premieres September 19th

Starz

BMF

BMF is inspired by the true story of two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980’s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in this country. Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory’s charismatic leadership, Terry “Southwest T” Flenory’s business acumen and the fraternal partnership’s vision beyond the drug trade and into the world of Hip Hop would render the brothers iconic on a global level. Their unwavering belief in family loyalty would be the cornerstone of their partnership and the crux of their eventual estrangement. The series is about love, kinship and capitalism in the pursuit of the American dream.

Starring: Demetrius Flenory Jr., Da’Vinchi, Russell Hornsby, Steve Harris, Michole Briana White, Ajiona Alexus, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Myles Truitt

Premieres September 26th